The Holidays have come and gone and we had our fun discussing Tintin, the pure love of comics and how our cartooning tastes have evolved from childhood to the present. It is now time to go back to some hard-core discussion and for that we turn our attention to Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware.

I suggest that after Maus and perhaps Watchmen, Jimmy Corrigan is the most important Graphic Novel published in the last twenty years. It was the success of Chris Ware‘s magnum opus that kicked opened the main stream book stores doors; the same doors that had been previously been cracked ajar by Art Spiegelman and Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons. From the critical and sales success of Jimmy Corrigan on, Graphic Novels came of age and were accepted by critics and book buyers alike.

But the question for our Discussion Group is: Why?
What makes this enormous book so special, so challenging, so exciting?
Is it just a matter of the reader being beaten into submission by Ware’s work ethic and design sense?
Or does Jimmy Corrigan achieve more?
Do we care about the characters?
Is it believable?
Are we able to escape into the book without being over-conscious of Ware’s line work, his page lay-out, his brilliant technique?

Please join us on Saturday, January 29th from 1 to 3 pm where we will tackle these questions along with an endless number of other topics. We will meet in the store but if everyone is willing, we will repair to the near-by bakery (YES!!) to enjoy some sweet treats and we delve deeply into this multi-faceted work.

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth is available from Heroes for $19.95.  When you purchase the book, we offer the 10% Discussion Group discount– just remember to mention it when you check out.

We will see you there;  this is going to be terrific!