Really glad to see you back! Was missing your analyses, awayswith your great point of view. You already sold this really well, but I like a little thing that it was what loved the most about the book, the theme of memory and how it shapes our life. Especially on the last two parts, LINT and Joanna Cole. In LINT, the way Wares show us how such horrible person sees his own world is masterfull, keeping the worst acts away as they didn't exist (It remindes me of a scene on 'The Irishman' where one of the doughters of the protagonist tells him how bad he was as a father and he can't even recognize because he never even understands how he could be so bad to his family). And in Joanna Cole we see how memory sometimes can be such a heavy wait that we wish we could erase, but it seems that it will never go away. Is really masterfull peace of narrative, as aways with Ware, but this two seccions are so brilliant in the way they slowly shows us how memory works in tricky ways that it makes the first two parts even better in retrospect. I could talk for hors about it, especially about how empathetic and generous Ware is in showing us the internal thoughts and lives of people we certainly think we have nothing in common or we wish we don't, but at the end of the day, assholes or not, we are all humans that feel love and a lot, a lot of pain.
Very well said! Ware's delicate dissections of memory, in this work and his previous books, is perhaps the most subtle tool for empathy he uses; thank you for highlighting it so eloquently.
I think you have come closest to articulating how I feel about Ware’s work. It’s really disheartening to hear people generalize it as just plain sad. This isn’t just a triumph of the medium of comics but fiction as a whole. If you can’t find beauty and joy and enlightenment in an honest story that depicts life in all its cruelty and indifference then I don’t know why you would even be opening a book. Thank you for all of your thoughtful videos.
Thank *you* for your thoughtful comment. I agree that simply saying 'sad' or 'depressing' to describe Ware's work is a gross disservice.. he offers windows of empathy and, as you say, turns an eye on life that the best literature does.
Welcome back! Rusty Brown absolutely floored me. Ware is an unparalleled talent and his work always has such precision and deep emotion. "Density of craft and design" is exactly right.
Much appreciated! I'm a fan Of Ware's but I find it hard to pin down, in a comprehensible manner, what makes his work so wonderful to me. So in all of my Ware videos I remain unsure if I made any sense or not!
I really appreciate your enthusiasm and your review of this book that is much more than a synopsis. The Jordan Lint section of this book stayed with me for weeks.
Thank you so much! And yes, even though Lint is far from a likable character, his story is indelible in so many ways. Truly a fascinating chapter in a fascinating book.
Thank you for this very well worded summary/analysis. "A narrative split into 4 parts. Detailing the events of a single day. Where time expands and events intersect" is how I'll describe it from now on to anyone that asks. For me I found Ware's attention to the messiness of life gave a feeling of comfort. It brought away the relentless focus on my problems, making me see, and more importantly feel, the issues others very likely have or will have. Lint's chapter specifically flawed me. Being the very definition of why I read these "things".
Thank you and I agree with you completely. By embracing the everyday messiness and sadness of life, Ware expands my world instead of limiting it. It is a combination of catharsis and contextualization that I find particularly powerful and empathetic. And indeed that is one of the fundamental traits of literature.
I'm astonished and floored by the quality of this video and your splendid, well-written and accurate analysis! Great job. (I do kinda wish that the missing Rusty Brown/Chalky White comics were part of the novel!)
Thank you so much for those words, and i am absolutely thrilled that you enjoyed the video! About those other strips, they could show up in a future volume, but i recall reading somewhere that Ware felt they were too early, too cartoonist and basically too much of a caricature to fit in with the rest of the story. I don't necessarily agree 100 per cent, but i guess in that way they're similar to the UFO and homunculus stories from Acme Novelty's Jimmy Corrigan that never made it into the book . Hope you find plenty more on the channel to enjoy! Cheers!
