Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Daniel Clowes. The book follows a fantastic and paranoid plot, differing in tone from the stark realism of Clowes' later more widely known Ghost World. It contains nightmarish imagery, including dismemberment, deformed people and animals, and sexual fetishism.
Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron
Cover of the 1993 edition (the book was re-released in 1998 with a different cover).
The Manly World of Lloyd Llewellyn: a Golden Treasury of his Complete Works
Clowes has talked about how the story was inspired by his dreams, as well as a recurring dream of his ex-wife's:
A lot of it is just daydreams, where ... I can just have these thoughts that are uncontrolled by common logic, and then I start to see things in a different way. It's sort of the same thing as when you wake up from a long dream and you, for one minute, see the absurdity of the world.[1]
The book's title is a quote from the Russ Meyer film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill![1] (The full line, as delivered by Lori Williams, is "You're cute, like a velvet glove cast in iron. And like a gas chamber, Varla, a real fun gal.")
Like many of Clowes' extended works, Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron originally appeared in serial form in his comic book Eightball (issues #1–#10, 1989–1993) but has been reprinted as a trade paperback. The opening panels of later chapters of the story were presented in color when originally published in Eightball. When collected in trade paperback form, the chapters of the story were given names, and a table of contents was added to reflect this.
Velvet Glove has since been reprinted many times, and is currently in its sixth edition. The book has also been translated into Italian,[2] Japanese, French,[3] Spanish,[4] and Greek.[5] The French edition was nominated for the 2000 Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Album.
Plot
Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron is about a man named Clay Loudermilk and his attempts to locate his estranged wife. (The song "the Ballad of Barbara Allen" forms a commentary on the story with its elements of unrequited love, loss, and death.) For reasons unknown, Clay is in the audience at a porno theatre when he sees a bizarre BDSM feature (also titled Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron), the star of which is revealed to be his wife, who appears in the credits as "Madame Van Damme". Clay sets out to locate her and becomes embroiled in a series of misadventures involving an incredibly bizarre and varied cast of supporting characters. Clay is victimized by two crazed policemen, meets a religious cult led by a mass-murderer who intend to overthrow the American government, conspiracy theorists who believe that the reins of the world's political power somehow revolve around a series of dime store novelty figures, an inhumanly malformed, potato-like young woman and her nymphomaniacal mother, and various other freaks and weirdos. During one dream sequence, the infamous Foot Foot, from the song by The Shaggs, gnaws on Clay's leg.
The happy-face icon of "Mr. Jones" also appears in various places through the story (reminiscent of Alfred E. Neuman, the mascot of Mad magazine, whose image dates at least back into the 1800s). Images of Mr. Jones are tattooed into people, carved on to Clay's foot, as a ghost-like character, in Hitler's birthmark, and on the sign for Value Ape shops. It signifies the way in which logos pervade our societies, and links to the conspiracy elements of the story. The true nature of the potato-woman's father is never learned by Mr. Loudermilk, but the reader will see suggestions of the Cthulhu Mythos. The phrase "Kenneth, what is the frequency?", referencing the bizarre Dan Rather incident (some years before the R.E.M.song did the same thing), is used as part of the "Mr. Jones" conspiracy sub-plot. There are, in addition, references to child pornography and snuff films.
In other media
Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron is one of very few graphic novels to have inspired an official soundtrack album. The 10-track CD by Victor Banana (a.k.a. cartoonist Tim Hensley) was released in 1993 on the Jenkins-Peabody label.
In issue #11 of Eightball, published after the conclusion of the Velvet Glove storyline, Clowes did a story about a hypothetical movie based on his book. As presented by Clowes, the film is a highly commercialized, poorly made flop, with little in common with Clowes' original story beyond the title and a few superficial elements.
Notes
^ abShiner, Lewis. "The Role of Compassion in Daniel Clowes' Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron," 2016-02-01 at the Wayback MachineSitcom (1995).
^Come un guanto di velluto forgiato nel ferro (Coconino Press, 2009)
^Comme un gant de velours pris dans la fonte (Cornélius, 2000)
^Como un guante de seda forjado en hierro (Public Square Books, 2006) ISBN978-1-59497-195-2.
^Σαν Σιδερένιο Ομοίωμα Γαντιού από Βελούδο (Inkpress/Kormoranos, 2009) ISBN978-960-89659-2-8.
References
Burr, Ty. "Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron," Entertainment Weekly (May 21, 1993).
External links
Valenti, Kristy. Comixology (October 6, 2008).
Valenti, Kristy. Comixology (October 14, 2008).
Valenti, Kristy. Comixology (October 21, 2008).
