Daniel Clowes

Episode notes

Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images

Daniel Clowes is an award-winning writer and comics artist.  

He created the Eight-Ball series and Ghost World. A comic book that later turned into an indie movie starring Scarlett Johansson. 

His latest work is Monica. It’s a graphic novel inspired by his attempts to learn about the life of his late, largely absent mother. 

Daniel was mostly raised by his grandparents. His mom led an intense, sort of mysterious life. She dated lots of race car drivers and fixed cars on the South Side of Chicago. 

The gaps in her biography stretched decades. And the stories she’d tell about her life were often opaque and vague. 

After she passed, Daniel did his research: scouring websites, calling family members, talking with old friends. Anything to know more about his mother. 

He found that the things he didn’t know about his mom could fill a book. 

It took Clowes five years to write and draw Monica. The novel spans genres and decades. 

Monica, the title character, narrates most of the book. She tells us about her life, but also that of her mom: Penny. Who, like Clowes’ mother, was at times mercurial, frustrating and mysterious.

On Bullseye, Daniel Clowes stops by to chat about the novel. He gets into the time he spent researching his family’s history. Plus, the things he learned about his mother that he can’t unlearn. 

Daniel Clowes’ new novel ‘Monica’ is out now. You can find it at your local bookstore or online here.