The Reviews Are in…and Going Rate is a Smash!

Hello there; we here at Seize Books are thrilled beyond measure with all the recent buzz surrounding our inaugural title, Going Rate: Very Personal Comics, by Greg Farrell.

Both the Poopsheet Foundation and classy book blogger Steven Thompson have been singing its praises and now the truly legendary Robert B. Poppa – artist, writer, you name it – has chimed in with his own kind and elegant works. They’re below…but before we get to them we want to let you know about something else pretty groovy that’s going on and at least partially related to the book: Greg Farrell, its author, was recently commissioned by the legendary Strand Bookstore in New York City, to curate a table of his own favorite titles. Strand has asked numerous high-profile authors to pick some of their favs to highlight – Junot Diaz and John Waters are but two…and perhaps not even the most illustrious  – but not since Art Spiegelman has a comic book artist/writer been singled out for this honor….Art f’ing Spiegelman! Way to go Greg! (Click below right image to see an even larger version of the specially crafted sign for the store!)…& the Poppa review is below:

Following on the success of their last publication, the aptly entitled, multiple punned Party Animals For Hire, Seize Books of Millerton, New York, a rising star of a company, has now released Going Rate: Very Personal Comics by Greg Farrell*: a batch of exemplary short comics guilelessly witty, non-pretentiously enlightening and directly honest, I thought. Somewhere between subtle burlesque social commentary and outright hilarious biography, these surprisingly good little comics elicited both laughter and reflection from this reader. Newcomer Farrell is a sly comedian and wry philosopher, part nerdy and always clever. From the very first story, ‘White Whale of the Bay,’ to the last two-page gem, ‘One Day at Work,’ a collaboration with another newcomer Matt Glasser, these exceptionally wonderful cartoons exhibit an immediacy of impact relative always, I feel, to the very best cartooning, and due of course to Farrell’s impressive skills as artist and writer. Take, for instance, the dynamic interplay between the angel and devil characters in the ‘Whale’ story: on page 11 when the angel agrees with the devil and says, “Buy that shit,” or the way they linger in the background on page 11. It is all downright hilarious with a pertinent realistic vibrato! This force of realism is felt again, I thought, in a marvelous two-tiered comparative panel on page 7 between Haight and Bedford, and my favorite of this entire wonderful collection, ‘Jumbo Jockey,’ made me want to run down to B&H on Second Avenue for some challah bread slathered in butter!** To cite another fine example of this dynamic realism which seems to permeate all stories in Going Rate, just look carefully at the facial expressions and body language of the characters in ‘420’ on page 28!

            This is all memorable cartooning. I was really impressed by Going Rate: Very Personal Comic, by Greg Farrell. Perhaps in the future this incredible talent will create longer more fully realized cartoon masterworks. I anticipate a long, beautiful career for Greg Farrell, one of the future shining stars of cartooning!

                        -RBP

* Party Animals for Hire was actually published by Uni Hall Comics; before it was  acquired by Seize Books earlier this year– ed.

** 127 Second Avenue (between 7^th and St. Marks).