'The Angriest Dog in the World'.
David Lynch was an American film director, best known for his strange, disturbing and thought-provoking pictures ('Eraserhead', 'Blue Velvet', 'Mulholland Drive') and TV series ('Twin Peaks'). He typically mixes mundane events and cheery, urban settings with dark, surreal, often uncomfortable imagery, bordering on psychological terror. This style gained him a cult status, while also becoming an eponym: "Lynchian". Lynch has also directed more conventional pictures, like 'The Elephant Man', 'Dune' and 'The Straight Story', while shooting commercials, music videos and being active as a painter, photographer and musician. As a comic artist, Lynch was the creator of the minimalistic, surreal comic 'The Angriest Dog in the World' (1983-1992). Existing of basically one panel, presented in a daily and nocturnal version, with ever-changing speech balloons, it's one of the most unclassifiable comics ever created. David Lynch remains one of the few famous live-action film directors to have created comics in their career, along with Jan Bucquoy, Damiano Damiani, Don Dohler, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Dick Maas, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Tashlin.
"His Shadow Began to Change and Then It Happened".
Early life and career
David Keith Lynch was born in 1946 in Missoula, Montana. His father worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a research scientist, while his mother taught English. Because of his father's job, the family moved around a lot and Lynch spent a large part of his childhood in respectively Sandpoint (Idaho), Spokane (Washington), Durham (North Carolina), Boise (Idaho) and Alexandria (Virginia). Initially, he wanted to become a painter. Among his main graphic influences were Francis Bacon, Arnold Böcklin, René Magritte and Edward Hopper. He studied at the Corocoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington D.C. and later the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, eventually dropping out. In 1965, he travelled to Europe, where he hoped to study with Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka. Once in Salzburg, the famous artist wasn't there, so Lynch returned to the U.S., where he went to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. There Lynch married a fellow student, got her pregnant, married and moved to a cheap apartment in a crime-filled neighborhood, printing engravings for a living.
While Lynch would eventually focus on his cinematic career, he kept painting and photographing as a hobby. Many of his works are strange collages, with sentences scribbled on them.
"His Shadow Began to Change and Then It Happened".
Early film career (1967-1984)
As Lynch started a family in 1967, his creative interests shifted to film, a medium that fascinated him ever since he saw Victor Fleming's classic, 'The Wizard of Oz'. In his entire oeuvre, Lynch has frequently included elements borrowed from this picture. In 2022, Alexandre O. Philippe analyzed the impact of this film on Lynch in the documentary, 'Lynch/Oz' (2022). Lynch's favorite film directors are Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski, Jacques Tati and Billy Wilder. In 1967, he made an animated short, 'Six Men Getting Sick', followed by an experimental mix between live-action and animation, 'The Alphabet' (1968). After requiring a grant from the American Film Institute, he completed his first live-action short, 'The Grandmother'. Lynch and his family moved to Hollywood, where he studied film at the AFI Conversatory. While he learned many valuable skills, he craved for more independence. In his second year, Lynch wanted to drop out again, until his teachers allowed him to work on a full-length picture without any of them interfering.
Sketch by David Lynch for the baby in 'Eraserhead'.
In 1977, Lynch's film, 'Eraserhead', was finally released. The plot expresses much of the dread he felt after being settled with a wife and child in an unpleasant neighborhood in Philadelphia. In the film, a couple lives in a dreary, claustrophobic environment, surrounded by equally anxious people, while they stress over their bizarrely tiny and deformed baby. 'Eraserhead' disturbed, confused and horrified many viewers. Yet these elements made it very suitable for the "midnight movie" circuit, where strange films were programmed in theaters around 0:00 to attract alternative crowds. There, 'Eraserhead' soon picked up a cult following, establishing Lynch's name and reputation. Among the picture's celebrity fans were writer Charles Bukowski, film directors Mel Brooks, Stanley Kubrick and Belgian cartoonist Kamagurka.
Poster for David Lynch's 'Eraserhead'.
