Eightball: Caricature back

"Clowes gets loneliness down on paper the way that Degas did on canvas!" - LA Weekly

Mostly a transition period for Clowes. Much of this is pre-GHOST WORLD and contains a lot of the themes of friendship, alienation and obsession that pop up in both that book and DAVID BORING.

A travelling caricaturist lands at a middle-of-nowhere state fair, plying his trade and spends some time with a local girl. Her self-obsession and identity changes intrigue him without his ever catching on to them being there. Plenty of Clowes putting forward questions about his own vocation and previous work, possibly answered on the final page. The title of the book (and this story) might be a slap in the face to push him to a better understanding of people and their interior lives. Each story searches to flesh out its new narrator (hmm.. just noticed that they're all told in the first person) allowing them to throw up quirks and ticks without always realising. There are a batch of colour strips included, not least GREEN EYELINER from Esquire magazine. Quality stuff.