Customer Reviews

The Acme Novelty Library

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Even if you don't read this book you will get a chill just looking at it, as it is truly a beautiful "objet de art" and not just a collection of comics. The design of each page is a work of art in and of itself and I get a shiver just beholding each one. While ANL claims it is a report to "shareholders" it is really a collection of single page "jokes" that sometimes form a sustained narrative....It's very unlike Ware's Jimmy Corrigan book, as it can be read in no particular order and still make a load of sense. There are also some nice gimmicks included like toys you can build, mini-comics you can "bind", a glow in the dark map of the stars, a wrap-around band that contains a comic, and even the world's smallest comic included along the edge of the book. The colors, are bright, bold and rainbow like, the stories are all over the spectrum from hilarious to cringe inducing pathos, the actual Acme history is quite entertaining, and then there are the ad parodies.....You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish they were real....basically ANL provides hours of entertainment for the price of a nice dinner, especially if ordered from Amazon.....I can hardly wait for Ware's next book which I hear is coming out in the next couple of months. Move this book to the top of your buying list....

Getting this book in the mail after having immensley enjoyed Jimmy Corrigan was comparable to my best xmas present-opening experiences as a kid - a feeling I assumed would not occur again, now that I'm a dried-up adult. I got it alongside acme novelty library 16 + 17, which I ordered whilst drunk and deeply regretted until recieving them. Wow! I simply cannot beleive something this amazing exists. I suggest reading 16 + 17 first, as there are secrets about Rusty Brown's fate that you may want to save until after you've got yourself into the 'Rusty-Brown-as-a-child' storyline. A large portion of this book involves middle-aged rusty, so... Well, its up to you. I can see the merit of reading it in the reverse order as well. Either way, this book is just utterly amazing - I haven't enjoyed any comics remotely this much, since reading Twisted Tales in my youth. I still have the final 3 pages left, and am quite excited! (Other reviewers say its the best ending ever, so I'm going to save it...
You are a disgrace to humanity if you pass this up.

Chris Ware's tragicomic characters are experiencing the dramas of life that most people would rather not admit even exist. Divorce, hate, ambivolence, child abandonment (a disturbing recurrence in Ware's work.), mental cruelty, substance abuse, murder, shame, self-loathing, etc. This is coupled with very dark tounge-in-cheek humor of the kind that makes you wonder if you should really be laughing or not. (You should.) Above it all is Ware's astounding design work. Nobody but NOBODY can create a world as fine and obsessively detailed as Chris Ware. Endless throwbacks to Victorian book design, Advertisments from early 20th century to comic book styles of the 50s. He has created a unique enviroment that is as dazzlingly brilliant to look at, as it is uneasy to read. I've never been dissapointed by Ware's work and this is no exception. This does collect previously released work from his Acme Novelty Library so if you already own all of those issues this may not be for you. However it is a terriffic collection and a must for fans, modern comic enthusiasts or people just interested in fantastic book design.

Some comics might make you laugh till you cry. This one works the other way. You'll think and get depressed until you find a place to smile in. Exquisitely produced, it's like owning a piece of custom art on your bookshelf (not that it will fit) or coffee table. Astounding, perfect, unique: read it and fill in your own superlative.

This is a phenomenal collection of Ware' s various single pages, larger format reprints and new meanderings. A frightful amount of detail and dedication.

In response to the post 'you better have 20/20 vision' - I can't imagine why someone would use this space to bag a book for it's meticulious detail and give it one out of five stars [then credit Ware as a 'huge talent']. The 'detail' is part of the obsessive intrigue of the book which I think characterises Ware's respect for the reader. I can't understand why someone would deter another from buying a book based on poor eyesight over actual content. Buy a magnifying glass if ya struggling perhaps? Vent over.

THE GREATEST COMIC BOOK ENDING EVER!! I read every word cover to cover (even the fine print). It is not very often that I am truly moved but the last few panels did it. Do not pass this up.

