Designing Stories

8/11/2019 Designing Stories

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S ORIE

Chris Ware as the Intersection

of Comics and Graphic Design

LITA LEDESMA


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DESIGNINGSTORIES

Chris Ware as the Intersectionof Comics and Graphic Design

LITA LEDESMA


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VI


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For my brother, Ben, who

LET ME STEAL HIS comics.


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The disciplines of graphic designers and comic

book artists share many similarities. While

their histories and purposes are very different,

both mediums aim to express a direct messageto an audience using forms and text. Both

serve a dual purpose of communication and

aesthetic qualityand ideally, these two things

enhance one another. Popular and celebrated

in both elds, Chris Ware deftly utilizes the

techniques of traditional graphic design to

inform and enhance his work as a comic book

artist. His highly controlled, geometric forms

are constructed in harmony with elaborate,

hand-lettered type in a masterful expression

of self-discipline and rigor more frequently

associated with graphic design, not comic

books. The work of Chris Ware is particularly

exemplary of the close relationship between

comic art and graphic design and the ways in

which the tools and techniques of the latter

bene t the comics medium.

comic books as

design

Left: detail fromcover of JimmyCorrigan: theSmartest Kid onEarth . Next page:detail from thecover of ActionComics No. 1 ,which was therst example of aSuperhero comic.


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A brief HISTORY of

To understand and better appreciate Wares

particular style, and indeed, comics as a

whole, one must have a clear understanding

of the de nition of comics and at least

brie y consider the origins of this type ofartwork. In his book Understanding Comics ,

Scott McCloud devotes an entire chapter to

an analysis of the de nition of comics. His

illustrated explication is useful in noting

that while comics are generally accepted

to have certain characteristics, like any

art form, their de nition is malleable. Still,

for the purposes of formal analysis, his

description seems an excellent starting

point: comics (komiks) N. plural in form,

used with a singular verb. 1. Juxtaposed

comics


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6 pictorial and other images in deliberate

sequence, intended to convey information

and/or to produce an aesthetic response

in the viewer. (Conscious of the sterility ofhis cautious de nition, McCloud includes

three alternate de nitions that riff on

dominant stereotypical ideas of comics: 2.

Superheroes in bright colorful costumes,

ghting dastardly villains who want to

conquer the world in violent sensational

pulse-pounding action sequences!! 3. Cute

cuddly bunnies, mice and roly-poly bears,

dancing to and fro, hippity hop, hippity hop.

4. Corruptor of our Nations Youth. (9).

When we comb backward in history, we can

nd no obvious moment when fully realized

comic books suddenly appeared ex nihilo.

Rather, as is the case with many other

linguistic modes of communicationand

there are some, Ware included, who would

consider comics a kind of languageit

would seem that comics evolved over

time, eventually taking on the distinctive

and consistent characteristics they have

presently. While McCloud includes ancient

hieroglyphics as among some of the

earliest examples of proto-comics, other


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comic historians such as Art Spiegelman

tend to point to an event in time far more

closely connected to our own. In 1837,

a Swiss man by the name of Rudolphe

Tpffer published an illustrated story,

Histoire de M. Vieux Bois . Distinctive in its

method of employing a sequential pictorial

narrative, this work of Tpffer is seen as

the predecessor to the comic book medium

as we know it. Spiegelman notes in his

historical essay on the origins of commix,

that Tpffer made brilliant use of his

limited drawing ability to create a kind ofshorthand picture-writing (61). Before

Tpffers work, there had been books with

illustrations to accompany them, but his

work differed in its intentionality; Tpffers

Above: Tpffersearly comicworks showed aninnovative useof sequential artto tell a story,such as thisexample fromHistoire de M.

Vieux Bois .


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9images were using sequencing as a method

of expressing time to further his story. This

language of signs as Tpffer dubbed it,

was hard to de ne but easy to understand.They were simple enough that all who

saw them immediately understood them...

