Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron

Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron by Daniel Clowes (1993) The first Daniel Clowes comic I ever read—it ran in the first ten issues of Eightball—which a friend of mine had, in the early Nineties—I should have bought them myself and kept them! The very first bit I remember is where the guy answers the door with the fish tails coming out of his eye sockets, due to some absurd scenario—it’s the image that’s important—and burns a traumatic hole in your mind. Because of moving, life changes, etc., I’m not sure if I finished the serial at that time, or sometime later—anyway, it was worth rereading. It’s a crazy, surreal story that keeps getting weirder as it goes along. The whole thing starts with a guy named Clay seeing his ex in a porn film—classic setup—and then his search for her, in which he encounters cults and secret societies, eccentrics, freaks, weirdos—even a dog with no orifices. It could give you nightmares. I think I would have been disappointed if it all added up—or was explained—but it just keeps getting more mysterious. More creepy characters than you’ll ever see in one place, including a hairy guy who never wears a shirt and is always sweating, and a guy with botched hair transplants whose head looks like a sprouting garden—just the dedication in drawing the details in those guys! Ultimately, Clay’s fate is several levels worse than death, but it’s still pretty funny, and even touching in a way. My favorite character ended up being the diner waitress, Tina, who looks like part fish, part potato—at first repulsive, she ends up being really quite endearing.

5.20.23