@@ftloc (Btw, I am Andy Seiler, on extended sick leave but still technically a USA Today entertainment reporter, so this is from one professional critic to another.) Since you didn't mention it in your fantastic review, I'm guessing that the grown-up strip, in which one of the characters tries to sexually assault the daughter of the other character, is not in the novel. Perhaps this plotline was too dark even for Chris Ware!?
Welcome back Sir! I send my absolute love and respect for you. Would you ever mind doing a video on Herriman's Krazy Kat or Walt Kelly's Pogo, because I only read and collect newspaper comics. P.S. You should look into The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy comic adaptation by DC. H2G2 is a science fiction comedy novel . (Also my favorite novel) ~ Much Lovw from a fellow Indian.
I love the Hitchiker's books but did not know there was a new comics adaptation out. I am both intrigued and afraid! 😀 I've been meaning to attempt a video on Krazy Kat for months now, but am having trouble wrestling it into something presentable: there's so much to say! Ever since my Nemo videos I've been meaning to do another newspaper strip. I need to pick betyween Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Pogo, Gasoline Alley and Popeye/ Thimble Theatre....
Welcome back! I love Chris Ware, probably the most graphic design aware (no pun intended...) comic author out there. The way he destiles more than a century of comic book heritage and condenses it with his particular language its just amazing. Keep the goods coming... All the best.
Thank you so much. Yes, Chris Ware absolutely blows me away even though I probably don't 'get' most of what he has layered in and used to tell his stories. I think a great artist can do that - utilize the formal, technical and dense to still convey a natural, truthful reality, if that makes any sense...
@@ftloc Yes it does. Chris Ware work is not for everyone but with a little effort and commitment i think most readers should be able to find something there. I just wish these books would be twice as big in size, then his art would really shine...
@@rewanji I've felt that way before and I wouldn't turn down a magnifying glass if offered one when reading some of these pages. But I also realized I was pulling the book closer, leaning in as if to eavesdrop on conversations, feeling I was missing something if I glanced over a page, and being constantly rewarded for getting really close to the page. All of these seem purposefully metaphorical, so I am sure Mr Ware fully intended them! 😁
Fantastic video! The story has been on my mind for a week since I finished it, and I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts. Chris Ware does such an amazing job breaking down awful characters so that you don’t like them but you do understand them. I really hope that we get a continuation to this story but in the meantime I’ll have to check out his other works!
I'm so glad you enjoyed this video, and thank you for the kind words! While Ware is not an 'easy' author to read, I don't think he's inaccessible at all, which is how some feel. I have videos on both Jimmy Corrigan and Building Stories in my Ware mini-playlist, if interested! ru-vid.com/group/PLf2B7UoR9NKXdm3WEPCixItAMI-TdGWRL
Thank you so much! I'm a big fan of Chris Ware's, and in case you're interested, this playlist contains my videos on a couple of his other books as well ru-vid.com/group/PLf2B7UoR9NKXdm3WEPCixItAMI-TdGWRL Cheers!
Welcome back! And thank you once again for the great review and great recommendation! I'll be definitely on the look-out for more of Chris Ware's work.
Thanks for covering Rusty Brown and introducing me to Chris Ware's creations. I actually ordered the book after your recommendation and currently, I am midway into it. The work is simply mind-blowing and I am amazed by his genius. My favourite part of the book so far has been the space-mission story - It was eerie, sad and beautiful! Thanks for the recommendation again - and all the best for your channel!
Thank you for this! And yes, the Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars 'adaptation' within Rusty Brown is just terrific, isn't it? The other story of Mr Brown is amplified because of the echoes between the two stories, and there seem to be dozens of touches (like the colour of the woman's hair not being what he says it is-why?) that I will keep discovering. Genius is absolutely the right word!
Thank you! I am so glad you enjoyed the video. Have you had a chance to check out my videos on Jimmy Corrigan and the one on Building Stories? They're all part of the Chris Ware playlist here: ru-vid.com/group/PLf2B7UoR9NKXdm3WEPCixItAMI-TdGWRL , to which I hope to add to very soon. Cheers!