Through Mel Brooks' production company Brooksfilms, Lynch was offered several scripts. He picked out one based on the life story of 19th-century freak show artist Joseph Merrick, whose face was horribly deformed due to a rare undiagnosed disease. Casting renowned actors John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins, the picture was released as 'The Elephant Man' (1980). A more mainstream film, it received good reviews and did well at the box office. It increased the fame of the real-life 'Elephant Man', alongside Lynch's. One of the film's celebrity fans was pop singer Michael Jackson, who identified with Merrick's misfortune (this was way before Jackson's own facial transformations). In 1986, a rumor spread that Jackson wanted to buy Merrick's skeleton. While this was untrue, Jackson did let Lynch direct a teaser trailer for his 1991 album 'Dangerous'.
Now arrived in the Hollywood mainstream, George Lucas asked Lynch to direct 'The Return of the Jedi', but he went for another science fiction epic, 'Dune' (1984), based on Frank Herbert's novel of the same name. Originally, the story was slated to be directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, with Pink Floyd and Magma writing the soundtrack, H.R. Giger providing special effects and Orson Welles, Gloria Swanson and Salvador Dalí playing supporting roles. But in the end this project was scrapped and Lynch directed the story instead. 'Dune' flopped in theaters, though it did pick up a cult following and was adapted into a 1984 graphic novel by Marvel, drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz. Lynch disowned himself from the picture, blaming executive meddling for the disastrous box office performance.
'The Angriest Dog in the World'.
The Angriest Dog in the World
In 1973, while Lynch worked on his first feature film, 'Eraserhead', he often struggled to find the right equipment and enough money. On top of all this anxiety, he also went through a divorce. Interviewed by Phong Bui for The Brooklyn Rail (19 December 2019), Lynch said that he visited a psychiatrist during this period, but before the session could begin, asked him: "Could this affect my creativity?". When the psychiatrist replied: "I have to be honest. It could.", Lynch shook his hand, left and never went back. Almost experiencing a mental breakdown, Lynch found solace in two things. In June 1973, he became a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, decades later establishing the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace as a stress-reducing method for people who need it the most, including military veterans, war refugees, prison inmates and the homeless. David Sieveking's documentary, 'David Wants to Fly' (2010), explores Lynch's interest for Transcendental Meditation.
Besides Transcendental Meditation, Lynch also let off steam by drawing a comic strip about the self-described "angriest dog in the world." Interviewed by David Breskin in the book 'Inner Views', Lynch revealed that, when he conceived his comic, he was very angry about and at many people and things, but thanks to meditation able to make these feelings disappear, without ever knowing "where my anger came from [or] (…) where it went, either." A decade later, in 1983, Lynch approached James Vowell of The Los Angeles Reader with the intention to make a weekly comic for his publication. When Vowell asked what it was about, Lynch replied: "Well, it's kind of a weird concept. There's only like one… part." Nevertheless, Vowell still had it serialized and, due to Lynch's fame, other alternative weeklies picked it up it too, including Atlanta's Creative Loafing, the New York Press and Denver's Westword. Titled 'The Angriest Dog in the World', Lynch's comic revolves around a vicious black dog, chained to a pole in someone's backyard. In each episode, the same introduction can be read in the first panel: "The dog who is so angry he cannot move. He cannot eat. He cannot sleep. He can just barely growl. Bound so tight that he approaches the state of rigor mortis." Indeed, the mutt appears to be literally stuck in the same pose, forever barking one word: "Grrrrrrrr". All four drawn panels are the same identical image, only with three of them taking place during daytime and the fourth one at night. The only different element in each episode are the speech balloons coming from within the house.
'The Angriest Dog in the World'.
Despite the title, the dog isn't really the focus. The conversations in the house draw all our attention and they never even mention the animal. Instead, we read philosophical observations, lame jokes, fierce arguments or awkward attempts at small talk. None provide the reader with a straightforward answer of what is going on in and outside the house. Four people seemingly live inside: Bill, Sylvia, Pete and Billy, but the reader has no clue how, or if, they are related. There's never an indication who's talking, let alone whether we are reading a dialogue or a monologue. For all we know, it could be a delusional person talking to himself. Or perhaps there's nobody in the building at all, opening up new questions where the voice(s) might be coming from. Overall, 'The Angriest Dog in the World' has a voyeuristic feel, as if the reader is observing some mysterious neighbors across the street, who seemingly never leave their home. The repetitive imagery gives everything a hypnotic, eerie, uncomfortable atmosphere.