Imagine if you took every dark and self-loathing thought that a person ever had and then lumped it into a book. If you can imagine that then you might just understand this book. The art is phenominal, the writing is heart-wrenching and extremely clear and beautiful, but this book is not for the easily upset. Though Ware's comic style is often misread due to its breaking of the common left to right, top to bottom format this book is definetly worth the time it takes to read it. If you're a common reader of Graphic Novels or just starting out this is a great book for you.

Warning: don't buy this for your ten year old son. Comics aren't just for kids anymore and if you don't know that yet you will soon.

I've always enjoyed Mr. Ware's contributions to the genre, but this book....What can I say?! Amazing! Not only are the storylines dense, engaging, and complex, but the book itself is achingly gorgeous. Beautifully bound, a larger size, and with such lovely cover design, it could easily be mistaken as the manual for some ornate piece of antique machinery, or perhaps the rulebook for some vast, arcane, cabal of cannabalistic mystics, but no....it's "only" a...a what..? I guess the work could be called an underground comic (possibly more "etheric" than "underground") or a 'sequentially illustrated story,' but there's more to it than that. A more intense scrutiny exposes troves of hidden extras tucked deftly in amongst the dreamlike narrative, and re-reading brings new treasures to light. This is quite alot to add to a book that is already so beautifully and painstakingly illustrated. Chris Ware's spare, fluid style reminds me of many things...a draftsman's blueprint...early baby boom era automobile advertising...and...uh...what..? Perhaps the cover illo from a post WWII sci-fi paperback? Japanese calligraphy on a grain of rice? Not quite...This work is very evocative, yet somehow still so very hard to pin down, and yes, I do agree that it takes some effort to read some of the smaller stuff! Thank goodness for that, hunh? Otherwise, how would he ever have crammed so much work into that poor overloaded, jam-packed, wedged-in-with-a-crowbar volume? This book was barely 'street-legal' as it was! So put on your specs or borrow a good magnifying glass, and drop the sniv- -its definitely worth the effort. Mr. Ware has graciously offered us many lovely gifts, so let us not complain that some of them require more delicate handling. If it were possible, I would give this book more than 5 stars--it is beautifully drawn, possesses a storyline that snares you neatly and painlessly, contains tons of hidden treats and tricks, and is so prettily bound that it almost screams 'collectible!!'....It is rare that any book deserves this title, and rarer still to hear this word being used, but here it is: I believe this book to be A TOME.

Ware is clearly intelligent, creative, tormented, and devoted to his work. At times he achieves real poetry, which is the highest compliment I can give any creative work. The problem is that the gems contained herein are all but lost in a dense miasma of obsessive neurotica and very uneven satire that tends toward the arch, precious, and vaguely self-congratulatory.

Some of the spoof material is quite clever and I did find myself laughing out loud appreciatively a handful of times, but in general Ware pushes the same simplistic idea way too hard, over and over, and I found my eyes glazing over and my mind ardently wishing it were otherwise occupied. It doesn't help that Ware's style--graphically, narratively, and conceptually--tends to keep readers at arm's length rather than draw them in and create the illusion of intimacy. Add to this the fact that other reviewers are not exaggerating when they say you'll need a magnifying glass just to be able to read a substantial portion of the book, and the overall effect is at best ambivalent, at worst unpleasant and annoying. I couldn't escape the suspicion that Ware is resentful and perhaps even contemptuous of his readers--the self-loathing I read in his work is outweighed by anger directed at others.

He fares much better with the narrative episodes in the volume. These are not only legible (which much of the spoof material is not--ironic considering that Ware seems much more of a designer than an artist, and one who seems to demonstrate a relatively developed consciousness of typographical considerations), but also far more complex,engaging, satisfying, and evocative. Even so, the overriding aesthetic is one of alienation and brutality--a fitting reflection of our dark world, perhaps, but one which stifles and maims the generosity and sympathy that make any truly great art the gift and blessing that it is. It's as though Ware were still seeking vengeance for whatever perceived transgressions were perpetrated on him during his childhood. I would find his work more compelling if he'd tone down the obsessiveness of the presentation and focus more on his very promising cast of characters.

I purchased this as a gift, and my daughter was amazed by the book. She had studied the artist in a college course, but this particular edition captivated her--the artistry, subtlety and detail were the source of hours of enjoyment reading and studying the book. It's a work of art.