Thank you so much for that and I'm thrilled you enjoyed the video. If you get the chance, do take a look at the other Chris Ware books I've covered too - he really is something else altogether! 😁
It is so nice to have you back. I did not even realise what a comforting routine it is to have a new FTLOC video every now and then. Thank you for making these videos: you are in my top 2 of favorite youtube channels. On topic, my perspective is of a reader who has only heard of Ware by reputation but never read his works before. I found Rusty Brown mercilessly uncompromising in it’s deciption of bleak everyday horror. I think I will revisit it once everything in my personal life is absolutely troublefree rainbows and puppies day in, day out. Not before that, I think. I wonder if all of his works are this way?
Thank you so much and I'd like you to know this is what makes it all so worthwhile. In answer to your question, yes I think you could look at Ware's work as sad, even crushing. But I always come away feeling so deeply for these foreign and alien lives, affected so grievously by their pain, that I always feel thankful for the masterful work that expanded my heart. Maybe that's masochistic? 🙂 But it's the generosity of Chris Ware that makes it so valuable.
Although I'm a bit late discovering your channel, I can only agree with everyone else. I haven't read any Chris Ware (as yet) so just deciding which one to start with at the moment. I see you have a best of 2021, which means you're still producing videos, so I'm going to drop a comment there whilst seeing what your 2021 selection is. Thanks again, most inspiring.
Thank you so much and a very warm welcome to the channel! I hope you find plenty to enjoy here - I have a couple of Chris Ware videos now and I'd love to know what you think of all the other stuff I have up!
@@ftloc BTW, maybe you could tell me (us) what's in the Acme Novelty Datebooks, and are they worth searching out? Or are they impossible to find, very expensive and just earlier versions of Ware's complete editions? Thanks in advance.
Glad to see someone as engaged by these, and who's also go the Acme issues to compare it with. I still don't know whether Rusty Brown, like Building Stories, is stronger than their main origin stories (Acme 18 and 20). The bee in Building Stories and Joanna in Rusty Brown seem extraneous to the plot. While that sounds critical, I still think he's the best living author for these books, I just hope he keeps trying new things! I literally was waiting for this one for years and was lucky to see him tour with D&Q!
That's so cool; I hope one day to be able to attend a live reading/talk like those! I know what you mean about Brandon the Bee but I also feel his outsider-iness to the rest of the story is kind of the point in some ways. Joanna Cole on the other hand, I think I really needed - just to have a sliver of 'hope' and whose story, although sad, serves as a counterpoint to folks like Lint. But I also agree with you that Ware really knows how to take stuff from Acme Novelty that works in a collected volume - he leaves out the adult Rusty and Chalky bits just like he left out the sci-fi of Jimmy Corrigan and that keeps the tone from being too scattered. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and hope you get a chance to check out some of my other videos on Chris Ware!
@@ftloc Yeah, I think adding Joanna at least let us know why she seemed cruel to Rusty. I agree that she is the hope in the story, but I wish she was even more hopeful. I think the saddest part outside of the Lint reacting to his mother dying was when basically nobody came to her banjo recital. I wonder who'll be next in the story as he's talked about every main character in the story but himself?
Welcome back! :) I'll be checking out Rusty Brown based on your recommendation. I've never gotten into Chris Ware's books because I read Jimmy Corrigan over a decade ago and never "got" it, and a lot of pros and critics have dismissed his work as unlikeable for various reasons. Going back in with a more open mind!
Most of the views I've encountered on Chris Ware range from the praiseful to the borderline worshipful, so it's interesting to hear of your opposite experience. Even in these comments I see a very wide range of opinion, which is great for discussion. I probably don't get more than half of what Ware is actually crafting together, but what I do just amazes me. I think he's the quintessential case of the more you put into it, the more you get rewarded, often tenfold 😁
Welcome back!!! Hope to see more videos from now on and this one is already quite a treat!!!! As Chris Ware admirer since de mid 90's is always a pleasure to see a new book published. Of course, for the fans, it can be more of same at first sight, but CW is genius and one of masters of sequential art. I've read Rusty Brown last year and I'm already waiting and wanting the second part. As usual, the edition is flawless Keep the good work!!!!
