The Acme Novelty Library (Pantheon Graphic Library) - Hardcover

Ware, Chris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375422951 ISBN 13: 9780375422959

Publisher: Pantheon, 2005

Synopsis

Utterly eschewing the general bonhomie surrounding the newly-minted contemporary regard for the comic strip medium as a language of complicated personal expression and artistic sophistication, professional colorist and award-winning letterer F. C. Ware returns to the book trade with “The ACME Novelty Library,” a hardcover distillation of all his surviving one-page cartoon jokes with which he tuckpointed the holes of his regular comic book periodical over the past decade.

Sometimes claimed to be his “best work” by those who really don’t know any better, this definitive congestion of stories of the future, the old west, and even of modern life nonetheless tries to stay interesting by including a luminescent map of the heavens, a chart of the general structure of the universe, assorted cut-out activitites, and a complete history of The ACME Novelty Company itself, decorated by rare photographs, early business ventures, not to mention the smallest example of a Comic Strip ever before offered to the general public. All in all, it will likely prove a rather mild disappointment, but at least it catches the light in a nice way and may force a smile here and there before being shelved for the next generation’s ultimate disregard and/or disposal.

About this title

About the Author

Chris Ware lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife, Marnie. He is the author of Jimmy Corrigan — the Smartest Kid on Earth, which received the Guardian First Book Award in 2001 and was also included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial of American Art. He most recently edited the 13th issue of “McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern,” and continues work on two upcoming genuinely serious graphic novels. The 16th issue of his regular periodical, not uncoincidentally titled “The ACME Novelty Library,” will be released this fall.

Reviews

Starred Review. With all his literary accolades and awards, it's easy to forget Ware (Jimmy Corrigan) is one of the warmest, funniest cartoonists in America. The Acme Novelty Library collects a few issues of Ware's comic book series by the same name and adds plenty of new pages and visual delights. It is, like all of his work, an utterly immersive experience. You're not just reading his comics, you're inhabiting his world: from fake ads to diagrams for paper models to a lengthy and very funny fictional history of the Acme Novelty Company. These strips combine complex and beautiful visuals with the humor of hapless, often sad characters in ridiculous predicaments. "Rusty Brown", a series of strips based around an obsessive collector who will be the subject of Ware's next graphic novel, is particularly strong. These comics showcase Ware's unusual sensitivity towards his characters, building an incisive, multi-dimensional portrait of Brown and his friend Chalky White. On top of all of these riches there is Ware's own personal "history of art" in cartoon form, and a multi-page story about a naked superhero. Combining surreal humor, cutting satire, stunning visuals, and empathic characters, Ware's latest is a wondrous journey into the universe of a master cartoonist in peak form. (Sept.)
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The latest from comics artist extraordinaire Ware is rather a hodgepodge. It consists largely of individual, full-page strips that originally appeared in an alternative weekly. But what it lacks in cohesiveness it makes up for in virtuosity, demonstrating why Ware is at the forefront of the medium. The tabloid-sized collection samples all Ware's recurring characters: forlorn spaceman Rocket Sam, nebbishy rodent Quimby the Mouse (eponymous star of Ware's previous collection, 2003), bovine cowboy Big Tex, the futuristic consumer from Tales of Tomorrow, a silently arrogant superhero who is either Superman or God, and even the eponymous protagonist of Ware's breakthrough graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan (2000)--all of them limned in Ware's formally complex narrative manner. More straightforward are strips featuring obsessive toy collector and social outcast Rusty Brown, portrayed with little of the sympathy Ware extends to his other creations, including Rusty's boyhood pal, Chucky White. The volume also features some of Ware's meticulous, nostalgia-fueled renditions of vintage advertisements and an eyestraining faux history of the Acme Novelty Company. Everything impressively attests Ware's mastery. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375422951
• ISBN 13: 9780375422959
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 108