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Daniel Gillespie Clowes (born April 14, 1961 in Chicago) is an American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books, including Eightball and Lloyd Llewellyn. He is best known by mainstream audiences for the movie Ghost World, which he adapted from some of his stories.

Biography

In 1979, he finished high school at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. After gaining 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 which 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 Eightball, which is currently at issue 23. All of Clowes' subsequent books originally appeared as serials in Eightball. He lives in Oakland, California with his wife Erika and son Charlie.

Eightball

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. The first dozen or so issues of Eightball typically contain a number of short comedic stories, but later issues have tended to focus on longer narratives. 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 of 2005 by Pantheon in a revised and reformatted hardcover edition.

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's career as a comic artist has recently blended into being a script writer, writing movies that are loosely based on his comic works. Both of his movies have been directed by Terry Zwigoff.

Ghost World (2000)

Set in a non-descript American town, Ghost World follows the misadventures of two high school friends, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson). The friends delight themselves in mocking others and causing trouble. Rebecca wants to get an apartment and move in with Enid, but Enid is habitually distracted and cannot hold onto a job. The two play a prank on a geeky, old record collector (Steve Buscemi) who quickly becomes Enid's friend. The movie follows Enid maturing into an adult as her relationship with Rebecca deterioriates.

The movie was nominated for a host of awards [1] most notably Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2001 Academy Awards.

Art School Confidential (2006)

The movie is based very loosely on a comic short story in Dan Clowes' Eightball. Art School Confidential follows Jerome (Max Minghella), an art student who dreams of becoming the greatest artist in the world.

The movie received mixed reviews, not being as well received as Ghost World.

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.[2]

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.[3]

Trivia

• The main character of Ghost World is named Enid Coleslaw, which is an anagram for Daniel Clowes.
• Clowes's artwork can also be seen in the Ramones video for their Tom Waits cover "I Don't Want to Grow Up".
• He has illustrated over 20 record covers, such as The Supersuckers album The Smoke of Hell.
• Clowes created the movie poster for the film Happiness (by Todd Solondz).
• Clowes did artwork for a series of OK Soda cans, a short-lived cola created by Coca-Cola and marketed to the "Generation X" demographic.
• A Clowes illustration appeared on a skateboard deck for Santa Cruz Skateboards in the early '90s. The deck was re-issued in black and white in 2006.
• The Daniel Clowes story "Art School Confidential" is based on his experiences at the Pratt Institute. These same experiences served as the basis for Clowes's script for the film Art School Confidential (2006). This is referenced in the cafeteria scene in the movie: a BFA from Pratt is visible on the wall.

Partial bibliography

Comic books:

• Lloyd Llewellyn #1-#6 (1986–1987) and a special (1988)
• Eightball #1-#23. #23 was released in June 2004

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

Movies:

• Ghost World
• Art School Confidential

Miscellaneous:

• Eightball Postcards
• Ghost World: A Screenplay
• Cracked – recurring strip, "The UGGLY Family", in the mid-80s
• National Lampoon
• Little Enid doll
• Enid & Rebecca Cloth Dolls
• Enid Hi-Fashion Glamour Doll
• Pogeybait Doll

Commercial work:

• OK Soda - Clowes was one of the main illustrators for the OK Soda cans and print material, along with fellow Fantagraphics artist Charles Burns.

External links

• Daniel Clowes Bibliography: The most exhaustive source for information on Clowes's comics, story collections, films, illustrations, and more; includes links to numerous interviews and features.
• Daniel Clowes at Fantagraphics: The publisher's page with biography.
• Daniel Clowes: Biography & discussion of different comics and characters
• Daniel Clowes: Drinks with Tony interview hosted by Tony DuShane
• Daniel Clowes on BBC Collective: Interview and Ice Haven screensaver
• Extensive interview with Clowes on public radio show / podcast The Sound of Young America
• Girls' world - The Guardian, November 3, 2001.
  • Interview with Clowes around the time of the release of Ghost World.
• [4] Comic Book Awards Almanac

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