I'm not really sure. They think he's depressing, they think he's difficult, they think the panels and font are too small? Ware isn't interested in keeping the reader passive, he wants them to actively collaborate in building the story through their memory and empathy, and maybe some people don't care for the density and intensity of his approach? I'm just guessing here because none apply to me 🙂!
Just finished my first read through - wow what a Privilege to read. seriously Chris Ware is one of a kind. I find with Ware - these books are so detailed and full of so much, that it is not something you can just read in one go. The stories sit with you and it's something you have to keep coming back to if you are willing to do the work as the reader as well. The point you said about - something that is SO PRECISE yet has feelings of loneliness and sadness and emotions filled in - like i think every time he drew Joanna Cole's hair it was a perfect circle like everytime! - the classrooms had perfect symmetry, the precision is just astounding truly......yet these scenes are filled with dread at times despite the artistic mastery. Ware's use of time and space is truly mastery - he also plays with the concepts of shapes and how the human eye interprets them - this is a form of iconography. For example he shows woman's breasts with a circle and then uses the size size circle and dot and its a lamp or an amp....the exact same shape has many meanings depending on the context...that sort of thing. like a red circle could be a red ball or a planet......he plays around the concept and perspective of size all the time. and he constantly messes with the brains ability to "fill in the gutter" or fill in the time within a panel. Some panels look like they have multiple time moments going on at once where others are still shots.
also i Just need to put a solo comment here solely to acknowledge Ware's use of Colour. Like. Oh. My. LAWDD. It is absolultely spectacular - the way he blends colours and evokes emotions I literally can't put into words. There is a double splash page in the Joanna Cole story that I could just have open for hours if I wanted to. And then the bright colours he uses in scenes too and the lighting....Ughhhh. There are times where I just stare at the panels and let the colours allow me to feel something....I hope im not the only one that does this. but yeah shoutout to the colours cause holyyy this guy is a master
I agree completely with everything you have said. That is what makes all of Chris Ware's work stand the test of time and be eminently re-readable. You're always finding new layers and depths, all of which amplify the story, often into something almost new. Truly a master!
Really enjoyed this. Bought the book a while back but still not read it yet. I bought the Acme books at the time and really liked them. I didn't know this book had new stuff in it until watching your video. A very pleasant surprise.
Glad you liked the video and I'm sure you'll love the book! That fourth, new, section really brings it all home for me, and I'd love to know what you think once you've got a chance to read through it (not to mention the dust jacket😁) Cheers!
@@ftloc The RB book forms part of my massive "to read" pile (I seem to buy quicker than I can read) so it might be a while but your excellent video moved it forward in the queue. I'm currently reading World War 3 Illustrated 1979-2014 which is excellent ( I'm a big fan of Peter Kuper and recommend anything and everything by him ). I just finished Women Rebel by Peter Bagge which was very interesting but I think I prefer his comedy work Hate and Neat Stuff. Is there any way I can send you a comic that might be of interest to you? It's a small press self published comic I did in 1996 which went on to be "properly" published by Bloomsbury in 1999 as a hardback and was a bit of a hit after it was used as animation on a BBC comedy TV show called Big Train. I have a couple of boxes of the original editions which are surplus to requirements but I can't face chucking them out even though they take up space. It'll make you chuckle and unbelievably the hardcover sold over 17,000 copies I gather. Check out thehouseofhatch.blogspot.com for more info and plenty of badly drawn cartoons.
