Night Drive

by Richard Sala, Dana Marie Andra (Editor), Daniel Clowes (Afterword)

Overview

This extremely rare, long out-of-print comic book of macabre and mysterious short stories launched the career of one of the medium's most distinctive stylists. Originally self-published in 1984 and never reprinted, this expanded hardcover represents the original Night Drive with rare art and other bonus material.

When Richard Sala passed away in 2020, he left behind a uniquely eldritch body of graphic novels and illustrations, fueled by macabre whimsy and a love of dark mysteries and vintage monsters. Like David Lynch, Sala was a painter who turned to a storytelling medium that allowed him to create inventive narratives inspired by such disparate influences as French crime fiction, the grim humor of Charles Addams, the surreal poetry of Jorge Luis Borges, and his own penchant for all things gleefully ghoulish and sinister.

Originally self-published in an edition of 500 copies in 1984, Night Drive collects several short stories inspired directly by pulp magazines, film noir, and Andre Breton — sinister and creepy pieces heavy on the atmosphere and signaling the creative emergence of a singular talent finding his footing with the surety of an artist equipped with the innate mastery of his craft and vision. Night Drive directly led to Sala contributing to Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly's Raw and the adaptation of Night Drive's “Invisible Hands” for MTV’s Liquid Television, sparking an almost 40-year career as one of comics' finest creators and idiosyncratic creators.

Edited by longtime Sala friend Dana Marie Andra (Web of Horror) and designed by Sala’s friend and fellow cartoonist Daniel Clowes (Monica, Ghost World), who also contributes the Afterword, this graphic novella is rounded out with rare artwork, interviews with Sala about the book, and an essay by Andra.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798875000706
Publisher:	Fantagraphics
Publication date:	05/20/2025
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Richard Sala (1954–2020) grew up in Chicago. He had an MFA from Mills College, created over a dozen graphic novels, collaborated with Lemony Snicket, and illustrated a Jack Kerouac script. He spent most of his adult life in Berkeley, CA.

Dana Marie Andra has written for RBCC, The Comics Journal, Comic Art, Charlton Spotlight, Alter Ego, Comic Book Marketplace, Fanscene, Filmfax, and other magazines. She’s also written comics for Fantagraphics, Caliber, Comico, and Dark Horse, who published the graphic novel she scripted, Freaks’ Amour, in 2013, and wrote about Web of Horror for the hardcover edition of The Warren Companion (2001).

Daniel Clowes is a Harvey, Eisner, Ignatz, and PEN America Literary Award Winner whose comics and graphic novels have been translated into over 20 languages worldwide. He is also an Academy Award nominated screenwriter (for Ghost World), and retrospectives of his work have appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Oakland Museum, and the Wexner Center in Columbus, OH. He lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and son.

Editorial Reviews

"A sublimely nutty mashup of detective noir and Victorian Gothic, Pinter plays, Universal monster and the hero pulps, all blasted straight from his id to ours."

Tom DeHaven

"Night Drive is a treasure you won’t believe! Richard Sala’s stylized, personal vision makes for thrilling, masterful work. Poetry in pen and ink, each page is visual pleasure packed with intrigue. So glad to see this work back in print for all to discover and enjoy."

Carol Tyler

"Richard Sala was wonderfully unique. It was all there in everything he did, his love of old monster movies, the pulps, mystery and horror in general — the good stuff and the terrible — wore it all like a badge of honor and did wonderful things with it. I miss him."

Mike Mignola

"Do you like whimsical horror with a touch of the macabre? Well, Fantagraphics has you covered with Night Drive."

CNEWS

02/01/2025

Crazed killers, masked villains, disaffected hipsters, hypnotists, hardboiled detectives, and other shadowy and/or monstrous figures mix and mingle in these surreal, gothic-tinged short stories by the late Sala (1954–2020), which were originally self-published in 1984 and are reprinted here for the first time ever, in an expanded edition including rarely seen artwork, interviews, and other bonus materials. Sala's ability to balance the macabre and grim humor is on full display, with his signature expressionistic yet playful linework and shadow-soaked panels drawing the audience into atmospheric worlds that feel both fantastically absurd and unnervingly real. Sparse dialogue and fragmented narratives, which tend to begin in medias res and end on notes more atmospheric than conclusive, add to the dreamlike quality of these tales, creating a sense of unease that intensifies panel by panel. The majority of Sala's stories raise more questions than they ever get around to answering, and the eerie ambiguity created by a lack of narrative resolution proves viscerally resonant. VERDICT The grim humor, grotesque imagery, and brilliant craftsmanship displayed here make a strong case for Sala being among the very best cartoonists of his generation.

Library Journal