This "sketchbook story" continues Seth's impressive run of side projects, a densely packed, quirky novel that is some of his most compelling work yet. Wimbledon Green
uses multiple comic strip formats and dozens of characters and points of view to tell the story of the title character, a mysterious comic book collector generally regarded, as the subtitle suggests, as the best around. Through the memories of Wimbledon's associates, enemies and friends, Seth recounts the rise of Wimbledon and key events in the Green legend: the discovery of the priceless Wilber Webb collection and the hunt for the mythical comic book The Green Ghost
#1. All of this is both a loving satire of the milieu the author himself inhabits and also a kind of fictional history of comic book collectors. Free from the graphic atmospherics and demanding literary motifs of his more literary work, Seth is able to stretch out and create a world and a story that is light and funny while still deeply felt and finely crafted. Wimbledon Green
is an excellent comic romp, and will seem all too familiar to collectors and the people that love (or loath) them. (Oct.)