Following Will Eisner 's definition of a comic as "a series of sequential illustrations", 'The Angriest Dog in the World' can barely be called one. The only sequence is the day changing into night time. Apart from the minimal artwork, there's no real narrative either. The dog has no personality besides his anger. The four people inside are unseen characters. Everything in and outside the house is in static mode. From this perspective, Lynch is closer to a one-panel cartoonist than a comic artist, and even the term "cartoonist" is up for debate. While he provided the artwork personally, all episodes are the exact same comic strip reprinted again. He, or his assistant Debbie Trutnik, dictated the new dialogue to art director David Hwang, who let their production department remove older speech balloons and replace them with new ones. This makes Lynch basically a comic writer, rather than an artist.
Like his films, Lynch has given few explanations about 'The Angriest Dog in the World'. But being created in the same period as 'Eraserhead', the comic shares a similar feeling of suburban dread and inability to take life into your own matters. From a young age, the director always felt anxious about the happy facade surrounding the seemingly idyllic neighborhood where he lived. Behind people's doors, there were often far more unpleasant things going on, shielded from the outside world. When he settled down in Philadelphia, thrust into a family life, Lynch felt trapped in a similar, dull, monotoneous existence. And when he worked on 'Eraserhead', it sometimes felt as if he barely made progress on his film. In his book 'Catching the Big Fish', Lynch gave an additional clue on how to interpret 'The Angriest Dog in the World'. He claimed the dog was angry, because "it's the environment that's causing his anger… he hears things coming from the house."
'The Angriest Dog in the World' was never a reader's favorite. In the mid-1980s, parodist Jeff Murray named Lynch "the laziest cartoonist in the world." When the L.A. Reader organized a reader's survey, only 17 percent of their audience named 'The Angriest Dog in the World' their favorite feature. But when the Baltimore City Paper organized a readers' poll in the early 1990s, many voted to keep it in its pages, likely due to the success of Lynch's TV series 'Twin Peaks'. In July 1991, Dark Horse Comics reprinted 'The Angriest Dog in the World' in the anthology Cheval Noir (1991-1994). Lynch re-ran the comic on his personal website for a while, which might be the best format for it, seeing that similar comics with never-changing images have gained more popularity online, such as Max Cannon's 'Red Meat'. In September 2020, 'The Angriest Dog in the World' was reprinted by Rotland Press in a colorized version, with new lettering matching his handwriting. Only 500 copies were printed, making it a collector's edition. The book doesn't feature all the episodes, as this would probably become too repetitive, but compiles only 17 installments.
"I Call Out Your Name!!".
Later film career (1986-2006)
Lynch returned to his signature cinematic style with 'Blue Velvet' (1986), a chilling film about a man who discovers a psychopath (played by Dennis Hopper) who kidnapped the husband and child of a singer (played by Lynch's then-wife Isabella Rossellini). The picture was well-received and marked his first collaboration with actress Laura Dern and composer Angelo Badalementi, who would write the soundtracks for many of Lynch's next films. 'Wild At Heart' (1990), starring Nicolas Cage, was a loose adaptation of Barry Gifford's novel of the same name. 'Lost Highway' (1997) flopped, but its soundtrack sold well and in 2003 the film was adapted into an opera. Lynch received better reviews when he directed the aptly titled 'The Straight Story' (2000), a more conventional story based on a real-life event. The road movie centers on an elderly man who drives 300 miles on a riding lawnmower to visit his sick brother. With 'Mulholland Drive' (2001), Lynch proved that he hadn't abandoned uncomfortable strangeness: the picture centers on two young women who get corrupted by the seeding underbelly of Hollywood. It did commercially well and received good reviews, while still being far from a conventional crowd pleaser. In 2002, Lynch directed eight shorts exclusively shown on his website under the title 'Rabbits'. They were later compiled into one film. The strange short focuses on a group of anthropomorphic rabbits in a living room, set to a laugh and applause track. A disturbing parody of TV sitcoms, 'Rabbits' divided viewers. Scenes from the short were also included in Lynch's final feature film, 'Inland Empire' (2006), which also happens to be his longest picture, being three hours in length. In 2020, Lynch made a 15-minute film, 'What Did Jack Do?', in which he interviews a talking capuchin monkey about his potential involvement in a murder case.
'Man On Fire In Room With Sheep'.
