Daniel Clowes came to the attention of the comic book world with a comic Lloyd Llewellyn which was serialized by Fantagraphics. Soon he started a new series which he named Eightball. The first 10 issues were collected under the title Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron. The next eight issues were my favorite of his storylines, Ghost World. It was so popular that Terry Zwigoff (director of Crumb (my review)) adapted it for a movie (starring Thora Birch, Scarlett Johnasson and Steve Buscemi). And while the movie was good, it was nowhere as good as the book. So what is Ghost World.

Enid and Becky are recent high school graduates and best friends. They are both snarky and cynical about the world and not sure what they want to do with their lives. Enid (who’s mainly the star of the book) floats between hatred of the world and hatred of herself. Her father is pushing her to take a college entrance exam and she’s studying for it. But she’s also keeping it from Becky, since she knows that Becky isn’t going to college. Enid, because she not so secretly loathes herself, is pushing Becky away even as Becky is trying to stay close.

There are subplots about their friend Josh, Enid’s father dating, sex, a friend with cancer, a missed connections setup (which was expanded upon in the movie) and many, many conversations. The plot is almost besides the point as the whole story is about Enid and Becky’s relationship falling to pieces. It is wonderfully written and drawn.

As you can see the characters and settings are well drawn. It’s not exactly in color, as it’s drawn in black and white with blueish shading. The girls are drawn so that they look close to their age and the settings are wonderful. Clowes has shown what a wonderful artist he is with this story.

Overall, the plot is fairly thin and the story is more of a group of set pieces with the same characters that are loosely connected. But Clowes pulls it off in making the story feel coherent and meaningful. It’s a wonderful story and a great introduction to Daniel Clowes. It’s a quick read (only about 70 pages) and is paced nicely. I would recommend this book to just about anyone. If you enjoyed the movie, you’ll most likely enjoy the book more. Highly recommended.