Tpffers picture stories were powered not

by individual signs but by combinations

of signs working together in sequence

(Raeburn, Chris Ware 7). As an aside,

despite the art forms present-day struggle

for a place of legitimacy in the realms of art

and literature, the famous author Goethe

was an early endorser of comic books;

Tpffer sent his work to the ailing author

when he was on his deathbed, and received

high praise from Goethe for the work, whobelieved that the form had a tremendous

amount of potential, particularly if the

subject matter were elevated to something

beyond mere amusement (McCloud 17).

Tpffers seminal work would go on to

inspire a great deal of early 20th Century

comic artists, including Rudolf Dirk,

the artist behind the comic strip The

Katzenjammer Kids . Publishing magnate

William Randolph Hearst took a liking to

KatzengammerKids was one of theearliest serializedcomics which servedas inspiration for

later artists suchas Chris Ware.Next page: detailfrom Little Nemo inSlumberland.


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10 his comics, and chose to feature Dirks

work regularly in his newspapersa

marriage that would further the popularity

of comics, but also solidify the notion ofcomics as throwaway ephemeral art.

Despite this dubious place of honor in

print, many comics artists of the period

were highly skilled illustrators and writers,

engaging in sophisticated work which

explored and expanded the boundariesof this relatively new medium. Winsor

McCay, the creator of Little Nemo in

Slumberland , was a masterful illustrator,

but more importantly, as Spiegelman notes

in his analysis, McCay understood the

storytelling possibilities of the comic strips

unique formal elements: the narrative as

well as design signi cance of a panels

size and shape, and how these individual

panels combined to form a coherent

visual whole (64). The work of early comic

artists such as McCay bene tted from a

relative freedom from expectation; the


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1

McCay understoodthe storytellingpossibilities of the

comic strips uniqueformal elements.

format was still a frontier in many respects,

and thus artists working in this medium

were able to de ne it for themselves.

In 1918, the long-lasting serial comic

Gasoline Alley appeared on the funnies

scene. This lighthearted family-themed

strip concealed behind its simplicity a

subtle sophistication. Frank King, its

creator, frequently experimented with


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layouts and color to great effect, and more

uniquely, created a real-time narrative for

his characters, such that they aged overtime along with the comics audience.

Tintin , rst published in 1929, is also

notable in the history of the medium.

Created by Georges Remil, professionally

known as Herg, this world-beloved series

is distinctive for its clean, crisp lineand savvy storyline. Hergs illustration

technique was also characterized by his

detailed and highly realistic backgrounds

in contrast to simpli ed character

illustrations. This technique underscores

the relationship that the comic book reader

has with the characters; the shorthand

character illustrations in Hergs work

are characteristic of many comics, and

are effective insofar as they allow the

reader to better place him or herself in

Hergs TinTin,pictured at right,had a cleanlook that wouldin uence Waresillustration style.


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14 the storyline. When, for example, a face is

simpli ed, the character in the story can

become a sort of everyman, as McCloud

notes in Understanding Comics (44).

In 1938 the game-changing Action Comics

made its debut to the world, introducing

Superman for the rst time. The birth of

this publication marked the beginning

of the superhero genre of comics (Muir

538). Characterized by simple dramaticstory arcs and cinematic pictorial styles,

the superhero comic shares a close

relationship to the action lm. This genres

popularity would eventually engulf the

comics world, de ning them for many

creators and readers alike. Today the

superhero genre is more popular than

ever, with associated lms churning out

of Hollywood at a breathless pace.

Though the superhero genre certainly has

had a powerful in uence on the comic

book medium as a whole, early comic bookartists like Dirk, Frank and Herg have a

much closer relationship to contemporary

comic artists like Chris Ware, and it is in

these pioneer comic artists that we see


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Chris Wares coverillustration of LambiekNo. 30 , by McCloudstongue in cheek de ni -

tion of comics, passeswith ying colors.

more clearly the formal techniques of

graphic design. Though Wares work does

not dismiss the superhero comic genre

(indeed, his work continuously references

and parodies aspects of the genre), his

narrative structures and illustration style

are far more evocative of the work of

these early 20th century comic artists.


