Post by droidofages on Feb 11, 2010 23:05:29 GMT -4
After taking a few years off from reading comics following the 90's glut of gold foil darkness, I popped into a great little comic shop next to Suspect Video (best video joint I've ever seen) in Toronto. The place is called the Beguiling and right in the doorway, I was confronted by a six foot display that blew my mind and had me falling into comics again, and hard:
The display was for a series called ACME Novelty Library, occasionally A.K.A. Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Boy on Earth, and/or Quimby the Mouse, and/or Rusty Brown, and/or the Building.
Chris Ware, in my opinion, creatively exploits the medium he works in to a degree rarely seen in the industry. His awareness of it's potential and limitations are evident in all of his work which ranges in style, format and subject matter while maintaining an unmistakable ingenuity.
There are the deceptively simple and iconic strips:
The experimental use of such imagery, typography and non-linear, explosion-diagram-type layouts:
The sublimely beautiful and languidly depressing life stories:
... and his enviable grasp of architecture:
Then there's the complete package delivery of his material in beautifully designed and wildly erratic formats that would often include things like cut out activities, interesting indicias and fake ads:
You can also watch his work in animated form:
Jackie O
the Camera
Quimby the Mouse (Thanks Mike!)
Lost Buildings (sneak peek)
If you want to devour more of Chris Ware's work, visit the ACME Archives (where you'll find the animated gif I'm using for an avatar) and/or visit your local comic shop (like Strange Adventures!) and ask them the Jimmy Corrigan collection, the Quimby the Mouse collection, the Shareholder's Report and/or any of the books from volume 16 and up. Any of these, or his sketch books, would be good points to start at and I hope anyone giving it a go gets as much enjoyment from his work as I do.
The display was for a series called ACME Novelty Library, occasionally A.K.A. Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Boy on Earth, and/or Quimby the Mouse, and/or Rusty Brown, and/or the Building.
Chris Ware, in my opinion, creatively exploits the medium he works in to a degree rarely seen in the industry. His awareness of it's potential and limitations are evident in all of his work which ranges in style, format and subject matter while maintaining an unmistakable ingenuity.
There are the deceptively simple and iconic strips:
The experimental use of such imagery, typography and non-linear, explosion-diagram-type layouts:
The sublimely beautiful and languidly depressing life stories:
... and his enviable grasp of architecture:
Then there's the complete package delivery of his material in beautifully designed and wildly erratic formats that would often include things like cut out activities, interesting indicias and fake ads:
You can also watch his work in animated form:
Jackie O
the Camera
Quimby the Mouse (Thanks Mike!)
Lost Buildings (sneak peek)
If you want to devour more of Chris Ware's work, visit the ACME Archives (where you'll find the animated gif I'm using for an avatar) and/or visit your local comic shop (like Strange Adventures!) and ask them the Jimmy Corrigan collection, the Quimby the Mouse collection, the Shareholder's Report and/or any of the books from volume 16 and up. Any of these, or his sketch books, would be good points to start at and I hope anyone giving it a go gets as much enjoyment from his work as I do.