Broken Frontier

When you read the exploits of Wimbledon Green, there is no doubt that he really is the greatest comic collector in the world. Not a simple and straightforward telling of Wimbledon’s exploits, this is a sometimes documentary, sometimes adventure, and even a mystery. Follow along as some of Wimbledon’s cohorts and rivals wax on about how they were swindled out of a big deal by Green, or about a major collection that he stumbled upon. And be amazed when these same people, the ones that have known him best, can’t even figure out who Wimbledon Green really was and where he disappeared to.

Told as a collection of short comic strips that form a larger story, Seth takes a very simple story and tells it in a complex, yet incredibly fun way. He keeps the characters very basic stereotypes and gives them all names to match. The dialogue is cheesy and witty at the same time. And everyone will be able to relate to at least one of the many great jibes at the comic collecting community and fandom itself. The book never means to insult though and is certainly told with a wink and a smile. This book is as much Seth’s love letter to comics as it is a funny tale about its greatest collector.

On the cover are the words "… from the sketchbook of…" and the artwork shows. The character designs are simple stereotypes and, aside from a few elaborate pages in the beginning, extensive (or any) detail is non-existent. But that is half of the charm of the book. The characters’ designs match the simple nature of them. The artwork then becomes iconic in nature, which is highlighted by the lack of detail. And it’s not as if there was room for anymore detail anyway. Each page is packed with as many panels as possible. For anyone who has been impressed by Ben Templesmith’s 9 panel grid in Fell (and rightly so), you will be blown away by Seth’s 20 panel grid (and on a digest size page too!) Most characters are only shown by their faces but Seth still manages to tell a tremendous amount about them as we watch their procession of facial expressions while telling a tale about Wimbledon. Seth the artist matches Seth the writer panel for panel and the art is just as much fun as the writing.

Normally, whenever I try to recommend an independent book to someone who is strictly a superhero reader they give me the evil eye. To most, "independent comics" means some boring real life tale devoid of action and fun characters. This is one of the rare independent comics that even the most devout cape reader will enjoy.