Caricature

by Daniel Clowes

A collection of tales populated by misanthropic loners, including the title story in which a county fair caricaturist develops a relationship with an unstable girl who may or may not be the teenage daughter of a famous artist.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Short Stories, Comix, Comic Book

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Daniel Clowes is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter whose work helped define the landscape of alternative comics and bring the medium into mainstream literary conversation. Rising to prominence through his long-running anthology Eightball, he used its pages to blend acidic humor, social observation, surrealism, and character-driven storytelling, producing serials that later became acclaimed graphic novels including Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, Ghost World, David Boring, Ice Haven, and Patience. His illustrations have appeared in major publications such as The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Village Voice, while his collaborations with filmmaker Terry Zwigoff resulted in the films Ghost World and Art School Confidential, the former earning widespread praise and an Academy Award nomination for its screenplay. Clowes began honing his voice in the 1980s with contributions to Cracked and with his Lloyd Llewellyn stories for Fantagraphics, but it was Eightball, launched in 1989, that showcased the full range of his interests, from deadpan satire to psychological drama. Known for blending kitsch, grotesquerie, and a deep love of mid-century American pop culture, he helped shape the sensibilities of a generation of cartoonists and became a central figure in the shift toward graphic novels being treated as serious literature. His post-Eightball books continued this evolution, with works like Wilson, Mister Wonderful, The Death-Ray, and the recent Monica exploring aging, identity, longing, and the complexities of relationships, often through inventive visual structures that echo the history of newspaper comics. Clowes has also been active in music and design, creating artwork for Sub Pop bands, the Ramones, and other artists, and contributing to film posters, New Yorker covers, and Criterion Collection releases. His work has earned dozens of honors, including multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards, a Pen Award for Outstanding Body of Work in Graphic Literature, an Inkpot Award, and the prestigious Fauve d’Or at Angoulême. Exhibitions of his original art have appeared across the United States and internationally, with a major retrospective, Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes, touring museums beginning in 2012. His screenplay work extended beyond Ghost World to projects like Art School Confidential and Wilson, and he has long been a touchstone for discussions about Generation X culture, alternative comics, and the shifting boundaries between the literary and graphic arts.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caricature is a collection of nine tales written and drawn by Dan Clowes. Someone on twitter commented this was the turning point for Clowes, when he stopped fucking around and started doing more introspective, serious stories. I'll take his word for.

These stories had less silliness and sf/fantasy elements and a lot more grounded, angsty, existential elements. It's all drawn in the trademark Dan Clowes style, which you either love or hate. I've dug it since seeing his Uggly Family series in Cracked decades ago. I'd say the title story or The Gynecologist were my favorites but there wasn't a dud in the bunch.

[VeganMedusa · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I'm ever feeling suicidal but can't quite do the job, I'll read this book again.

[Miguel Jiménez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es la primera vez que leo a Daniel Clowes y ha sido una grata sorpresa. Le queda a la medida el término de "interesante". Me gustó la forma en que contaba las historias, con estilo minimalista. Las mayoría son tristes, con personajes marginales y que al final del relato te dejan con una sensación ¿vacía?. Pero, por otra parte, este escritor es tremendamente observador y sí, digo que me ha gustado su forma particular de ver la vida. Pongo una frase que me atrajó de una historia.

"No trabajo, ni voy a la escuela, ni nada, pero no me aburro nunca. No me gusta la gente que se aburre. Eso es lo aburrido, la gente aburrida".

Historia Green Eyeliner, cómic Caricatura.