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1 THE UNDERGROUND

REVOLUTIONIt would take a whole book to cover the historyof the underground comic movement alone,

but it is necessary to mention a few key gures

in this important revolution in the medium

as they relate to Ware. Following the cultural

tide of rebellion at the time, artists such as

Robert Crumb, founder of the independent

Zap Comics and the widely popular Fritz

the Cat emerged in the late 1960s with a

daring new approach to content and delivery

within the comic milieu. Crumbs tense,

aggressively sexualized characters inhabiteda dense world of emotionally expressive,

culturally challenging images and stories.

Left: Im not here to bepolite. Robert Crumbself-portrait from theR. Crumb Handbook .


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18 Later, Crumb would collaborate on a comic

with his friend, Harvey Pekar. Pekar crafted

bleak, confessional narratives on the

banalities of the human condition, oftenwith no conciliatory resolution. Coupled

with Crumbs anxious illustration style,

their co-creation of American Splendor can

certainly be seen as an important step in

the realm of the graphic novel, particularly

for the genre of literary, character-driven

material exempli ed in Chris Wares oeuvre.

Work of artists such as Crumb and Pekar

recaptured signi cant territory from the

likes of Marvel and D.C. Comics, allowing

for other artists in their time, and future

artists such as Chris Ware, to consider

the medium apart from the formulaicnarrative and compositional conventions

of the superhero genre (Cassel 39).

What is the stylistic difference between

superhero comics and underground or

independent comics such as Crumbs

and now Wares? They both have certain

similar characteristics, to be sure. They

are both sequential art, and combine word

and image; both kinds of comics easily

fall under McClouds de nition of comics.


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Frequently, superhero comics are

produced by teams of multiple people for

a large publishing studio. One comic might

include the efforts of one or more script

writers, pencilers, inkers, colorists, and

letterers. Of ten, the characters in the

stories are owned by the publisher, as is

the case for many of the more famous

superheroes, like Batman of D.C. Comics

fame, and thus control over the storyline

and visual representation of the storyline

must meet the approval of the publishingcompany. This scenario allows for much

less innovation in narrative structure and

technique, particularly as the end product

is frequently serialized and intended for an

Above: Crumbsillustrationfrom Pekars

AmericanSplendor #4.


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their illustrations are boldlyexpressive, hyperbolic andcinematic in composition.


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2audience that expects a consistent product

over an extended period of time. Generally,

the stories in this genre of comic are

action- lled con icts between archetypicalhero gures and their counterpart villains.

The themes in such stories are typically

man vs. man variations. Their illustrations

are boldly expressive, hyperbolic and

cinematic in composition. Typographical

treatments of the words in this genre are

simple and formulaic, expressive only

within the conventions of the genre, and

generally within the norms of the comics

language; screams might be drawn with

larger, jagged letterforms, for example.

This type treatment is almost a form of

punctuation or stage direction, and typedesign generally seems an afterthought

to the images in the story (Khordoc 163).

In contrast, comics that are not of the

superhero genre are very broad in style

and content, particularly those produced in

Europe and the United States. (For example,

Japanese manga comics bear a much

closer relationship to superhero comics,

though there are notable differences in

narrative structure and style). Largely,


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22 these independent comics are created

by a single person, who serves as the

author, illustrator, and designer of the work.

Somewhat less common for independentcomics is a collaboration between a writer

and an illustrator. In the past, comics of this

type have frequently been self-published

or produced by small publishing houses.

However, in the past two decades especially,

independent comic book publishing

companies have emerged and more

recently, major book publishers have begun

to include some comics in their catalog.

Whether self-published (in print or on the

web) or published by a major book house,

the creators of these comics tend

to have control over most if not all aspectsof the product. This distinction from

traditional comic factory style studios

allows independent comic artists freedom

to explore the idiom of comics without the

burden of conventional expectations in

form or content, resulting in a broad rangeof unique works by artists with distinctive

approaches to the formal qualities of comics.

Facing page:an example ofa traditionalcontemporarysuperhero comic,

in this case fromBatman #345 .


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INTRODUCINGCHRIS WAREChris Ware emerged on the independent

comic book scene in the early 1990s as a

young college student. His rst published

work, an experimental comic called

Quimby the Mouse which was featured

in the Daily Texan , explored and played

with traditional comic book narrativestructures by manipulating time and

continuity through layout and story. A

tribute to George Herrimans long-running

comic strip, Krazy Kat , Wares Quimby

the Mouse is a clever juxtaposition of

the classic funny pages comic genrewith a turbid emotional quality more

common in formal literature. By combining

these two contrasting aspects, Ware

employs a visual and messaging irony that

enhances the effect of each component.


