Acme Novelty Library
Encyclopedia
Acme Novelty Library is a comic book
series created by Chicago
cartoonist Chris Ware
. Its first issue appeared in 1993. Published from 1994 by Fantagraphics Books
and later self-published, it is considered a significant work in alternative comics
, selling over 20,000 copies per issue.
from The Daily Texan, and more recent strips from New City, a Chicago weekly paper.
Ware's first major graphic novel
, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth
, was originally serialized in Acme Novelty Library between 1995 and 2000. Jimmy Corrigan is the saga of a lonely childlike man and his alienated ancestors, partly inspired by Ware's hopeful but unhappy reunion with his absentee father. The collected edition was released to much acclaim, winning the Guardian First Book Award
, amongst others.
Rusty Brown
and Building Stories began serialization in issue 16. With this issue, Ware also began to self-publish the title, with Fantagraphics and later Drawn & Quarterly
acting as distributor. When asked why he chose to self-publish Ware stated:
Issues are imbued with the defining characteristics of Ware's work; a pervasive sadness and nihilism
permeate tales of disappointment, thwarted affection, and the dehumanization of the individual in a modern and mechanized world. Through the use of apparently extraneous novelties, such as cut-outs and flip-books, and prose parodies set in tiny fonts, Ware blurs the boundaries between author/reader/character. These interventions offer complex and simultaneous multilinear readings of the page that serve to thematise Ware's engagement with issues of narrative and continuity.
. Ware started self-publishing the series starting with #16, which was distributed by Fantagraphics, with subsequent issues distributed by Drawn and Quarterly
.
Issue 18 was published in 2007 containing Ware's "Thanksgiving
" covers for the November 26, 2006 issue of The New Yorker
, plus supplementary material, in portfolio format.
The title has been collected into volumes published by Pantheon Books
(US), Fantagraphics Books
(US) and Jonathan Cape
(UK):
Apart from the continuing Building Stories and Rusty Brown, numbers 1, 3, and 10 are the only issues to remain uncollected at this time.
for Best New Series of 1995, Best Continuing or Limited Series of 2000, and Best Continuing Series of 2001. Issues 7 and 13 won the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story of 1997 and 2000, respectively. Furthermore, Acme Novelty Library won the Harvey Special Award for Excellence in Presentation every year from 1995 to 1999, followed by wins in the same category for issue 13 in 2000, Jimmy Corrigan in 2001, and the Acme Novelty Datebook in 2004.
Acme Novelty Library also won the Eisner Award
for Best Continuing Series of 1996 and 2000; Best New Graphic Album of 2000 (issue 13); and Best Publication Design of 1995, 1996, 1997 (issue 7), and 2002 (issue 15). Also, an Acme Novelty Library display stand won the Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Product of 1998.
The series also won Ignatz Awards
for Outstanding Series of 1997, 1998; Outstanding Comic of 1998 (issue 9) and 2000 (issue 13); and Outstanding Story of 2000 (Jimmy Corrigan).
Other awards won by Acme Novelty Library include Good Taste Awards for Best New Series of 1994; Best Continuing Series of 1995, 1996 (issue 7), 1997, 1999 (issues 11 to 13), and 2000; Best Single Issue of 1996 (issue 7), 1999 (issue 13), and 2000; Best Ongoing Serialized Story of 1999 (Jimmy Corrigan); and Best Production Design of 1998, 1999, and 2000.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series created by Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
cartoonist Chris Ware
Chris Ware
Franklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
. Its first issue appeared in 1993. Published from 1994 by Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
and later self-published, it is considered a significant work in alternative comics
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
, selling over 20,000 copies per issue.
Format, style and content
Acme Novelty Library has adopted numerous formats in the course of the series and, similarly, doesn't feature a continuous cast of characters. It has showcased early Ware comics, such as Quimby the MouseQuimby the Mouse
Quimby the Mouse was created by Chris Ware while he attended the University of Texas at Austin from 1990-1991 The strip originally appeared in the student paper, The Daily Texan....
from The Daily Texan, and more recent strips from New City, a Chicago weekly paper.
Ware's first major graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth
Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth
Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth is a widely acclaimed graphic novel by Chris Ware, published in 2000. The story was previously serialized in the pages of Ware's comic book Acme Novelty Library, between 1995 and 2000 and previous to that, in the alternative Chicago weekly New City.-Plot...
, was originally serialized in Acme Novelty Library between 1995 and 2000. Jimmy Corrigan is the saga of a lonely childlike man and his alienated ancestors, partly inspired by Ware's hopeful but unhappy reunion with his absentee father. The collected edition was released to much acclaim, winning the Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award
Guardian First Book Award, issued before 1999 as Guardian Fiction Prize or Guardian Fiction Award, is awarded to new writing in fiction and non-fiction.-History:...
, amongst others.
Rusty Brown
Rusty Brown
Rusty Brown is a continuing series of comics and comic strips by Chicago cartoonist Chris Ware, named after its protagonist. In the strip, Brown is shown as a young Nebraskan boy and as a man approaching middle age, who has a lifelong obsession with the collection of action figures and similar pop...
and Building Stories began serialization in issue 16. With this issue, Ware also began to self-publish the title, with Fantagraphics and later Drawn & Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
acting as distributor. When asked why he chose to self-publish Ware stated:
Well, it’s for a complicated variety of reasons, but mostly it was because I realized a year or two ago that I simply wasn’t really inspired to do it any more, and when I imagined taking over every aspect of it myself, I was suddenly inspired, almost anxious, to work on it again. In short, it just feels a little more like “art” to me now, since I’m responsible for everything that goes into it, and there’s no one to blame but myself if it’s awful...
