The Acme Novelty Library #16

The creator of Jimmy Corrigan begins a new story.This newest edition of The ACME Novelty Library features the first serial installment of “Rusty Brown,” Ware’s first major lengthy “narrative indulgence” since his Jimmy Corrigan graphic novel. The ACME Novelty Library is Chris Ware’s ongoing comic book/art object series, which he has been creating for Fantagraphics since 1993. It is also where Corrigan was serialized to great acclaim and success before going supernova when collected by Pantheon in 2000, selling over 70,000 copies in four hardcover printings. “Rusty Brown” will be serialized in ACME over the course of several issues (and Pantheon will similarly collect the story in hardcover sometime upon completion, several years from now). The first installment begins with young Rusty, an outcast in his suburban Chicago elementary school, befriended solely by his Supergirl action figure until he meets new kid on the block and fellow comic nerd, Chalky White. Rusty’s story is an uncomfortably vivid and uncompromising look into the life of a social outcast. Ultimately, Rusty Brown will run longer than Jimmy Corrigan, tracing Brown’s life through adulthood, along with every excruciating moment of failure it brings. The ACME Novelty Library series has been the most acclaimed comic book series of the last ten years, as well as one of the bestselling contemporary comics on the racks. This is only the second issue, however, that has been available to the general book trade, enabling booksellers to satisfy demand for Ware’s work post-Jimmy Corrigan while Ware builds toward the next collection. The format also allows Ware to indulge us with many surprises as well, from Ware’s faux-advertising sections and elaborate three-dimensional cut-out designs. Author Biography: Chris Ware published his first comic strip in The Daily Texan, the student newspaper serving The University of Texas at Austin. He relocated to Chicago to attend the Art Institute in the late 1980s; he continues to reside there with his wife, Marnie. In his spare time, he creates The Ragtime Ephemeralist, a journal devoted to vintage ragtime music.