BIOGRAPHY:

"What Seth lacks in prolificacy he more than makes up for in the thoughtful and mature approach he brings to comics."
Gary Groth, The Comics Journal #193

Seth (1962- ) is the pseudonym of Gregory Gallant, a Canadian obsessed with the past, not only his own childhood memories but also the early 20th century. "The bits and pieces of that time still lingering around today seem like remnants of some ghost world - a vanished world." For a man haunted by the past it is ironic that his first comic work was as artist on the hi-tech 1980's series, Mr X, where a futuristic city of dreams becomes a city of nightmares. Recognizing the limitations of collaborating with other writers, he has been writing and drawing his own comic book series Palooka-Ville since 1991, as well as occasional contributions to the anthology magazine Drawn & Quarterly. He fits his comic work around his career in illustration, his work having appeared in numerous publications such as The Wall St Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post. One particular high-profile illustration assignment was the artwork for Aimee Mann's Lost In Space CD released in 2002 which included 4 pages of comics and 16 illustrations - worth the cost of the CD alone even if you don't like the music. Aimee herself described the artwork as having the same tinge of melancholy as her song writing style.

Seth lives in Guelph, Ontario with his wife, Tania, five cats, and a huge collection of vintage records, comic books, and 20th Century Canadiana.

Interviews:
POV (2006)
Underground Online (2005)
The AV Club (2005)
Book Standard (2005)
Book Slut (2004)
Comic Art #6 (2004)
Newsarama: 5 Questions (2004)
Suicide Girls (2004)
The Cultural Gutter (2004)
The Comics Journal #193 (1997)
CBC Archives (1994)

Resources:
Recommended by... Seth
Seth at Drawn & Quarterly

Reviews:
The Comics Reporter: Wimbledon Green
Graphic Novel Review: Clyde Fans Book 1
Time.com: Clyde Fans Book 1

Bannock, Beans & Black Tea
Drawn & Quarterly, 2004
An illustrated memoir recounting one boy's experiences of deprivation and poverty growing up in a rural farming village during the Great Depression. It reveals the sad reality of a boy growing up in brutal social and economic conditions. The short stories are written by John Gallant and illustrated by his son, Seth. Seth commenting on his father said, "He's not a writer, but he is a wonderful storyteller. Over the last decade or so, I've managed to get him to write down all the stories he's told me over my life, and I have been editing them into a book... They have a wonderful tone - both innocent and bitter at the same time. I've poured a lot of effort into making it a beautifully designed monument to his life."

It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Drawn & Quarterly, 1996
From the pages of Palooka-Ville, Seth recounts his search for meaning in the life and work of Kalo, a forgotten cartoonist from The New Yorker in the 1940's. His obsessive task takes him through stacks of crumbling magazines in the hope of finding, and ultimately holding onto, a piece of the vanished past. Each scene is interspersed with haunting images of remote forests, old buildings, and distant trains to convey different feelings of mood and atmosphere.

"A book with such an air of quietude that you feel as if you can almost believe that the seasons are changing as you sit and read the story."
Top 100 Comics, The Comics Journal #210

Clyde Fans: Book One
Drawn & Quarterly, 2004
"Anyone turned off by the screaming, exploding in-your-face graphics of mainstream comicbook fare should seek the solace of Seth's Clyde Fans: Book One. Pull your rocker onto the back porch, or spread your blanket on the roof, turn on the fan and enjoy the quiet."
Time.com

"It was a very old storefront. I used to look into the window when I walked by because I'm very attracted to this sort of thing. In the dim light of the office you could see on the back wall two photographs of two men, which were probably the owners. I just assumed they were brothers. Over the next couple of years while working on projects I put together a story of what these guy's lives were about although it probably had nothing to do with the reality of their real lives."
Seth, from the Time.com article

Wimbledon Green
Drawn & Quarterly, 2006
"Wimbledon Green is a funny little man who arrived unannounced in my sketchbook last year while thinking about the obsessive behaviour of collectors. Before I knew it he had taken on a life of his own and in a short six month period a whole book had been written about him: Wimbledon Green: The Greatest Comic Book Collector in the World. He is an odd fellow - a bit of a mystery man actually... you will be introduced to Mr. Green and some of his comic-book collector rivals. Theirs is a petty little world. I know it well, being a comic book collector myself."
Seth

"...a densely packed, quirky novel that's some of his most compelling work yet... 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."
Publisher's Weekly

Vernacular Drawings
Drawn & Quarterly, 2001
A collection of 200 drawings from Seth's sketchbook including factory workers, show girls, jazz artists, businessmen, comic book adventurers, all somehow harking back to the vanished world of the early 20th century.

"Open it up and you'll see why Seth is one of the greatest cartoonists working today".
Chris Ware

Books:
Forty Cartoon Books Of Interest (2006)
Wimbledon Green (2006)
Bannock, Beans & Black Tea (2004)
Clyde Fans: Book 1 (2004)
Vernacular Drawings (2001)
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken (1996)

Periodicals:
Palooka-Ville #1-17 (1991-2004)
Mr X #6-13 (1985-1988)

CD Covers:
Lost In Space by Aimee Mann