Someone told me this page reminded him of the work of Winsor McCay. Not surprising really. Seth LOVED the work of Winsor McCay. He owned two large coffee-table type books about him, and Seth's line work is rather consciously borrowed from him. Especially in this section of the story, where Hal is going to sleep in a hotel room, wearing a nightshirt (shades of an earlier time), and strange things are happening because of something he is consuming (in a way), the parallels to McCay's "Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend" are conspicuous to anyone who knows the work. Seth's use of line and white space is also decorative, nearly like the best of the Art Nouveau style, represented by Mc Cay, though Seth was more interested in storytelling, and less interested in his art being pretty.
Later on--in Big in Japan for example--Seth's links with those who inspired him early in his career become less evident. But I for one delight in these visual references to Winsor McCay.
1 comment:
Winsor Mckay, great, great stuff!
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