Daniel Clowes

I'm not biggest Clowes fan anyway, but this seemed particularly pointlessly misanthropic. Each page is a single chapter, paced as a longer gag strip -something between a traditional US Sunday strip à la Peanuts or Calvin & Hobbes, and a one-page UK kids comic strip (a form with no tradition?). But, inevitably, each punchline is a gob of misanthropic bile, not a bon mot. The art style changes on each page, mostly rotating between a few standard styles - I wasn't quite sure why he did this.

There's definitely some good work here, it's just that I didn't find it enjoyable. And I say that as someone who generally gravitates toward downbeat and miserabilist art. I guess I want a bit more empathy with the character. As it is, it kinda feels like Clowes wants to create a dislikable character purely so that people can dislike him.… (more)

A good, if slight, book from Clowes. Very funny in parts. Highly postmodern, although in an ingenuous and understated - not overly knowing - way. I was interested by the 'Vida goes to Hollywood' section - is its misogyny just self-referential self-mocking? Is it supposed to be that, yet still misogynistic in its own right? Is it more misanthropy than misogyny? I give Clowes the benefit of the doubt, and believe it is carefully constructed - both highlighting the misogyny of which Clowes has been accused in the past, and also bringing the paranoia of failed writer, Random Wilder, to life. It feels like Ice Haven manages to pull together many of the themes that Clowes has explored through Eightball. While not weighty, it feels like a great introduction to and overview of his work.
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