AJC Review of Comic Art #8 - and Seth Bonus

WORDS AND PICTURES - ajc.com - I briefly reviewed this when I bought it (and I did enjoy it, though some of the articles in the magazine are quite obscure). Here's the AJC's take from their biweekly comics column: "Comic Art #8 / Forty Cartoon Books of Interest. Buenaventura Press, $19.95. Mature readers (nudity).

Recently I complained to a friend about the way the Internet has undercut rare book prices. As a collector with a large library, I know one collection's diminished value means bargains for many collectors. Canadian cartoonist Seth explores this in his chapbook 'Forty Cartoon Books of Interest.'

Seth, whose own collection provided the 40 volumes described, has stuff that dates back to the mid-19th century. Of 'The Foreign Tour of Messrs. Brown, Jones and Robinson,' from 1854, he writes, 'I bought this online recently for fifty bucks! How is that possible? Does no one else want these books?'

That's possible, but it might be undone if many folks read Seth's pieces, including an allegory of black life in the 1940s called 'It Shouldn't Happen,' and one on the influential French cartoonist Caran d'Ache.

'Forty Cartoon Books of Interest' is a supplement to the summer volume of the superb magazine Comic Art. In addition to the wholly worthwhile extra by Seth, the current issue has articles on New Yorker cover artist Richard McGuire, pulp illustrator Edd Cartier and the history of cartooning's word or (as it's called here) speech balloon. Be sure your copy has the Seth book with it, as they can be easily separated. And beware waiting too long, as they might become collectors' items."