At long last, the paperback version of Daniel Clowes's bril-liant graphic novel, hailed by Time as "another of his hilari-ously slightly off-center worlds that have a vague sense of dread about them. Kind of like where you live."

Welcome to Ice Haven "It's not as cold here as it sounds," declares Random Wilder, our reluctant guide to this sleepy Midwestern town. He's also its would-be poet laureate. Would-be, that is, were it not for the "florid banalities" of his archrival, Ida Wentz, pub-lished ad nauseam in the Ice Haven Daily Progress. Among Wilder's other fellow Ice Havians are the love-lorn Violet Vanderplazt and Vida Wentz; the adorable interracial moppets Carmichael and Paula; the Blue Bunny, newly sprung from prison and the bitterest rabbit in town; and poor little David Goldberg, miss-ing for more than a week now. . . .

The lives of the men and women of Ice Haven are woven into a multilayered tale that, while it owes a debt to Our Town, is ultimately based on and inspired by . . . Leopold and Loeb. No kidding.

Only Daniel Clowes could do it and, luckily for us, he has.