I would love that - plus the very mention of throwing books out makes me shudder! - and I'll check out your blog as well. Drop me an email at ftlocomics@gmail.com and let's chat! 😁
I would love that - plus the very mention of throwing books out makes me shudder! - and I'll check out your blog as well. Drop me an email at ftlocomics@gmail.com and let's chat! 😁
I wonder if those stories, as well as those grown-up Rusty and Chalky stories, will make an appearance in the second part. Or perhaps they're like the childhood/ sci-fi sequences of Jimmy Corrigan, and don't really fit into Ware's vision for the longer story's tone. Certainly an interesting lesson in narrative choices and the difference editing makes, isn't it?
Wonderful review! I'm very excited to trawl through your channel and find lots of interesting stuff like you've presented here. The quality of these videos demands more subscribers!
Thank you so much, and I'd love to get all and any feedback on my videos that you may have. I hope you enjoy both old and new videos on this channel for a long time to come! 🙂
I‘m not really sure, but I think you were not too disappointed by the book. 😉 Thank you for another great video! The book was already on my shortlist. Now I will purchase it in the next days.
Awesome to see you back! And with the same energy as always. Hope you are ok :) Really good video. At the moment I'm reading Asterios Polyp from David Mazzucchelli. It is beautiful.
I kept trying to locate an in depth review of Rusty Brown on YT so delayed purchasing this comic for a year. However, you've convinced me to go out and purchase. I really appreciate your detailed reviews - can we look forward to any manga reviews in the future?
Thank you, and absolutely you can! I am woefully underread in manga, but I have been moving to rectify that situation and I fully plan to chart my journey, or at least the highlights of it, on this channel! Have you had a chance to check out my Lone Wolf and Cub and Akira playlists? Manga also makes an appearance on a couple of my Top 10 videos, both the honorable mentions and final lists! Cheers!
Welcome back bro. Yep its a masterpiece. whatever chris ware does is a master piece. He is The Christopher nolan of comic book before there was nolan himself (all that in and out of time periods - crazy stuff wat he does in those pages) . Havent read rusty brown (its with me for last three months, preping for the melancholy and isolation to read it). Love the content but there was a glitch @7:12 (?) and there is this yellowish- sepia tinge to the video (was it intentional because its a chris ware video- ware does it to his pages when he goes back In time ) P. S. Did u know in jimmy corrigan the faces shown are of jimmy, his dad, his grandad and his step-sister, other faces are either obscured or out of focus, i jus came to realize it after a re-read not Long ago. Thanks for the vdo. Tc
The glitch was probably my shoddy editing skills showing up - in my rush to finally get a video out, I think I overlooked a layer or a snip (there's actually three technical slips here, shame!) And yes, I was trying for a more 'seventies' glow and look, just to test myself and continue playing with colour, light and mood based on the comic I am covering. Would you say I messed up and it is too rusty brown?
Hi Chris, it’s nice to see you making videos again, glad you’re back. As always thank you for the review now I have something else to dive into.. take care🤙🏼
Hi ! Congratulations for this video and other ones also. I really enjoy listening to your reviews. I have a question. There's one subject that is never mentioned in the videos on Chris Ware's albums and that personally put me off and made me give up reading Jimmy Corrigan from the very first pages, and that is the size of the writing: it's really tiny. I had a lot of difficulty reading the text and I almost had my nose in the page. Also, the pictures are small. I find that all this makes reading really difficult. I read few comments here and there from people complaining about the same issue. Haven't you found on your side the fonts difficult to read ?
Thank you so much, that's very kind of you to say and I'm.thrilled you're enjoying the channel! Re your question, yes the writing and even the panels can be very small at times, and it is completely intentional. It can quite reasonably be problematic for some, including me. But there is a definite design and narrative logic behind it, or even one of 'experience'. I don't think you have to read every word or see every picture fully but the way you'll lean in or choose to skip, all has an effect in how you read and what you experience. It is difficult to describe, but it is part of what makes each read different from before. But of course it may be just not worth it for some people.