Issues are imbued with the defining characteristics of Ware's work; a pervasive sadness and nihilism
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
permeate tales of disappointment, thwarted affection, and the dehumanization of the individual in a modern and mechanized world. Through the use of apparently extraneous novelties, such as cut-outs and flip-books, and prose parodies set in tiny fonts, Ware blurs the boundaries between author/reader/character. These interventions offer complex and simultaneous multilinear readings of the page that serve to thematise Ware's engagement with issues of narrative and continuity.
Acme Novelty Library series
Issues 1-15 were published by Fantagraphics BooksFantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
. Ware started self-publishing the series starting with #16, which was distributed by Fantagraphics, with subsequent issues distributed by Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
.
| # | Main Content | Publisher | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jimmy Corrigan | Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint... |
||
| 2 | Quimby the Mouse | Summer 1994 | ||
| 3 | Potato Guy | Fall 1994 | ||
| 4 | Sparky | Winter 1994-1995 | ||
| 5 | Jimmy Corrigan, pt 1 | 1995 | ||
| 6 | Jimmy Corrigan, pt 2 | Winter 1995-1996 | ||
| 7 | Joke Book
|
1996 | ||
| 8 | Jimmy Corrigan, pt 3 | 1997 | ||
| 9 | Jimmy Corrigan, pt 4 | 1998 | ||
| 10 | Jimmy Corrigan | 1998 | ||
| 11 | Jimmy Corrigan, pt 5 | 1999 | ||
| 12 | Jimmy Corrigan, pt 6 | 1999 | ||
| 13 | Jimmy Corrigan, pt 7 | 1999 | ||
| 14 | Jimmy Corrigan, pt 8 | 2000 | ||
| 15 | Joke Book II
|
2001 | ||
| 16 |
|
Self-published Self-publishing Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design , formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR... |
2005 |
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint... |
| 17 |
|
2006 |
Drawn and Quarterly Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s... |
|
| 18 | Building Stories, pt 2 | 2007 | ||
| 19 | Rusty Brown, pt 3 | 2008 | ||
| 20 | Jordan Lint | 2010 |
Issue 18 was published in 2007 containing Ware's "Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
" covers for the November 26, 2006 issue of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, plus supplementary material, in portfolio format.
The title has been collected into volumes published by Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
(US), Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
(US) and Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
(UK):
- Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on EarthJimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on EarthJimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth is a widely acclaimed graphic novel by Chris Ware, published in 2000. The story was previously serialized in the pages of Ware's comic book Acme Novelty Library, between 1995 and 2000 and previous to that, in the alternative Chicago weekly New City.-Plot...
(2000), Pantheon / Cape (collects issue 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11-14). - Quimby the MouseQuimby the MouseQuimby the Mouse was created by Chris Ware while he attended the University of Texas at Austin from 1990-1991 The strip originally appeared in the student paper, The Daily Texan....
(2003), Fantagraphics / Cape (collects issues 2 and 4 with additional material). - The Acme Novelty Library Final Report to Shareholders and Rainy Day Saturday Afternoon Fun Book (2005), Pantheon / Cape (collects issues 7 and 15 with additional material).
Apart from the continuing Building Stories and Rusty Brown, numbers 1, 3, and 10 are the only issues to remain uncollected at this time.
Awards
The series has been widely recognized in the industry. It won the Harvey AwardHarvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
for Best New Series of 1995, Best Continuing or Limited Series of 2000, and Best Continuing Series of 2001. Issues 7 and 13 won the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story of 1997 and 2000, respectively. Furthermore, Acme Novelty Library won the Harvey Special Award for Excellence in Presentation every year from 1995 to 1999, followed by wins in the same category for issue 13 in 2000, Jimmy Corrigan in 2001, and the Acme Novelty Datebook in 2004.
Acme Novelty Library also won the Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for Best Continuing Series of 1996 and 2000; Best New Graphic Album of 2000 (issue 13); and Best Publication Design of 1995, 1996, 1997 (issue 7), and 2002 (issue 15). Also, an Acme Novelty Library display stand won the Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Product of 1998.
The series also won Ignatz Awards
Ignatz Awards
The Ignatz Awards are intended to recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year since 1997, but skipped a year in 2001 due to the show's cancellation after the September...
for Outstanding Series of 1997, 1998; Outstanding Comic of 1998 (issue 9) and 2000 (issue 13); and Outstanding Story of 2000 (Jimmy Corrigan).
Other awards won by Acme Novelty Library include Good Taste Awards for Best New Series of 1994; Best Continuing Series of 1995, 1996 (issue 7), 1997, 1999 (issues 11 to 13), and 2000; Best Single Issue of 1996 (issue 7), 1999 (issue 13), and 2000; Best Ongoing Serialized Story of 1999 (Jimmy Corrigan); and Best Production Design of 1998, 1999, and 2000.