Quimby the Mouse

The Acme Novelty Library

by Chris Ware

Cleverly appropriated old-fashioned animation imagery and advertising styles of the 1920s and 1930s are put to use in Quimby the Mouse at the service of modern vignettes of angst and existentialism. As this cartoon silhouette of a mouse ignominiously suffers at every turn, the spaces between the panels create despair and a Beckett-like rhythm of hope deceived and deferred (but never quite extinguished), buoying Quimby from page to page.

Like Ware's first book, Jimmy Corrigan, Quimby is saturated with Ware's genius, including consistently amazing graphics, insanely perfectionist production values, cut-out-and-assemble paper projects, and the formal complexity of his narratives that have earned him the reputation as one of the most prodigious artists of his generation.

This collection includes issues 2 and 4 of the comic book series with additional material.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Art, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

69 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Chris Ware is an American cartoonist acclaimed for redefining the visual and narrative possibilities of the graphic novel, known especially for his long-running Acme Novelty Library series and major works including Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, Building Stories, and Rusty Brown. His work is distinguished by its emotional depth, frequently exploring loneliness, memory, regret, and the quieter forms of pain that shape ordinary lives, rendered with extreme visual precision, intricate page designs, and a style that evokes early twentieth-century American illustration, advertising, and architecture. Raised in Omaha and later based in the Chicago area, Ware first attracted attention through his strips for The Daily Texan, where an invitation from Art Spiegelman to contribute to Raw helped encourage him toward an ambitious, self-publishing approach that would define his career. Acme Novelty Library disrupted conventions of comic book production in both format and tone, presenting characters such as Quimby the Mouse and later Rusty Brown in narratives that blend autobiography, satire, and psychological portraiture. Building Stories further expanded his formal experimentation, released as a boxed set of interconnected printed pieces that require the reader to assemble meaning from varied physical formats. Ware’s artistic influences range from early newspaper cartoonists like Winsor McCay and Frank King to the collage and narrative play of Joseph Cornell, and he has spoken about using typography-like logic in his drawing to mirror the fragmented, associative way memory works. His practice remains largely analog, relying on hand drawing and careful layout, though he uses computers for color preparation. Ware has also been active as an editor, designer, and curator, contributing to volumes reprinting historic comic strips, serving as editor of The Best American Comics 2007, and organizing exhibitions such as UnInked at the Phoenix Art Museum. His work has extended into multimedia collaborations, including illustrated documentary materials for This American Life and visual designs for film posters, book covers, and music projects. His later projects include The Last Saturday, serialized online for The Guardian, and Monograph, a retrospective volume combining autobiography with archival material. Widely recognized for his influence, Ware’s books have received numerous honors, including multiple Eisner and Harvey Awards, and Jimmy Corrigan became the first graphic novel to win the Guardian First Book Award. He has exhibited at major institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and his contributions to the medium have led many peers and critics to regard him as one of the most significant cartoonists of his generation.

Reviews

[Sherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dense, detailed, heartbreaking on every damn page. This graphic novel/compilation takes a lot of patience, pretty good eyesight and a great propensity for teeny tiny boxes full of emotional plot development.

Ware is single-handedly pushing American comic book storytelling to some other plane of existence. Some strips have no characters, just narration. Other strips have no narration, just images. And everything is infused with the past - family memories, faulty recall, alter egos that may have never existed, and of course, those strange mail-away offers in the back of vintage comic books.

Everything from the past is still at play in the present.
Chris Ware blows my mind.

[Zioluc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Impossibile non restare ammirati dalle capacità grafiche di Ware: anzi più che ammirati, quasi annichiliti. Vignette che seguono complicatissime evoluzioni, storie grondanti emozioni narrate con personaggi che sono poco più di due macchie e due trattini, dettagli che assumono un peso immenso, episodi in cui si vedono solo i luoghi e i fumetti ma mai i personaggi, episodi in cui i testi e le immagini raccontano due storie separate eppure con commoventi punti di contatto...

Eppure molto più del solito la grande fatica che mi ha richiesto la lettura di questo libro, che nel suo formato enorme richiede di essere rigirato in tutti i sensi e soprattutto di dotarsi di una lente di ingrandimento per leggere o decifrare certe vignette microscopiche, non è stata ripagata. Perché la maestria grafica è sì grande, ma la continua compiaciuta autocommiserazione e disperazione è davvero troppo pesante. Anche le pagine di falsi annunci e pubblicità anni '50, pagine enormi dense di scritte fittissime, sono esteticamente splendide ma se lette restituiscono solo un sarcasmo malato e vagamente nauseante.