Thank you; I'm so glad you enjoyed it! If you haven't already, you may be interested in checking out my other Chris Ware videos, found in this playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLf2B7UoR9NKXdm3WEPCixItAMI-TdGWRL Cheers!
This is the Pantheon edition I have. I think, given Chris Ware's exactitude and design, and the fact that this edition lines up perfectly with the issues of Acme Novelty Library it contains, that there won't be any difference between the two publisher editions, but I'll see if I can confirm! Cheers!
Thank you! The only 'spotlight' video so far on a Humanoids book is my video on the Incal (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dWsd1-LzwfA.html) but you can see my small Humanoids collection in my Shelf Five video (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6_sh9XzFKR4.html), part of my complete collection tour. Hope you enjoy them! 😀
So glad you enjoyed it! In answer to your question, I don't have a spotlight video on Monograph the way I do for Rusty Brown, Building Stories and Jimmy Corrigan, but I do talk about it briefly in my Shelf Fourteen video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6SxE0bkFqog.htmlsi=YXeWER1nW8P9rT5O Cheers!
Hello... I am so glad I came across your channel and loved it instantly... love ur videos so very much... I have a request for u.. could u make a suggestion kind of video on comics for beginners... I know it’s really hard but something light and not including superheroes and stuff like that... please do it ... I really want to get in to d world of comics/graphic novels
Welcome to the channel - so glad to have you! Have you checked out my Top 10 Gateway Comics video? You can find it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dYe4MG-OrO8.html
For the Love of Comics thank you so much for the reply and the recommendation video ... waiting to start with them... also my best wishes for u and keep surprising all of us with ur wonderful work
Eccellent video, man. I'm hoping to get it as soon as possible when it gets available over here. I'm going to ask you, which one of his works do you prefer or think is the best? Right now I'm in love with Building Stories, but I cannot say that Jimmy Corrigan isn't a masterpiece as well. Have a nice day.
Thank you! And that's an impossibly hard question! Building Stories as an experience is like nothing else and perfectly put together, and Jimmy Corrigan was -autobiographically- a life changing read for me. If you're holding a gun to my head, I'll go with Jimmy Corrigan, but ask me again in a few days and I may have flipped!
@@ftloc yeah, I can feel you. I actually agree that's an hard choice. As a reader I can only hope that Rusty Brown is even better, but that's obviously just for game like "you are on a desert island, which comics will you bring with you?" ;)
First time viewer, what is the difference between Ware's RB, JC and BB? Does Rusty Brown include the others or does one need to get all three separately?
Welcome to the channel! There's no overlap between them; they're three independent works that all happened to be serialized over many years and then collected.
Finished reading it a couple of days ago. And here's my two pence worth. I was slightly disappointed with Acme 20 (The Jordan Lint book) when it came out as I really liked the previous three books, especially Acme 19, the one with the science fiction story. I thought Acme 20 was more of a triumph of "style over content" and I recall feeling slightly inpatient with trying to muddle through it. I also thought it was a slightly superficial character study. However! After re-reading all the original Acme stuff and new material (which the Jordan Lint section is sandwiched between), I have a slightly different take on it now. Jordan Lint's life, (compared with Rusty Brown and his father William Brown on the one side and Joanne Coles on the other side), is far more disordered, messy and morally questionable at least, many of the choices he makes are. He has problems maintaining relationships throughout his life, many of his business practices are "sharp" and his general treatment of others leaves a great deal to be desired. I now think this might be why the style of his life story is so fractured and visually complicated compared to those of the other main protagonists. Even though reading through the Jordan Lint part was still a bit of an effort in places, it was far more rewarding this time round. The new material focusing on the teacher Joanne Cole was excellent, very moving but not sugery or sentimental. I did think that the missing parent' thing was covered in Jimmy Corrigan albeit from a different angle but this is a minor quibble as it is so well done once again. The book works as a whole really well and I have to say I'm looking forward to the rest of the stories. The only minor duff note for me was the bit of "Book Jacket" blurb on the cover which was mercifully short. CW has written loads of text in this style for his previous books and Acme series and I've never cared for it nor seen the point of it. Reading it is like wading through treacle. That said, GREAT book!