Me sentí identificado con la anterior cita, jaja, pues también he llegado a pensar eso. Hay tantas distracciones, cosas entretenidas en la vida y que digas que te aburres. Como el internet, por decir una, no hay forma de aburrirte aquí, o con otros medios de comunicación, igual. Pero bueno, en fin, pongo las historias que más me gustaron:


"Ginecología" (5 estrellas)

La forma como lo planteó fue espectacular. El narrador agarra a un hombre cualquiera de la calle, y metiendo algo de suspenso va diciendo ¿qué tiene de interesante esta persona? ¿por qué lo escogimos? Y te va contando la historia de este personaje, qué bueno, daba mucho de qué hablar. Cómo cambiaba de personalidad para atraer mujeres. Es algo así como una novela corta, de 3 capítulos. Insisto en que la planeación fue muy buena, la variedad de personajes, el manejo de la historia en general. Salta de un suceso del protagonista a otro del secundario que no lo hace menos intrigante. Y después, como si nada, dice "Dejamos que siga por la calle a este hombre". Magnífica.


"Green eyeliner" (4 estrellas)

Trata de una chava que se cree hermosa, piensa que a todos los hombres les gusta, y que aparece en sus fantasías sexuales. También es muy buena. Su personalidad, para destacar, algo así como la "anti-héroe", arrogante, soberbia, pero que por alguna extraña razón te termina encantando —al menos en mi caso—. Con un final buenísimo.


Las siguientes tienen 3 estrellas. También me gustaron, pero no tanto como las anteriores, aunque también son buenas. "La mamá de oro" e "Inmortal invisible".


Ahora, ¿por qué le pongo tres estrellas al libro en general? Porque si bien he casi alabado a Daniel Clowes, y se lo merece, porque parece tener un don para contar historias, un escritor en toda la extensión de la palabra, no me termina por convencer del todo el libro en general. Tiene sus historias y que como dije son buenísimas algunas de ellas, pero siento que hay un exceso sobre historias de adolescentes. No molestan, pero llega en ocasiones a ser algo repetitivo y te cansa un poco. Pero a pesar de esto, me gustó Daniel Clowes y claro que leería alguna otra cosa de él.

Por cierto, se asemeja algo a Adrian Tomine, en el estilo sobretodo, porque este habla más de relaciones de pareja, y Clowes es más general en sus historias.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's funny how often Dan Clowes seems to repeat character types and themes in his stories. Each of these feels like an alternate, miniature version of one of his other books. There's the Ghost World story, the Like A Velvet Glove Cast in Iron story, the Art School Confidential story. I'm fine with this, though. This book makes me see a bit more why people compare Adrian Tomine with him.

I wrote that first paragraph before I finished the book. Now I'm pretty convinced that I like Clowes' short fiction better than his long fiction.

[aLejandRø · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relectura de este clásico de Clowes, ahora en una (preciosa) nueva edición mejorada (en papel offset de gran gramaje) por parte de La Cúpula.
9 historias protagonizadas por los singulares personajes clowesianos, que deambulan por la vida, magníficamente retratados, inmersos en triviales cortometrajes carversianos.

El arte es parte fundamental a la hora de lograr las atmósferas de angustia existencial y marginalidad que sobrevuelan estas paginas; el manejo del color, tramas, luces y sombras es excepcional, mas allá de la calidad general del dibujo.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmmm... I know Clowes' stock-in-trade is melancholic, misanthropic loners and drifters, but I found this collection a bit too fucking bleak for my liking. And, misogynistic. I KNOW all his characters are flawed - and that's the point - but their consistent objectification and contempt for women got a bit tiresome and was not something that I liked, could relate to or want out of my art, simply because it's so omnipresent in reality. That aside, massive props for his art and his writing, both of which were pretty brilliant.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clowes isn't just a top comic writer, but a producer of literature of the highest level. These stories have a depth (and a clarity) reminiscent of Salinger.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better Smooth Clowes, there are a couple stories in here that genuinely resonate with me. I'm still not really a fan of the "woe is me" writing Clowes does but this is a decent comic.

