Daniel Clowes

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Daniel Clowes
Clowes at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con Convention
Born
Daniel Gillespie Clowes

(1961-04-14) April 14, 1961 (age 63)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Cartoonist, author, screenwriter
Known forEightball (1989-present)
Ghost World (1997)
SpouseErika Clowes
ChildrenCharlie

Daniel Gillespie Clowes (born April 14, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois) is an Academy Award-nominated American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books. Most of Clowes' work appears first in his ongoing anthology Eightball (1989-present), a collection of self-contained narratives and serialized graphic novels. Several of these narratives have been collected published separately as graphic novels, most notably Ghost World. With filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, Clowes adapted Ghost World into the 2000 film of the same name, and also adapted another Eightball story into the 2006 film Art School Confidential. Before Eightball, Clowes worked on the comic book series Lloyd Llewellyn.

Biography

In 1979, Clowes finished high school at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. After earning his BFA, he unsuccessfully attempted to find work in New York as an illustrator. From 1985 to 1989 he contributed both art and stories to Cracked magazine, working extensively on a feature called "The Uggly Family." In 1985 Clowes wrote his first Lloyd Llewellyn story, which he sent to Fantagraphics' Gary Groth, and it soon appeared in issue 13 of the Hernandez brothers' Love and Rockets. Lloyd Llewellyn became a comic book series; the six regular issues, published in 1986 and 1987, were followed by a special, The All-New Lloyd Llewellyn in Black and White, in 1988. Then, in 1989, Fantagraphics published the first issue of his periodic comic collection Eightball, which is currently on issue 23. Many of Clowes' serials in Eightball have been collected and released as graphic novels, garnering significant critical acclaim and mainstream sales. These graphic novels include Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, Ghost World, and David Boring. He lives in Oakland, California with his wife Erika and son Charlie.

In 2006, Clowes probably underwent open heart surgery. [1]

On September 16, 2007, The New York Times Magazine published the first installment of Mister Wonderful, a serialized graphic novel written by Clowes. Clowes described the novel as a "romance," and said that the strip will run for 20 installments, until mid-January 2008.[2][3]

The first dozen or so issues of Eightball typically contained a number of short comedic stories featuring absurd characters such as Shamrock Squid and Grip Glutz along with topical satires such as Art School Confidential. The first extended piece serialized in Eightball is Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron. Appearing in issues 1-10, this story features a complex, surrealistic storyline. Later issues have tended to focus on longer narratives, however. Ghost World was released as a collection in 1997 after being serialized in Eightball (11-18). It was adapted by Clowes and director Terry Zwigoff into a full-length feature film in 2001; both were nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay. Issues 19-21 serialize David Boring and have been released as a graphic novel by Pantheon Books.

Clowes continues to issue Eightball sporadically, with the most recent issues, ("Ice Haven" #22 [2001] and "The Death-Ray" #23 [2004]), each conceived as an artistically ambitious and self-contained work, featuring oversized, all-color formats. Ice Haven was released in June 2005 by Pantheon in a revised and reformatted hardcover edition.

Cultural context

Clowes' most famous work is associated with the late eighties and nineties, a transformational time for underground comics. Clowes' work was an important part of the explosion in the popularity of this genre and the newfound respect that it garnered from critics and academics. His work Ghost World was among the earliest "literary" comics to be marketed and sold through conventional book stores as a graphic novel (this despite the fact that he has been critical of the term "graphic novel"). His most famous work also coincides temporally with the so-called Generation X movement, and the post-adolescent aimlessness identified with that movement has remained one of his signature themes. He has led the way for younger comic artists like Adrian Tomine and Craig Thompson who tend to focus on post-adolescent characters and their conflicts. Like his contemporary David Lynch, Clowes is famous for mixing elements of kitsch and the grotesque in his comics, drawn in particular from sixties pop culture, MAD magazine, and the San Francisco underground comics scene of that era. This juxtaposition of superficial kitsch and horrific subject matter has since become something of a zeitgeist in much visual art, independent film, and of course underground comics themselves.

