A Ghost World of His Own

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Monday, August 13, 2001

It's been justly acclaimed as one of the great works of comic book literature, and now it's made the leap to the silver screen in a well-received film adaptation. Amid the expected blockbuster hits like JURASSIC PARK III and PLANET OF THE APES, GHOST WORLD by Dan Clowes and directed by Terry Zwigoff has emerged as a surprise indie hit while the big boys sank like a stone. The film version of Enid and Rebecca's post-high school summer arrives years after the conclusion of the serialized tale that first appeared in Clowes' comic book anthology, EIGHTBALL, but its cinematic origins began before the story was even completed.

"I was not actually finished with the story," says Clowes, explaining how the deceptively simple tale of two girls facing encroaching adulthood found its way into theaters. "The very first episode in EIGHTBALL was just a one-of-a-kind, intended as one little six page story, and then I sort of fell in love with the characters and I couldn't stop. I drew the second one, it took on a little progression and then all of a sudden the arc of the whole story came to me. I then saw it as this eight-part thing that somehow came together, although it's very episodic."

"About five episodes into that, [director] Terry Zwigoff had been reading my comic and was intrigued with these characters. I think he thought they would work well in a movie. He wasn't so sure about the story working as a movie, but he thought we could do something with these characters, and the framework of their story would make an interesting film. At that point we started trying to make that work."

Although Clowes crafted the comic book version of GHOST WORLD on his own, he found the collaboration with Zwigoff to be very rewarding and perhaps easier than expected.

"He trusted me with these two girls. He knew I got them and they were my creations. He let me be very precious with them, write all of their dialogue and let me be on the set when we were shooting."

Clowes was grateful for the opportunity to be such an active partner in the creation of the film, particularly given his neophyte status in that industry.


"It was very unusual considering it was the first screenplay I ever wrote. To be allowed access to the set and to the over-all design of the film, to be such an active part in it - I was very spoiled."

Clowes cites the strength of the story as the key to its success in any medium.

"I think the fact it's a comic is an interesting thing but I also think it's not integral to its quality," says Clowes. "Most comic book stories are not adaptations of the comic stories but adaptations of the characters. They take the basic mythos of a superhero and then rewrite it to suit the needs of the movie. And in this case we were taking a story in a framework and trying to adapt that into a movie. It's very different than the X-Men."

For fans, however, there will be plenty to remind them of the original comic book version, from Enid's rubber cat-mask to actors like Steve Buscemi, who looks like a Clowes character brought to life (his role is in fact largely invented solely for the film). Clowes agrees that Buscemi has a perfect face for the job.

"The first time I saw Steve, which I think was in MYSTERY TRAIN, I thought, 'Oh God, I drew this guy, I created him.' When we created that Seymour character, we thought, 'Who could do this?' and we both said 'Steve Buscemi.' We never let up on that and thank God we got him to do it, because he was perfect."

"His character is vaguely referred to in the comic, a very tangential character that appears in one or two panels, and in the film it takes on a life of its own. He becomes a much larger presence in [Enid and Rebecca's] lives."

While Buscemi's character is a new creation, fans should find plenty that is familiar in the new incarnation of GHOST WORLD. The film is not a literal translation of the comic into film, however.

"The basic structure is very much the same. The girls graduate high school and they're very close. They start to drift apart when they see their world-views are slightly different. At the end of the film, it's very much the same, but it takes many routes along the way that are much more complicated."

"I was thinking of that movie GROUNDHOG DAY, about how the guy relives the same day over and over, and it's almost like that. It's like one of the other versions of that summer that could have happened. I wasn't really interested in turning the comic book into a movie. I thought that would be a little dull somehow."

Clowes promises that the film instead offers a fresh perspective on the story that both fans and newcomers will find entertaining.

"It's a unique experience. It's somewhat different, but I think the tone is very much the same. It's sort of that combination of humor and sadness, energized emotions that are present in the comics."

While many see comics and film as two very similar storytelling forms, Clowes admits that the process of rethinking GHOST WORLD for the big screen did present a challenge or two.

