Eightball #23  $7.00

No attempts at witty titles today folks! No, this books far to great for me to ruin it with an attempt to be funny. And, while I'd like to do a Cover 2 Cover review of it (haven't done one of those in awhile, have I?) I'm afraid I just don't have the time. Not to say this will be short, by no means, I plan on reviewing it best I can, at length. Hope you enjoy it.

Those who don't know what Eightball is, may be familiar with it's creator, Daniel Clowes, from his most mainstream work to date, the movie Ghost World. If you are and you haven't yet picked up the Ghost World collection which the movie is based on, hop on over to your local bookstore, odds are they'll have it, if not check in with Amazon.com, I know they have it. It's one of my favorite works in the medium, ever, and should be yours as well.

But, we're not here to talk about Ghost world are we? No, no, we're here to talk about the Death-Ray. Who or what is the Death-Ray you ask? Well, that's a question that has a lot of different answers. First, it's Daniel Clowes latest masterpiece, under the title of Eightball #23. Second, it's a gun, but not just any gun. A gun that removes anyone you shoot with it from reality. *POOF* just like that, they no longer exist.

Third, the Death-Ray is a boy/teen/man named Andy. Andy lives with his grandfather and is pretty much an outcast at school. His father was a scientist who died from lung cancer (the smokes will get you every time!) when Andy was a boy. However, before he died he treated his son with an experimental product that would somewhat counter the effects of nicotine. Instead of killing Andy, nicotine would make him stronger.

Those thinking "what a stupid origin" might to best to remember that (as Dorian pointed out on his blog) getting bitten by a radioactive spider wouldn't exactly leave one in the best of health. It's called suspension of disbelief, use it.

When he gets caught smoking, Andy is given a note from his father explaining what's happening to him, and why. Andy's friend Louie is let in on what's going on and they both discover that Andy's father also made the Death-Ray. Long story short, the two get the gun and use it to try and help people.

The story picks up from here (not that it isn't interesting before) so I won't ruin any details for anyone. Anyone who's familiar with comics will see some identifiable themes, most readily, With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

But, Clowes never paints his characters in a completely noble light. Andy is naive to begin with, and his friend Louie is definitely a jerk, and while being naive isn't un-noble (is that a word?) it's his naivete that leads him to becoming the person he becomes.

If you look under the most obvious theme, one found in almost all superhero comics (or, at least a variation of that theme) I think the story is about choices. It's the choices we make in life that determine who we become. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad, and sometimes it's the choices we can't make.

No, we all don't have a Death-Ray to deal with, to decide if we should mete out our own justice, to try and right the wrongs. But we do decide our own fates, and the decisions we make not only effect our lives, but the lives of those around us. Yeah, it's not an epiffiny, anyone who's ever made a huge mistake will no doubt have learned that life lesson, but it is a life lesson, one that too many people don't get, or if they do it's far too late.

There are plenty of opinions about the issue on the web, and I'd imagine all of them differ vastly, but I think that's part of the work too. You can read it an infinite number of times and walk away with a different view each and every one of them. It's part of Clowes, it's what makes his work so special, and so important to the medium.

Eightball #23 is a masterpiece in every sense of the word, and will no doubt be on every top ten list of important books you're likely to find, at least for the year. As well it should be.

-L