The Death-Ray
- Downloads：1787
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-23 14:52:38
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Daniel Clowes
- ISBN：1770460519
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
ON TIME， NPR AND USA TODAY'S BEST-OF 2011 LISTS！ WINNER OF THE EISNER， HARVEY AND IGNATZ AWARDS
Teen outcast Andy is an orphaned nobody with only one friend， the obnoxious—but loyal—Louie。 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 gadget—a hideous compliment to his seething rage—that forever changes everything。
The Death-Ray utilizes the classic staples of the superhero genre—origin， costume， ray gun， sidekick， fight scene—and 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。
Teen outcast Andy is an orphaned nobody with only one friend， the obnoxious—but loyal—Louie。 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 gadget—a hideous compliment to his seething rage—that forever changes everything。
The Death-Ray utilizes the classic staples of the superhero genre—origin， costume， ray gun， sidekick， fight scene—and 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。
Reviews
Dan Schwent
，
When Andy puffs on a cigarette at age seventeen， he finds that he has super strength for a limited time。 Coupled with a mysterious pistol he inherited from his father， he fights crime as The Death-Ray！I've recently become interested in Daniel Clowes and my wife bought me this as a surprise。 The art is standard Clowes， although it seems like there are some Ditko Spider-Man homages in it。 It's an oversized book， not unlike the Charles Burns books that have come out in relatively recent years。 The When Andy puffs on a cigarette at age seventeen， he finds that he has super strength for a limited time。 Coupled with a mysterious pistol he inherited from his father， he fights crime as The Death-Ray！I've recently become interested in Daniel Clowes and my wife bought me this as a surprise。 The art is standard Clowes， although it seems like there are some Ditko Spider-Man homages in it。 It's an oversized book， not unlike the Charles Burns books that have come out in relatively recent years。 The larger size makes for an impressive presentation。 I'd hate to read this at comic size。 More than one page uses a five by five grid。 A lot of comic artists make me think I couldn't write and draw a comic in a thousand years。 Clowes makes me think I could do it if I buckled down and re-learned how to draw the Archie characters for a few months。 It's inspiring， in a way。 I enjoy Clowes' artwork if that isn't clear。The story reads like a super hero deconstruction written by Wes Anderson， although I'm sure it was written before Anderson came to prominence。 Andy is a misfit that lives with his elderly grandfather。 He has a friend， another misfit named Louie， and a girlfriend in California that he writes to that never writes him back。 So what would an outcast nerd do with super strength and a disintegrator pistol？ Something like this， I'm afraid。There's only 48 pages so I don't want to divulge too much of the plot。 Suffice to say， Andy starts as a misfit， becomes a super hero of sorts， and ends as a misfit。 When your powers hinge on smoking cigarettes， shit is bound to go south eventually。The Death-Ray is a fun， sensitive super hero deconstruction。 Four out of five death-rays。 。。。more
Jesús
，
I’ve long since realized that most of Daniel Clowes’ work isn’t for me， and The Death-Ray is among my least favorite of Clowes’ adolescent-loser stories （or a story about a loser still stuck in his adolescence well into adulthood）。There’s no “critique” underlying Clowes’ comics， just a lot of winks， nods， and self-indulgence。 He’s been telling the same exact stories about the same exact characters for decades now。 The only thing that sets The Death Ray apart from most of his other work is its la I’ve long since realized that most of Daniel Clowes’ work isn’t for me， and The Death-Ray is among my least favorite of Clowes’ adolescent-loser stories （or a story about a loser still stuck in his adolescence well into adulthood）。There’s no “critique” underlying Clowes’ comics， just a lot of winks， nods， and self-indulgence。 He’s been telling the same exact stories about the same exact characters for decades now。 The only thing that sets The Death Ray apart from most of his other work is its lackluster art。 。。。more
Harold
，
A short and bizarre little graphic novel by Ghost World creator Daniel Clowes that offers a postmodern spin on the classic superhero origin story。 The plot （and there's not much of one） revolves around a kid who discovers that he has nicotine-powered super-strength and then comes into possession of the titular "death ray"， which he uses to zap people out of existence。 Not really a satisfying read for me on any level， but at least it was quick - and it definitely wasn't boring。 A short and bizarre little graphic novel by Ghost World creator Daniel Clowes that offers a postmodern spin on the classic superhero origin story。 The plot （and there's not much of one） revolves around a kid who discovers that he has nicotine-powered super-strength and then comes into possession of the titular "death ray"， which he uses to zap people out of existence。 Not really a satisfying read for me on any level， but at least it was quick - and it definitely wasn't boring。 。。。more
