Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron
Encyclopedia
Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron is a graphic novel
by American cartoonist Daniel Clowes
. The book follows a rather fantastic
and paranoid
plot, very different 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.
Clowes has talked about how the story was inspired by his dreams, as well as a recurring dream of his ex-wife's:
The book's title is a quote from the Russ Meyer
film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
(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.")
Velvet Glove has since been reprinted many times, and is currently in its sixth edition. The book has also been translated into Japanese, French, Spanish. and Greek., (The French edition was nominated for the 2000 Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Album.)
feature (also titled Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron), the star dominatrix of which is revealed to be his wife. 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, 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 phrase "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
", 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.
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.
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
by American cartoonist Daniel Clowes
Daniel Clowes
Daniel Gillespie Clowes is an American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books....
. The book follows a rather fantastic
Fantastic
The Fantastic is a literary term that describes a quality of other literary genres, and, in some cases, is used as a genre in and of itself, although in this case it is often conflated with the Supernatural. The term was originated in the structuralist theory of critic Tzvetan Todorov in his work...
and paranoid
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
plot, very different from the stark realism of Clowes' later more widely known Ghost World
Ghost World
Ghost World is a comic book written and illustrated by Daniel Clowes. It was originally serialized in issues #11 through #18 of Clowes's comic book series Eightball, and was first published in book form in 1997 by Fantagraphics Books...
. It contains nightmarish imagery, including dismemberment, deformed people and animals, and sexual fetishism.
Clowes has talked about how the story was inspired by his dreams, as well as a recurring dream of his ex-wife's:
The book's title is a quote from the Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a 1965 exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer, who also wrote the script with Jack Moran. It stars Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams....
(The full line, as delivered by Lori Williams
Lori Williams
Lori Williams is an American actress who is known for her performance in the 1965 cult film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.-Career:...
, is "You're cute, like a velvet glove cast in iron. And like a gas chamber, Varla, a real fun gal.")
Publication history
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 Japanese, French, Spanish. and Greek., (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, Barbara Allen. (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 BDSMBDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
feature (also titled Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron), the star dominatrix of which is revealed to be his wife. 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
The Shaggs
The Shaggs were an American all-female rock group formed in Fremont, New Hampshire in 1968. The band was composed of sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin , Betty Wiggin , Helen Wiggin , and later Rachel Wiggin ....
, gnaws on Clay's leg.
The happy-face icon of "Mr. Jones" also appears in various places through the story, 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 phrase "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is a song by the American alternative rock group R.E.M. from their 1994 album Monster. It was the first single taken from the album, released three weeks later. It peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. Due to its...
", referencing the bizarre Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
incident (some years before the R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
song did the same thing), is used as part of the "Mr. Jones" conspiracy sub-plot.
In other media
Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron is one of very few graphic novels to have inspired an official soundtrackSoundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
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.
External links
- Valenti, 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).