The Death-Ray

ON TIME NPR AND USA TODAYS BEST-OF 2011 LISTS! WINNER OF THE EISNER HARVEY AND IGNATZ AWARDS Teen outcast Andy is an orphaned nobody with only one friend the obnoxiousbut loyalLouie. They roam school halls and city streets invisible to everyone but bullies and tormentors until the glorious day when Andy takes his first puff on a cigarette. That night he wakes heart pounding soaked in sweat and finds himself suddenly overcome with the peculiar notion that he can do anything. Indeed he can and as he learns the extent of his new powers he discovers a terrible and seductive gadgeta hideous compliment to his seething ragethat forever changes everything. The Death-Ray utilizes the classic staples of the superhero genreorigin costume ray gun sidekick fight sceneand reconfigures 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 darkness of the human psyche.