[D.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is not anything out of the ordinary for Clowes, and puts together eight stories from his regular comic Eightball with one from Esquire Magazine. For the most part, these are his usual doomed-everyman (or woman) tales, with the notable exception being the nightmarish full-colour 'The Gold Mommy.'
The title piece follows five days in the life of a festival-circuit caricaturist, and a brief encounter he has with a strange young woman of questionable age (anywhere between 15 and 22, according to her).
'Blue Italian Shit' reads like a memoir, with nothing too strange happening, and instead just showing us the vagaries of a young man's search for identity and companionship...and the most interesting roommates he can find.
I actually pulled this book out this time to read 'MCMLXVI,' though I can't remember what made me think of it. As the title suggests, this one is about a snob's obsession with the year 1966 and the things therefrom. It's funny if you don't know anyone like that, but kind of sad if you do. This is the second colour piece in the book.
'Like a Weed, Joe' continues in the same true-life memoir vein, but where 'MCMLXVI' is about a man who never really grew up, '...Weed...' is a small glimpse of a summertime sort-of-coming-of-age.
The next story, 'Immortal, Invisible,' could easily be the next stage in the life of the boy from '...Weed...' In it we go out trick-or-treating (probably for the final time) with a 14-year-old boy who hopes for his teenage instincts to guide him into some nebulous insight through a stranger's door.
'Green Eyeliner' is the final colour piece in the book, and the only story featuring a female lead. Though her gender's different from the other main characters, her obsessions and idiosyncracies are typically Clowes. She is a woman who believes she's turned around her physical image, and hopes to use it to inflict a childish 'revenge' on an up-and-coming actor she knew in high school.
The penultimate story is the longest, and the most coherent narratively. 'Gynecology' gives us god's-eye perspective on the life of Epps, who's having an affair with a singing gynecologist's wife. Add into this mix an obsessive former patient of the good doctor, and the Clowes formula for a noirish tale of sexual possession and emotional manipulation is complete. For my money, this would've made a better title for the collection.
The last tale reads like a prelude (if not literally, at least thematically) to Clowes' more recent Death Ray. A superhero who's being replaced by a younger model uses his Dale Cooper-like investigative techniques to lead him on a bit of a chase. Naturally, in this Chandler-esque Clowes tale, it can't end well.
Caricature is a great place to start reading Clowes, giving as it does a nice sampling across his spectrum. But for the more seasoned Clowes reader, it might feel a little light; save it for after reading everything else he's put out.

[Christopher Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely use the word "genius" to describe anyone, let alone comic-book artists/writers. Kirby, Crumb (not even Eisner or Spiegelman, sorry), and now definitely Clowes. He uses the medium to its fullest, and does things one cannot do in any other medium. I was originally exposed to Clowes through the film Ghost World, and then turned to the graphic novel and realized that I'd seen his stuff before when I lived in Chicago in the early '90s and it was appearing in free publications like Lumpen Times, some of which I saved just because of Clowes's comics. Then I found the 20th-Century Eightball compilation, and now just this month I got Caricature at a rummage sale at the same time that I got a bunch of Eightball back issues, including #22 with what later became the graphic novel Ice Haven, which must be his best ever. Yes, a genius.

Plus, he shares my infatuation with insecure, bookish punk-rock chicks with glasses. (Reader, I married one.)

[Haloperidol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mira yo con Daniel clowes no soy imparcial, para empezar su estilo de dibujo me chifla , esta a la altura siempre hasta en su unica obra a la que no le pillo el punot ( llOYD llEWELLyn su estilo de dibujo me alucina.
Caricatura es un recopilacion de historias cortas que incluye "traje de mierda italiano" que para mi viene a ser como un miniepilogo de un alterego masculino de la Enid de ghost world.. El protagonista ya se ha ido de su opresivo pueblo y puede fingir que es otra persona.. pero bueno en el fondo no es diferente sigue siendo un freak inadaptado.Las otras historias tambien me gustan bastante, quizas la mas floja es ub sobre un tipo obsesionado con los 60

Joder si pienso que daniel clowes es hasta guapo.. no me pregunteis que pienso de su obra ...