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In addition to publishing his comics, Ware

also had a brief stint as an art director for a

newspaper. While not his calling, it proved

useful and formative. In an interview, Warenotes that this taught [him] a lot about

creating images for reproduction and

about printingan invaluable experience...

The full-time pressmen and production

people working there as integral to [his]

education as [his] professors were (Irving).

The celebrated comic artist Art Spiegelman

took notice of Wares work and invited him

to contribute to his publication, Raw . One of

Wares submissions to the publication,

a wry send-off of the superhero genre

entitled Thrilling Adventure Stories , displayed

an impressively accurate visual parody of

a typical 1940s superhero comic. On the

surface, the strip appears to be about a

classic hero who frequently rescues damsels

from assorted evil villains. However, the

text used to accompany these stories is

unusual. Seemingly unrelated, the word

bubbles describe the protagonists troubled

relationship with his family members, who

have distant or dif cult relationships with

the person narrating. Using the images in

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Above: excerpt fromWares Thrilling

Adventure Stories .Previous page:portrait of Ware inhis home.

each panel as a counterpoint to the text,

Ware uses contrasting themes to enhance

the message of his creation. Wares visual

tropes serve as cues to the reader and

convey the complicated dichotomy of the

narrators emotional associations with

the stories in this series. Since the stories

being relayed are re ections on events

from childhood, this dissonance (theprotagonist is both a child without power

and an action hero with unusual power)

allows the reader to infer the internal

pathos of the protagonist (Kannenberg).

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28 Years later, Ware would create his most

celebrated work to date, Jimmy Corrigan:

The Smartest Kid on Earth . Originally

published as a serial comic for the Chicagopaper, New City, this comic saga spanning

multiple generations of Corrigan men has

received numerous accolades and awards,

including the American Book Award and

the British Guardian First Book Award (a

rst for the comic genre), both in 2001.

Praised by critics across the disciplines

of literature, art, and design, Ware is

considered by many to be the preeminent

example of excellence and achievement

in the contemporary comic arena.

Illustration fromWares JimmyCorrigan: theSmartest Kidon Earth .


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CHRIS WARE AS

DESIGNERAs part of Wares explorations with visual

and typographical narratives, Ware has

employed a number of graphic design

techniques in his comics work. Steven

Heller observes that Ware has re ned

a unique illustrative and typographic

language that bridges comic art and

graphic design (Heller, Eye Magazine 20).

Indeed, Chris Ware has brought the two

disciplines together more uniquely and

effectively than any other comic artist.

Book displayconcept for WaresQuimby the Mouse.


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32 In the body of work associated with Jimmy

Corrigan (both the single volume and the

individual, serialized books produced

under the series title Acme Novelty Library ),Chris Ware implements many of the

techniques of type designers to enhance

and even become a part of the story:

In the same ways that a typographer

physically transforms the words in display

and logo type to make them embody themeaning in the words themselves, Ware

transformed the storylines of his strips

into headlines, choosing colors, typefaces,

and the occasional rebus to symbolize

the emotions warranted by the words.

He then used these headlines to move

the story forwards, using typography to

tell not only the verbal story but also the

visual story. (Raeburn, Chris Ware 19).

Immensely attuned to the nuances of

typographical expression, Ware peppers

CORRIGANS life is compact and controlled,frequently not by him, and he is not equipped

to access the passion he craves.


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34 Ware insists that his desire is to generate

empathy in the reader, emotion being the

primary focus of his stories. Ware explains

that his distinctive illustration style is forthe sake of clarity of comprehension:

What Im hoping to do is just to make it

a clear as possible whats going on in

the page and make the images really

not necessarily that interesting, but just

easily readable so that the story can

be as confusing and dif cult to sort out

as my own experiences are (Alfano).