Alexandre Impinna
，
Pas mon œuvre préféré de Daniel Clowes。Le découpage de l’histoire est à la fois sa force et sa faiblesse d’après moi : j’apprécie d’avoir des pages au découpage et au style légèrement différents， mais certains ellipses me frustrent un peu ce qui fait que je n’arrivais pas à m’attacher au personnage principal。Néanmoins， l’incursion dans le genre de super-héros pour Clowes est plaisante et son usage de la première personne pour la narration fonctionne vraiment。Si vous aimez Clowes ou si vous avez Pas mon œuvre préféré de Daniel Clowes。Le découpage de l’histoire est à la fois sa force et sa faiblesse d’après moi : j’apprécie d’avoir des pages au découpage et au style légèrement différents， mais certains ellipses me frustrent un peu ce qui fait que je n’arrivais pas à m’attacher au personnage principal。Néanmoins， l’incursion dans le genre de super-héros pour Clowes est plaisante et son usage de la première personne pour la narration fonctionne vraiment。Si vous aimez Clowes ou si vous avez l’occasion de le lire （c’est très court）， je recommanderais la lecture， sinon je passerais mon chemin。 。。。more
Mickey Bits
，
Daniel Clowes graphic novels and comics are at another level。 When you start into a new one， the first quarter of the story leaves you wondering， what the heck is this？ The story is weird and disjointed and so random。 But then as you round the halfway point and the loose ends start to come together， you start to realize this is a work of quirky genius。Also， don't eat soup or cereal when you read it because the jokes sneak up on you and will make you spray the contents of your mouth over everythi Daniel Clowes graphic novels and comics are at another level。 When you start into a new one， the first quarter of the story leaves you wondering， what the heck is this？ The story is weird and disjointed and so random。 But then as you round the halfway point and the loose ends start to come together， you start to realize this is a work of quirky genius。Also， don't eat soup or cereal when you read it because the jokes sneak up on you and will make you spray the contents of your mouth over everything in front of you as you burst out laughing。 You have been warned。 。。。more
Zack！ Empire
，
I really liked how Daniel choose to not show certain things， in favor of what might be a less interesting choice， but I thought it made the story better。 It's hard to get specific without giving anything away， but we never really see the Death Ray in action， just the before and after effect。 It's the opposite of what you would normally see in a Marvel or DC comic。 There is also an element of how reliable the narrative of the story really is。 Is smoking cigarettes really the source of Andy's powe I really liked how Daniel choose to not show certain things， in favor of what might be a less interesting choice， but I thought it made the story better。 It's hard to get specific without giving anything away， but we never really see the Death Ray in action， just the before and after effect。 It's the opposite of what you would normally see in a Marvel or DC comic。 There is also an element of how reliable the narrative of the story really is。 Is smoking cigarettes really the source of Andy's powers？ Does he really have a girlfriend in California？ It's kind of unclear。 You are left to make up your mind about how you feel about the story。 。。。more
Alain Gutierrez
，
A masterpiece。 Daniel Clowes is one of THE greatest comic book writer， and artist， of our time。
tony
，
Clowes is a master。 all of his characters are so imperfect and unlikeable yet you cant stop reading。
Sammy Williams
，
Wonderful dialogue and fantastic art propel this story of the choices made by a teenage boy that leave him a lonely and bitter man。
Marc Bosch
，
Interesante visión de Clowes acerca de cómo los adultos hacemos desaparecer a ciertos sujetos con quienes nos cruzamos。 Por supuesto siempre de forma merecida y sin tener que usar necesariamente el rayo mortal。
Leah Weyandt
，
What’s more enjoyable than a story featuring a depressed teenage loner whose superpowers are fueled by nicotine？ Not much。 Think Holden Caulfield meets Peter Parker。 Thank you， Death-Ray， for a satisfyingly fun Saturday morning！
Bob Solanovicz
，
