I wanted to make it clear that it was as much a mystery to me as it was to the person that reads it. I didn't want to commit to anything that seemed too ambitious, or what was actually going to have a standard plot that works out, one with all the character development you expect from a real novel. In the 'Velvet Glove' story, I had no idea how to track a narrative. But in 1989, with the launch of 'Eightball,' Clowes established himself as a defining voice of independent comics' post-underground era.Ĭombining freestanding absurd vignettes, autobiographical rants and lengthy pieces like the surreal, improvised serial 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron,' Clowes offset cynicism with sympathy as he cast an outsider's eye on members of society some might classify as 'the dregs.' As the anthology developed, Clowes proved himself a master of the short story in comics form, with the last five issues previewing the hardcover editions of graphic novel classics 'David Boring,' 'Ice Haven' and 'The Death-Ray.' But in the first 18 editions Clowes managed to balance his narrative development (as best demonstrated in 'Ghost World,' the story of young Enid and Rebecca, later adapted as a beloved movie) with grotesque visuals, lowbrow humor, dirty jokes and breathless tirades (as best demonstrated by 'Art School Confidential,' Clowes' hate letter to his college days, later adapted as a less beloved movie).Ī: It's like I went from making schlocky Spanish-language porn films to writing for The New Yorker. The fringes of comics fandom became aware of Daniel Clowes in the 1980s when the Chicago cartoonist's distinctive drawings began appearing in the Mad magazine-knockoff Cracked and several issues of his absurdist farce 'Lloyd Llewellyn' were published by Fantagraphics.

Eightball clowes