[Inés Belmonte Amorós · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clowes es genial retratando personajes narcisistas, escépticos y solitarios. Es como si me me metieran por vía intravenosa todo ese espíritu yanqui que rezuma en los centros comerciales semiabandonados de EEUU. En este sentido, me gusta que las historietas tengan finales abiertos, a veces como si el autor liberara al personaje y nos diera a entender que, eh, ese personaje tiene un peso y una existencia en el plano de lo real, y lo he dejado a su libre albedrío. En fin, lo único que me resulta ya cansino es esa perspectiva tan profundamente patriarcal, con sus giros machistas en el guion, que me sacan de la historia (no es tanto un juicio moral como una expresión de mi hastío... Necesito leer cómics con conciencia feminista ya. Acepto recomendaciones(??)).

[Sylvain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too much writing, like Clowes doesn't have much faith in his own drawings. The two are definitely co-dependent, as they both lack a little somethin'. Still, it's entertaining, it provides a few chuckles, and one or two insights.

Also, when did unlikeable characters become the norm in comics/cartoons/graphic novels? It's like cartoonists are only used to hanging out with assholes or something.

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shame this collection ends with two of Clowes' weaker stories (one sprawling, one brief), but "The Gold Mommy," "Like a Weed, Joe," and "Immortal, Invisible" are particularly great.

"Caricature": ★★★★
"Blue Italian S-": ★★★★
"The Gold Mommy": ★★★★ 1/2
"MCMLXVI": ★★★
"Like a Weed, Joe": ★★★★
"Immortal, Invisible": ★★★★ 1/2
"Green Eyeliner": ★★★ 1/2
"Gynecology": ★★★
"Black Nylon": ★★★

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nine stories of anomie, isolation, and ennui from the great Clowes. I'd read most of these in his 90's-era comic series Eightball, and it was great to read some of them again. The title story, "Blue Italian Shit" and "Invisible, Immortal" are standouts for me, while "The Gold Mommy" perfectly captures the feel of a nightmare unfolding.

[pierlapo quimby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clowes sa spiazzare il lettore senza darsi delle arie.
Inoltre è cattivo ma non arrabbiato e riesce sempre a mantenere un certo distacco formale nel raccontarci quanto facciamo schifo.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only read 4.5 of the 9 stories in this book. Love Clowes' art, but get really sick of his bitter, pathetic characters and lackadaisical stories.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bored of cynicism

[Randy Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

At one time, “Caricature” was my favorite Daniel Clowes comic—the comic story, that is—but this collection, as well—Caricature: Nine Stories. In literary terms, a short story collection. I believe all but one of these first came out in various Eightball comics. I still love the title story, kind of a first-person, personal journal account of a traveling caricature artist—in places like county fairs—it feels very small town Midwestern. I especially love the cheap hotel and family restaurant. He meets a (very) young woman, and they get to know each other—he kind of (inappropriately) falls in love with her—and then she’s gone. And then he examines his life. That’s it—very short—but I feel like I still know this guy. All of the stories here are great—I can see why someone (DC) wanted to put them together in a collection, give them new published life. Most are about younger people, a few about kids. The real epic in the collection is “Gynecology” —it is novelistic in its scope—number of characters, time passing, and complexity. And it’s disturbing. Over the course of many years and re-reads, the one that’s now gotten to be my favorite is the last in the book, “Black Nylon,” a humorous and twisted take on superheroes—similar to The Death Ray, but very different. It kind of gets at the feeling I had about the Batman and Superman comics I bought when I was very young—I couldn’t understand them, never liked them (I was an Archies fan), but I always felt they were about sex and perversion, and I couldn’t quite grasp it. This one is very short—yet it continues to mystify me. Every time I read it, it’s like I’m approaching it for the first time—just as confused and disturbed—and I laugh and am very uncomfortable. I feel like I’m forever on the verge of understanding it—but will always be missing something. For me, that’s not a bad thing—it’s a very good thing.

[Liam O'Leary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not his best, but my second favorite by Clowes.

