Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth, by Chris Ware, is about a meek, lonely man in his thirties who meets his father for first time in a Michigan city over Thanksgiving weekend. Jimmy is an awkward and dark character, with an overbearing mother and a very limited social life. Jimmy attempts to escape his unhappiness through an active imagination that sometimes puts him in embarrassing situations. The book deals with loneliness, family dysfunction, inadequacy, bullying, generational conflict, masculinity, sexual frustration, social awkwardness and depression. Ware wrote and illustrated the book. He is best known for a comic book series called Acme Novelty Library and, incidentally, this graphic novel. First of all, Jimmy Corrigan has a very unique style. The first thing you notice is the thick line thickness, the very geometric design of the illustrations, and the thick, opaque colors used. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The illustrations do not contain any precise details. What Ware uses are subtle changes in line weight. What Ware also does well is capture the different shapes of the figures as they walk, talk, move their heads, turn, etc. This, along with the addition of light blocks of color for the shadows, gives the illustrations depth and distance when there seemingly couldn't be. People, objects, buildings, sky, weather, etc. they are all designed in a very minimalist way. Everything is given the simplest shape possible, yet you know exactly what you're looking at, just where certain lines bend and curve. The colors used for the illustrations are relatively dull. Each color is a kind of soft, pastel color, which gives the illustrations a very subtle look. This color palette suits the story well considering it is quite monotonous and depressing. The colors do a good job of setting the mood and bringing you into the life and state of mind of Jimmy Corrigan. That said, what I found quite interesting was the way Ware used the color red. Unlike the other colors, the red was bright and strong and, at times, really jumped off the page. It was mostly used for sound effects, which although it seems like a relatively simple idea, I thought was a really great representation of it. Red was also used for storytelling, such as words. Sometimes they were used almost as a guide, to really move the story forward. Another technical aspect of the work is the integration of various types of text. You have the typical cartoon character dialogue and thoughts. You also have the typical sound effects text. There are some unique uses of text: one is the use of italics in some parts of the story. These scenes are not really Jimmy's daydreams nor are they his full-fledged dreams. They are much more like whimsical and fantasy thoughts. They are also sometimes used as narration and to represent Jimmy's thoughts. Another unique use of text is the use of early 20th century fonts. Ware applies this to the poster/flyer-like images titled “Jimmy Corrigan, Smartest Kid on Earth,” which are scattered throughout the book. Another example of this is when he talks about the past, more specifically Jimmy's grandfather's childhood. The text is technically and beautifully crafted. While necessary to the style and story, it is interesting to note that Ware is an ardent ragtime enthusiast who journals about ragtime music, collects ragtime paraphernalia, and even hasdesigned album covers and posters for ragtime artists (jackhanley.com). ). All of this is quite evident and really comes out in Jimmy Corrigan. Several images recur throughout the book and tie the plots together: superheroes, birds, broken limbs, guns, peaches, redheads, the Fair, and Jimmy Corrigan. The images tie the story together and reiterate the similarities between the Jimmies of each generation (findarticles.com). For example, the 1893 Chicago World's Fair represents the fictional world the Corrigans inhabit. A world thrown together, looking great for the two weeks of the fair and then collapsing into sudden ruin. Each character has a very short childhood where everything seems fine until harsh reality breaks through the illusion, ending the childhood (i-reports.info). None of the Corrigans seem capable of breaking the bonds of their past. Jimmy tries to connect with his father, but can't seem to make any human connections. The superhero image is the only recurring image that really stands out throughout the book. Jimmy himself wears a Superman t-shirt. Jimmy imagines he is a bird flying out of the clinic like Superman, and when a bird crashes through the window, we are back with Jimmy in the clinic, back to reality. In Jimmy Corrigan, superheroes are not invincible. A "superhero" jumps from the roof in front of Jimmy's office building and dies. A toy Superman that a child plays with in a diner dives onto the floor. Jimmy's father picks it up to give it back to the boy, commenting how we wouldn't want Superman to get hurt (findarticles.com). And in the first two pages of the book we see a young Jimmy meeting a “superhero at a comic book convention.” The superhero then returns home with Jimmy and his mother and subsequently sleeps with his mother, then sneaks out in the morning. Not exactly something Superman would do, maybe