Since the mid-2000s, Lynch mainly focused on documentaries. When a stroke victim, Lotje Sodderland, wrote to him that her brain damage since her stroke made her mind feel similar to the atmosphere and narrative structure of his films, he produced the documentary 'My Beautiful Broken Brain' (2014) about her. He also made a guest appearance in the documentary 'Some Yo Yo Stuff' (1993) by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn, in which Corbijn interviews the reclusive avant-garde musician and painter Captain Beefheart. Lynch also worked with film director Werner Herzog on his film 'My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?' (2009) and played film director John Ford in Steven Spielberg's film 'The Fabelmans' (2022). While David Lynch's name is mentioned in the advertising for Terry Zwigoff's documentary 'Crumb' (1994), about Robert Crumb, he wasn't actually involved with the film. Zwigoff had contacted him with a request for funds, but by the time Lynch replied, the picture was already finished. His name was included in the advertising, with his acceptance, to attract more viewers.
Lynch also directed commercials for the fashion companies Calvin Klein, Dior, Gucci, L'Oreal and Yves Saint-Laurent, the video game Playstation 2 and a home pregnancy test. On his personal website, Lynch featured daily 30-second weather reports and number-drawing from a bingo cage. He promoted his own coffee brand, David Lynch Signature Cup.
Concept map of Twin Peaks, designed by Lynch himself.
Twin Peaks
Out of all of Lynch's TV projects, his mystery series 'Twin Peaks' (1990-1991), broadcast on ABC, is the most acclaimed. The plot revolves around FBI agent Dale Cooper, who investigates the murder of a woman named Laura Palmer in a seemingly quiet town, Twin Peaks, in Washington. As he meets with all possible informants, relatives, friends and suspects, he soon finds out that "the owls are not what they seem". Many of the townspeople are very eccentric and have their own secrets to hide, making them all the more suspicious. The use of dream sequences and supernatural events made the series stand out among other, more formulaic and conventional drama shows. Although it baffled many viewers, 'Twin Peaks', still became more than a cult show. Fans discussed the deeper meanings and speculated about plot points. Novelisations were published. The iconic theme music by Angelo Badalementi actually entered the hit parade, both as an instrumental and in a vocal version, sung by Julee Cruise. The soundtrack album also sold well. When U.S. President George Bush Sr. met Russian head of state Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991, Gorbachev actually asked him in a private meeting whether he knew who killed Laura Palmer, as he was a huge fan of the series. 'Twin Peaks' also won several awards. The band Xiu Xiu released a tribute album, 'Plays the Music of Twin Peaks', covering the 'Twin Peaks' soundtrack.
Network executives quickly ordered a second season, despite the fact that neither Lynch, nor TV producer Mark Frost, had ever intended to make more than 8 episodes. To add insult to injury, the executives also insisted that Laura Palmer's murderer was revealed in the middle of the second season to increase ratings. When Lynch and Frost bowed to the pressure, viewership soon dropped, not helped by the fact that ABC kept rescheduling the show on different hours. Loyal fans prevented the series from being abruptly cancelled, allowing for a more dignified conclusion of the second season, which still ended on a cliffhanger. Contrary to popular thought, Lynch didn't direct all episodes, as he was busy working on the movie 'Wild At Heart' (1990) at the time. He only directed two episodes of the first and the final episode of the second season. But he kept careful creative control over the assigned directors and scriptwriters.
In 1992, Lynch directed a 'Twin Peaks' movie adaptation, 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me', focusing on the days before Laura Palmer's eventual murder. However, those who expected to receive a resolution to all the questions left behind by the TV series, were just given extra mysteries. 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me' therefore flopped and received mixed reviews. Only over time has it received more critical appreciation.
Almost two decades later, 'Twin Peaks' was released on Blu-Ray, with Lynch editing several deleted scenes together into a 90-minute short, 'The Missing Pieces, Fire Walk with Me'. Around this time, comic artist Matt Haley had interest in creating a graphic novel based on the show, which he wanted to publish when the second season was released on Blu-Ray. He went through the effort for fun, not knowing whether he would receive legal permission. Haley went on board with Bob Engels, who was a story editor and producer for 'Twin Peaks'. Engels agreed to write a script for his graphic novel. Haley also met other people involved with the original TV series, including Angelo Badalamenti, Sheryl Lee and Mark Frost, who all greenlighted the project. He secured a deal with Top Shelf to print the book, while Paramount Home Entertainment would package it. But the whole plan eventually fell through when Haley received a message from Lynch's assistant: "While David respects the artwork and the effort put into this project, he just does not want to continue the story of 'Twin Peaks' in any way." Alan Moore also once considered making a graphic novel about 'Twin Peaks', but it never developed beyond a mere idea.