While I can't fit this into my David Lynch film comparisons (see David Boring review), I've realized another interesting way to view Clowes's work is to arrange them in the order of the life period of the protagonist:

0. Ice Haven & Twentieth Century Eightball: not included as no narrative perspective
1. Caricature: early teenager (11-15)
2. Ghostworld: mid teenager (15-18)
3. Like A Velvet Glove : late teenager (18-20)
4. David Boring: young adult (21-24)
5. Mister Wonderful: mid adult (25-30)
6. Patience: mid adult (30-40)
7. Wilson: late adult (50+)

By doing this it allows you to reflect on how his protagonist's perspectives mature as they age, most easily with respect to their idea of love and happiness.

Moving through 1-7 from the list above, the male characters become progressively less upset, defined more by what they do rather than how they feel (and therein become more flat), less bitter about women (excluding Wilson), become more obnoxious to the reader, and become more capable of initiating the plot events.

Moving from 1-7, the characters seem to resemble each age group written in parentheses. Surprisingly, the blurb on the back relating Caricature to Catcher In The Rye is actually pretty accurate. By comparison, Ghostworld has more boredom and danger, Like A Velvet Glove has more psychological instability, David Boring has more desperation, Mister Wonderful has less bitterness and dishonesty, Patience more assertiveness and dedication, and finally Wilson demonstrates that despite all the progress in that journey from childhood to adulthood your midlife crisis will still turn you into an asshole.

Here's to growing up!

[Tom Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only recently begun to realize what a powerful form of literature graphic novels (or as Daniel Clowes would probably prefer: cartoons) can be. There are various quotes on the back of this book that sum up Clowes's work better than I can. It mentions "emotional resonance," "mordant humor," the exploration of "the tedium and mystery of contemporary American life." All nine stories here accomplish those things, I think. My favorite is probably the title story which follows a lonely caricature artist as he travels the country working county fairs and the like, and the brief friendship he shares with an equally lonely young women. Also excellent are "Like A Weed, Joe" and "Immortal, Invisible" both of which are melancholy reflections on lonely early teenage years. "Gynecology" is strange and kind of meandering, but also up there. All of the stories are above average and feature a distinct visual style and tone. There is this interesting nostalgia at work in so many of the stories. Mostly young people, often male, looking back at sad or lonely or distressing periods of their life with a kind of fondness. Maybe that's just the interpretation I brought to the reading. I also realize that I may have a blind spot when it comes to the stories in the collection, which are told almost exclusively from a male perspective that may be present even in the one story told from a woman's point of view.

[Jack Silbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Oooh, a Daniel Clowes book I haven't read!" I thought excitedly, moments before ordering a copy via Amazon. (I'm new to Prime, and a little addicted.) Had I spent a few more minutes researching, I would've learned that 8 of the 9 stories in this collection originally appeared in the pages of Eight Ball. And I own every copy of Eight Ball. As for story No. 9, which debuted in Esquire, it is the shortest of the bunch. Of course it is.

Still, time has a way of making works you consumed many years seem like you are experiencing them for the first time. And of the 8 I'd read before, only the memorably-titled "Like a Weed, Joe," had really lodged itself in my brain. So thank you, failing memory.

It's a strong batch of stories. Clowes' protagonists tend to be loner misanthropes, and there are plenty of them here. While his storytelling ability has clearly improved over the years, Clowes' beautiful darkness was in full flower in these earlier entries. Personally, I really respond to that. Even his plotting weaknesses are frequently a strength: Clowes ends stories where he wants them to end, rather than what the reader wants. But after a moment of wondering "Hey, what happened?" there's another moment of "Huh, that was kind of cool," and then another story to look at on the next page.

