I finally got around to buying a copy of Seth's book, George Sprott 1894-1975. I don't know why I put it off for so long given how much I enjoyed Clyde Fans. And I can't believe it's been four years since I bought Clyde Fans - the pandemic temporal distortion field at work no doubt.
Seth has an uncanny ability to capture a feeling of how Ontario and many of its citizens were in the second half of the 20th century even though his graphic novels are full of send ups, caricatures, and wild extrapolations. But, maybe they are the reason his work hits the mark.
I'm hopelessly biased and seem to subconsciously look for connections to model buildings - and E. L. Moore if I hear the gong :-) - in anything I'm reading. It turns out there is a strong connection in George Sprott.
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| George Sprott and the Melody Grill - you'll need to buy the book to read the story |
To tell Sprott's story the book has a few two-page spreads like the one shown above where a model of a building is presented on one page, and a cartoon story about it and its relation to Sprott is presented on the other. I've discussed before Seth's sideline of creating a city of model buildings - called 'Dominion' - like the Melody Grill shown above, but I think this is the first time I've seen those models directly woven into a graphic story. For me this adds an interesting dimension to the book, and I recommend that anyone interested in making model buildings read it if you think your models should be more than generic props. While you're at it, consider comparing Seth's approach to storytelling with Paul Michael Smith's in his book, Elgin Park, which also makes use of model buildings.
Well, whether you buy it for the excellent graphic novella, or the interesting approach to integrating model buildings and storytelling, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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