Nevertheless, in 2017, a new season of 'Twin Peaks' returned to the air, this time broadcast on ShowTime and retitled 'Twin Peaks: The Return'. This time, Lynch directed all episodes, while also playing a recurring role as the character Gordon.
David Lynch appearing as a bartender in 'Family Guy'.
Other TV projects
Lynch and TV producer Mark Frost also created the comedy series 'On the Air' (1992), which only lasted three episodes before it was cancelled. Together with Monty Montgomery, Lynch directed a mini-series, 'Hotel Room' (1993), on HBO. In Seth MacFarlane's animated series 'The Cleveland Show', Lynch had a recurring role as the character Gus the bartender. He also voiced himself in the 'Family Guy' episode 'The Splendid Source' (2013).
'Dumbland'.
Dumbland
Lynch created an animated web series 'Dumbland' (2002) which could be seen on his personal website and YouTube channel. The plot follows an oafish, aggressive neo-Neanderthal named Randy, who gets angry at basically everybody and everything. The cartoons are extremely violent, but Lynch's trademark surrealism often makes these scenes far more odd and surprising. Lynch designed all the characters personally and also voiced them, though with an artificial pitch-shift. 'Dumbland' was also released on DVD.
'Dumbland'.
Musical career
Apart from films, Lynch has also been interested in music. His use of old Roy Orbison songs on the soundtrack of 'Blue Velvet' (1986) actually revived Orbison's career and the veteran singer even entered the charts again with a new hit, 'You Got It', before unexpectedly passing away. Several pop stars have played supporting roles in Lynch's films, including Sting ('Dune'), David Bowie, Chris Isaak ('Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me'), Marilyn Manson, Henry Rollins ('Lost Highway'), Billy Ray Cyrus ('Mulholland Drive'), Chrysta Bell ('Twin Peaks: The Return') and Rebekah del Rio ('Mulholland Drive', 'Rabbits', 'Twin Peaks'). Most of Lynch's films and TV series were scored by Angelo Badalementi, with whom he also recorded an album in 1992 that wouldn't be released until 2018, under the title 'Thought Gang' (2018). Lynch also wrote music for 'Wild at Heart' (1990), 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' (1992), 'Mulholland Drive' (2001), 'Rabbits' (2003) and 'Inland Empire' (2006). For the latter film, he sang two tracks: 'Ghost of Love' and 'Walkin' in the Sky'. Lynch also launched the career of singer Julee Cruise, for whom he wrote lyrics on her albums 'Floating into the Night' (1989) and 'The Voice of Love' (1993), which he also produced. She later sang the memorable theme song of 'Twin Peaks': 'Falling'. Lynch additionally contributed to Jocelyn Montgomery's album 'Lux Livens (Living Light). The Music of Hildegard von Bingen' (1998). With Dean Hurley he collaborated on 'The Air Is On Fire' (2007) and with Marek Zebrowski on 'Polish Night Music' (2007). For Dumb Numbers' album 'Dumb Numbers' (2013), Lynch provided photography.
"Sally's In The Kitchen!!"
Lynch brought out one rock album, 'BlueBob' (2001), on which he plays guitar alongside John Neff. His next album, 'Crazy Clown Time' (2010), featured guest vocals on one track by Karen O. (from the band The Yeah Yeah Yeahs). His third album, 'The Big Dream' (2013), was followed by a special EP, 'The Big Dream Remix EP' (2014), where various artists remix songs from that specific album. Among them was the band Bastille, who had already recorded a song titled 'Laura Palmer', after the main protagonist of 'Twin Peaks'. Since 2008, Lynch also had his own record label, David Lynch MC. Among his productions are Chrysta Bell's 'This Train' (2011), 'Somewhere in the Nowhere' (2016) and 'Cellophane Memories' (2024) and Donovan's 'I Am the Shaman' (2021). He co-wrote and sang the track 'Fire Is Coming' (2019) on the album 'Flamagra' (2019) by Flying Lotus.
