Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Drawn and Quarterly (2008), 80 pages
Description
The penultimate teen issue of theACME Novelty Libraryappears this autumn with a new chapter from the electrifying experimental narrative "Rusty Brown," which examines the life, work, and teaching techniques of one of its central real-life protagonists, W. K. Brown. A previously marginal figure in the world of speculative fiction, Brown's widely anthologized first story, "The Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars," garnered him instant acclaim and the coveted White Dwarf Award for Best New Writer when it first appeared in the pages ofNebulousin the late 1950s, but his star was quickly eclipsed by the rise of such talents as Anton Jones, J. Sterling Imbroglio, and others of the so-called psychovisionary movement. (Modern scholarship concedes, however, that they now owe a not inconsequential aesthetic debt to Brown.) New surprises and discoveries concerning the now legendarily reclusive and increasingly influential writer mark this nineteenth number of theACME Novelty Library, itself a regular award-winning periodical, lauded for its clear lettering and agreeable coloring, which, as any cultured reader knows, are cornerstones of any genuinely serious literary effort. Full color, seventy-eight pages, with hardbound covers, full indicia, and glue, theACME Novelty Libraryoffers its readers a satisfying, if not thrilling, rocket ride into the world of unkempt imagination and pulse-pounding excitement.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member dr_zirk
The brilliance of the Acme Novelty Library series continues unabated, with volume 19 introducing a tense science fiction prologue to the main narrative, featuring the repressed but fascinating protagonist Rusty Brown. Chris Ware is a master at exploring the lives of socially and culturally isolated
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people, and never succumbs to the easy temptations of sentimentality and pity that his subject matter wants so desperately to offer up. And that's all to the good - Ware is a true artist, and his explorations of the lonely modern spirit are rich, unexpected, and thoroughly believable. The Acme Novelty Library has already established itself as one of the major artworks of the early twenty-first century, and the nineteenth installment lives up to that well-deserved reputation. Show Less
LibraryThing member jentifer
More from the life of Rusty Brown -- this new Ware edition is just gorgeous. His design is always top notch but this volume in particular is really spectacular. It's also a great fit for the Rusty story (W. K. Brown, a real life experimental/speculative fiction author) since it's very reminiscent
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of genre book design from the 1950s. The comic itself was what a Ware comic always is - sad, pathetic, heart-rending, meticulous, detailed, and sweeping. It did take me a bit longer than usual get into the Brown storyline, but now I'm beyond hooked. Show Less
LibraryThing member bartflanders
As always, wonderful greatness.
The space story in this issue i think is an especially good example of the way Chris Ware can unfold a story in a continually tantalizing smattering of moments.
and rusty brown is always great, duh.
The space story in this issue i think is an especially good example of the way Chris Ware can unfold a story in a continually tantalizing smattering of moments.
and rusty brown is always great, duh.
LibraryThing member stephmo
This wonderful story within a story with yet a sly coda that hints at another possibility is just another example of the reason Chris Ware is one of the best of the modern graphic novelists working today. We start with Rusty Brown's story on Mars where he's one of four colonists (of 12) sent to
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populate Mars in The Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars. As the story starts to unravel into the baser parts of humanity once the four discover they've been abandoned by Earth, we're seemingly rescued by Youth, and Middle Age where we discover William, the man who has written a story by the same name. Through William's youthful brush with love and obsession and his attempts to repair those things he never understood, Ware layers the story of life on Mars and in Lincoln. Even the final essay, devoid of all illustration, Syzygy, adds to both stories. If you've read Jimmy Corrigan, you'll recognize the small panels, the layouts that occasionally require directions and the deep and quiet desperation mined from drawings that hold a surprising amount of detail and depth. Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
This collection (graphic novel?) starts with a fairly standard failed-colonization-of-Mars, unreliable-narrator story that I found moved into the genuinely creepy category with Ware’s cartoonish figures and persistent use of circles within panels. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the frame story,
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about a shy man who escapes into the world of pulp sf while carrying on an affair with a female coworker in a repressive fifties environment, much at all. Yes, the misogyny and alienation of his life carried over into the misogyny and alienation of his fiction. ... Okay? I’m not fond of reading only to be appalled by the viewpoint characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member mrgan
An amazing story somewhat burdened by moments of discomfort and sheer misery. I'm sure Ware achieves exactly what he aims to, but I'm still wondering if his pervasive disappointment in humanity is worth drinking up in large quantities, no matter how beautifully he packages it.
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
When a friend of mine here in Connecticut learned that I was reading Chris Ware's The Smartest Kid on Earth, Jimmy Corrigan, he offered to loan me this, an installment in Ware's occasional periodical series. He had found the book in a trash can in his apartment when he lived in Cincinnati, and
It's also a tremendously good book. There are two halves; the first is a science fiction story about a colonization mission to Mars, while the second is about the writer of that story. The sf story ("The Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars") is a dark, disturbing descent for one of the four people on the space mission. Science fiction turns out to be a really good genre for Ware, allowing him to attach his human themes to cosmic anchors. It's a disturbing and heart-rending tale of isolation and obsession.
The second story tells us about the writer of "The Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars," W. K. Brown, an obituary writer in the 1950s, who is in a sexual relationship he doesn't really understand. It's very reminiscent of some of the material covered in Jimmy Corrigan, but it comes at it from a sufficiently different angle to work.
It goes without saying that 1) both stories are incredibly depressing, though not as much as Jimmy Corrigan, thank God, 2) the art is excellent, and Ware's style is particularly suited to 1950s sf for some reason, and 3) his use of panel size to generate emotional response is unparalleled. Good stuff.
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rescued it only to realize that he shared his hometown of Omaha with Ware. He kept it, but felt compelled to hide it in his closet so he could avoid any awkward questions with his roommate about why he was taking stuff out of the trash. I don't know why it was thrown away, as it's perfectly intact.It's also a tremendously good book. There are two halves; the first is a science fiction story about a colonization mission to Mars, while the second is about the writer of that story. The sf story ("The Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars") is a dark, disturbing descent for one of the four people on the space mission. Science fiction turns out to be a really good genre for Ware, allowing him to attach his human themes to cosmic anchors. It's a disturbing and heart-rending tale of isolation and obsession.
The second story tells us about the writer of "The Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars," W. K. Brown, an obituary writer in the 1950s, who is in a sexual relationship he doesn't really understand. It's very reminiscent of some of the material covered in Jimmy Corrigan, but it comes at it from a sufficiently different angle to work.
It goes without saying that 1) both stories are incredibly depressing, though not as much as Jimmy Corrigan, thank God, 2) the art is excellent, and Ware's style is particularly suited to 1950s sf for some reason, and 3) his use of panel size to generate emotional response is unparalleled. Good stuff.
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Awards
Ignatz Award (Winner — 2009)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
80 p.; 9.54 x 7.32 inches
ISBN
1897299567 / 9781897299562