[Grégoire Maillard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel Clowes est souvent considéré comme un des grands auteurs de la bd américaine alternative, avec une production incroyable de courtes histoires dans son magazine Eightball dans les années 90 puis ensuite des romans graphiques plus longs et tout autant adulés depuis les années 2000; Caricature est une compilation de neuf petites histoires de Eightball que j’ai dévoré et adoré (mes préférées sont Comme une brindille Joe, et Caricature); ce recueil couvre un bel ensemble des thématiques qui Clowes couvre souvent (la solitude, l’amour perturbé, une vision pessimiste du monde) et les personnages évoluent dans des histoires toujours plus absurdes (c’est du Lynch sur papier) et c’est vraiment bien écrit (voire traduit dans le cas présent); d’un point de vue graphique l’auteur est assez fidèle à son style, jouant beaucoup avec les contrastes et des personnages aux têtes charismatiques, j’ai un peu de mal avec sa coloration (couleurs trop kitschs, mal balancées, pas très plaisantes) mais son noir et blanc transmet parfaitement l’univers qu’il veut imposer; Caricature est soit une belle introduction pour découvrir Clowes ou un complément judicieux si vous en explorer plus sa bibliographie !

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband gave me this book and about halfway through he noticed I was reading it and asked me if I liked it. I had to answer honestly—it really isn’t my cuppa. I usually enjoy graphics, but first of all this is a set of short pieces, and I generally don’t connect to short fiction as a genre. Secondly, these pieces ooze a masculinity that could be described as toxic if the characters didn’t seem so hangdog and pathetic. The narrator’s voice in my head (in every story, even the one where the protagonist is a woman) sounded like a kind of nasally monotone, droning on about the random nothingness of his life. I shouldn’t be surprised that all the stories touched on aspects of sexuality, some more graphic than others, but a frustrated or repressed or just fucked up sex life seems to be a central preoccupation for most of these men. All in all it was fairly dreary, and even though it is a slim volume, it took me a while to read because I had to intersperse the reading with other stuff to get through it. I did it because I love my husband and I’m touched when he buys books for me.

[Shin · Rating 3 out of 5]

in his short comics #DanielClowes writes so much about the harmlessly horrible: geeks refusing to live by social norms who end up being reductive stereotypes themselves and people who have simply given up in trying to be accepted. indeed the characters here are some of the least pleasant figures you will ever encounter on panelled page.

i suppose what Clowes does in #Caricature is to critique those who are most critical and cynical of the world. that these self-styled nonconformists all fit pretty much in a particular hipster formula they so desperately shun. it's hard to tell whether he finds them fascinating or utterly repulsive. maybe it's that strange mix that makes them enchanting to read about. not for me, though. i really didn't like reading about these characters so i can't sincerely say that i enjoyed this.

still Daniel Clowes is an amazing comic artist with an original inimitable voice.

[Zac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories about odd characters but it doesn't get too weird. This was cool and I forgot how much I liked Daniel Clowes - his style of art and his humour. My only complaint was that it was pretty short, but maybe that just indicates that it's about time for me to revisit Ghost World.

[Fuchsia Dickinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 15 and 14 years later, I still like it, even more. Daniel Clowes does not only have expressive, beautiful drawings, but very interesting stories. They're full of details that catch you and in the end, they talk about loneliness and how we cope with it. I love the psychological analysis and situations his characters go through, I'm totally seduced by this book.

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clowes is of the few comedic writers that can actually get audible laughs out of me and Caricature was no exception. His typically cynical humor about delusional yet relatable characters always hits the right spot and although I am not a big short story / strip fan these are all quite good. "Green Eyeliner", "Like A Weed, Joe", and "Blue Italian Shit" were the highlights for me. 8/10

[Howell Murray · Rating 1 out of 5]

These stories are all about sad and extremely unlikable characters. He’s making fun of them, and his art has some merit, but I don’t want to read a book where the characters are all like this. It's a short book but it took me a long time to read it because I kept putting it down because I didn't like it.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me ha gustado nada de nada, solo una historia o dos me han llamado un poco la atención. No sé si soy yo que no soy lo suficientemente profunda y melancólica o qué, pero la verdad es que este autor a mí no me remueve lo más mínimo.