EDIT - scopro che si tratta di una raccolta di lavori che Ware ha realizzato durante gli anni del liceo. Non posso che essere ancora più sbalordito - e vagamente terrorizzato!

[Mike E. Mancini]

I’m not quite ready to sell it off. Maybe next year...

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had to pick only one Chris Ware book one book to take with me on a desert island...well I might just pick none cause it would amplify my feelings of loneliness, but metaphorically, if I could only read just one I would pick Quimby Mouse. I am shocked at every turn how he can illustrate such complex emotion and situations with a little stick figure mouse. Mostly, the story about his grandmother and the little piece of aluminum foil in the toaster, and the very last story which has no words at all and the frames are hardly an inch but which discusses a very complicated relationship and actually made me cry. Using little more than diagonal lines above eyes to express anger...tear shaped dots coming off a head in arcs for sadness, Chris Ware manages to convey so much meaning.

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

other than jimmy corrigan this is the easiest five stars i've ever given.

you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel like committing suicide over a mouse cartoon, etc.

there's simply no question. chris ware is a GENIUS. i won't even put an exclamation point. that is too important for an exclamation point.

[Sean]

This has been put on hold until I can get a magnifying glass.

[Nate]

This requires patience. It’s a 69-page book but took me hours to read, as it consists of tiny-paneled comic strips and four-columned pages of equally tiny text, along with a bunch of heavily detailed (fake) advertisements. But it’s worth it.

Quimby the Mouse is the third Chris Ware book I’ve read. I was ready to call him a genius illustrator/designer after the first, but I’m still unsure about his actual stories. They can be overwhelmingly sad and uncomfortable. I’m compelled to keep reading his work though, because of the effect it has on me. Very few books I’ve read hit me the way his do. The melancholy, the painful human emotion, the occasional tenderness, and even humor are delivered in such a unique way, lingering long after the book is over. This one in particular (collecting Acme Novelty Library 2 and 4, plus extra strips, features, and an essay) is essentially about two things: the death of Ware’s grandmother and a complicated, somewhat abusive friendship. It’s all told in individual strips staring the titular mouse, who sometimes has a Siamese twin and other times has a pet/friend cat head. The strips themselves, utilizing many different styles, are often idiosyncratic and difficult to penetrate on first read, but the cumulation of images, text, and themes gives the book its weight, its power.

In terms of style and format, the only book I can *sort of* compare it to is Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neil’s Black Dossier (as well as the 20s/30s comics and newspapers it mimics). But in terms of transmitting human emotion, nothing is like this book.

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some really good material in here. In particular, you get a glimpse into how his earlier work informs his later innovations in the art form, but you could learn about the history of his work from Monograph, which I’m only a little way into currently.

There is a solid page of ads in here, and one comic in the colored pages where the text doesn’t necessarily relate to the story told in pictures, but the letting does, and every now and then the text lines up with the images as well. This comic was brilliantly done, and is a high watermark in Ware’s material.

The comics with an autobiographical bent are also nice. I guess it could be argued they all feature some element of the author’s personal life, but for some the parallels are clearer after reading what I have of Monograph.

But there were a lot of micro panel comics that were tough to read. It was hard to distinguish between characters, and the stories told seemed a bit inconsequential at times.

I still think Acme Library is my favorite, with Building Stories a close second. This one was okay, but I’m not surprised by my reaction. This is earlier work.

Still, this guy is the best in the business. He’s a living legend in my book, and there aren’t many of those. I hope I get to meet him some day, even if just to say hi and get his signature on one of his books.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this in bits and pieces over the last few years, but now took the time to read through this hardcover collection of Ware's college daze comix, which bear the unmistakable precision, OCD, sweet and sad thoughtfulness, sadness, and whimsy of much of Ware's work. Often very hard to read because the words or pics are so tiny, but if you slow down, take your time, you will feel the nostalgia for the twenties and thirties comics and advertising he calls forth… and his love for his grandmother comes through in some early pieces… both grandparents, really. There's a lot of humor in this, some of it is amazingly silly and insightful and sweet, laced with sadness throughout. Great stuff! Essential Ware reading. Not as satisfying as the sustained stories of Jimmy Corrigan and Building Stories, but it's all cut from the same cloth, really. And some of the pieces collected here are attractive as shorter pieces, too.

[dv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ware è indubbiamente un maestro della graphic novel (e più in generale della forma narrativa). Il volume in questione - ottima edizione a cura di Oblomov - soffre un po' la frammentaria natura di raccolta, ma si riscatta pienamente nei contenuti, che come sempre sono in grado di riuscire a esprimere, non senza caustica ironia, la più profonda tristezza dell'essere umani. Chi non lo conosce sia dunque informato: questa non è certo una lettura leggera (e per di più Ware riesce a scrivere le strisce/ graphic novel che si leggono forse con più lentezza in assoluto). Quimby - ma anche Sparky e a volte perfino il già noto Jimmy Corrigan - animano queste pagine eterogenee e come sempre ricchissime di un immaginario americano anni '50 perfettamente reso sia nei temi che nelle illustrazioni e nei vari inserti di contorno di questo volume. Già un classico, a mio avviso.

