Customer Reviews

The Comics of Chris Ware: Drawing Is a Way of Thinking

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There is no question that Ware's contributions to visual culture are as much intellectual and historical as they are aesthetic, but even the greatest fan of his work might never make those connections casually. Not everyone is good at analysis, and not everyone has the education and critical background of the authors included in this book. I believe it is probably a bit early to assess Ware's ultimate role in the comics / art world, but it's not too early to start thinking about what he's doing. Looking at and thining about skilled analysis of his contexts - both chosen and incidental - is fascinating not only for what it says about Ware, but what it says about the rest of contemporary comics, quite a lot of other aspects of visual culture, and what someday will be a component of the history of art of the current era.

It's understandable that folks who are into Ware's apparently uncomplicated visual style might find the verbally dense academic prose a bit of a bramble patch to get through. This is not the expedient text of a comic or even a graphic novel. As the kids might say, it could be tl;dr if one purchased this book looking for comics. However, if you were looking for a variety of perspectives on Ware's work, including both criticism and praise, this is a fantastic selection of well-thought, well-written and well-edited essays.

(tl;dr is 'too long; didn't read', if you were wondering.)

This book is an intectual commentary upon Chir Ware's art. When eggheads are compelled to comment upon a great artist like Ware's works it's going to come out like crap. These people should just kick back, smoke a joint, and keep their opinions to themselves.
There's some good Ware artwork, but so what? I've got all of Ware's work, and this is the least important.