Saturday, July 19, 2008

Happydale #2 page 25

I found a few scans of Happydale pages that Seth had hoped to sell, probably quite a long time ago. I don't think he was pushing Happydale after his more broad based comic books were published.
But if the artwork for this series is not so polished as his later work, it still has the varying points of view, the love of detail, and the compassion for each of the inhabitants of his pages that characterized his later work as well. It also has the quirky view of the world that is probably what will be most remembered about Seth.
In this page, the citizens of Happydale are all gathered around waiting to see what will happen to the miscreants who have interrupted their idyllic lives. Everyone has his or her own eccentric ideas about what to do next. We get close-ups of the two in the upper right with no legs and no arms respectively, of HR with his third eye almost visible under his bandana, and the deputy sheriff Poe, who has initials carved into his forehead. We have met each of these people already and know them well enough to care about them. The large center panel shows Poe trying somewhat vainly to put the show in order, and the bottom right panel shows just how much in vain his orders are.

1 comment:

j_ay said...

Happydale is indeed one of the unsung comics is Seth’s far too short bibliography. There are some amazing pages in there and a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish. A Must Have for all Seth fans.