Daniel Clowes
Personal Information
Description
Clowes was born in Chicago, Illinois, to an auto mechanic mother and a furniture craftsman father. His mother was Jewish, whereas his father was from a "reserved WASPish Pennsylvania" family; Clowes's upbringing was not religious. In 1979, he finished high school at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where he earned a BFA in 1984. It was at Pratt that he met and befriended fellow cartoonist Rick Altergott, with whom he started the small-press comics publisher Look Mom Comics. According to Clowes scholar, Ken Parille, the cartoonist had an early response to a "graphic" comic when, at age four, he burst into tears and began hitting his head against a wall after seeing a cover of a Strange Adventures comic book that depicted a family dying of heat. Later, he received "piles of 1950s and 1960s classic titles like Archie and The Fantastic Four" from his older brother, who also introduced him to the work of legendary cartoonist R. Crumb. [Wikipedia]
Books
The Daniel Clowes Reader A Critical Edition Of Ghost World And Other Stories With Essays Interviews And Annotations
Ghost World
One of the best-selling and critically-acclaimed graphic novels of all-time telling the story of two supremely ironic, above-it-all teenagers facing the thrilling uncertainty of life after high school. As they attempt to carry their life-long friendship into a new era, the careful dynamics of their inseparable bond are jolted, and what seemed like a future of endless possibilities looks more like an encroaching reality of strip malls, low-paying service jobs and fading memories.
David Boring
In this scan, eleven pages are missing from the beginning of the book.
Ice haven
A comic-strip novel about a group of misfit dreamers who inhabit the small town of Ice Haven.
Like a velvet glove cast in iron
A story of a man named Clay Loudermilk and his attempts to locate his estranged wife. For reasons unknown, Clay is in the audience at a porno theatre when he sees a bizarre BDSM feature, the star dominatrix of which is revealed to be his wife. Clay sets out to locate her and becomes embroiled in a series of misadventures involving an incredibly bizarre and varied cast of supporting characters.
The Death-Ray
Andy, a miserable high-schooler in 1970s Chicago, has only one friend, an angry fellow outcast named Louie. He's desperately in love with a girl he met in California who won't return his letters and he's filled with shame at the constant taunts of his classmates. When he achieves super strength from smoking cigarettes he uses it for neither good nor evil but in a brutal playground showdown.
Twentieth century eightball
A collection of short comics depicting the artist's opinions and views on a variety of topics, including people he dislikes and things that annoy him.
