Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

Rating:
Summary: American middle-class existentialism
Review: This book reminded me of Alexander Payne's excellent movie "About Schmitt." Both show us a melancholy, barren landscape of midwestern alienation: gas stations, dinners, retirement homes and sad looking apartment buildings. Both depict wasted, meaningless lives and both are tragically funny and touching. Is it just a coincidence that both Payne and Ware have lived in Omaha, Nebraska at some point in their lives? There's a little bit of Jimmy in all of us: a shy, afraid individual unable to escape the utter loneliness of middle-class America.

Rating:
Summary: The sum of the parts makes for a mediocre whole
Review: I considered buying this book based on the four-star reviews here on Amazon. Luckily my local library had a copy and I checked it out. I'm glad I didn't pay for this book, though it is obviously a labor of love by the author. Reviewers here have claimed this book is a "classic" and is a benchmark for other graphic novels. It may be true for a graphic novel, however as a story I found it lacking.

I did not find any of the main characters interesting and really didn't care for them. They are well painted with realistic flaws and traits of anyone in real life, yet they lacked an engaging intimacy. The adult Jimmy had my pity, but that is not close enough to caring.

Early on, we were treated to more of Jimmy's daydreams and verbal/visual associations, but that tapered off into the plot of real life. Some ups and downs, but overall an even keel. Sorry to say, that bores me.

The reason I buy a book, movie, or theatre ticket is to be told an engaging story. The relatively subdued plot of Jimmy Corrigan was too steady and lacked appeal for me. But that's just me. The writing, artwork, characters, and plot on their own are not exceptional. Together, they manage mediocrity.

There are many novels out there that cover much of the same themes as Jimmy Corrigan. Many do it with better writing, but 99% of them are not graphically illustrated. I believe the artwork and graphic style is the only thing that saves this piece from being pitiful--but then again, that doesn't mean I care for it.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: It is one thing to write a wonderful book. It is another to write one that is probably the best in its genre. But it is an entirely different accomplishment when your book can validate the literary merits of said genre, and that is what Jimmy Corrigan does.

Ware's drawing is astounding and the story indescribably brilliant. No need for synthesis in this review, suffice to say that Ware had a brilliant story and then used the graphic novel to do things that could never be done in a conventional novel. Each page brings a new surprise. I was never a fan of comic books, but this book is so spectacular that it clearly stands out as the gold standard for graphic novels.

Rating:
Summary: The classic of contemporary graphic novels..
Review: It is hard to believe that one man created such an intricate textured and unbelievably timeless work such as this. By its conclusion, I was absolutely breathless, and it is undoubtedly one of the most divine graphic novels on the market today. It is well worth whatever money it may cost, simply because you continously find something new within its pages each time you should explore and its depth and imaginative breath is quite astounding.

Ware's art is extraordinary and while his style is quite minimalist, the work has a number of other interesting features such as the cover and the inside sleeves. The art is perfectly suited to the deadpan plot of the Corrigan tale, as he cleverly integrates overlaying plots and characters and uses his art to build characterisations without excessive dialogue.

How heatbreaking this work is, and how you ache for the socially inept Corrigan clan as they navigate through a life of disappointment and rejection. As many previous reviewers have suggested, the characters aren't entirely appealing, and yet, this does not detract from the narrative. It is unrealistic to like everyone in life, why would it be so in books?

Overall, just wonderful and a great addition to any graphic novel collection. My only complaint is that the work sometimes became confusing as it transfered narrative tales, and yet, this web is also quite artful and adds to the work as an entity.

Rating:
Summary: Wowie Zowie
Review: I had seen a bit of Chris Ware's Artwork in newyork and was impressed with his graphic skills. I decided to pick up this book, just to see some more of his drawings. I did, but also, i found my new favourite book! There is somthing so beautifully simple about this while at the same time not a boring plot at all. I suggest this book to anyone and everyone who can read.

Rating:
Summary: AND SO
Review: I picked up Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth not quite knowing what to expect. Rave reviews from fans and critics (with the requisite comparisons to Ulysses, which is apt, but the sensibility here is, I think, more Faulknerian (with a touch of James Thurber thrown in) than Joycean) alike piqued my interest, and since I saw it on the shelves of my local public library, I decided to give it a whirl.

Little could have prepared me for the world that Ware would suck me into.

Jimmy Corrigan is one of those rare works that you encounter every once in a great while that is utterly unlike anything created in the medium before. In the fiction of James Joyce, the films of Murnau and Kubrick, and the music of the Velvet Underground and John Coltrane, those artists showed us previously undreamt-of possibilities in their chosen art forms. With Jimmy Corrigan, Ware is very clearly in their company.

You might pick this up and find it difficult. Well, of course it is - any work which reinvents the rules of the medium it's presented in is going to be. That doesn't mean it's not worth reading - on the contrary, Jimmy Corrigan's challenges are very much a part of the singular pleasures of its story.

Speaking of story - Chris Ware certainly knows how to tell one. Convoluted as the exposition of the comic (novel? interactive multi-media piece?) is, the payoff is (or was for me, anyway) more than worth it.

If you're interested in seeing where art is headed in the 21st century, Jimmy Corrigan is a good place to start finding out.

PS A caveat - I did skim parts of this book. I say this simply because I hate it when people skim books and then review them, and I apologize for doing so, but parts of the text sections of this book are printed in REALLY small print, and I was getting a terrible headache trying to read them all.