I, too, was a little unsure about the Lint volume when I first read it, although I thought it was masterfully executed. I don't expect Ware to give me adorable, lovable characters but Jordan seemed particularly hard to relate to. But I did admire the clarity of the vision, alongside the obvious brilliance of technique. Still, it seems transformed within the larger story, for exactly the reasons you outline. The multi-faceted nature of our world and the lives that bounce off each other need the contrast, the anti-relief provided. It's not the easiest to read, of course, but like the cover-blurb text, the marginalia, the fake ads, the asides and the minuscule captions, dialogues and annotations, I think much of Ware is (like the entire format of Building Stories) your choice. The reader can decide what they want to peer closely at, what they want to glance over, what they want to skip and what they want to repeat. I suppose that holds true for anything one reads, but Chris Ware's mastery of the form means that as you decide, you find the story to magnify itself, or at least more details present themselves. It's like he's equipping a microscope for you and you're changing lenses as you want, all on paper. So the harder- to-read bits are like that for me: completely up to me to explore or ignore, determining the level of reward the story therefore presents to me.
Which would you recommend to start reading Chris? Rusty Brown or Jimmy Corrigan? PS: I like grown up themes but I don't like melodramatic stories all that much.
You can't go wrong either way, I would say. Rusty Brown, although a later work, is perhaps a little easier to follow than Jimmy Corrigan, since it has four distinct sections that stay mostly linear. Check out my Corrigan video if you're interested ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0ajUrzm8TZ4.html
A friend of mine lent me his copy of the book. Unfortunately I had to stop after a few pages. I can see that by this graphic style or layout of pages Chris Ware is trying to find an other way of telling stories in comics. For me that style is «too much» and perhaps Ware is in the wrong field. (I know he makes models, sculptures, etc) You feel he could be a great graphic artist if he was in the information graphics (or infographics).
I definitely see where you're coming from. Ware himself has remarked on how his attempt is to create drawings that come across as almost typographical .And at times, the lack of formal appreciation on my part does make me wonder how much I am 'missing' , intellectually. But where I will disagree slightly is i feel he makes astonishing comics. The observational power of his diagrammatic approach does something more important that intellectual tickling, it feels emotionally raw. The fact that so many people consider his work depressing, or scathing, or crushing, speaks to how much emotion he is able to evoke with this style. The everyday cruelty, disillusionment and disconnection that are often so central to his work would not have been the same with any other kind of illustration. His pauses and spaces are eerily conveyed in his panels and pages, and that effect is created by his painfully methodical style. Of course it may not be for everyone, which is true for so many great creators, and that of course is a personal preference. But I love the fact that he makes these comics and love that they exist.🙂
@@ftloc Thank you so much for taking time to response. Actually you were one of the few on YT speaking about the work of Ware and this book in particular. And I just discovered that you have videos on french comic book artists (I’m french Canadian and my comics culture comes mainly from «bande dessinée» from Europe. I knew the work of Ware because he won an award recently at the famous comics festival in the city of Angoulême, France). Yes I studied graphic design, was in the business for a while then I changed jobs (I dropped out of design 10 years ago but still have an interest for what is done nowadays). And I used to do illustrations which makes me appreciate artists that do this work as a living and I have respect for them. Perhaps if I had been able to read the stories individually (when published separately) I could have "digest" Ware's style a little more naturally. I admit his graphic style is very clear, almost like «ligne clair» style, the style of Hergé (Tintin) that was making is panels so clear to read. For Ware I had to use a magnifier for certain pages! :-) That’s ok, it’s part of the narrative style of that particular artist. And Ware, like mentioned, is a «multi» artist and he seems to be a perfectionist (nothing wrong with that). I’m speaking a lot about comics but in this case it seems to go more in the category of «graphic novel» because it is such a personal work. Thanks for your point of views. Maybe I was a little bit quick to judge the work of Ware, I can give it a second look.
