Rating: 
Summary: Take this seriously
Review: When people see you reading Jimmy Corrigan, you will get quite the gamut of reactions. Some people snicker to themselves and mumble something about a long comic book and wonder where "Flash-man" is. Others will take an interest, read the first ten pages, and put it down in emotional and intellectual frustration. Then you have a few people who will widen their eyes and say solemnly "are you serious...?"This work realizes the dream of Scott McCloud's literary graphic novel in a way that has no precedent that I have found. It is both accessible and intellectual. Its the story of an emotionally destitute and pitiful character named Jimmy Corrigan (actually a couple of them, if you want to get technical) and his search for a meaningful relationship with his/thier father(s). To tell any more than that (even that is too much) will destroy the story for you. Its a story that unwinds over the course of its reading, yet is present from the very first page. Things to think about as your read: The lack of female faces actually shown in any given frame, the significance of misshapen and flawed objects, changes in text, the irony of the title, and the pervasive exploration of the father-son relationship as is stands in the late 20th-early 21st century. Notice, also, how these presentations could not have been made as effective in traditional all-text presentation. Even more interesting is the presentation of the character(s) of Jimmy Corrigan. In Scott McCloud's first book, he talks about the popularity of cartooning, and how we relate to cartoon characters because their features are so simple. To put it another way, the more details a character has, the less it is us and the more it is someone else. All the Jimmy Corrigan characters, but especially the main one, are drawn super-simply. If they resemble anything, they seem infantile (and an ugly infant at that). One type 2 person (the book-putting-down type) told me that they had to take a break because they were "starting to feel like Jimmy Corrigan". Hmmmm............. If you are familiar with the graphic novel, this is the one. It could be studied. However, even if you don't like "comics", I would suggest trying this as an introduction, although I would hardly call it comic. Jimmy Corrigan represents the insecure child in all of us that reaches out for help in any form it can find and recoils when the help is hard and cold. If you ever wanted to put your head in you hands and cry because you thought no one liked you, Jimmy Corrigan is floating around in your psyche. Make sure he knows he's not alone.
Rating:
Summary: The quintessential graphic novel
Review: Ware's exquisite masterwork unfolds itself with subtle, almost quiet techniques that when ran together form a concise history of an insecure middle-aged loser. This book is a perfect blend combining techinques from cinematic storyboards, existentialist literature, morality plays, and contemporary prose to form Jimmy's world which is obvious from page one that he has no control over. Its unsettling charm lies in the pseudo-academic, turn-of-the-century advertising lingo with which the world is unfolded to us. We see how Jimmy's world is sold to him, all ad-jargon and little substance:false promises from adult figures, condesending salespeople, and patronizing co-workers and siblings. In turn, the reader is re-sold the book, and in turn the contemporary world, with cut-out activity pages laden with the same ad lingo and an early Anglo twentieth century sense of 'discovery' likened to manifest destiny. This points out interesting subtexts of consumerism, power, and spiritual void which makes Jimmy all the more a delicious read.
Rating:
Summary: The Humor of Depression, The Sadness of Laughter
Review: Just for the record, I don't own the hardcover book (yet), but rather the individual issues that make up the story collected therein. Um. Some will tell you that this story is about nothing, or that it is boring. I suppose in the same way that our lives are ultimately about nothing in particular and are sometimes a little boring. But I think that this is a story worth telling. Jimmy Corrigan is, in no particular order: socially lacking, depressed, depressing, uplifting, a product of life, and a fascinating character. There's something about a mixture of humor and soul-sucking despair that, for me, brings about the truest sense of pathos I've ever felt, and Jimmy Corrigan's story is one of the best examples of what I've noticed is fast becoming a new genre of sorts across various media. A product of our times? Most assuredly. Jimmy Corrigan's is a story that is to some extent shared by far too many that I know and have known.
