The Manly World of Lloyd Llewellyn

Lloyd Llewellyn

by Daniel Clowes

The Manly World of Lloyd Llewellyn (1986-1988), one of the earliest works of Eightball author Daniel Clowes, anticipated the 1990s rediscovery of lounge culture. The 31 stories collected here combine Dragnet with The Twilight Zone with Tales from the Crypt in a world filled with aliens, good-time girls, and cocktail-bar nihilism. The stories are hip and funny, with a good dose of wacky 1950s paranoia and the kind of tongue-in-cheek morality that characterized the old E.C. horror comics. The Lloyd Llewellyn stories also trace the development of Clowes's style as a comic artist, from the angular early pieces that show the influence of 1950s advertising style to the grotesque Robert Crumb-inspired style of the more recent work in Eightball. Clowes is one of the most gifted comic-book artists around, and the retro-chic world of Lloyd Llewellyn deserves to be seen by a new generation of readers.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Fiction, Comix

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

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

[Batmark · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://morethansuperhumans.blogspot.c...

This is a limited edition hardcover book, signed and numbered to 2000 copies, and it contains every single "Lloyd Llewellyn" story from both the Lloyd Llewellyn comic book series and from Eightball as well. The "Lloyd Llewellyn" stories are highly stylized satires of film noir and 1950s culture, centering on Lloyd Llewellyn, a private detective, and his sidekick, Ernie Hoyle. The stories are tongue-in-cheek, but also contain a hint of menace and occasional moments of extreme violence.

Although I enjoy the Lloyd Llewellyn stories, this book is recommended for Clowes completists only. For everyone else, the #$@&!: The Official Lloyd Llewellyn Collection edition is more than adequate.

[Clarence · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOLY SHIT! I spent a lot of money on this book. Thanks to that wacky George Bush and his economy saving Stimulus package I was able to not only purchase a copy but I could do it with only 3/4 of the guilt I would normally feel spending much needed money on a comic book. That being said I am now one book closer to dying owning all the things I want. Thanks Mr. Bush.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the BEST Dan Clowes book ever!! I love the Eat-niks.
The lettering is tweaky and matches the art perfectly.
Every character is crazy not mopey and emo like later stories.

[Olivier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pourquoi est-ce que ce livre n’existe plus en version originale? La traduction française est horrible! Dès le début on est frappé par le ratage total découlant de l’insertion d’expressions françaises peu appropriées. Par exemple, ne pouvait-on pas garder « Eatniks » à la place du ridicule « boufniks »?

[Ietrio · Rating 2 out of 5]

2024-05-03:

that is a lot of ls.

into by jean-paul jannequin. what a moronic introduction! and people like him are the gatekeepers, the censors of what they call culture. no wonder most of it is born dead.

preface. serge clerc. he is dead, but at least he is trying to mimic life, compare the the jannequin drone.

the stories were quite boring.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually didn't have a copy of this book, just read all of the original LL issues. Clowes was onto something pretty early in his career. The stories are clever enough and the characters are well drawn (no pun intended) and consistent. They don't really develop but that's not the point. The blend of styles and genres, though odd, really does work.

[Reyel2107 · Rating 4 out of 5]

lloyd llewellyn master freak !!!!!