Daniel Clowes is a celebrated American author and cartoonist known for his insightful and often darkly humorous explorations of modern life. His work frequently delves into themes of alienation, suburban ennui, and the search for authenticity in a commercialized world. Through his distinctive visual style and sharp, witty dialogue, Clowes crafts narratives that resonate with a profound understanding of the human condition, offering a critical yet empathetic lens on society.
Featuring the first 18 issues of the influential Eightball anthology, this collection showcases Daniel Clowes' signature storytelling and distinctive art style. It includes the original episodes of Ghost World and the short story that inspired the film Art School Confidential, along with a variety of other compelling narratives. Newly designed for paperback, this volume highlights Clowes' unique voice and contributions to the comic genre, making it a must-have for fans and newcomers alike.
Trailing the success of the movie based on Clowes' graphic novel Ghost World (1997) comes this collection of shorter stories from his alternative comic book Eightball . Many of the pieces are tirades, albeit entertaining ones, about things Clowes despises (perhaps the comic should have been called Hateball ). "On Sports" details his contempt for professional athletics, and "Art School Confidential" is an expose of pretentious, talentless poseurs. This approach is carried to its logical peak in "I Hate You Deeply," a litany of the "types" that annoy Clowes, from "fashion plates" to "crybabies, whiners, and sensitive people." Clowes puts his misanthropy in abeyance for slice-of-life stories in which he ruminates during a stroll around his neighborhood or fantasizes about his fellow passengers on a subway. Worthwhile enough, these earlier stories merely presage Clowes' far-more-impressive recent work in which cynicism is presented more subtly, leavened with sympathy, and voiced by well-developed characters. If these pieces lack the heft of Clowes' longer, more ambitious efforts, the best of them are still masterful miniatures.
Patience is an indescribable psychedelic science-fiction love story, veering with uncanny precision from violent destruction to deeply personal tenderness in a way that is both quintessentially 'Clowesian', and utterly unique in the author's body of work. This 180-page, full-colour story affords Clowes the opportunity to draw some of the most exuberant and breathtaking pages of his life, and to tell his most suspenseful, surprising and affecting story yet. The story opens in 2012, when Jack Barlow returns home to find Patience, his pregnant girlfriend, murdered. We meet him next in 2029, still haunted by the murder. He hears of a guy who thinks he's invented a device that enables time travel. On the next page Jack is in 2006, watching Patience on her dates with boys. Is one of them the killer?
Emerging from the 1980s alternative comics scene, Daniel Clowes is a pivotal figure in graphic novel development, known for his serialized Eightball comics. His works, including David Boring and Ice Haven, are celebrated for their sophistication and complexity. Clowes also co-adapted his graphic novel Ghost World into a screenplay with Terry Zwigoff, earning an Academy Award nomination. His distinctive voice and innovative storytelling have significantly influenced the medium of comics and graphic novels.
The bestselling author of Ghost World collects his acclaimed short stories from Eightball and Esquire. The dramatic short stories included in Caricature have drawn comparisons to Nabokov for their complex naturalism and sense of humor. Anchored by the title story, considered the first apotheosis of Clowes' seminal Eightball underground comic book series, Caricature also includes eight other stories, including "Green Eyeliner," a six-page full-color short story originally published in Esquire as the first work of comics to be featured in the magazine's fiction issue (and commissioned by then-editor Dave Eggers). Also included are: a rare fully-painted short, "MCMLXVI," the full-color "Gold Mommy," "Glue Destiny," "Gynecology," "Immortal, Invisible," "Blue Italian Shit," "Like a Weed, Joe," "Black Satin," an all-new cover, and more. Color and black-and-white comics throughout
This is a redesigned reprint of Daniel Clowes's early, unsettling graphic novel.
In this graphic novel, Random Wilder reluctantly guides readers through the sleepy town of Ice Haven. As the local poet, he faces competition from his rival, Ida Wentz, who is prominently featured in the Ice Haven Daily Progress. The story is rich with surprises, unique characters, and includes a classic mystery.
Ghost World has become a cultural and generational touchstone, and continues to enthrall and inspire readers over a decade after its original release as a graphic novel. Originally serialized in the pages of the seminal comic book Eightball throughout the mid-1990s, this quasi-autobiographical story (the name of one of the protagonists is famously an anagram of the author's name) follows the adventures of two teenage girls, Enid and Becky, two best friends facing the prospect of growing up, and more importantly, apart. Daniel Clowes is one of the most respected cartoonists of his generation, and Ghost World is his magnum opus. Adapted into a major motion picture directed by Terry Zwigoff (director of the acclaimed documentary Crumb), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. This graphic novel is a must for any self-respecting comics fan's library.
This hilarious classic is a brutal, scathing peek into the insular, pathetic world of the comics industry. If you think Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons is pathetic (and hilarious), wait 'til you meet Dan Pussey! A vicious satire of pop culture and the commerce of art in a new edition, with a new cover and intro by Clowes! This hilarious classic from Dan Clowes is a brutal and scathing peek into the insular, pathetic world of the comic book industry, as seen through the eyes of antihero Dan Pussey (pronounced "Pooh-say"), creator of the smash superhero comic "Nauseator." From cradle to grave, Clowes presents the complete saga of Young Dan Pussey, mercilessly skewering the business and medium of comics, bouncing from art to commerce to culture high and low. Clowes not only parodies the superhero genre (notably Stan "The Man" Lee), but also his own peers, from his publishers and fellow authors at Fantagraphics to artistic heavyweights like Art Spiegelman (seen here as "Gummo Bubbleman"). Through it all, Pussey dreams endlessly about having sex with a woman, but even those fantasies degenerate into superhero scenarios. 64 pages of black-and-white comics
This is Monica, one ordinary woman's extraordinary journey through the history of comics - from the creator of Ghost World ***AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023*** 'Pitch-perfect... Could not put it down' OBSERVER 'In Monica, Clowes reaches a new artistic peak' VANITY FAIR A dazzling, spectacular tapestry of interconnected narratives that together tell a life story, Monica is the new graphic novel from one of the most iconic storytellers of all time. This eponymous protagonist is a rag-to-riches character who, after being abandoned by her freewheelin' parents in childhood, succeeds in clawing her way to the top - only to lose it all in a stroke of bad luck. She lives out the rest of her days in search of her parents, encountering a cast of eccentric characters who help to piece together her story. This graphic novel extravaganza is an unforgettable ode to the many genres that have defined the comics form - from war, romance and horror to crime and the supernatural. Mysterious, uncategorisable and quintessentially Clowesian, here is a multi-layered masterpiece born of a lifetime of inspiration. Monica marks the creative apex of Daniel Clowes' distinguished career, one of the defining voices of the graphic novel boom over the past quarter-century.
