These two girls care about the same things we all do and are motivated by the same issues, even if adults like to pretend they’re not so basic. Ghost World is an emotional read because it looks so honestly at the reality of adolescence, astutely illuminating the way many of us looked at the people around us (who were were slowly and surely becoming) and recalling how hard that time can be.

It’s not readily apparent what the point is of these different snapshots of the girls’ days – speaking to various characters at the diner, discussing boys and sexual experiences, taking trips to local establishments – but all of a sudden it clicks that we’re a little confused because so are Enid and Becky. It’s frequently hilarious, though equally surprising: the first couple issues mention child pornography, a (debatable) Satanist couple that another bar patron likes to pretend are an incestuous one and lines like “God, look at those stupid cunts.” Their dialogue is art-hipster perfection, the kind of conversations I probably thought I was having at that age even though I wasn’t nearly observant enough. Ghost World focuses on Enid and Rebecca, two unusually witty teens who are attempting to figure out where they fit in to the world they seem to despise. Instead of fast-paced action there’s bawdy conversation at a neighborhood diner, along city streets or in kitschy tourist traps – to me, reading Ghost World was a lot like taking in an early Jim Jarmusch film, with perhaps just a bit more color. Clowes has something important to say about life, culture and our society, namely by candidly looking at the turbulent days of adolescence, and his storytelling is contagious stuff. Right from the first pages it’s apparent Ghost World is not a traditional comic book (or graphic novel), more Comix than comic and more Crumb than Captain America. It’s a dramatic look that draws the reader’s attention to more important things – the rich characterization and dialogue that continues to make Ghost World a novel work. True to its name, each Ghost World frame is lovingly sketched in a pop-art hand and inked with a frosty shade of blue reminiscent of twilight and flickering televisions.

Rather, Daniel Clowes obviously tried to achieve realism by using an elegantly minimal design. Unlike many contemporary Marvel productions, Ghost World doesn’t shoot for lifelike rendering, or surreal imagery like Sandman and some of its Vertigo ilk. I’m lucky I read Ghost World before seeing the film-adaptation because the comics are a visual treat.

Ghost world novel