Lynch has also directed music videos for Chris Isaak ('Wicked Game', 1990), X Japan ('Longing – Setsubou no Yoru', 1993), Moby ('Shot in the Back of the Head', 2009) and Nine Inch Nails ('Came Back Haunted', 2013). For the pop band Duran Duran, he directed a 2011 concert. Lynch made an animated film, 'I Touch a Red Button Man' (2011), in collaboration with the band Interpol. It played in the background during Interpol's concert at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (2011).
Graphic and written contributions
Lynch designed the furniture in his film 'Lost Highway' (1997). Alongside designer Raphael Navot, light designer Thierry Dreyfus and architectural agency Enia, in 2001 he also designed the Parisian nightclub Silencio, named after a similar club in his film 'Mulholland Drive' (2001). Lynch wrote two partially autobiographical books, 'Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity' (2006) and 'Room to Dream' (2018).
Recognition
Lynch's 'The Elephant Man' won the César Award for 'Best Foreign Film' (1982), while 'Wild At Heart' (1990) received the Palme d'Or at Cannes. 'The Straight Story' (1999) won the 'Screen International Award for a Non-European Film' at the European Film Awards. 'Mulholland Drive' received the award for 'Best Director' (2001) at the Festival of Cannes and a César for 'Best Foreign Film'. In the early 1990s, 'Twin Peaks' won three Golden Globes, for 'Best TV Series – Drama', Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper) won for 'Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series: Drama' and Piper Laurie (Catherine Martell) for 'Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV'. It also won two Emmy Awards, for 'Costume Design' and 'Editing'.
In 2002, Lynch was honored as Chevalier and in 2009 as Officier dans les Arts, becoming part of their Légion d'Honneur. He also received the Edward MacDowell Medal (2017) for his 'Outstanding Contributions to American Culture'. Lynch additionally was bestowed with a Honorary Stockholm Film Festival Award (2003), Honorary Golden Lion (2006) and Honorary Academy Award (2019) for his entire career. In 2009, an asteroid was named after him.
Throughout the decades, Lynch's paintings, collages and photographs have been exhibited all around the world, including in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. Between 3 March and 27 May 2007, they appeared at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, while between 12 September 2014 and January 2015, they were also on display at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
"He Has His Tools and Chemicals" (2013).
Final years and death
Despite the new 'Twin Peaks' series getting decent reviews and ratings in the early 2020s, Lynch himself was in bad health by that date. A lifetime of smoking had saddled him with emphysema. Although he had quit the habit in 2022, his health eventually deteriorated during his final months. Since late 2024, he could no longer leave his home. Because of the 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles, he had to be evacuated, after which his health deteriorated rapidly. David Lynch died from the disease on 15 January 2025, at age 78.
Legacy and influence
David Lynch was one of the most acclaimed cineasts, enjoying a strong cult following among intellectuals. His work is very popular in Europe and Japan, where it is regarded as cinematic art. 'Twin Peaks' is held in high esteem as one of the rare TV series to take commercial risks. Its use of paranormal cases and long dream sequences paved the way for later TV dramas, like 'The X-Files', 'The Sopranos' and 'Gravity Falls', and video games like 'Mizzurna Falls' and 'Silent Hill'.
Lynch's oeuvre also influenced various comic artists, including Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz and Dennis Wojda's comic 'Mikropolis', Gihef, Gummbah, Kamagurka, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Herr Seele and Oscar Stern. Grant Morrison was inspired by Lynch for his 'Batman and Robin' graphic novel. Kamagurka often used the theme music of 'Twin Peaks' as atmospheric background in his radio sketch show 'Studio Kafka' (1995-1999). 'The Straight Story' inspired him for the recurring segment 'De Grens' in the human interest show 'Man Bijt Hond', where he drove in a similar vehicle through Flanders, talking with locals he met along the way. 'The Angriest Dog in the World' was an influence on Ryan North's webcomic 'Dinosaur Comics'.
In 1992, Lynch was subject of a comic book himself, published in the 'Contemporary Biographics Series'. Scripted by Caucus de Bourbon and drawn by Ken Landgraf, the comic follows the film director being brought to trial by several characters from his films and series, forcing him to defend his cinematic style. While a surreal narrative, Lynch also reflects on his actual life and career through flashbacks.
Poster for a 2016 David Lynch documentary.