As a counterweight to the at emotional

effect of his structured illustration

technique, which Ware feels is a sensible

distance that, inspired by typographical

disciplines, governs the way that he draws,

(Bengal 1), Ware employs a star tling array

of typographical designs in conjunction with

these illustrations. Fascinated by hand-

lettered typography, particularly from the

mid-19th century and earlier, Ware is a self-

taught typographer who uses the stylistic

conventions of previous eras to evoke a

sense of nostalgia and humanistic warmth:

I steal constantly from all sorts of things,

Right: Waresexperimentaltype treatmentsadd layers ofirony to his work

in this excerptfrom Wares AcmeNovelty Library #4.


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especially when something emotionally

affects me, either for reasons of color,

composition, letterstylesometimes its

even something as simple as an ascenderand descender width relative to each

other. Im sure that if Id taken a class

about this stuff Id know much better why

it all works the way it does, and I wouldnt

have to fumble around in the dark so

much (Heller, Eye Magazine 326).

Yet another formal graphic design element

which Ware effectively employs in a fresh

way is the infographic. Typically reserved

the for the conveying of complex data in

a visually concise, easy to understand

manner, this diagrammatic method ofdepicting information is used by Ware

throughout Jimmy Corrigan and his other

works to further his narrative, esh out his

characters, as well as play with the idea

of infographics and diagrams themselves.

In one illustration, we see the building

that is the setting for much of his recently

published work, Building Stories . Ware

uses circles connected by lines, lled with

small illustrations, which reveal details

Left: infographictechniques carrythe narrativeforward in thisexample from

Wares Build-ing Stories .


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The small print onone such page reveals

Wares sardonic sense

of humor, as each ad

undermines itself with

A morbid twist.


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3about the buildings denizens. Rather

than convey quanti able information, the

circular panels serve as narrative elements.

This clinical technique has an intriguingeffect, particularly when the material

being explored is of a strong emotional

content. By employing an illustration style

that is associated with simple explanatory

visualizations of factual information, Ware

creates a formalistic barrier between

the emotional content and the reader,

which, interestingly, only serves to make

those scenes that much more poignant.

In a similar way, Ware has created a number

of papercraft artworks for his comics.

These complex, fully functional pagesonepart diagram, one part unrealized three-

dimensional objectappear as narrative

enhancements and entice the reader to

participate in the protagonists experience

in a tangible way. One such example of

Wares papercraft illustrations can be

found in Jimmy Corrigan. Here, the reader

is invited to fabricate a zoetrope from his

drawings, which, if made well, will animate

a crutch-bearing robota metaphorical


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representation of Jimmy. Ware notes that

the act of cutting out and assembling such

papercraft projects is inherently a task of

isolation and relative futility, thus making

it a tting activity to further imbue the

reader with a sense of loneliness and ennui,

much like the protagonist in the comic

(Alfano). The instructions for this toy include

several derogatory statements aimed

at the reader (who, in this case, is also

Jimmy) as well as stream-of-consciousnesstext concerning his estranged father.

Thus, Ware knits pathos into his

information design and diagrammatic

illustrations with compelling results.


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4

Ware also raids the design closet for

clichs in the advertising and branding

techniques employed by graphic designers

and copywriters. Particularly fond of

mid-twentieth century advertising, Ware

frequently employs the kitschy sincerity

of this period in his Acme Novelty Library.

In one example, Ware parodies the back

page advertisements often found in comic

books from the 1960s and 1970s. Using

period-appropriate typography, layoutsand copy language, Ware mimics the ads

perfectly in the service of his message. A

close reading of the small print on one

such page reveals Wares sardonic sense

Above: papercraftillustration from

Jimmy Corrigan: TheSmartest Kid onEarth . Previous page:detail from WaresBuilding Stories .


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4of humor, as each ad undermines itself

with a morbid twist. Much as in his earlier

work, Thrilling Adventure Stories, here

Ware relies on the readers exposure tothe design technique being parodied. In

this case, the crowded page, primary

colors, and plain typography all express

a particular time and place for graphic

design, and it is precisely this that

Ware cleverly manipulates to enhance

the readers experience of the story.

Left: MakeMistakes GetChildren andForever Alter theFlavor of Your Life

Wares parodyof mid-centurycomics-pagesadvertising from

Acme Novel tyLibrary #3 .


