Customer Reviews

Twentieth Century Eightball (20th Century Eightball)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

I think I laughed more out loud while I read this than I have with my previous Clowes. While the Clowes I've read in the past is dark and haunting themes (Ghost World and Like a Velvet Glove), this is a filling dose of dark humor and venting of frustrations.
I might have given it five stars, but I'm not such a scraps-o-stories kinda gal. Lots of the stories had good starts, and either no endings or abrupt drop-offs.
And also, if I was fiendish about the way that my TPB's look, as in for resale value and such, I might have had a heart attack the way Amazon sent it. It looked like it might have been lying on a garage floor for a couple of years before they tossed it in the carton. The other comic I ordered arrived in mint condition and plastic-wrapped, so I dunno what the deal is.
I love Clowes more every time I read a new one, and this is no exception!

OK, so, it's true. Art school is loaded with its myriad of players. Everyone's there for their own reasons and for the most part no one genuinely likes their fellow students. The majority of the teachers are there to fight for fanatical allegiance student by student, but really, their work is tired and old, and handing out a degree to any art student who impresses the most faculty of this sort, surely is an oxymoron when learning to make and see art supercedes the hey day of dinosaur art school faculty. Not because they were never destined to be anything great, or because they never were anything great, but because the bonds they form with students are based on who enjoys their personal work the most and who is most likely to build the school's overall reputation, rather than who is genuinely most able to think and create in a constantly evolving manner. Every 21 year old considering art school on the graduate level, should know this before going. Art School Confidential addresses all of this, such that I imagine most art programs were built around this comic book, rather than vice versa. PROTIP: when your art school wants you to play the drunk uncle, run like hell and hire a private investigator. ;)

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

Clowes' strengths are his sublime pacing, wonderful atmosphere, and realistic characters - none of which he displays in his short stories. He is just, as Spiegelman says, a "wiseass." Some people like the early Eightballs because they're more comic than his later works, but Clowes cannot compete with the classic humor comics like Howard the Duck and Cerebus: High Society. His longer works, on the other hand, are top rate stuff.

These stories aren't bad, but they're not good either. Certainly not worth buying.

pretty funny - I think it's better than Ice Haven
manic, quick, collection works together well

It was in good condition... It just took three weeks longer to get than other books I ordered at the same time.

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.