Customer Reviews

The Acme Novelty Date Book: Sketches and Diary Pages in Facsimile

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this book very inspiring and entertaining. To my non-trained eyes, even his rough sketches are amazing. And the journal entries are intense to read. In publishing this sketchbook, he seems unafraid to show us his most private moments of self doubt and insecurity. It was surprising to me that someone this talented could be such a harsh critic of his own work. That's probably what keeps his work so unique. There's lots to check out in this very cool book.

The book is a record of an absolute monster drawing talent!
It collects tentative investigations, as a scrapbook of ideas and odds and ends. The amazing thing about it is its vitality.
Anything and everything becomes a source of inspiration and investigation into the nature of drawing. A coffee cup, a telephone in a waiting room, a washing machine, such mundane things seem to begin as notations but are transformed by Ware's observation of line and tone into their inner vitality - much like Van Gogh's peasant shoes. There are beautiful portraits. And beyond the observed notes, the book is positively brimming with characters, mutations, and cartoons from his eccentric imagination. The fantastical musings and the observed notations blend, merge together, separate like DNA strands through the book, adding up to a rich record of creativity

I didn't think I would like this one. But after owning everything else the man ever made, I asked for this one for x-mas. Wow! I love it! There are spontaneous portraits of people on the bus, views from friend's rooftops, the rudiments of strips like: God, Jimmy the robot etc...
If you are a Chris Ware fan YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK! If you are not familiar with Chris, best to start somewhere else.

I just finished reading this, and it's a real treat. Fans of Jimmy Corrigan or Acme Novelty Library will enjoy drafts of these but expect differences in style. This gives a better look at Chris Ware than his other publications that I've read. You can really feel his frustrations in this work. I reccommend this to both fans and non-fans.

Chris Ware is an amazing artist--one of the best in the comics industry. His books are something I treasure like a sweaty gold miner. He published this sketchbook in "response" to Bob Crumb's sketchbooks. In the intro, Ware states how influential those books were on him. The variety of styles Ware is capable of using is amazing. You'll also gain insight into the characters we've come to know and love (Quimby, Jimmy Corrigan, etc). If you're a Ware fan--get this book. If you are new to Ware, I'd probably start somewhere else like Jimmy Corrigan.

**The one caution I would provide is that Amazon states that this is the 1st volume. However, the picture above is of volume 2. The 1st edition has a black cover and the 2nd edition cover is blue. The two editions cover different periods of Ware' life.

This has been the best book purchase I've made this year. If you're a fan of Chris Ware and/or nursing your own comic project, I know of no book I'd recommend before this one. In his jumbled, crazy sketchbook pages are the riddle to his success.

beautiful drawings...no matter how self critical mr. ware was back in the day. the book really allows the reader into the head of a master illustrator. if you're looking more for a graphic novel, don't start with this one (try his first real freshman work jimmy c, or his ACME novelty library, probably my favorite - you get a real sense of what ware is all about - clean lines, insane, or better put, anal details). anyway, back to this one...great book, if you're a fan of ware, there's no reason not to get this one, and if you're not yet convinced, this is a nice piece just to have - these same drawings and doodles that once inspired ware himself, now get me thinking. love it.

If you want to see inside Chris Ware's head, this is the book. There's next to no Jimmy Corrigan or Acme Novelty, just raw sketches of inspiration and internal struggle spanning 9 years of Ware's life (1986-1995). As an illustrator/designer, I found this book to be the most inspirational book I own, and I own many inspirational books. I definately recommend it.