Clowes' artwork throughout the book seemed so familiar in some instances that I wondered if some of it wasn't imitation or homage, but I'm not well versed enough in my classic artists that I can pinpoint whom he's aping.
The Charles sections with its focus on a small child's deeply philosophical thoughts reminded me of "Peanuts;" but the artwork not so much so . . . though the images of children singing was evocative of Schultz's singing kiddies for me.
Some of the Mr. and Mrs. Ames sections reminded me of "Spiderman" but maybe that's just because Mr. Ame's hair is so reminiscent of J. Jonah Jameson's
Other than that I can say images felt really familiar but can't put my finger on the possible inspirations. Any help here?
The plot itself in which the residents of a small seemingly isolated town goes about it's trivial business against the backdrop of a major crime, reminded me quite a bit if Gilbert Hernandez's Human Diastrophism in which the residents of Palomar attend to their daily dramas while a serial killer is on the loose in town. Not to mention that strange monolith referred to as "our friend" (8.2) in Ice Haven is an echo of those strange idols that appear throughout the Palomar stories. Not so sure if this is so intentional as the earlier referenced artistic homages.
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Well, Clowes is an avowed admirer of Schulz; Peter Bagge apparently asked him to draw Spider-Man (though Bagge ended up doing it himself, in the hilarious one-shot "The Megalomaniacal Spider-Man"); and Clowes's first Lloyd Llewelyn story, back before his solo comics started, was published in an issue of _Love & Rockets_. So it looks like you're right on all counts (though I associate the singing children more with the animated version of Dr. Seuss's _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_).
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