@@marcl4000 I have a video on Ware's Building Stories which may help your reading, as it all fragments that you can piece together as you wish. And I love not only Herge (as evidenced in my videos on Tintin) but also a number of Canadian writer artists like Seth, Rabagliati, Chester Brown, Joe Matt and Guy Delisle, whom I also hope to cover on this channel soon! Interestingly Chris Ware approaches the basic unit of the comic as being the page, not the panel, another insight into his immaculate sense of design, which I think you would be able to appreciate at much deeper levels than me! 🙂
@@ftloc Yes, thank you I will look for Ware’s video and other of your posts. I had a glimpse to your videos, hats off to you for having such a wide spectrum of interest in different kind of comics. Other channels only or mainly talk about american comics. I used to have a collection and I was buying regularly... but after moving a few time I had to «downsize» and sell or give to my town’s library. Now I buy occasionally. Yes I agree, great work is done by Rabagliati and Guy Delisle (there is lots of interesting things coming from Quebec province). About Delisle I bought is latest book called «Chroniques de jeunesse» (Youth chronicles) where he tells the story of his summer jobs when he was a teenager. Most of the Quebec authors do personal work or personal stories. Cheers!
I must get my hands on this new DeLisle book! And I know how it is to move with lots of books, not great. But you're lucky to have great libraries where you are - here unfortunately buying or borrowing from friends seem to be the only ways to get to read these books (in physical format)
Different people enjoy different things so it's hard for me to say what it will be for everyone. I loved it and I enjoy Chris Ware the way I enjoy James Joyce or Stanley Kubrick- .they work hard to make things seamless, and ask me to work to appreciate what has been done. Complexity and empathy to me are always lovely to see, especially when woven by a master.
Chris Ware is kind of worshipped in the comics world. I see the amount of work, the coherence, the geometry. "Jimmy Corrigan" was one of the first comics I bought. It was praised in all media and won the prize for best album in Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2003. I love long stories, big books (comics or literature). I love also autobiographical comics. At times I can appreciate very simple artwork when the story or the atmosphere is great. But this book was such a disappointment for me. The reviews were so good. It was the year 2003. Until today I just don't understand the art of Chris Ware, and the rave reviews. I know aspects of the story are autobiographical. For me it makes the case even worse. I do not see originality or subtlety in the story. Unlike other autobiographical comics I have read since then. The geometrical drawing and architecture of the artwork is rather something that I could love. But I don't like at all how the characters are represented, the faces in particular. I don't like them at all. For me it is comparable with cheap plastic doll. To see and read that many rave reviews (until this day) make me asking myself: do I really miss something here or is this review consensus kind of artificial? So, I read more reviews about Chris Ware, I watch more videos. But nothing has changed my mind. I know Chris Ware has played an important role in the comics world. I heard that he pushed for a publication of "Gasoline Alley" etc. Well... A couple of days ago I read an excerpt from the book "Chris Ware: Conversations" where Chris Ware describes his own artwork. It surprised me and confirmed what I thought. - - - The interviewer: "how would you describe the look of your comics now?" Chris Ware: "Icy, cold, and dead. I try to make them as linguistically simple as possible so that they’re easy to read, in the same way that Nancy is. If you look at them as drawings, they’re not satisfying drawings; they don’t communicate much emotion as drawings at all. As a matter of fact, they’re bad drawings. But you don’t read a book trying to get emotion out of the font that it’s printed in. You read it for the story. You read for what happens in your mind, and to me comics are some sort of magic language that happens before your eyes. This is not true for all cartoonists, of course, but I found that the more detail or the more expression that I put into the line of my own stuff, it didn’t come alive as much as I wanted it to."
