Hailed as the "king of alternative comics" by Newsweek contributor Sarah van Boven, Daniel Clowes has fashioned a retro, tongue-in-cheek look at 1950s and '60s culture. In his graphic novels, all of which are compilations of issues of his popular comic series "Lloyd Llewellyn" and "Eightball," Clowes has garnered establishment honors with a basically underground activity. Clowes has--along with Art Spiegelman of Maus fame, and several other graphic artists of his generation--brought comic strips and graphic novels mainstream. His work has been featured in Esquire and New Yorker, not otherwise known for counter-culture stands. "Dan is a master storyteller and artist," Esquire contributor David Eggers told van Boven. "There's poetry in every panel. . . . No one has any idea how hard this is." His comic "Eightball" was dubbed "part `Twin Peaks,' part Mad magazine on acid," by Chris Nashawaty in Entertainment Weekly, and his work has become...