By Chip Schrader
Book Review Editor
Author and cartoonist Daniel Clowes made his name in the graphic novel and independent film circles with “Ghost World,” a film that starred the then undiscovered sixteen-year-old actress Scarlett Johansson. Since then, Clowes has authored some of the most edgy, irreverent, hilarious and tragic portraits of everyday life that echoes the works of Al Jaffee and Don Martin of MAD Magazine, R. Crumb (Fritz the Cat) and the late Harvey Pekar (American Splendor).
His latest effort, “Wilson,” is a portrait of a loner who could easily be defined as a lost soul, or even a loser to less sympathetic readers. Wilson is only a logical extension of Clowes’s work as Wilson’s life story is divided up into single page comic strips, form Clowes had worked with in last work “Ice Haven.”
Wilson is a shabbily dressed man whose semi-estranged father is comatose, and his life in Oakland is far from satisfactory. The first portion of the book deals with his distaste for modern culture, and the lack of identity that Oakland seems to exude. Oakland plays as a nice backdrop for a character that seems listless and has a personality that is difficult to categorize, or even nondescript, a complaint Wilson states about Oakland. But, his father’s loneliness seems to spark insight into his own existence.
Soon Wilson searches for his ex-wife and a daughter he never knew. The three of them are starkly awkward within the real world, and no less awkward with each other as a family unit, which somehow makes perfect sense. Wilson swore his wife left him and ended up in prostitution, and there were times one wondered if that wasn’t better than being stuck with Wilson.
The bickering, the one liners, and absolute disdain for the mainstream make this semi-tragic comedy gut busting. All the while, Clowes taps into the universal curmudgeon that waxes and wanes within all of us, and creates a character that is as easy to identify with as he is to nauseate with his irritability. Wilson is every bit lovable as he is off-putting, and he is easy to see in the mirror at many turns of the page. By the end, we hope to see Wilson get a glimmer of insight and enlightenment, but will he? Or was he already enlightened, and is that why hid path is so jagged.
Offbeat is Clowes’s signature, and “Wilson” wears it proudly. The content is for adults and more mature adolescents, and while stories are often hard to follow or are often superficial in graphic novels and comics, Daniel Clowes’s is a master of juggling simplicity and nuance while treading into the depths of human psychology and sociology. Clowes’s other great works: “David Boring” and “Ghost World” should not be missed, either. A must read for any comic strip fans, or those with a taste for social satire.
Photo caption: Cover to Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World, a graphic novel. (Courtesy photo)
Book Review Editor
Author and cartoonist Daniel Clowes made his name in the graphic novel and independent film circles with “Ghost World,” a film that starred the then undiscovered sixteen-year-old actress Scarlett Johansson. Since then, Clowes has authored some of the most edgy, irreverent, hilarious and tragic portraits of everyday life that echoes the works of Al Jaffee and Don Martin of MAD Magazine, R. Crumb (Fritz the Cat) and the late Harvey Pekar (American Splendor).
His latest effort, “Wilson,” is a portrait of a loner who could easily be defined as a lost soul, or even a loser to less sympathetic readers. Wilson is only a logical extension of Clowes’s work as Wilson’s life story is divided up into single page comic strips, form Clowes had worked with in last work “Ice Haven.”
Wilson is a shabbily dressed man whose semi-estranged father is comatose, and his life in Oakland is far from satisfactory. The first portion of the book deals with his distaste for modern culture, and the lack of identity that Oakland seems to exude. Oakland plays as a nice backdrop for a character that seems listless and has a personality that is difficult to categorize, or even nondescript, a complaint Wilson states about Oakland. But, his father’s loneliness seems to spark insight into his own existence.
Soon Wilson searches for his ex-wife and a daughter he never knew. The three of them are starkly awkward within the real world, and no less awkward with each other as a family unit, which somehow makes perfect sense. Wilson swore his wife left him and ended up in prostitution, and there were times one wondered if that wasn’t better than being stuck with Wilson.
The bickering, the one liners, and absolute disdain for the mainstream make this semi-tragic comedy gut busting. All the while, Clowes taps into the universal curmudgeon that waxes and wanes within all of us, and creates a character that is as easy to identify with as he is to nauseate with his irritability. Wilson is every bit lovable as he is off-putting, and he is easy to see in the mirror at many turns of the page. By the end, we hope to see Wilson get a glimmer of insight and enlightenment, but will he? Or was he already enlightened, and is that why hid path is so jagged.
Offbeat is Clowes’s signature, and “Wilson” wears it proudly. The content is for adults and more mature adolescents, and while stories are often hard to follow or are often superficial in graphic novels and comics, Daniel Clowes’s is a master of juggling simplicity and nuance while treading into the depths of human psychology and sociology. Clowes’s other great works: “David Boring” and “Ghost World” should not be missed, either. A must read for any comic strip fans, or those with a taste for social satire.
Photo caption: Cover to Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World, a graphic novel. (Courtesy photo)
