happy clown happy clown graphic novel canadian cartoonist title character large headed children clown undergoes story dark humorous mix genres features humour sex body horror extreme graphic violence religious imagery central plot man stop head miniature dimensional ronald_reagan attached head female vampire seeks revenge lover murdered escape sins surreal largely improvised story began series unrelated short strips brown went tie single narrative brown serialized comic book incomplete collected edition titled happy clown shortly brown direction serial brought abrupt end eighteenth issue turned autobiography second edition titled happy clown definitive book appeared altered ending later parts series eliminated contents edition serialized extensive issue happy clown series collected story seen critics highlight 1980s north american alternative comics scene left influence contemporary alternative won harvey awards canadian film director rights movie project struggled find financial backing background brown grew quebec montreal suburb large english speaking minority youth attracted comic books young age aimed career drawing superhero comics unsuccessful getting work marvel graduating high school moved toronto discovered underground small press community early 1980s marvel come dominate comic book publishing north_america comic shops main places purchase dedicated comics fans time trend greater ambition developing fringes long series avant garde graphics magazine raw graphic novel appeared brown find alternative comics scene grew decade brown feeling creatively period came book age book motivated brown work improvised series called self published content suffers plot gets surreal bizarre include having tip replaced head miniature talking ronald_reagan universe adventures featured encounters flesh eating rats monster characters traditional genre fiction story black comedic sensibility topped christian symbolism despite imprisoned crime commit falling love vampire remains gentle innocent like optimism story ending challenge summary children hospital visit burns children number apparently unrelated short gag strips appear brown begins tie narrative plot imprisoned finds hospital severed hand police assume taken prison man unable stop fill jail including emerges finds head replaced head miniature ronald_reagan world like people tiny dimension dumped waste trans dimensional portal turns man stop reagan body remains professor discovered portal travels dimension find head making contact authorities world believes loss hand wife child mother read story cuts right hand avoid assumes lost hand like punishment god tries killing girlfriend woods rat eating drag bodies time save attempt escape accidentally shot mother daughter team hunters dies spirit learns ghost sister vampire professor members staff adventures science find president bring studio discovery big news professor president appearance discovered people dimension homosexual bisexual professor violent death body confinement studio invaded recognize god television spirit returns body escape way hospital works gets revenge killing able sending hell number men secretly kidnapped provide larger wife lineup unconscious men president head stands chosen operation raid hospital finding reagan leave larger president place hospital hands claiming husband suspicious accepts newly endings ending appeared appeared book editions takes home children convinced father spends time house decide way better resemblance revealed twins separated birth church children kidnapped stone aliens saved monster brings washington find kidnapped real father zombie friend rescues clown makeup restored cheerful self goes visit learns apartment building burned casualty skeleton brought severed hand alternate ending later versions drops story follows death replacing new pages version severed hand visits apartment night rolls window shade vampire sunlight morning burns death sleeps reunited flames hell primary characters big headed clown like optimism despite hardships creator puts passive protagonist events occur spends story head miniature ronald_reagan dimension later discovers having president severed having new attached long lost twin sister brown considers adult pre adolescent sexuality fully formed working hospital plagued guilt cheating wife hand falls apparent reason having dream statue virgin mary turns girlfriend sex murders having sex stabbing woods vampire hunts eventually breaks neck sending hell short chester sees stand brown brown denies autobiographical elements story brown stated losing hand end ability draw named character beautiful girlfriend vampire actively engaging sin committing adultery boyfriend murders stabbing vampire self ends saving having eventually tracks kills sending hell alternate ending finds hell embracing consumed fire ronald_reagan bearing american president position reagan bears resemblance namesake comes head attached end falling portal president body remains people smaller homosexual brown intended use left wing politician changed right wing reagan believed obscure american readers later regretted decision said included explanation idea talking appeared number comics talking head young tim analysis spans range brown interests political skepticism humour vampires story dark surreal desperate humorous christian elements especially largely prominent book zombie named christian character believes found christ face piece tape fourth issue brown surreal christianity central cover depicts virgin mary holding infant christ severed hand story key motif loses hand finds appears mysteriously praying forgiveness adultery murdering lover hand restored according lives saints fictional severed hand version brown presents wife cuts catches husband rejecting advances altered ending reunited hell ghost sister devil brown mixes surreal sort condemn bloody revenge calls brown waters way makes hard pin anti story brown straight adaptations mark matthew run called adaptations best exploration christian mythology comparing excessive christian guilt retelling mark readers found live pit short strip man discovers underground forgotten mission states orders god prominently features content including nudity graphic violence racist imagery profanity brown grew strictly baptist household allowed swear depicted brown graphic novel liked brown challenged subjects humour imagery recurring characters language asserted reinforce old colonial imaging world natives style according comics historian brown arrived print fully formed artist style showing influence artists distinct predecessors continued mature artist run showing enormous growth beginning end graphic novel unlike brown compose pages draws panel separate sheets paper pages panels inch squares cheap paper placed block wood lap lieu drawing board