Taking The Comics To A New Level

Chris Ware may well be the most depressing “comic artist” in history, but that hasn’t stopped the engaging creator of Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid On Earth from enjoying great success and securing a regular spot in the Sunday New York Times Magazine. Now, a new exhibition of Ware’s work is being mounted in Chicago. “The extreme self-absorption of his characters can be maddening and yet their angst is so real and so respectfully drawn — unlike many comic artists, Ware never makes fun of his subjects’ bodies or dilemmas — that the viewer-reader simply can’t look away.The very tenderness with which Ware treats his subjects draws us in.”