Monica: ‘A master. An auteur. Period’ Guillermo del Toro

This is Monica, one ordinary woman's extraordinary journey through the history of comics - from the creator of Ghost World This is Monica, one ordinary woman's extraordinary journey through the history of comics - from the creator of Ghost World ***AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023*** 'Pitch-perfect... Could not put it down' OBSERVER 'In Monica, Clowes reaches a new artistic peak' VANITY FAIR A dazzling, spectacular tapestry of interconnected narratives that together tell a life story, Monica is the new graphic novel from one of the most iconic storytellers of all time. This eponymous protagonist is a rag-to-riches character who, after being abandoned by her freewheelin' parents in childhood, succeeds in clawing her way to the top - only to lose it all in a stroke of bad luck. She lives out the rest of her days in search of her parents, encountering a cast of eccentric characters who help to piece together her story. This graphic novel extravaganza is an unforgettable ode to the many genres that have defined the comics form - from war, romance and horror to crime and the supernatural. Mysterious, uncategorisable and quintessentially Clowesian, here is a multi-layered masterpiece born of a lifetime of inspiration. Monica marks the creative apex of Daniel Clowes' distinguished career, one of the defining voices of the graphic novel boom over the past quarter-century.

About the Author :
Daniel Clowes was born in 1961. He is the creator of the comic books Eightball, Ghost World, which was made into a film by the director Terry Zwigoff, David Boring and Ice Haven. His adaptation of his own Ghost World graphic novel for the screen earned him an Oscar nomination. A regular contributor to the New Yorker, McSweeney's and the Best American Comics, he lives in California with his wife.

Review :
A master. Perfect fusion of story and art. Clowes is an auteur. Period. A superb narrator A new book by Clowes is always eagerly anticipated... Monica didn’t disappoint… He gives us our own times magnificently disguised as a gorgeous-looking period piece Clowes just gets better and better… Monica is really inspiring This strange and gripping book is often frightening and sometimes deeply sad. But it’s also wickedly funny at times… A series of pitch-perfect portraits… I could not put it down The year’s most eagerly awaited work... A book that’s philosophical as well as playful, and one of his best Clowes has long been considered one of the finest cartoonists of his generation.... But in Monica, he reaches a new artistic peak... Each section has a beautifully rendered drawing - whether it be a soldier lighting a cigarette or Monica wiping the steam from a bathroom mirror - that can be held up among the best of his career It is precisely Clowes’s lower-frequency sensitivities toward the suffering of his characters that power what many consider his greatest works - Ghost World, for one - and elevate his latest graphic novel, Monica, to the status of a masterpiece A thrilling kaleidoscopic journey… Fans will need little excuse to fling themselves into this genre-hopping work. But casual readers shouldn’t fret. Monica’s story, despite being told in themed fragments, with gaps that sometimes stretch for decades, is full of drama... A rich, clever work The rare cartoonist whose graphic novels become cultural events One of the most notable comic artists of our era, a pillar of the '80s-'90s scene who's continued to do great work up to the present day