number different drawing tools including technical markers ink printed work found faster produce spontaneous feel brown worked freely ruling lines lettering usually roughly artwork light blue pencil elaborated pencil stage said work brown pre vortex stories brush committed regular schedule felt brush slow switched cheap markers increase productivity continued use brush fill blacks letter dialogue balloons brown came favour quality brush end story run found slow work preferred sending artwork printer brown ensure copy printed sufficiently black occasionally scripted certain pages scenes frequently wrote dialogue having drawn artwork brown plan stories certain ideas prepared ideas found carried issues brown flashback scenes different perspectives alter story needs example brown revisited scene murder placed bush linking characters originally murder scene says know bushes couple feet away brown found dissatisfied work later abandoning printed pages intends reprinted found method work underwater 1990s series turned carefully scripting stories beginning influences brown started largely influenced comics grown especially monster stories night monster artists artists graduating high school brown underground starting work especially eventually getting disgust sex laden comics huge fan artist says book finally pulled underground included original short story affected graphic novel contract god brown fan book different wasn character mask face started drawing underground style submitting work raw work rejected publishers reason brown eventually convinced friend active toronto small press scene self publish result included earliest happy clown story book drew inspiration pulp science fiction religious literature television clichés comic strip effect brown discovered annie reprint books early 1980s primary influence later work brown publication story began july second issue brown original seven issues reprinted issues published ran eighteen issues features brown gospel adaptations brown envisioned ongoing character vein marvel comic book characters late 1980s came feel restricted character inspired revealing autobiographical work simple fellow toronto cartoonist turned autobiography main feature brown switched autobiographical comics straight adaptations mark matthew filled rest issues starting issue brown set work revised number pages stopped came believe new version better original drawn quarterly brown publisher reissued contents definitive collection issue series smaller sized pages titled happy clown new covers previously unpublished art extensive commentary brown contents came mainly issues issue seventeen pages original material remains including entire page ending appeared issue eighteen collection appeared brown decided end story collects stories twelfth issue includes cartoon foreword scripted drawn brown edition won brown harvey awards album comic art award year second edition came vortex brown taken drawn quarterly labelled definitive book marketing reasons edition reprinted edition altered ending material excluded material series death june drawn quarterly published edition contents series years earlier including somewhat modified new introduction brown replacing previous editions compared editions printed higher quality paper higher contrast printing artwork reduced size brown subtitled book graphic novel reflects brown reluctant acceptance term usage widespread sees brown like gesture emphasizing equal importance brown places word image book bestseller edition included page story called door brown anonymous public domain story horror comic book story couple door leads passage lost years clothes time exposing finally come door leads hell brown wrote found original story truly couple apparent deserve fate originally intended incorporate story narrative direction artwork appeared largest vortex issues somewhat smaller collected editions artwork smallest drawn quarterly edition size brown considered ideal stating smaller better long words edition wider page margins images reception legacy seen critics high point early alternative comics scene 1980s echoes seen later graphics novels like velvet glove cast story won praise mainstream publications village_voice rolling_stone placed hot list time placed seventh list time graphic novels publisher critic placed 27th comics 20th century editor critic called best time book appeared essential graphic novels large impact number brown contemporaries including fellow canadians taken brown storytelling saying brilliant sequences situation return later different perspective like death blew away called perfect book cite influence work include canadian canvas shows influence calls brown golden god lost sea heavily influenced calls completely amazing best comics placing comic books citing major influence spontaneous big questions critic placed tradition included like velvet glove cast iron flood wrote symbols appear frequency importance works suggest significance remaining symbolically finds predecessors works theatre absurd found hopeless funny trick like wish pull regularly likened story staring day old brown father offended reading fifth issue scene fictional putting wife advances panel hand view covered hand clearly visible vortex publisher panel covered illustration discussing brown brown agreed censorship annoyed marks later called mistake brown included scene following issue ronald_reagan marks objection future collections original panel censored portion panel covered note delivered rabbit brown self message read sorry folks picture hand censored want page originally drew send self addressed envelope age statement care send brown said readers sent requests panel stores wrapped plastic adults labels known banned stores diamond largest american comics distributor stopped carrying time publisher discovered boxes feminist publication lined discarded pages included pages stabs having sex publisher lodged complaint ontario based printer informed vortex longer handle issue drawn series seized canadian border later deemed critic initially found ending disappointing changed mind saying sad ending gave emotional punch wouldn found story putting later came admire critic wrote surprising brown settled conclusion story mean kind narrative closure premise makes sense big picture eventually relied moment moment published book details differences versions narrative awards media canadian filmmaker rights adapt film planned use title film use stop motion animation project ground point mcdonald hoped star ronald_reagan reported movie budget unable financial backing script written later commissioned brown live culture campaign strip magazine weeks episode zombie human girlfriend attend screening mcdonald adaptation year graphic novel scenes film fragments books journals magazines sources
Ed the Happy Clown