Product: Book ISBN-10: 1-56097-070-7 ISBN-13: 9781560970705 Publisher: Fantagraphics Books Country: Year: February 1992 Size: 21.59 x 27.94 x 1.27cm Number of pages: 96 Weight: 340gr Binding: Paperback
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The best of the worst!
Not being a fan of underground comics at all, I was a little hesitant to even open this book. Within seconds though, I found someone else out there was equally as twisted and full of angst as myself – and funny as ever. This is a 'best-of' type collection of some fantastic and well-contrived comics with a strong and bitter dark sarcasm throughout. Touching on many modern American social issues, this guy Clowes hits the nail on the head every time with his twisted insight into the human condition. No household is complete without this work.
Brilliant artwork, brilliant writing
Discovering the work of Daniel Clowes was like when I first heard The Replacements. I was actually angry I hadn't known sooner. This collection won't have everyone's favorite »Eightball« moments but it's an amazing collection.
An extraordinarily brave and darkly funny classic
Daniel Clowes is one of my favorite all time writers, and he is part of a list of writers whom I have treasured from my teen years on, writers who willingly explore dark/absurdist themes. This list includes the following: William Burroughs, Jean Paul Sartre, Jean Genet, Franz Kafka, Mark Twain, Alfred Jarry, Josh Alan Friedman, and Philip K Dick. When I met Clowes a few years ago, at a book signing, I happily told him this.
Anyway, Lout Rampage is a collection of mostly short musings – written and also brilliantly illustrated by Clowes – that deal with his peeves and obesrvations about life. They are entertaining, the way a carefully worded rant by someone in a deeply bad mood, can be. The highlights for me are two companion pieces within the book – »I Hate You Deeply«, in which Clowes rants like a caffienated curmudgeon about such well chosen targets as »wealthy children who attempt to buy into the inherent `hipness' of the economic underclass« and »occultists, new-agers and anyone seeking simple catch-all solutions to unanswerable questions.« Funny stuff, made all the more funny by Clowes' satirical drawings. – and »I Love You Tenderdly,« in which Clowes shows his appreciation for misfits and for oddball stuff.
But generally, Clowes as a writer, writing in the visually appealing medium of graphic novels, uses his multiple talents to get at the absurd qualities of existence, that is, to mix ranting with close observation. For that reason, he should be read and be recognized as the great writer that he is.
Highly recommended and 5 stars.