WILSON by Daniel Clowes

This is a book I thought I'd never see. I seriously believed that we'd lost Dan Clowes to Hollywood, so I never expected him to make any more comics. But I'm glad he did.
At first, the title character comes off as a total jerk; it isn't until at least halfway through that you can even start to identify with him. By the end, you're almost rooting for him (almost, as he's still a self-centered jerk).
The main thing that makes this enjoyable is not the character himself, rather it's the way that the situations ring true. His awkwardness, conceit, and anger-management issues all work to establish Wilson as a believable character, if not a pleasant one.
The whole book is done as a series of one-page gag-strips (as if it were a collection of Sunday newspaper comics) with varying art-styles, but the format doesn't really mesh well with the actual content. Some of the "punchlines" are bittersweet at best, and a few really miss the mark (although if you have a really dark sense of humor, you might enjoy them more than me).
It's good to see Dan Clowes working on comics again, as he was sorely missed.
All in all, I give it ★★★★

WILSON by Daniel Clowes
First Edition, April 2010
ISBN: 978-1-77046-007-2
US $21.95 / CAN $23.95
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