Awards

His work in comics has won him a good deal of recognition, including a nomination for the Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1999. He has won numerous Harvey Awards, including Best Writer in 1997 and 2005, Best Cartoonist in 2002, and Best Single Issue or Story in 1990, 1991, 1998 and 2005.

Screenwriting career

Clowes has written two movies based on his comic works, Ghost World and Art School Confidential, both of which were directed by Terry Zwigoff. He has begun work on three proposed film projects.

Ghost World (2000)

Main article: Ghost World

Set in a non-descript American town, Ghost World follows the misadventures of two best friends, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) who detest their High School classmates and delight in mocking others. After graduation they plan on moving in together and avoiding college but instead begin to grow apart as adult alienation takes its toll. The two play a prank on a geeky, old record collector (Steve Buscemi) who quickly becomes Enid's unlikely friend and confidante as her relationship with Rebecca deteriorates.

The movie was nominated for a host of awards [4] most notably Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2001 Academy Awards.

Art School Confidential (2006)

Main article: Art School Confidential

The movie is based very loosely on a short story of the same name that appeared in Eightball #7. Art School Confidential follows Jerome (Max Minghella), an art student who dreams of becoming the greatest artist in the world. The movie was not as well received as Ghost World and garnered many poor reviews.

The Death Ray (TBD)

In the summer of 2004, Clowes released issue 23 of his comic Eightball, a single-story issue entitled "The Death Ray." In July 2006, Clowes announced that he would be writing a script for The Death Ray, to be produced by Jack Black's Black and White Productions. The film version will be related to this story, though it will not be an exact adaptation.[5]

Master of Space and Time (TBD)

Clowes and Michel Gondry have discussed collaborating on a film version of Master of Space and Time, a Rudy Rucker novel. Clowes would write the screenplay and Gondry would direct. Despite the way it is being presented in various accounts, this project has not advanced beyond the discussion stage.[6]

Untitled Raiders adaptation project (TBD)

Clowes has been attached to write a screenplay based on the true story of three boys who made a shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark over the course of 7 years. The project is currently untitled. [7]

Illustrations

Selected works

Comic books

Collections

  • Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (Eightball #1-#10)
  • #$@&!: The Official Lloyd Llewellyn Collection (1989)
  • Pussey! (Eightball #1, #3, #4, #6, #8, #9, #12, #14)
  • Orgy Bound
  • Lout Rampage!
  • Ghost World (Eightball #11-#18)
  • Caricature Compilation of several Eightball short stories and one story ("Green Eyeliner") that appeared in Esquire
  • David Boring (Eightball #19-#21)
  • Twentieth Century Eightball Compilation of several Eightball short stories
  • Ice Haven Reformatted and expanded version of the experimental, multilayered narrative in Eightball #22

Other appearances

Movies

Miscellaneous

Santa Cruz Skateboards - Corey O'Brien board 1991

Commercial work

References

  1. ^ The Comics Journal (ISBN 987-1-56097-984-5), issue 294, Dec.2008, page 102: In a one-page strip, sent to the magazine as a holiday card, Clowes has his son, Charlie, "looking back at 2006 AD". "Charlie Clowes" says "2006 was quite a year. ... Daddy had open-heart surgery and mommy had to take care of him while he just sat in a chair for two months, and he still can't even pick me up."
  2. ^ New Daniel Clowes Comic Strip Launches Sunday in NY Times, The Comic Book Bin, 2007-09-13. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  3. ^ Garner, Dwight. Stray Questions for: Daniel Clowes. The New York Times Paper Cuts: A Blog About Books, 2007-08-24. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  4. ^ Ghost World (2001) - Awards and Nominations - Yahoo! Movies
  5. ^ Clowes pockets 'Eightball' - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety
  6. ^ It's no longer Confidential who is writing Michel Gondry's MASTER OF SPACE AND TIME, if you guess you might be Clowes! - Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and co...
  7. ^ IMDB entry, Internet Movie Database, 12-20-2007.
  8. ^ Santa Cruz Skateboards

External links

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