''Acme Novelty Library'' is a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series created by

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

cartoonist

Chris Ware Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware (born December 28, 1967) is an American cartoonist known for his ''Acme Novelty Library'' series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels ''Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth'' (2000), ''Building Stories'' (2012 ...

. Its first issue appeared in 1993. Published from 1994 by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

and later self-published,Fantagraphics Books – Artist Bio – Chris Ware
/ref> it is considered a significant work in

alternative comics Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comic book, American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alterna ...

, 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 Mouse'' from ''

The Daily Texan ''The Daily Texan'' is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States, with a daily circulation of roughly 12,000 during the fall and spring semesters, and is among th ...

'', and more recent strips from ''

NewCity Newcity is a media company based in Chicago, founded in 1986 by Brian and Jan Hieggelke." It started as the ''Newcity'' independent, free weekly newspaper in Chicago. Effective March 2017, the founders changed the newspaper into a glossy monthly ...

'', a Chicago weekly paper. Ware's first major

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

, '' 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 ''Rusty Brown'' is a continuing series of comics by American 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 collec ...

'' 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:

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 () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that Existential nihilism, life is meaningless, that Moral nihilism, moral values are baseless, and ...

permeate tales of disappointment, thwarted affection, and the dehumanization of the individual in a modern and mechanized world.The Guardian: The Art of Melancholy, October 31, 2005
/ref> 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

. Ware started self-publishing the series starting with #16, which was distributed by Fantagraphics, with subsequent issues distributed by Drawn & Quarterly. Issue 18 was published in 2007 containing Ware's "

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

" covers for the November 26, 2006, issue of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', plus supplementary material, in portfolio format. The title has been collected into volumes published by

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint. Founded in 1942 as an independent publishing house in New York City by Kurt and Helen Wolff, it specialized in introducing progressive European works to American readers. In 1961, it was ...

(US),

(US) and

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a British publishing firm headquartered in London and founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard (1893–1968) set up the publishing house in ...

(UK): * '' Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth'' (2000), Pantheon / Cape (collects issue 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11–14). * '' Quimby the Mouse'' (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, including parody ads and the ACME company "tour"). * '' Building Stories'' (2012), Pantheon Books Pantheon / Cape (collects issue 18 with material from issue 16, other periodicals, and new material). * ''

'' (2019), Pantheon Books (collects material from issues 16, 17, 19, 20, as well as new material). 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. The series won the

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

for Best Continuing Series of 1996 and 2000; Best New Graphic Album of 2000; and Best Publication Design of 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2002. Furthermore, an ''Acme Novelty Library'' display stand won the Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Product of 1998. Ware won the Eisner Award for his work in ''Acme Novelty Library'' for Best Artist/Writer-Drama of 2008; Best Artist/Writer of 2009; Best Colorist of 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2006; and Best Letterer of 2009. The series won the

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

for Best New Series of 1995; Best Continuing or Limited Series of 2000 and 2001; Best Single Issue or Story of 1997 and 2000; and Harvey Special Award for Excellence in Presentation every year from 1995 to 2000. Ware won the Harvey Award for his work in ''Acme Novelty Library'' for Best Cartoonist of 2006; Best Letterer of 1996, 2000, 2002, and 2006; Best Cover Artist of 2000; and Best Colorist of 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2002. The series won Ignatz Awards for Outstanding Series of 1997, 1998; Outstanding Comic of 1998 and 2000; Outstanding Story of 2000 (''Jimmy Corrigan''); and Outstanding Graphic Novel of 2009. Other awards won by ''Acme Novelty Library'' include 1999

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

's Award for Best Comic Book and Good Taste Awards for Best New Series of 1994; Best Continuing Series of 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000; Best Single Issue of 1996, 1999, and 2000; Best Ongoing Serialized Story of 1999 (''Jimmy Corrigan''); and Best Production Design of 1998, 1999, and 2000.Good Taste Awards
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Authority control Comics by Chris Ware Fantagraphics titles 1993 comics debuts Eisner Award winners for Best Continuing Series Eisner Award winners for Best Graphic Album: New Harvey Award winners for Best New Series Harvey Award winners for Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award winners for Best Single Issue or Story Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Series Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Story Metafictional comics