ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY: Various Singles & Filler Material--Plus Animated Cartoon!

[jlroberson]

Even more Ware! Fortunately, Ware has done lots of single page stories, so here's an assortment of some of those, plus sinister text filler.

Also, watch a Quimby the Mouse cartoon he did for THIS AMERICAN LIFE here.















(c) Chris Ware.

Comments

[zordboy]

I'm new to these Acme novelty scans.

Let me say, wow.

[punishermax]

This is quite literally the tip of an iceberg made of pure depression

[cmdr_zoom]

yyyeah, y'know what? I've got enough of that already. Thanks. I'm good.

[zordboy]

Me too, I think.

[halloweenjack]

Aww, c'mon, gang! Has the howling abyss of despair ever been this whimsical?

[jlroberson]

His Louis Sullivan drawings aren't depressed. Nor is he. I once talked to him about doing some work with the Chicago Architecture Foundation(where I worked). He's a very nice and very good-humored guy.

[punishermax]

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that he himself is depressing! I mean the Corrigan stuff and in the book to be specific.

[jlroberson]

Yeah, but that was, after all, a long time ago; his work's gained more emotional breadth since then. It's still in the melancholy ballpark, of course, because he does it well, and is no less sardonic, which is great because I like that in his work. But he's learned more keys to play in since then.

Of alt cartoonists who use their work as a way of dealing with their self-doubt, I actually find Ware's work the strongest, most human, and most comforting, partly as a RESULT of the cold surface. And when I read one of his stories, it actually helps me find hope at bad times. Even JC, after all, ends on a hopeful and lyrical note. I consider it "self-examination." I don't think of it as "depressing" in that way and I never choose what to read, watch, or listen to by that criterion anyway. Art isn't medicine or a drug.

And besides, though, you must keep in mind: what's "depressing" or "bleak" is on a whole other level for people living in Chicago than it is for most others. Maybe Detroit too understands that.

The lonely are a proper subject for art: what's the purpose of making those who are feel more so, like they're the only ones who ever felt that way? That's one thing Ware provides.

Now, on the other hand, you want REAL "depressing?" Try the city's other cartooning guru, Ivan Brunetti. I find almost everything he's ever done to be just plain soul-crushing and I cannot bear it. I was only able to enjoy the most recent SCHIZO--which is all about artists who led lives of loneliness, such as Louise Brooks, Erik Satie, and others, and talks a lot about his divorce--because of the startling skill he shows in his new style. (But which has hints of being pinched from Ware, actually)

[jlroberson]

Here's some more wow. Especially when you notice, which you can see thanks to him doing blue pencil and not erasing, the near-match between pencils and inks. The bastard.
http://www.hammergallery.com/Artists/Ware/ware_chris.htm

[ondine]

LOLing at the art teacher/dealer/magazine bit

[darklorelei]

I like them!

[darklorelei]

Obviously that reply was deep and nuanced, but since so many people had said they didn't, I'd give a contrasting opinion.