Rating:
Summary: A triumph of visual literature
Review: I spent hours just examining the cover art on this book. The narrative visual story is more captivating than any work of graphic novelry created to date. It is a story which could not be told in words alone, as its simplistic visual style communicates more in one page than could be expressed in volumes of text. It is an amazing, inspiring and depressing story about the crushing weight of life in 20th century America.
Rating:
Summary: Bleak and brilliant
Review: I read Chris Ware's comics in New City when I was living in Chicago--curiously at first--who are all of these odd adults with potato-shaped heads and elderly-looking children? But I became addicted to the story where, well, not much happens at all. And I guess it's kind of the point, capturing the aloneness and awkwardness that takes up so much of our time. This book is just beautiful--I had to stop reading several times to just marvel at the meticulously detailed panels (he had to have been drawing nonstop for years to get so many pages of ultra-precise art), and to take a rest from the overall story, which at times is so right on with it's depiction of loneliness and rejection that it just breaks your heart. A good breather: unfold the dustjacket, on which Ware has drawn out the origins and relationships of the characters, a clever and amusing twist on the "family tree" that sometimes serves as an appendix for other multi-generational epics. I've been looking for a Chris Ware book for years--and Jimmy Corrigan has exceeded my expectations.
Rating:
Summary: moving
Review: This is the most amazing work I have experienced in a while. Chris Ware brillantly pinpointed the certain flavor of those who are extremely isolated. I have never encountered a work that deals so honestly and accurately with this particular area of alienation. I encourage those who are not usually fans of comics, like I, to read this work. The images are sadly beautiful and explain much more than words often do.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Maus.
Review: Can't help but agree with pretty much everything that's said here. This is truly amazing -- i got it on a whim having only seen a couple of the strips-- and was blown away by the whole saga. I am rarely this affected by any work of art, and have never been so transported by any graphic novel, including Maus. Ware's illustrations are brilliant in their simplicity, conveying the emotional pain of awkwardness and loneliness more effectively than any novel I've read. The way he breaks up a page, elongating quick, important moments and compressing vast expanses of time reflects the way we live and perceive our own existences. I can't say enough good things about this book. If you're interested enough to read these reviews, you can't go wrong in getting this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The most depressing piece of writing ever
Review: What we have here is comic that tries to be more than just abstracted kiddy characters - it tries to reach the level of literature. I think it comes pretty close, but with one major shortfall. This is one of the most depressing pieces of writing I have ever read. I can't even use words like "dark" and "brooding" to describe it, because the story is so incredibly ordinary. And it isn't sad in the sense that you want to cry or anything. You read it and hope to G-d that you're going to be nothing like this guy. You see, it's the story of a lonely, loveless, pathetic guy who needs to call his mom everyday... Man! Even thinking about it makes me feel depressed... Buy this book to find out what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: A very large dose of Ware
Review: I first followed this decidedly insightful story as it was serialized in the Acme Novelty Library comics, which in some ways I prefer over getting it all at once. Yet this collection proves to go further than simply a sum of its parts, as many graphic novels are. Chris Ware, always a workaholic, has managed to squeeze in even more stuff here, revamping some of the layouts and of course adding the incredibly complex foldout cover, and more of his expected sardonic, minute copy. Of course the story is fairly bleak, but it's also fascinating in its pacing and utter refusal to patronize its audience. You're on your own, it seems to say. Past that, the art of the book is indescribable, and it is here that the sheer bulk of th ebook really takes off. it's at time overwhelming, but that seems to be Ware's intent. Ware has often said he really admires the "old-time" sense of commerical art and design, and this book, as well as his other publications, brings that attention to detail into the 21st century, where it is most sorely needed.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretentious nonsense
Review: Having read the first chapter in the New Yorker and some early reviews, I thought this would be a seminal work in the graphic novel genre. I was wrong. After a promising start, the novel completely loses itself (and the reader) in self-indulgent surreal nonsense -- it's arty but not artful. With almost no plot or character development to sustain itself, Jimmy Corrigan is ultimately a beautifully drawn yet shallow work.
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