| It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover, Drawn & Quarterly, 1996 | |
| Creator | Seth |
| Date | 1996 |
| Page count | 176 pages |
| Publisher | Drawn & Quarterly |
| Original publication | |
| Published in | Palookaville |
| Issues | 4–9 |
| Date of publication | 1993–1996 |
It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken is a graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Seth. It appeared in a collected volume in 1996 after serialization from 1993 to 1996 in issues #4–9 of Seth's comic book series Palookaville. The mock-autobiographical story tells of its author's obsessive search for the work of a fictional forgotten cartoonist.
Seth presents the fictional book as a work of autobiography and features figures from his life such as his friend and fellow cartoonist Chester Brown. The minimalist artwork draws from the styles of the early New Yorker cartoonists, rendered in thick brushstrokes with heavy blacks against a greyish-blue wash. The story unfolds with a nostalgic and melancholic tone, and several wordless scenes take the reader on a tour of Southern Ontarian city- and landscapes. The book gained Seth a reputation as part of an autobiographical comics trend in the 1990s. It won two Ignatz Awards in 1997 and ranked No. 52 of The Comics Journal's "100 Best Comics of the 20th Century".