Ovaj strip nema 48 stranica kako piše u opisu na Goodreads stranici nego samo 40。 I， što se mene tiče， to je sasvim dovoljno jer je Clowes na tih 40 strana ispričao sve što treba。 Iako mi se isprve nije činilo da će biti tako jer je nakon 24 stranice The Death-Ray djelovao kao još jedan ogorčeni obračun Clowesa i superjunačkog stripa， čega sam se stvarno i previše načitao。 No， ono u što se strip pretvori do kraja je stvarno nešto iznad svih mojih očekivanja。 Usudio bih se reći da mi je ovo najbo Ovaj strip nema 48 stranica kako piše u opisu na Goodreads stranici nego samo 40。 I， što se mene tiče， to je sasvim dovoljno jer je Clowes na tih 40 strana ispričao sve što treba。 Iako mi se isprve nije činilo da će biti tako jer je nakon 24 stranice The Death-Ray djelovao kao još jedan ogorčeni obračun Clowesa i superjunačkog stripa， čega sam se stvarno i previše načitao。 No， ono u što se strip pretvori do kraja je stvarno nešto iznad svih mojih očekivanja。 Usudio bih se reći da mi je ovo najbolji Clowesov strip do sada。 。。。more
David Thomas
，
This is a weird one。 Mostly a slice of life type deal about some kids that takes a sudden left turn about halfway through when one of them gets a literal death ray。 Clowes' dialogue and art are spot on。 I honestly liked it more before the introduction of the titular death ray。 This is a weird one。 Mostly a slice of life type deal about some kids that takes a sudden left turn about halfway through when one of them gets a literal death ray。 Clowes' dialogue and art are spot on。 I honestly liked it more before the introduction of the titular death ray。 。。。more
Abi
，
One of the worst things I've ever read。 It is extremely sexist， has horrible characters， and the main character never redeems himself。 One of the worst things I've ever read。 It is extremely sexist， has horrible characters， and the main character never redeems himself。 。。。more
Keith Kavanagh
，
reread this on the can this morningone of the best superhero comics ever， and my favourite clowes story
Daniel Wilson
，
now that's what i call super hero subversion now that's what i call super hero subversion 。。。more
Samantha Dupree
，
wow。
Carly
，
Great Art work interesting story。 4。5 stars
Daniel
，
This was just so-so for me。 I liked the art and some of the story lines were okay， but I'd prefer reading something more cohesive。 There are some good sophomoric yuks to be had like when Stoob apologizes to Andy about his Grandfather being in the hospital。 This was just so-so for me。 I liked the art and some of the story lines were okay， but I'd prefer reading something more cohesive。 There are some good sophomoric yuks to be had like when Stoob apologizes to Andy about his Grandfather being in the hospital。 。。。more
John H
，
Loved the artwork in this so much。
Liam
，
Pretty mediocre but easy to read。 Read Ghost World， Mister Wonderful or Patience instead。This feels like the 'male version' of Ghost World。 Realistic coming-of-age narratives are just not as interesting when about boys than when about girls， as The Death-Ray shows， because it's mostly just waiting around for something to actually happen or to get good enough to do something important。 Pretty mediocre but easy to read。 Read Ghost World， Mister Wonderful or Patience instead。This feels like the 'male version' of Ghost World。 Realistic coming-of-age narratives are just not as interesting when about boys than when about girls， as The Death-Ray shows， because it's mostly just waiting around for something to actually happen or to get good enough to do something important。 。。。more
Malcolm
，
I think I read this in the Eightball back in the day。 I guess my favorite bit would be that the "girlfriend" back in Livermore had devolved into a white-trash disaster by the time Andy saw her again。 Also liked that the cool/tough adversary was called "Stoob。" A good， but minor， graphic novel。 I think I read this in the Eightball back in the day。 I guess my favorite bit would be that the "girlfriend" back in Livermore had devolved into a white-trash disaster by the time Andy saw her again。 Also liked that the cool/tough adversary was called "Stoob。" A good， but minor， graphic novel。 。。。more
Niffer
，
I'm not a big fan a graphic books， but I try to expand my horizons and read some。 I've encountered a few that were decent。 This was not one of them。I found the story line of this book hard to follow。 There was a lot of jumping around， and I felt like the artwork was not consistent enough for me to be able to easily identify characters from one page to the next。 I had to reread quite a few of the pages to make sure I understood what was going on， and often I wasn't entirely sure how it related to I'm not a big fan a graphic books， but I try to expand my horizons and read some。 I've encountered a few that were decent。 This was not one of them。I found the story line of this book hard to follow。 There was a lot of jumping around， and I felt like the artwork was not consistent enough for me to be able to easily identify characters from one page to the next。 I had to reread quite a few of the pages to make sure I understood what was going on， and often I wasn't entirely sure how it related to what had happened on the previous pages。On top of that， there was something really off about the premise: the main character becomes a "superhero" because his father had done something mysterious with his metabolism。 The triggering factor that brought the traits out was the MC smoking a cigarette。 He didn't smoke his first cigarette until he was 17。 His father had anticipated he'd start smoking at 13 or so。 Who the heck uses cigarettes as a trigger for gaining superhero powers？ I guess a totally warped idea （"let's encourage smoking in young readers！"） matched with the rest of the rather weird/warped story line。In the end I really didn't care very much about the main character or the moral dilemmas he faced in using his super powers。 I just felt blah about the whole thing。 。。。more