"[Comics and film are] similar but the storytelling techniques are very, very different," says Clowes. "It's very, very hard to understand that until you're trying to bridge the gap between the two. I thought they were much more analogous. When we were making GHOST WORLD, we sort of had this little storyboard we could follow [with the comic], and it was actually more detrimental than anything else. [It was] much easier to start from scratch and just think of it as a film rather than a comic book brought to movement."

Nevertheless, Clowes believes that the distinctive qualities that made GHOST WORLD such a fan favorite are still present in the film.

"We had to tell [the film version of the story] in its own language, but I think it still has that languid pace. It's very deliberate, and for a film especially, it's kind of slow and methodical. It had very long takes. You really get to inhabit the scenes."

Interestingly, Clowes did not necessarily ever expect to see Enid and Rebecca coming to life in the movies.

"I always thought of [GHOST WORLD] as being something small and intimate, which is not generally what you want to do in film. Of all the things I'd ever done, I thought it would be the least likely to be made into a film."

While Clowes' work is so well regarded by fans and critics alike, it remains marginalized in an industry still dominated by the superhero genre. Comparing or grouping his comics with work in that genre is something that Clowes naturally resists strongly.

"The world with superhero guys just seems so unrelated to what I do. [It's] just the fact that we're both drawing with ink and brushes on bristle board. It's like if someone made movies like Ingmar Bergman and had to share the spotlight with people who made Hercules movies with Steve Reeves. I find myself in places that I don't feel I belong."

That sense of detachment extends to attending superhero-friendly comic book conventions as well.

"I feel out of place amongst the Klingons. That's just not quite my world."

Does Clowes hope that the film adaptation of GHOST WORLD may lend his work some additional credibility given the limitations imposed by his own field?

"I hope so," admits Clowes. "People seem to be responding to it and then [maybe] they'll look to the source and see 'Oh, it's a comic book and I don't feel like an idiot because I liked it.'"

This perceived stigma attached to comics remains a largely American phenomenon, and Clowes acknowledges that in other countries, comic book creators are afforded a degree of respect that they rarely experience here.

"American comics don't really sell in other countries, but you go there and you're treated much more respectably at comic conventions. It's taken very seriously, but over here it's a laughable little hobby for sad people. It's really a shame and I'm hoping hat will not last forever. There's a whole world of stuff out there yet to be talked about."

With GHOST WORLD hailed by many mainstream pundits as an example of good literature, comics or no comics, Clowes is proud to be expanding the audience for the medium in whatever way he can. That extends to serving as the subject of interviews like this one, yet another phenomenon he finds a bit difficult to grasp.

"I've never had to do interviews all day, it's very odd," says Clowes. "But I kind of told them I'd do whatever they'd like. I've worked for many years on this film and another few weeks is not gonna kill me. I'm happy to help in any way I can."

Clowes is certainly helping to raise the bar as far as literary standards for comics, and his newfound role as a movie maker will not prevent him from exploring new territory in his chosen field. In September, Clowes expects to release a new issue of EIGHTBALL in full color a first for him.

"I'm very excited about that," says Clowes. "Basically, I just bought a computer, learned how to do the coloring and thought, 'Well, I may as well make use of this extravagant purchase of mine.'"

But of course, there are also aspirations to move forward in film writing as well. Clowes even has another project already in mind.

"Now that I've gone through this, I have an idea for a screenplay that I want to write that would be something independent, not taken from one of my comics. To me that would be a much better way to go to write directly with film in mind rather than carry something over."

One thing fans should not expect, however, is a sequel to GHOST WORLD, either in comics or film...at least, not right away.

"I sort of feel [the end of GHOST WORLD] closes the book on them, at least at that period of their lives," says Clowes. "I could imagine you could possibly do something with them before that story takes place, and I can imagine possibly doing something several years later, maybe in their 30s. But I feel at the end of that story you don't want to see what happens the very next day. I think you have to let each person take [Enid] wherever they want to on that bus."


For more on GHOST WORLD, see the superb site  www.ghostworld-themovie.com  designed by Clowes himself.