When Dan Clowes went to Hollywood and started making movies with Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi I wondered if he would ever do another serious graphic novel again. Its been a decade since David Boring came out in book form! But this week Drawn and Quarterly release the full length graphic novel Wilson. It was worth the wait. (click on images for larger size)
Wilson is an odd bird. He tries to befriend stranger after stranger in coffee shops and bars, and later in prison - but he really doesn't like anybody. Mostly he just talks to himself. Its a sort of introspective misanthropy. Clowes draws Wilson in a variety of styles, but Wilson's awkwardness and our discomfort remains constant.
The individual pages are all moments of one epic pathetic story. After his father dies Wilson sets out to find his ex-wife (who now has the tattoo "Property of Sir D.A.D.D.Y. Big-Dick" on her back). They hunt down their teenage daughter, born after the marriage ended and given up for adoption. Wilson believes they can make it as a family. Huh. Check out the D&Q blog for the Clowes tour dates (he will be at the STRAND next Wednesday.
Thanks for the Clowes post. That third cartoon is very moving.
Posted by: Ivy | April 30, 2010 at 02:45 AM
Welcome to an FMU'ers life.
Posted by: icanhazz | April 30, 2010 at 07:43 AM
I was mad for Clowes' work back in the peak days of EIGHTBALL, but I find it hard to muster enthusiasm for it now. These excerpts you've posted are intriguing and enjoyable, and suggest the whole book might be well worth reading. I found DAVID BORING, uh, boring, though, and Clowes' drawing style has devolved into a dull semi-illustrative style that seems imitative of Adrian Tomine, a cartoonist I always considered imitative (in his mature drawing style) of Clowes, (at his least cartoony). I wish Clowes would find a way to reinvigorate his drawing with the graphic boldness of his best work from EIGHTBALL, as his current drawings are soporific, and do not invite a second look, or even a sustained first look.
Posted by: Robert1014 | May 02, 2010 at 04:01 PM