Happydale 1 page 44

Another page full of great details.

Seth said in his notes for Doris and Fruit (in 2003) that he wanted to try & simplify his work.

Earlier he had said in an interview with Mike Jozic:
Geoff [Darrow]'s art often taunts the reader to try and spot everything on the page, and at some point I think it stops serving the story. Besides, I can't compete with Geoff for detail. He would beat me every time. Nevertheless I do hear comparisons to Geoff a lot....

I can't compare Seth's level of detail with Geoff Darrow's because I am not familiar with any comic book art really except Seth's. But it seems to me that in Happydale, the details give a sense of place, the way you know about someone when you go to their house and see what stuff they have on display on the walls and bookcases, as well as what they left sitting on the chairs and tables.

It's pretty delightful that HR uses a rotary phone. Seth liked to get the era right. Though Happydale takes place in the present, or in the not too distant past, the people who live there don't have much truck with the outside world, so HR is perfectly satisfied with his phone the way it is, as well as his record player in the corner.