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The exciting

ConclusionComics artists would bene t greatly

by following Chris Wares example and

taking a more considered approach in

their typographical and design choices.

Though not a graphic designer by training,

Chris Ware has been lauded by graphic

designers all over the world for his comicwork, largely because of how well he

implements the techniques of graphic

designers in his comics.


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46 By harvesting graphic design tools such

as hand lettered and designed type,

infographics, and traditional advertising

and branding conventions, Ware isable to enhance his visual and textual

narrative to great effect. With the skills

and historical understanding of traditional

graphic design techniques for creating

form and content at his disposal, Chris

Ware is able to communicate a richer,

more sophisticated message to his

audience within the comic medium. More

clearly than perhaps any other comic

artist, Chris Wares work demonstrates

the close relationship that graphic design

and comic books share. Furthermore,

Ware has been a pioneer in exploitingthat connection and expanding upon its

possibilities, pushing the boundaries of

both disciplines to create a distinctive

body of work that is unparalleled in the

world of comics and graphic design.

Right: in-storedisplay for JimmyCorrigan: TheSmartest Kidon Earth.

Previous spread:detail fromBuilding Stories.


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4INTERVIEW WITH

CHRIS WAREIn an interview with Stephen Heller you

mention that you have no interest in being

a graphic designer, though you have

done some graphic design (album covers,

book jackets, et al.) Yet your comics work

looks incredibly well-designed and has

an aesthetic that resonates with graphic

designers. Can you talk about your

impressions/thoughts about the relationship

your work has to graphic design, and what

inspires your distinctive style?

Whatever work Ive done as a graphicdesigner sort of follows a graph that roughly

plots my need to pay my rent versus the

time/tolerance I have available for it, with

that curve rolling off over the past few

years only into projects for friends (the

occasional CD cover) graphic-design-asnecessity (my own weird periodical The Rag

Time Ephemeralist ) and projects which I

am happy to be involved with (the book

and record set for the Paragon Ragtime


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50Orchestras orchestration of Scott Joplins

Treemonisha.) None of them have

anything to do with comics-writing, however,

which, as an art of composition and nearly

always reproduction, inevitably involves

graphic design as an integral approach and

component, but not as an end in itself.

You mentioned in several interviews how much

you love 19th century typography, particularlyfor its human, expressive character

something which often lies in contrast to the

controlled, clean linework of your illustrations.

Can you discuss the reasons you choose to use

typography in this way?

Even if my artwork appears to be clean

and controlled, its still hand-drawn and

nowhere near as clean and controlled as

the hand-drawn typography of the 19th

century. I hand draw typography in my

comics because its an expressive part of

the comics themselves, and I want it as

much as possible to be an unconscious

part of the writing, as well; i.e. to be born

at the same time as the drawing and the

writing, not applied apart from it.


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5Chris Waresrecord labeldesign for Sub-Poprecords. Previousspread: detail from

Wares illustrationfor the BrooklynComics andGraphics Festivalheld in 2012.

I was just recently at a book fair in Germany

and spent a good part of the time looking

at modern publishers booths and their

pleasantly-designed covers, but discovered

a section of book dealers which left me

astonished anew at the superiority of the

work of one hundred years ago, especially

the clarity, neness and beauty it embodied

and which our time period almost entirely

ignores, or more properly, lacks the facility

to any longer fully understand.


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5

Some of the lettering in your work is so small I

need a magnifying glass to read it, and I have

20/20 vision! Can you talk about this intriguingand amusing design choice?

This is going to sound pretentious, but in a leaf

of a tree one can see the structure, shape and

growth of the tree itself, and

I guess Im in some way trying to model the

same recursiveness in the structure

of my panel, pages and ultimately the books

themselves. (I also dont like to waste space.)

Much of your work references ads, signage and

branding from previous decades, incorporating

these ordinary and often beautifully kitschythings into your narrative in a lyrical way. Can

you talk about the relationship that advertising

and branding has to your storytelling methods?

Well, aside form the fact that I loathe

advertising, its also an integral, living part ofmy memories and my consciousness, just as it

is for nearly everyone in the developed world.