January 20, 2023
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Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Daniel Clowes The book follows a fantastic and paranoid plot differing in tone from the stark realism of Clowes later more widely known Ghost World It contains nightmarish imagery including dismemberment deformed people and animals and sexual fetishism Like a Velvet Glove Cast in IronCover of the 1993 edition the book was re released in 1998 with a different cover AuthorDan ClowesIllustratorDan ClowesCover artistDan ClowesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishSubjectHorror SurrealismGenreComicsPublisherFantagraphicsPublication date1993Media typePrint PaperbackPages144ISBN1 56097 116 9OCLC28385891Preceded by amp The Official Lloyd Llewellyn Collection Followed byThe Manly World of Lloyd Llewellyn a Golden Treasury of his Complete Works Clowes has talked about how the story was inspired by his dreams as well as a recurring dream of his ex wife s A lot of it is just daydreams where I can just have these thoughts that are uncontrolled by common logic and then I start to see things in a different way It s sort of the same thing as when you wake up from a long dream and you for one minute see the absurdity of the world 1 The book s title is a quote from the Russ Meyer film Faster Pussycat Kill Kill 1 The full line as delivered by Lori Williams is You re cute like a velvet glove cast in iron And like a gas chamber Varla a real fun gal Contents 1 Publication history 2 Plot 3 In other media 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksPublication history EditLike many of Clowes extended works Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron originally appeared in serial form in his comic book Eightball issues 1 10 1989 1993 but has been reprinted as a trade paperback The opening panels of later chapters of the story were presented in color when originally published in Eightball When collected in trade paperback form the chapters of the story were given names and a table of contents was added to reflect this Velvet Glove has since been reprinted many times and is currently in its sixth edition The book has also been translated into Italian 2 Japanese French 3 Spanish 4 and Greek 5 The French edition was nominated for the 2000 Angouleme International Comics Festival Prize for Best Album Plot EditLike a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron is about a man named Clay Loudermilk and his attempts to locate his estranged wife The song the Ballad of Barbara Allen forms a commentary on the story with its elements of unrequited love loss and death For reasons unknown Clay is in the audience at a porno theatre when he sees a bizarre BDSM feature also titled Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron the star of which is revealed to be his wife who appears in the credits as Madame Van Damme Clay sets out to locate her and becomes embroiled in a series of misadventures involving an incredibly bizarre and varied cast of supporting characters Clay is victimized by two crazed policemen meets a religious cult led by a mass murderer who intend to overthrow the American government conspiracy theorists who believe that the reins of the world s political power somehow revolve around a series of dime store novelty figures an inhumanly malformed potato like young woman and her nymphomaniacal mother and various other freaks and weirdos During one dream sequence the infamous Foot Foot from the song by The Shaggs gnaws on Clay s leg The happy face icon of Mr Jones also appears in various places through the story reminiscent of Alfred E Neuman the mascot of Mad magazine whose image dates at least back into the 1800s Images of Mr Jones are tattooed into people carved on to Clay s foot as a ghost like character in Hitler s birthmark and on the sign for Value Ape shops It signifies the way in which logos pervade our societies and links to the conspiracy elements of the story The true nature of the potato woman s father is never learned by Mr Loudermilk but the reader will see suggestions of the Cthulhu Mythos The phrase Kenneth what is the frequency referencing the bizarre Dan Rather incident some years before the R E M song did the same thing is used as part of the Mr Jones conspiracy sub plot There are in addition references to child pornography and snuff films In other media EditLike a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron is one of very few graphic novels to have inspired an official soundtrack album The 10 track CD by Victor Banana a k a cartoonist Tim Hensley was released in 1993 on the Jenkins Peabody label In issue 11 of Eightball published after the conclusion of the Velvet Glove storyline Clowes did a story about a hypothetical movie based on his book As presented by Clowes the film is a highly commercialized poorly made flop with little in common with Clowes original story beyond the title and a few superficial elements Notes Edit a b Shiner Lewis The Role of Compassion in Daniel Clowes Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron Archived 2016 02 01 at the Wayback Machine Sitcom 1995 Come un guanto di velluto forgiato nel ferro Coconino Press 2009 Comme un gant de velours pris dans la fonte Cornelius 2000 Como un guante de seda forjado en hierro Public Square Books 2006 ISBN 978 1 59497 195 2 San Siderenio Omoiwma Gantioy apo Beloydo Inkpress Kormoranos 2009 ISBN 978 960 89659 2 8 References EditBurr Ty Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron Entertainment Weekly May 21 1993 External links EditValenti Kristy Where Were You When On Daniel Clowes Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron Comixology October 6 2008 Valenti Kristy Keepsakes to Commandeer Tim Hensley and the Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron Soundtrack Comixology October 14 2008 Valenti Kristy What s the Frequency Kenneth The LAVGCII Soundtrack Graphic Novel Comixology October 21 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron amp oldid 1128579561, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
