Eightball (comics)

Publication history

The first issue of Eightball (Oct. 1989) had a print run of 3,000. By issue #18 (1997), the print run was approximately 25,000. The first 18 issues were published in a traditional comic book size and format; beginning with issue #19 (May 1998), Eightball was published in full color in a larger magazine-sized format.

Contents

Early issues of Eightball feature a mixture of very short, often crudely humorous comics ("Zubrick and Pogeybait", "The Sensual Santa"), topical rants and satires ("Art School Confidential", "On Sports"), longer, more reflective self-contained stories ("Caricature", "Immortal Invisible"), and serialized works. Clowes has stated that his initial inspiration for the comic were anthologies such as Mad magazine that he read as a kid.

The first extended story serialized in Eightball was Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, which ran in issues #1–10. Like a Velvet Glove... was followed by Pussey! (serialized in issues #1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 14), and Ghost World (serialized in issues #11–18). David Boring, serialized in issues #19-21, and Ice Haven (issue #22) were also later collected as graphic novels.

"Devil Doll," from issue #1, is a parody of several religious tracts by Jack Chick.

"Art School Confidential," from issue #7 (Nov. 1991), inspired the 2006 film of the same name. It was directed by Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes wrote the screenplay. The story "Ugly Girls," from issue #8 (March 1992) features a prototype of Enid Coleslaw from Ghost World.

The story "Velvet Glove," from issue #11 (June 1993) is a parody of bad film adaptations, using the just-completed Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron as its source, with behind-the-scenes segments showing an increasingly anxious Clowes in talks with a clueless Hollywood producer, and scenes from the resulting movie, in which the main character Clay Loudermilk is portrayed as a tough, sarcastic police detective who plays by his own rules and makes pithy remarks (such as, "What are you lookin' at?") before shooting his enemies. Tina is recast as a space alien who gives "Clay" a ring of power.

The Buddy Bradley story in issue #13 (April 1994) is based on characters created by Peter Bagge and featured in his Fantagraphics title Hate. The Feldman character from issue #15 (April 1995) makes an appearance in the film version of Ghost World (2001).

Eightball #18 (March 1997) included a bound-in copy of Clowes's 16-page black, white and red illustrated pamphlet Modern Cartoonist.

Starting with #19 (May 1998), each issue of Eightball was 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, while issue #22 consisted of a collection of short, fragmentary stories in diverse styles and formats that meshed into a unified narrative ("Ice Haven"). The final issue, #23, was a full-color, single-story comic — "The Death Ray" — released in 2004.

Individual issues

Reception

Eightball occupied the center of comics discourse for more than fifteen years, not just an award-winning series but a long-running critical consensus, It was repeatedly judged — by peers, critics, and institutions — as the place where writing, drawing, humor, design, and serialized storytelling were all being pushed forward at once.

Controversy

The comic generated controversy when a high school teacher in Guilford, Connecticut, gave Eightball #22 (Ice Haven) 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".

Awards

Eightball was one of the most persistently award-nominated comics of the 1990s and early 2000s, across U.S. and international awards. Year after year, Clowes and Eightball appeared on ballots for the Harvey and Eisner Awards in nearly every major creative category: writing, art, cartooning, lettering, inking, humor, serialization, and overall series. The sheer repetition of these nominations — often multiple categories in the same year — signaled a sustained perception of Eightball as the standard-bearer for alternative comics.

At the Eisners, Eightball and its component stories (Ghost World, Caricature, David Boring) were repeatedly nominated for — and frequently won — top honors for Best Writer/Artist, Best Short Story, Best Serialized Story, Best Humor Publication, and Best Lettering, reflecting both formal innovation and tonal range. Meanwhile, the Harvey Awards consistently recognized Clowes not just as a writer or artist but as a complete cartoonist, with recurring nominations for Best Cartoonist, Best Writer, Best Artist, Best Letterer, and Best Continuing or Limited Series, along with multiple Special Awards for Humor and Excellence in Presentation.

Crucially, the Ignatz Awards — often seen as the most ideologically aligned with the indie and small-press scene — reinforced Eightball's centrality to alternative comics culture. The series was repeatedly nominated for Outstanding Series, Outstanding Comic, Outstanding Story, and Outstanding Artist, winning frequently, marking it as a defining work within the community that the Ignatzes specifically exist to honor.

The recognition also extended beyond the U.S., with nominations and wins such as the UK Comic Art Award and Spain's Haxtur Award, underscoring Eightball's international influence and translation into other comics traditions.

Eisner Awards:

• Best Writer/Artist (2000)
• Best Writer/Artist (2002)
• Best Single Issue (2002, 2005)

Harvey Awards:

• Best Single Issue (1990, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2005)
• Best New Series (1991)
• Best Continuing Series (1991, 1992, 1997)
• Best Letterer (1991, 1997)
• Best Writer (1997, 2005)
• Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work (2003)

Ignatz Awards:

• Outstanding Comic (1997, 2002, 2004)
• Outstanding Story (1998, 1999)

Book collections

• Lout Rampage! (Fantagraphics, 1991, ) – Short stories
• Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (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
• David Boring (Pantheon Books, 2000, ) – Graphic novel
• Twentieth Century Eightball (Fantagraphics, 2002, ) – Short stories
• Ice Haven (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 into a 2001 feature film of the same name, for which Clowes and Zwigoff were nominated for an Academy Award 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.

References

Citations

Resources

References

1. Allen, Susie. (Apr 30, 2015). "University of Chicago acquires papers of cartoonist Daniel Clowes". University of Chicago.
2. Murray, Noel. (May 28, 2015). "Daniel Clowes reflects on his 'Eightball' comics' evolution". Los Angeles Times.
3. (April 20, 2015). "Eyeball Kicks: Dan Clowes's Complete Eightball". The New Yorker.
4. Garrett, Yvonne C.. (September 2022). "Daniel Clowes's ''The Complete Eightball'' 1-18". The Brooklyn Rail.
5. Thompson, David. (4 Sep 2004). "With just one puff, he was a superhero". The Guardian.
6. Arnott, Christopher. (September 27, 2007). "Behind the Eight Ball: Are Dan Clowes' graphic novels 'borderline pornography?' Apparently in Guilford they are". New Haven Advocate.
7. (30 September 2007). "Nate Fisher: A Connecticut Teacher in a Kangaroo Court". odd time signatures.
8. Kino, Carol. (March 30, 2012). "Humanity's Discomfort, Punctured With a Pen". The New York Times.
9. Spratford, Sam. (Sep 15, 2025). "Self-Publishers Rise Up at 2025 Ignatz Awards". Publishers Weekly.
10. (26 October 2004). "SPX 2004 Bonanza of Comics!".
11. Spurgeon, Tom. (Nov 1998). "Ignatz Awards 1998: Same Old, Same Old?". [[The Comics Journal]].
12. Darren, Hick. (Feb 2000). "Year in Review: 1999 Awards". [[The Comics Journal]].