CARICATURE

By Tony Whitt     April 14, 2002

There's something deeply unsettling about the work of Daniel Clowes-not necessarily because of what happens in his stories, but because the characters they happen to remind us so much of ourselves or of people we know. It's no wonder that his best-known graphic novel, GHOST WORLD, should be made into a film so reminiscent of those movies we see on the Independent Film Channel where nothing really happens externally but a hell of a lot happens internally. It's a recurrent trope in Clowes' work, and there's no better proof of that than in CARICATURE, a collection of nine stories, eight of which featured in EIGHTBALL, while the other appeared, of all places, in ESQUIRE. That alone should tell just how wide Clowes' appeal truly is. If this is your first time reading Clowes, then CARICATURE is a good introduction-but don't expect any hidden theme, except for the truism that "people are strange."

CARICATURE's eponymous first story will remind readers (and moviegoers) most strongly of GHOST WORLD as a young girl becomes fixated on a caricature artist who's trying to justify his job to himself in terms of pure art. He fails, of course, but you get the sense that it's not the girl acting as the catalyst for the realization that his life has no real meaning. "Immortal, Invisible" follows a teenager who decides to go out for one last night of trick-or-treating, not knowing what he's looking for, and therefore not finding anything. Two such seemingly aimless stories focus on the character Rodger Young-"Blue Italian S**t," which takes place when Rodger is 18, and "Like A Weed, Joe," taking place when he's 14-and while both end on a note of hope, it's not a hope that is openly expressed. Clowes' characters often follow this pattern: they're people who have no idea where they're going, often less of an idea where they've been, and not a clue as to what they want. A bit too close to the bone, really.

Not all of Clowes' stories in this volume are completely character-driven: the longest story, "Gynecology," focuses on a young named Epps who is carrying on an affair with the wife of a gynecologist who has a singing career on the side (the gynecologist, not the wife). On top of that, the gynecologist's wife is being stalked by a young woman who's infatuated with him. For any other writer, this combination of plot elements could all too easily turn into an episode of the JERRY SPRINGER SHOW, but Clowes never lets things descend quite that far as he brings it all to the closest thing to "resolution" that his stories ever reach. Some stories-such as "The Gold Mommy," which is nearly indescribable, and "Black Nylon," about a rivalry between two superheroes-are downright weird, but even in these, Clowes creates a set of memorable characters-or at least as memorable as a character whom you'll forget two minutes after turning the last page can be.

In short, you may come out of CARICATURE feeling depressed, or feeling melancholy, or even feeling a bit cheated because nothing seems to have happened. But if nothing else, you'll feel you've been reading the work of someone who's captured the more painfully meaningless moments of life perfectly. You may end up throwing your hands and furrowing your brow in confusion, but it's no different than the confusion Clowes' characters feel when they reach for something, not knowing what it is, and find their hands closing on empty air. It's a feeling that stirs us, a feeling we're all familiar with, whether we like to admit it or not. Reading a book like CARICATURE, for better or for worse, makes us admit to it. Few other artists' work is quite so honest about makes us human.