Batman, but not Superman.Ware does a great job of connecting the past with the present. One example is how the book spans time from Jimmy's great-grandfather in 1863 to the present; the different time changes are illustrated through a particular visual sequence of a bird collecting nesting materials at various hospitals (findarticles.com). This bird is first seen picking a flowering twig around a war zone hospital tent, then at a hospital building in the 1890s, then at Lincoln Hospital in the 1930s, then at St. Mary's in the 1990s 50, and finally place the twig in a nest on the windowsill of a modern "doc-in-a-box" where Jimmy waits with a bloody nose (findarticles.com). You get the sense that it's the same bird reflecting on times gone by, as well as different birds from different times. Ware uses a variety of narrative techniques. These techniques vary from panel to panel. Ware uses one of the most basic panel-to-panel transitions simply called œmoment to moment; the same subject is displayed at adjacent moments, like a film that runs jerkily on a slow computer (McCloud chapter 3). This is basically used to animate the story and give it some fluidity. Ware also uses very similar transitions from moment to moment, one of which is one action after another, where the focus remains on a single subject, but this time two consecutive and separate actions are displayed (e.g. the first panel could contain a car speeding along, the 2 the car crashing into a tree, or in this case Jimmy) (McCloud ch. 3). The other transition Ware uses similarly is “subject to subject,” where both panels are within the same scene or idea, but each portrays a different subject (McCloud chapter 3). The three of these techniques are thebasis for the way the story is told. Another interesting narrative feature of the story is when it uses the transition called "from aspect to aspect", that is, when the author "ignores time for the most part and casts a wandering eye on different aspects of a place, mood or idea (McCloud chapter 3)." Ware does this periodically throughout the book to set mood, describe a setting, show what a character is thinking, etc. It will have a number of consecutive panels showing simple objects, or even small details of simple objects, along with the story's regular narrative features. Most of the story is obviously about modern-day Jimmy. This part of the story begins with the book and continues in a relatively linear fashion, flowing in and out of dreams and thoughts. We catch up with Jimmy at work and soon follow him through a series of panels showing his simple, boring and depressing life. What is then introduced is a rather strange dream sequence where Jimmy imagines himself as a robot. Similar dream sequences occur throughout the story, including one in which a giant superhero hand takes Jimmy's house and then proceeds to drop it. Another narrative feature that happens quite frequently in Jimmy Corrigan is when Jimmy daydreams. These serve as a window into Jimmy's psyche and often reveal small details about his personality. Some of them show Jimmy imagining himself with different women, including his colleague Peggy, the nurse at the doctor's office where his father takes him, and the girl his father adopted Amy. However, daydreams do not all contain the same themes. What involves Peggy makes Jimmy imagine her as an almost maternal character. This is probably due to the fact that Peggy is a very domineering woman, just like Jimmy's mother. The next one comes during Jimmy's visit to the doctor's office with his father. This daydream is purely sexual. Jimmy takes the nurse's kindness and seemingly flirtatious actions and runs with it, kicking off a series of images that depict the nurse getting closer to Jimmy, them running away together, and then eventually getting married. This is all pretty funny and really accurately portrays what goes through a man's mind when he meets an attractive woman. This similar chain of events happens when Jimmy daydreams about Amy. Only this time a bomb or a meteor demolishes everything and Jimmy and Amy are the only ones left. Yet unlike the previous two, this daydream sees Jimmy taking charge and caring for someone else. It shows him chopping wood, being a real man. Daydreams are quick and to the point. Most of the time they end quite abruptly with someone or something getting him out of the situation. Although the main plot of Jimmy's life and his attempt to reconnect with his father is told in a relatively linear fashion, it is the inclusion of flashbacks to moments in Jimmy's life. life, his father's life and his grandfather's life, which really elevates the plot and reveals more about who the Corrigans are. They really show why these three men are who they are. What's interesting is Ware's treatment of these flashbacks. There is never any warning of them. They flow in and out of the story, revealing more and more each time. Ware intercuts the flashbacks, being careful not to show too much too soon. What makes these flashbacks even more confusing is that it's often difficult to understand what Ware is talking about, a prime example being that Jimmy's grandfather is also named Jimmy. Ware makes no attempt to portray any of these three men differently either.