''Lloyd Llewellyn'' (sometimes abbreviated ''LLLL'') is a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in ''Eightball (comic book), Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''E ...

. The

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

series, published by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

, ran for six issues from April

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

to June 1987. A final "special" issue was published in December 1988. Daniel Clowes published other Lloyd Llewellyn stories in other books by Fantagraphics. - In Love and Rockets #13 which contains the Story "The Last Time I sqaw Irving" and a special preview page (Last Quarter 1985) - in Doosmday Squad #2 (reprinting Charlton's Doomsday+1 #2 by Joe Gil and John Byrne) we find the Story "Under the Big Top" (Early 1986) The series'

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

is a

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

who has humorous adventures inspired by ''

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

'' and stereotypical 1950s lounge culture. Llewellyn has a

sidekick A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany. Origins The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...

who goes by the name of Ernie Hoyle. The series'

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

sergeant is called "Red" Hoerring. The series' visual style is influenced by lowbrow art. The story "The Nightmare" from ''Lloyd Llewellyn'' #6 foreshadowed the approach of Clowes's next comic, '' Eightball'', by breaking the conventions of the series'

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

setting and turning to social

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

. Also in that issue, the author announces:

... And who knows ... somewhere along that lonesome road we might see a new LLLL mag with a brand new format so dazzling, so breathtaking, so monumentally fantastic that I haven't even thought of it yet!

Early issues of ''Eightball'' included several additional Lloyd Llewellyn episodes. The character also made various

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s in other ''Eightball'' stories.

Book collections

* ''#$@&!: The Official Lloyd Llewellyn Collection'' (Fantagraphics, 1993; out of print) * ''The Manly World of Lloyd Llewellyn'' (Fantagraphics, 1994; out of print)

External links

Daniel Clowes
at Fantagraphics Books' website 1986 comics debuts 1987 comics endings Llewellyn, Lloyd Comics by Daniel Clowes Comics characters introduced in 1986 Detective comics Fantagraphics titles Llewellyn, Lloyd Humor comics Llewelly, Lloyd {{Comics-stub