''Eightball'' is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in '' Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''Eightball'' issue typi ...

and published by Fantagraphics Books. It ran from 1989 to 2004. The first issue appeared soon after the end of Clowes's previous comic book, ''

Lloyd Llewellyn ''Lloyd Llewellyn'' (sometimes abbreviated ''LLLL'') is a comic book by Daniel Clowes. The black-and-white series, published by Fantagraphics Books, ran for six issues from April 1986 to June 1987. A final "special" issue was published in December ...

''. ''Eightball'' has been among the best-selling series in

alternative comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

. Early issues of ''Eightball'' feature a mixture of very short, often crudely humorous comics ("Zubrick and Pogeybait", "

The Sensual Santa "The Sensual Santa" is a one-page comic strip by Daniel Clowes. It originally appeared in ''Eightball (comic book), Eightball'' #14 (published in October 1994) and was reprinted in the Clowes collections ''Orgy Bound'' and ''Twentieth Century Eig ...

"), topical rants and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

s (" Art School Confidential", "On Sports"), longer, more reflective self-contained stories ("Caricature", "Immortal Invisible"), and serialized works. The first extended story serialized in ''Eightball'' was ''

Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron ''Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron'' is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Daniel Clowes. The book follows a fantastic and paranoid plot, differing in tone from the stark realism of Clowes' later more widely known '' Ghost World''. It contains ...

'', which ran in issues #1–10. ''Glove'' was followed by '' Ghost World'' (issues #11–18). Beginning with #19 each issue of ''Eightball'' has been devoted to a single storyline, as opposed to the more eclectic format of the earlier issues. Issues #19–21 serialized the graphic novel ''

David Boring ''David Boring'' is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Daniel Clowes. It was serialized in issues #19–21 of Clowes's comic book '' Eightball'' and appeared in collected form from Pantheon Books in 2000. The book depicts the misadventures ...

'', while issues #22 and 23 each consisted of a collection of short, fragmentary stories in diverse styles and formats that meshed into a unified narrative ("

Ice Haven ''Ice Haven'' is a 2005 graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. The book's contents were originally published as the comic book '' Eightball'' #22 and were subsequently reformatted to make the hardcover ''Ice Haven'' book. ''Ice Haven'' takes the form o ...

" and " The Death Ray"). The issues of ''Eightball'' beginning with #19 have been published in full color in a larger magazine-sized format. ''Eightball'' #18 included a bound-in copy of Clowes's pamphlet ''

Modern Cartoonist {{italic title ''Modern Cartoonist'' is a 1997 essay by Daniel Clowes published as a 16-page black, white and red illustrated pamphlet. It was originally bound in with copies of ''Eightball (comic book), Eightball'' #18 and was also offered for sal ...

''.

Single issues

Book collections

* '' Lout Rampage!'' (

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was founde ...

, 1991, ) – Short stories * ''

'' (Fantagraphics, 1993, ) – Graphic novel * '' Pussey!: The Complete Saga of Young Dan Pussey'' (Fantagraphics, 1995, ) – Stories featuring Clowes' character Dan Pussey * ''Orgy Bound'' (Fantagraphics, 1996, ) – Short stories * '' Ghost World'' (Fantagraphics, 1997, ) – Graphic novel * '' Caricature'' (Fantagraphics, 1998, ) – Short stories * ''

'' ( Pantheon Books, 2000, ) – Graphic novel * '' Twentieth Century Eightball'' (Fantagraphics, 2002, ) – Short stories * ''

'' (Pantheon, 2005, ) – A reformatted version of the contents of ''Eightball'' #22 * ''The Complete Eightball 1–18'' (Fantagraphics, 2015, )

Film adaptations

''Ghost World'' was adapted by Clowes and director

Terry Zwigoff Terry Zwigoff (born May 18, 1949) is an American filmmaker whose work often deals with misfits, antiheroes, and themes of alienation. He first garnered attention for his work in documentary filmmaking with ''Louie Bluie'' (1985) and '' Crumb'' ( ...

into a 2001 feature film of the same name, for which Clowes and Zwigoff were nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for screenplay writing. Additionally, the 2006 Clowes/Zwigoff film '' Art School Confidential'' was loosely based on a short story of the same name which appeared in ''Eightball'' #7.

Controversy

The comic generated controversy when a high school teacher in Guilford,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

gave ''Eightball'' #22 (''

'') to a student as a make-up summer reading assignment. The parents of the student had concerns about the book's appropriateness. The superintendent of Guilford High School said the book was inappropriate for 13-year-olds and placed the teacher on leave. The teacher resigned before the matter was fully investigated. The Guilford school district and principal were criticized for getting police involved and trying the issue in a "kangaroo court".

References

External links

* *
List of all issues of ''Eightball'' and their contents

{{Fantagraphics Comics Comics by Daniel Clowes Humor comics Satirical comics Fantagraphics titles 1989 comics debuts 2004 comics endings Eisner Award winners Harvey Award winners for Best New Series Harvey Award winners for Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award winners for Best Single Issue or Story Comics anthologies