Its so dif cult in any urban area to not be free

of something to read, or to compare oneself


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54 to, or to wonder about what it is exactly that

these people who make these ads think will

appeal to or sell something to a stranger.

These images, phrases, typefaces, musicand lms linger in the consciousness,

fester, take roots and infect real memories,

leeching what should be honest nostalgia for

people and places and then replacing it with

a jingle or a clever camera trick. YouTube is

full of television commercials that remind

me of my parents and my grandparents,a whole relationship which is sinister and

sickening. At the same time, I fondly and

deeply remember so many of these ads,

and few experiences other than opening the

cabinet in which Ive kept all the objects I

collected from my grandmothers house and

inhaling the collective odor take me back to

that time more fully. Lastly, the designers

who work in advertising make fabulously

serious amounts of money, so they assume

If Ive potentially got all the graphic tools ofexpression at my fingertips, I should make useof as many of them as possible.


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5what they do must be important. And it is,

ironically. Maybe its even the real art of our

time, in a way. James Joyce employed the

repeated banal phrase threading throughthe thoughts of Leopold Bloom in Ulysses

to suggest advertisings insidious in ltration

of experience, and that book is only set in

1904; imagine how poisoned and bilge-

choked our minds are now.

You employ the use of infographic charts in

your workmost recently in Building Stories.

Can you talk about your reasons for using

this technique as a narrative device?

Its simply one way out of many to present

relationships (whether between people,places, ideas or falsehoods) in a manner

that is non-verbal; its another way of writing

in pictures thats not theatrical, but spatial

and relative. I gure that if Ive potentially

got all the graphic tools of expression at my

ngertips I should make use of as many ofthem as possible.


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58 Heller, Steven. Smartest Letterer on the Planet.Eye Magazine . Autumn 2002. Vol 12. Issue 45.18-25. Print.

Heller, Steven and Louise Fili. Stylepedia: aGuide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks,and Conceits . San Francisco: Chronicle Books,2006. Print.

Hodgman, John. Righteousness in Tights. NewYork Times . 24 April 2005. Web.

Irving, Christopher. Chris Ware on Building a

Better Comic Book. nycgraphicnovelists.com. 06 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2012.

Kidd, Chip. Please Dont Hate Him. PrintMagazine . May/June 1997. Vol. 51. Issue 3. 42-49. Web.

Kannenberg Jr., Gene. Graphic Text, GraphicContext: Interpreting Custom Fonts and Hands

in Contemporary Comics. Illuminating Letters:Typography and Literary Interpretation . Eds. PaulC. Gutjahr and Megan Benton. Amherst: Universityof Massachusetts Press, 2001. Print.

Kerek, Rowan. Features Interview: Chris Ware.BBC Collective . 15 2005: Web. 23 Oct. 2012.


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5Khordoc, Catherine. The Comic BooksSoundtrack: Visual Sound Effects in Asterisk.The Language of Comics: Word and Image . Eds.Varnum, Robin, and Christina T. Gibbons. Jackson:

University of Mississippi, 2001. Print.

Lang, Kirsty, host. Chris Ware. Front Row:The Thick of It, Cerys Matthews, Lucy Liu inElementary . Prod. Claire Bartleet. BBC Radio 4: 28 2012. Web. 23 Oct 2012.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics .Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1993. Print.

Mitchell, W.J.T. Word and Image. Critical Termsfor Art History . Eds. Robert S. Nelson and RichardShiff. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,1993. Print.

Muir, John Kenneth. The Encyclopedia ofSuperheroes On Film and Television . Jefferson,

NC: McFarland & Company, 1998. Web.Nover, Ross. A Dose of Design Inspiration fromComic Strips. Refresh DC. nclud, Washington D.C.23 2012. Lecture.

Peeters, Benot Chris Ware: Un Art de laMmoire. Comix . Arte TV: France, 29 January2005. Web. 23 Oct 2012.

Peeters, Benot. Tintin and the Worlld of Herg: An Illustrated History . Boston: Bull nch Press,1988. Print.


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60 Pekar, Harvey. American Splendor . New York:Ballantine Books, 1987. Print.

