I was introduced to him via the movie , based on his comic book (sorry, ) of the same name. The movie is simply wonderful. A sublime tale of adolescence and eccentricity and love and friendship and all that good stuff, but with a deliciously dark edge.
The casting is perfect: Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson gleam as Enid and Rebecca, and the presence of Steve Buscemi as Seymour closes the deal. I then bought the original comic book, and was drawn even deeper into the world (there aren't actually any ghosts, but it's still a strangely perfect title.) Next i picked up , another dark and twisted tale of love, betrayal and murder.
Except it's completely suburban and revels in the mundane, which makes it feel very unsettling. Then earlier this week I picked up , a compilation of Clowes' earlier strips. Again, it's set in a sometimes disturbing world, but laugh out loud funny and cynical throughout.
Clowes' portrayal of America is a flipside to the 50's Americana of Peanuts. Many of the stories are great, but my favourites strips are written as first person accounts from Clowes himself, something I've never really seen in comic book form before, but very engaging. Especially as his worldview seems scarily close to mine!
Which isn't that encouraging as he paints himself as a self obsessed hate filled coward with an attitude problem. I'll get another one of his books soon..
. I've just seen on the Fantagraphics Books website that publishes Clowes' work, that they're republishing the whole of Peanuts. All of it!
From 1950 to 1999. And now I know I'm going to have to buy it! Arrgh.
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