Twentieth Century Eightball (20th Century Eightball)

Rating:
Summary: The Product of a Sick and Warped Mind
Review: But, so was Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." Only time will tell if his work will be included amongst such august company, but for the time being, Daniel Clowes stands at the top of the heap of today's comic book artists.

Twentieth Century Eightball is an omnibus, "best of" collection of his comic panels from his Fantagraphic comic book series "Eightball" which was issued semiannually from the late 1980s through the 1990s.

Clowes' rapist (pun intended) wit is in overdrive here, as he expounds on his endless lists of things he hates, often in the guise of such stand-ins as the now-classic Lloyd Llewellyn. "I Hate You Deeply" and "I Love You Tenderly" will have you howling like a banshee, as you follow Lloyd through one of his ranting diatribes against sports figures, corporate greed, hippy sellouts and lowest-common-denominators.

And that's basically the whole book: Thinly-veiled attacks on all the things that bother the idosyncratic Daniel Clowes. But, so what: They deserve bashing! My favourite targets of his ire were post-modernist talentless art school poseurs, violently agressive hippy burnout peaceniks, "hip" people, Chicagoan "Jim Belushi" types, dumb jocks and pretentious Americans such as I who use the British spelling of words (e.g., "colour" instead of "color"; "kerb" rather than "curb").

Some of the material is just too bizarre to describe here -- I don't want to give away the weirdness, so find out for yourself about "On Sports," "Pogeybait," "The Happy Fisherman" and other such sundry freakishness.

But this book also reveals a soft-spot in Clowes' heart, particularly in the short "Ugly Girls," in which he questions society's norms of "beauty." Though he doesn't use the name "Enid," the reader can tell that Clowes has long been entranced and obsessed with the raven-haired, bookish, bespectacled wallflower type. I agree: She *is* much more stunning than those trophy blondes.

Rating:
Summary: The Product of a Sick and Warped Mind
Review: But, so was Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." Only time will tell if his work will be included amongst such august company, but for the time being, Daniel Clowes stands at the top of the heap of today's comic book artists.

Twentieth Century Eightball is an omnibus, "best of" collection of his comic panels from his Fantagraphic comic book series "Eightball" which was issued semiannually from the late 1980s through the 1990s.

Clowes' rapist (pun intended) wit is in overdrive here, as he expounds on his endless lists of things he hates, often in the guise of such stand-ins as the now-classic Lloyd Llewellyn. "I Hate You Deeply" and "I Love You Tenderly" will have you howling like a banshee, as you follow Lloyd through one of his ranting diatribes against sports figures, corporate greed, hippy sellouts and lowest-common-denominators.

And that's basically the whole book: Thinly-veiled attacks on all the things that bother the idosyncratic Daniel Clowes. But, so what: They deserve bashing! My favourite targets of his ire were post-modernist talentless art school poseurs, violently agressive hippy burnout peaceniks, "hip" people, Chicagoan "Jim Belushi" types, dumb jocks and pretentious Americans such as I who use the British spelling of words (e.g., "colour" instead of "color"; "kerb" rather than "curb").

Some of the material is just too bizarre to describe here -- I don't want to give away the weirdness, so find out for yourself about "On Sports," "Pogeybait," "The Happy Fisherman" and other such sundry freakishness.

But this book also reveals a soft-spot in Clowes' heart, particularly in the short "Ugly Girls," in which he questions society's norms of "beauty." Though he doesn't use the name "Enid," the reader can tell that Clowes has long been entranced and obsessed with the raven-haired, bookish, bespectacled wallflower type. I agree: She *is* much more stunning than those trophy blondes.

Rating:
Summary: Pretentious curmudgeonry best left under wraps
Review: Clowes admits in his introduction that Art Spiegelman called Clowes' early work his "total wiseass period." He should've taken the hint.

As a fan of Daniel Clowes' "David Boring" and "Ghost World," as well as his screenplay based on the latter, I was disappointed to discover how much of a jerk he'd been early on. The rants remind me of my adolescence, but as Clowes was college-age and up when he first published these comics, immaturity is not an excuse. While this book will interest hardcore Clowes fans, I do not recommend it to the casual Clowes enjoyer.

Rating:
Summary: Pretentious curmudgeonry best left under wraps
Review: Clowes admits in his introduction that Art Spiegelman called Clowes' early work his "total wiseass period." He should've taken the hint.

As a fan of Daniel Clowes' "David Boring" and "Ghost World," as well as his screenplay based on the latter, I was disappointed to discover how much of a jerk he'd been early on. The rants remind me of my adolescence, but as Clowes was college-age and up when he first published these comics, immaturity is not an excuse. While this book will interest hardcore Clowes fans, I do not recommend it to the casual Clowes enjoyer.

Rating:
Summary: some of the best!
Review: I love this book, it has 46 stories in all. If you goto fast you will miss something. it shows Mr. Clowes early work and most of it has him in it. Some of my favorer works are Art School Confidential, Why I Hate Christians, The Stroll and Hippypants and Peace Bear. I'm sorry to say that I haven't read them all yet, it just wouldn't seem right. The nice thing about these stories is that there all different and if you a fanatic like me you can find links with others comics by Clowes. Also if you got pulled in to comics from the movie Ghost World then you can find some of the faces in the movie were first seen in Eightball. This is an amazing collection and I'm sure you will be able to relate and feel connected to it. I wouldn't give it to a child because like most of Mr. Clowes work it has nudity, sex, drugs, and some language. Don't lit that get in the way of the dialog and always stay open minded when reading.
-Madalyn