Pyman, James. Chris Ware. Art Monthly . Nov.

2006: 37. Art Full Text. Web. 20 Sept. 2012.Raeburn, Daniel. Chris Ware . New Haven: YaleUniversity Press, 2004. Print.

Raeburn, Daniel. The Smartest Cartoonist OnEarth. The Imp . 4 July 1999. Vol 1. No 3. Web.

Roeder, Katherine. Seeing Inside-Out in theFunny Pages. American Art . Spring 2001, Vol 25,Issue 1. 24-27. Art Full Text. Web. 20 Sept. 2012.

Schjeldahl, Peter. Words and Pictures: GraphicNovels Come of Age. The New Yorker . 17 October2005. Web.

Spiegelman, Art. Commix: An IdiosyncraticHistorical and Aesthetic Overview. PrintMagazine . Nov./Dec. 1988: 61-73. Print.

Strauss, Neil. Creating Literature, One ComicBook at a Time: Chris Wares Graphic Tales MineHis Own Life and Heart. The New York Times [New York] 04 Apr. 2001. Web. 20 Sept. 2012.

Thompson, John. Graphic Novel. The ChicagoSchool of Media Theory Blog. 2012. 29 Aug

2012. Web.

Ware, Chris. The Acme Novelty Date Book: 1995-2002 . Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2007. Print.


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6Ware, Chris. The Acme Novelty Library . New York:Pantheon Books, 2005. Print.

Ware, Chris. The Acme Novelty Library 14 . Seattle:Fantagraphics Books, 2000. Print.

Ware, Chris. The Acme Novelty Library 16 .Chicago: Acme Novelty Library, 2005. Print.

Ware, Chris. The Acme Novelty Library #15: TheBig Book Of Jokes II . Seattle: FantagraphicsBooks, 2001. Print.

Chris, Ware. (Untitled animation for This AmericanLife.) This American Life: The Cameraman .Episode 14. Host. Ira Glass. Showtime. 12 Apr.2007. Television.

Ware, Chris. Building Storie s. New York: PantheonBooks, 2012. Print.

Ware, Chris. Introduction. McSweeneysQuarterly Concern No. 13 . San Francisco:McSweeneys, 2004. Print.

Ware, Chris. J immy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid onEarth . New York: Pantheon Books, 2000. Print.

Ware, Chris. Lambiek Avontuur Strip #30 . Ed.Kees Kousemaker. Amsterdam: Galerie Lambiek.2003. Print.

Wilk, Deborah. Studio View: Chris Ware. New ArtExaminer . May 1996, Vol. 23. 40. Print.


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62 Wivel, Matthias. Interview with Chris Ware Part 1of 2. The Comics Journal . 31 Jan. 2011. Web. 19Sept. 2012.

Wivel, Matthias. Interview with Chris Ware Part 2of 2. The Comics Journal . 1 Feb. 2011. Web. 19Sept. 2012.

Wolk, Douglas. A Portrait of the Artist as a YoungMan. Rev. of Acme Novelty Date Book, Krazy &Ignatz, 1929-1030: A Mice a Brick, a Lovely Night,and Quimby the Mouse. Print Magazine . Jan/Feb2004. 32-33, 122. Print.

Wolk, Douglas. Inside the Box. Rev. of BuildingStories. The New York Times Sunday BookReview . [New York] 18 Oct. 2012: BR1. 24 Oct.2012. Web.

Wolk, Douglas. Reading Comics . Cambridge: DaCapo Press, 2007. Print.


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64

! H G _ K Z M N E Z M B H G L

U Y Z ! ! / L L Y R H N K Y A B

& & / G Y K / P Z K & Y ? R Y

O B L B M B G _ Y E B M Z E /

& / L F Z X ! H F W L / ! K / M


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AcknowledgementsThis book is a thesis publication as part

of the undergraduate program in Graphic

Design at the Corcoran College of Art +

Design in Washington D.C.

Greatest thanks to Mr. Chris Ware, whograciously gave of his time for the interview.

Much gratitude for the invaluable editorial

and stylistic guidance of Antonio Alcal and

Alice Powers, my thesis advisors for this book

and its accompanying exhibition.


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Designing Stories

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