Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

A major comics achievement! Chris Ware’s elliptical Jimmy Corrigan story was serialized over the course of several years in many syndicated newspaper markets. The story, while brilliant and certainly beautiful to look at, was a little hard to follow in weekly installments. Now it’s been collected in this handsome hardcover book and, taken as a whole, seems even more amazing than we initially estimated. A multi-generational family story that focuses on the simple, sheltered Jimmy Corrigan — and also functions as a neat little history of Chicago — this book can be read from a few different perspectives and like many great books, develops different meanings each time you read it. If you’ve ever been dubious about the notion of comics as literature, this one should change your mind — and it’s very funny and moving stuff!