JACK BLACK ADAPTING DANIEL CLOWES’: THE DEATH RAY FOR SCREEN
Indie comic icon
Daniel Clowes (
Ghost World,
Art School Confidential) recently re-released his out-of-print anti-superhero graphic novel,
The Death-Ray through the Independent Comic Publisher
Drawn & Quarterly. In a similar vein as Clowes’ other graphic novels, the down beat
Death-Ray is a bit dark, at times, both deeply unnerving and sinister but also brimming with subtle hilarity.
Unlike the traditional superhero mythos, The Death-Ray hero of this novel is an awkward outcast teenager named Andy who discovers he has superpowers through smoking cigarettes and then discovers a ray gun weapon, which enables him to eradicate anything he wants. “The Death-Ray utilizes the classic staples of the superhero genre – origin, costume, ray-gun. sidekick, fight scene – reconfiguring them in a story that is anything but morally simplistic. With subtle comedy, deft mastery and an obvious affection for the bold Pop Art exuberance of comic book design, Daniel Clowes delivers a contemporary meditation on the the darkness of the human psyche.” (press release)
Now, the darkly humored superhero deconstruction novel is rumored to be adapted into a film by
Jack Black’s Electric Dynamite Productions with a script from Clowes, under the direction of music video and commercial director
Chris Milk (
The singing heart video for Gnarls Barkley’s Who’s Gonna Save My Soul). The film will however, will reportedly take a slightly different direction with the story, most notably, changing the main character, Andy, to a middle-aged adult.
Looking for other Clowes reads? Check out some of our favorites:
20th Century Eightball: An anthology comic which features a collection of self-contained and serialized narratives
Wilson : A graphic novel about a passive-aggressive sad-sack who goes through life in Oakland making himself and others miserable.
Ghost World: A graphic novel which tells the story of two best friends, Enid and Rebecca, facing the prospect of growing up and apart.
Also, in the works for Clowes is a collaborative film with
Michel Gondry, titled
Master of Space and Time based on a
Rudy Rucker novel starring Jack Black and and
Untitled Raiders project based on the true story of three boys who made a shot-for-shot remake of
Raiders of the Lost Ark over the course of 7 years.