[Zenpvnk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Move over Mickey, Jerry, and Speedy.. Quimby has arrived. Another absolutely hilarious book by Ware ... does he do anything that's not?

I actually have an extra copy of this book, so if you're really nice (and beer bribes never hurt) I'll give you the extra. I'm just holding onto it to find a home I deem worthy, that would appreciate such a masterpiece. Oh, okay.. for a good beer I'd probably give it to anyone, but, still, it's a masterpiece.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, this is a hassle to read. All that turning and squinting and trying to keep the thing on your lap. Thankfully, this volume collects Ware's most innovative and exciting work and it is immediately clear that no matter how much labor goes into reading it, a lot more was put into making it.

[Wes Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite possibly the darkest, depressing comic strip series ever. This collection is laid out superbly, and there little question as to Ware's talent, but the work teeters a line between madcap and morose. I don't know, like if a clown committed suicide maybe...

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

horrifyingly wonderful!

[Hamish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its visual aesthetic is brilliant, but the content is pretty hit-or-miss.

[pierlapo quimby · Rating 4 out of 5]

La miglior cosa mai scritta su di me.

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quimby The Mouse is the collected indie works of Chris Ware’s early works for The Daily Texan and other small and quirky publications. This piece is misleadingly simple, and the universe requires a quick dive into the early 20th century’s animations, comic strips, and weekly publications. This piece is simple on the surface but involves a striking, heartbreaking, and shocking level of existentialism, loss, death, and disillusionment. The format is tiny cell-based “animations” and extensive, wordy newsprint. The main theme of the piece is that, in the end, we are all terminal, disillusioned, lonely cases. It is an absolutely beautiful book published by Drawn and Quarterly in a very large format I am proud to own. My favorite parts of this collection of the early works was easily the writing – I loved the advice columns and the advertisements. I also love the foil-printed reproduction of the 826 Valencia façade. A beautiful book I look forward to revisiting often. Very happy I picked it up after all of the Chris Ware I have been reading lately.

An easy five stars, and absolutely blown away he achieved this so early in his career.

[Blair Hodges · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's plenty of weird cartoony goofs and gags in this book. But if you read all of Ware's introduction (in all its ridiculously tiny font glory), the Quimby strips will hit different. In the middle of all the goofs and gaffes there's an unmistakable and tragic existential wrestle in this book with the loss of the past, with the death of Ware's beloved grandmother. It's stunning to see the medium of comics put to this use.

[Blaine McGaffigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compiled from Chris Ware’s comic strips during college for The Daily Texan while his grandmother was deteriorating and eventually dying.

These stories are dark, cynical, and extremely mature for a college student. The comics get very tedious to read at times with an insane number of panels per page.

The oversized edition is beautifully put together and great quality.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to complete your Chris Ware collection pick this up. But this is not the place to start for a good look at his work. This collects two early issues of the Acme Novelty Library, ones which focus on the titular Quimby the Mouse. There isn't much a story in either of these. it's best to just read it to admire the artistic talent, which does not disappoint.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays and fake ads are probably the best part. I didn't get much from many of the strips, although a few are quite good and indicative of Ware's later, better work. Those few strips and a look at Ware's body of early work make it worth a read though.

[Lapôtre Charlène · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pas aimé

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

this review first appeared on [http://intraspace.blogspot.com]

as you can see, the library had more than just one chris ware book - i found this one on a different floor to the graphic novels in amongst the books on illustration (i found 'in the shadow of no towers' by Spiegelman up there once too), so i got it as well.

so now, if you have already read the review of 'the acme novelty library' i just did, then you'll be asking yourself, "hang on, i thought he found ware a little bit too depressing." and you'd have a point, but i am so attracted by his artwork and book design that i can't help it, and i'm happy to annouce that quimby the mouse didn't leave me feeling quite so depressed. but it still has sadness in shovel-loads and my earlier comments still stand.

nonetheless, to reinforce my main opinion on ware - overall this is an astonishing piece of work. not least of all if you are just wanting to check out brilliant artwork - ware has an amazing ability to use both minimalism and pain-staking detail to striking effect.

this volume is a kind of survey of his early work (early 90s). the book looks back on two levels - 1. because it is a retrospective, and 2. because so much of ware's work seems to be dealing with his own childhood and past. but despite being a retrospective, it doesn't seem 'juvenile' at all, which shows that ware's been brilliant for ages.

[Batmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://morethansuperhumans.blogspot.c...

Quimby the Mouse is a large-format (11" x 14") collection of tiny, tiny comic strips (the average panel size is about a half-inch square), many of which star Ware's Mickey-esque mouse, Quimby, or a pair of unnamed siamese twin mice. Most of the strips are wordless pantomimes drawn in a cartoony style, but the cartoony style belies the sad, angst-ridden nature of the stories. Also, as usual, Ware experiments with form in this book, and the layout of many of the strips are more complex than the standard left-to-right, top-to-bottom way of reading. Jimmy Corrigan also shows up in a few strips (but he's not necessarily the same Jimmy Corrigan from the eponymous book).

Of Ware's ACME Novelty Library collections, Quimby is probably my least favorite. The pantomime stories can be startlingly effective one at a time, but a book full of them lessens their impact. Still, for the stalwart Chris Ware fan, Quimby is well worth a look.

[Liam O'Leary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything I have read of Chris Ware before this has had almost my full admiration and attention (5* every time).

If I hadn't read Ware before this, I probably would have disliked this.

At the time of writing these, I think he was too close emotionally to the life incident he mentions in the introduction to make balanced cartoons. To me they seem more of a rage at death, than a tribute to the life it took. They all just seem so frustrated and cynical. Quimby's head falls off every time. And the narrative is closed off from exploring these emotions through illustrations. It's like when someone tells you 'I just am' when you ask them to explain how and why they are feeling a certain way.

A few strips were trickier than his recent work to follow, and clearly the roots of his current style are here, with less coherence and human feeling.

I got enjoyment by seeing this as the development of a writer whose work I adore, but as for the work itself, not so much.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizzare, repetative (but not in a bad way) and often surreal, this book features little to no narrative and instead focuses on vignettes of the titular character Quimby. While the narrative style is very different from Jimmy Corrigan the visual and artistic style is classic Chris Ware, most times simplistic but at other points very complex. Besides the comics and vignettes there are also joke newspaper ads, letters, and few personal essays that vaguely tie in with the visuals. For me these essays were the best part of the book and feature what I like most about Ware, dark, personal, and truthful writing about family and the past. Overall this book doesn't have nearly the depth of Jimmy Corrigan, but is a fun read for any fan of Ware's, especially as there is not a lot of content out there by him.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Havent read an absurd amount of his stuff, but it really speaks to my way of moving in a story, or the stories I enjoy. Little details extend and morph off of a fairly simple moment or an exploration of a space or plot or relationship. It is hard to describe, but the way chris ware pushes my visual literacy skills, and in the process my conception of narrative is really fulfilling and in an odd way emotionally gripping. I dunno. I think of things like Amelie, or Y Tu Mama Tambien or moments in certain Truffaut films (Jules et Jim specifically) where we get sidetracked by an object and are told the story of the escaped pigs or something. Chris Ware does that kind of thing constantly... oh, chris ware... swoon.

[David]

This comic strip is ingenious and worth savoring and revisiting like melancholy poetry. I appreciate the content which reflects a lot of adult angst about death, sex, and finding meaning. And then the design of each comic is so rich with frames blossoming from the center or narratives intersecting each other like crossword puzzles- absolutely fascinating. In one of the comics Ware draws the history of some of the background objects in the frame surrounding the subject.

In my exploration of graphic design and information display I have been really inspired by Chris Ware's sense for symbolic language as many comics don't have much text but are absolutely comprehensible and generally rather sad.

[Sorobai · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it for the graphics. But I must confesse I expected more of this. This book is a collection of diferente soties which the main character is a mouse, Quimby the mouse, which I belive the author identifies with through the book. I'm not sure if it's a real compillation or something made up to simulate it. Anyway, besides most stories are not so funny as they assume to be, the themes too are not very relevant or interesting except perhaps the one that accompanies most of the book and tells the story of the relashionship of the author with his grand-mother and reflects a kind of nostalgic of the past and the authors infancy.
The Big flaw of the book in my opinion is that even if this book format is uge, some of the stories graphics and text are so tiny that I just couldn't read them!

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ware himself says early in the book that this is all "early work." And it certainly is. It's sort of rough, playful but a little undisciplined. It has some really heartfelt moments in it--apparently a loved one was dying at the time of writing--and these are certainly the best moments. But there's a lot of panels that just don't have much punch. Having said that, it's still a Chris Ware book, so you get lots of fantastic page designs, fake ads, and all of that stuff. So: good, but he's certainly done better.