Considering Clowes
- By Tom Manning
- Published 02/1/2008
Tom Manning
Tom Manning is a writer, illustrator and graphic designer living in New Haven, Connecticut. His first graphic novel, RACECAR, was published in 1999, and the final volume of his critically acclaimed series RUNOFF has recently been published by OddGod Press. He has art directed magazines such as Filter and Mean, and is currently in the final year of a master's degree in graphic design from Yale University. His hobbies include work. More information on RUNOFF can be found at www.robotsandmonkeys.com.
First and foremost, I'm a big fan of Dan Clowes. But I've been scratching my head about his recent work over the past few years. I don't think I have to go into the reasons why I thought Art School Confidential was a bad (okay, terrible) movie, but that doesn't disturb me as much as my lack of enjoyment of his weekly series "Mister Wonderful" running now in the New York Times. As a comic book creator, Dan Clowes has always captured the mundane and transcended it in a way that is downright uncanny. But in "Mr. Wonderful"...it's just mundane. Yes, it's gotten slightly better the past few weeks, but it's mediocrity both in plot and composition are disappointing.
Now there is word he's going to be working on a film with Michel Gondry ... though instead of the adaptation of Rudy Rucker’s novel Master of Space and Time, it now seems they will be working on an adaptation on the comics of Gondry's 16 year old son (!?). In the best case scenario we will see Clowes returning to his surreal side ala "Velvet Glove Cast in Iron"... in the worst case scenario Clowes is going to be a third wheel to the two Gondry's: one an obvious genius, and another a 16 year old comic book creator who can't hold a candle to what Clowes had done for the medium (believe me because I've seen Paul Gondry's comics - we published some in Filter Magazine while I was art director there).
So what's going on? In my mind, the last great thing Dan Clowes has done was the "Death Ray" issue of "Eightball", and before that, the fantastic "Ice Haven" issue. So, let me hope that someday soon the talented Mr. Clowes will ignore the bright siren song promise of the New York Times and Hollywood, and wake up to the mediocrity they have brought to his work. And after that realization, I hope he delivers another fantastic issue of Eightball. It's been far too long.
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Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by leeVSbenway)
MR WONDERFUL has been a great thrill for me. I look forward to each issue of my NYT mag, something I've never done before. I know where you're coming from, but you're not really the target audience for the strip (judging from your pic I'm gonna guess that you can't quite relate to MR WONDERFUL's bald, middle-aged, divorced and bitter protagonist). I love the strip.
Comment #2 (Posted by Tom Manning)
Yeah. I'm a married 30 year old, with hair, and not entirely bitter. I guess MR. WONDERFUL is not for me. But wait. I'm not a teenage girl, nor a whole host of other protagonists in previous stories from Clowes. I think you have a point, but I don't think I dislike MR. WONDERFUL because I'm not a divorced, middle-aged, bitter person. I think I dislike it because it doesn't transcend the subject matter to the degree he has able to do in his previous work. By no means do I think it's wrong to like "Mr. Wonderful" but by no means do I think it's close to his best work... which I hope to see a return of.
Comment #3 (Posted by leeVSbenway)
I didn't mean to fall into the trap of "you have to be ____ to enjoy ___." But, in the case of MR WONDERFUL and MR WONDERFUL alone, I think it might help (Just for the record, I'm also 30, happily partnered and not entirely bitter). I've been very critical of the other strips commissioned by the NYT and think Clowes has really set the bar high for future strips. It seems odd, but I might not enjoy the strip outside the confines of the NYT mag...something about the stuffed shirt sensibilities of the magazine make MR WONDERFUL a great fit. I was hooked on this strip from about the second week on. Something about the dynamics of the characters and the languid pacing of their story really grabs me. I guess I just have a thing for bitter old men.
Comment #4 (Posted by Tom Manning)
Interesting point about how you might feel different about it outside the NYT mag... I've wondered about that as well. We may have different opinions, but I'm right there with you on the bitter old men thing. Cheers to that.