Nicolas Gomez
，
Deadly memorable。 If I recall， Clowes is a brilliant writer and still manages to capture tons of emotion in those panels without any words！ The final "bar" scene had me stunned when I read this some years ago。 Deadly memorable。 If I recall， Clowes is a brilliant writer and still manages to capture tons of emotion in those panels without any words！ The final "bar" scene had me stunned when I read this some years ago。 。。。more
Jake Nap
，
This is another one I didn’t really understand when I first read it， but coming back to it with a fresh set of eyes did wonders for my enjoyment of this book。 There’s a lecture where David Mazzuchelli says the unit of storytelling in a comic book is not the panel， but the page as a whole。 Some great examples of this are obviously David Mazzuchelli’s own work， Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo and all of Chris Ware’s work。 I think The Death Ray is another fantastic example of this。 The pages in this boo This is another one I didn’t really understand when I first read it， but coming back to it with a fresh set of eyes did wonders for my enjoyment of this book。 There’s a lecture where David Mazzuchelli says the unit of storytelling in a comic book is not the panel， but the page as a whole。 Some great examples of this are obviously David Mazzuchelli’s own work， Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo and all of Chris Ware’s work。 I think The Death Ray is another fantastic example of this。 The pages in this book are so meticulously designed and crafted that when you first look at a page， your eye examines it as a whole。 You take in all the small details， the layout of the panels and the placement of the decorative elements like title cards and space between the panels。 This book is jaw dropping。 Absolutely stunning to look at。The story too is fantastic， it’s a great psychological diagnosis of a young man who obtains superpowers。 He uses them to compensate for his own insecurities and he attempts to fill those insecurities with extremely toxic and aggressive traits。 It’s a pretty nihilistic view of superheroes and the psychology behind dressing up and using superpowers， but I think it’s done really effectively and doesn’t come across as stale or mean spirited like other takedowns of superhero comics。 。。。more
Juanchi Maffeo
，
Siento que no me ayudó mucho leer esto en la compu porque， entre el tamaño enorme de página y la naturaleza poco convecional y fragmentada de la narración， por momentos sentía que me había perdido partes。 Visualmente es eye-candy x30。 Las paletas de color y el estilo de Clowes llegaron a su punto máximo de florecimiento。 La historia me gustó por momentos， pero sentía que le faltaba un poco de carácter a los personajes。 Lo leí hace unos dos meses y ya no puedo acordar ningún personaje。 Pero sí me Siento que no me ayudó mucho leer esto en la compu porque， entre el tamaño enorme de página y la naturaleza poco convecional y fragmentada de la narración， por momentos sentía que me había perdido partes。 Visualmente es eye-candy x30。 Las paletas de color y el estilo de Clowes llegaron a su punto máximo de florecimiento。 La historia me gustó por momentos， pero sentía que le faltaba un poco de carácter a los personajes。 Lo leí hace unos dos meses y ya no puedo acordar ningún personaje。 Pero sí me acuerdo que mientras lo leía había algo que me atraía bastante， algo medio intangible。 No se， lo tendría que volver a leer， pero por ahora es un 3。5/5。 。。。more
Bria
，
Insufferable characters need to be depicted too， but man， are they insufferable。
Anatole Wilson
，
This was terrible。 The story itself was mediocre。 The art was even worse。 There were some pages where you couldn’t even tell which character was which。
Ryan
，
（3。5 stars）
Hamish
，
Some of Clowes' best writing。 This is around the time he moved away from his initial art style， which I think was a shame。 Otherwise， it's emotionally engaging and full of the kind of clever storytelling that only works in this medium。 Some of Clowes' best writing。 This is around the time he moved away from his initial art style， which I think was a shame。 Otherwise， it's emotionally engaging and full of the kind of clever storytelling that only works in this medium。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Death-Ray
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Death-Ray&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Death-Ray&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0