The Acme Novelty Date Book

Alternative-comics artist Ware reveals the impressive technical skills and thought processes behind his acclaimed graphic novels in a second collection of his sketchbook pages. The handsomely designed volume gathers hundreds of portraits, watercolors, unfinished comics pages, and other artwork. Life drawings with detailed shading display a radically different style from the simple line-work of Jimmy Corrigan (2000), Ware?s chef d?oeuvre (thus far), while still lifes and cityscapes show the mechanical precision of his comic strips. Cruel self-portraits and strips entitled?I Am Filled with Despair? and?Yesterday Was a Terrible Day? suggest that the harsh worldview of Ware?s graphic novels is more than a literary device for him. --Gordon Flagg (Booklist).