Rating: 
Summary: a david lynchian world
Review: this is a tour de force in the way that eraserhead or blue velvet is--a romp on the wild surreal side, though grounded in hyperrealism of sad sack lives, prurience, lust, obsession, crime, madness, war--you know the good things in life that keep the NRA in business and scared folks at home behind gated windows and locked doors. the focus of this bizarre yet well-told tale is a sex-obsessed slacker in some make-believe dystopia who has a lesbian roommate, the hots for a stranger, and a tortured relationship with his mother. so many themes swirl about here, and adding to the confusion are the jumpcuts in time and narrative panels. the most touching and heart-felt panels are those involving a comic book--yellow streak-- that his long-gone father had drawn. a great gift for all david lynch fans and those who endured the film "pi"; the drawing and graphic appeal here are top-drawer.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting...
Review: This is my first exposure to Clowes' work, and gladly, I was not disappointed.The world of David Boring is actually the world of the author's mind--it's totally unrealistic. Contrived situations, miracles and unbelievable plot twists seem to enforce the "surrealist" nature of the book. This is all quite self-referential, and one gets the feeling that the presense of Clowes is very evident in the story; he is, in fact, the "God" in Boring's world. And while the book is thrilling and suspenseful and thrusts forward at a breakneck pace, it has a very loopy storytelling sense, and these are all examples of the kind of stuff that goes on in demented mind of Daniel Clowes. One reader mentioned that the characters don't grow. This is true, but that's not the point. David is essentially a boring (no pun intended) character who is made readable because of a sardonic sense of humour. He is not the star of the book, but Clowes (playing God) tries his best to make him one. So you get all these wondeful loopy subplots going around him and David's just there to react to it. In a sense, it's just Clowes having fun. In another sense, one could say that Clowes is showing us how to make a story with a dull character interesting. It also shows us that you can't make a boring character change into an interesting one, no matter what you do. But you can certainly do great things with his world, and that's why this book is good.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak but interesting
Review: This is one of those books you feel you HAVE to enjoy . . . because if you don't, someone will say "You just don't get it." Honestly, there's nothing to get. Dan Clowes tells a story that almost makes sense. It feels like he made it up as he went along, so each chapter seems disconnected from the last. The end is contrived and plot threads are left dangling. But it's not all bad. He art is tight, complimenting the claustrohic and static story very well. The book makes you think and wonder --- you'll have fun trying to put it all together, even if you fail. And best of all, it might introduce you to the wild and crazy world of grown-up comic books, the kind of comic books that Fantagraphics publishes. If this one doesn't satisfy you, there's always Love & Rockets, Joe Sacco, and Chris Ware.
Rating:
Summary: Weak but interesting
Review: This is one of those books you feel you HAVE to enjoy . . . because if you don't, someone will say "You just don't get it." Honestly, there's nothing to get. Dan Clowes tells a story that almost makes sense. It feels like he made it up as he went along, so each chapter seems disconnected from the last. The end is contrived and plot threads are left dangling. But it's not all bad. He art is tight, complimenting the claustrohic and static story very well. The book makes you think and wonder --- you'll have fun trying to put it all together, even if you fail. And best of all, it might introduce you to the wild and crazy world of grown-up comic books, the kind of comic books that Fantagraphics publishes. If this one doesn't satisfy you, there's always Love & Rockets, Joe Sacco, and Chris Ware.
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