Acme Novelty Library

• Ongoing — y • Publisher — Fantagraphics (1–15) Self-published (16–current) • Date — 1993–present • Issues — 20 (plus a special folio issue) • Writers — Chris Ware • Artists — Chris Ware

Acme Novelty Library has adopted numerous formats in the course of the series and, similarly, does not feature a continuous cast of characters. It has showcased early Ware comics, such as Quimby the Mouse from The Daily Texan, and more recent strips from NewCity, a Chicago weekly paper. Ware's first major graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, was originally serialized in Acme Novelty Library between 1995 and 2000. Jimmy Corrigan is the saga of a lonely childlike man and his alienated ancestors, partly inspired by Ware's hopeful but unhappy reunion with his absentee father. The collected edition was released to much acclaim, winning the Guardian First Book Award, amongst others. Rusty Brown and Building Stories began serialization in issue 16. With this issue, Ware also began to self-publish the title, with Fantagraphics and later Drawn & Quarterly acting as distributor. When asked why he chose to self-publish Ware stated: Issues are imbued with the defining characteristics of Ware's work; a pervasive sadness and nihilism permeate tales of disappointment, thwarted affection, and the dehumanization of the individual in a modern and mechanized world. Through the use of apparently extraneous novelties, such as cut-outs and flip-books, and prose parodies set in tiny fonts, Ware blurs the boundaries between author/reader/character. These interventions offer complex and simultaneous multilinear readings of the page that serve to thematise Ware's engagement with issues of narrative and continuity.

Issues 1–15 were published by Fantagraphics Books. Ware started self-publishing the series starting with #16, which was distributed by Fantagraphics, with subsequent issues distributed by Drawn & Quarterly. After a 16-year hiatus, issue #21 was announced with a November of 2026 publishing date. Issues of Acme Novelty Library • Main Content — Publisher — Date — Notes • 1 — Jimmy Corrigan — Fantagraphics Books — Winter 1993–1994 • 2 — Quimby the Mouse — Summer 1994 • 3 — Potato Guy — Fall 1994 • 4 — Sparky — Winter 1994–1995 • 5 — Jimmy Corrigan, pt 1 — Spring 1995 • 6 — Jimmy Corrigan, pt 2 — Fall 1995 • 7 — Joke Book *Big Tex *Rocket Sam — Summer 1996 • 8 — Jimmy Corrigan, pt 3 — Winter 1996–1997 • 9 — Jimmy Corrigan, pt 4 — Winter 1997 • 10 — Mail Order Catalogue, Jimmy Corrigan — Spring 1998 • 11 — Jimmy Corrigan, pt 5 — 1998 • 12 — Jimmy Corrigan, pt 6 — 1999 • 13 — Jimmy Corrigan, pt 7 — Autumn 1999 • 14 — Jimmy Corrigan, pt 8 — Spring 2000 • 15 — Joke Book II *Rocket Sam *Tales From The Future *Quimby the Mouse *Rusty Brown — Winter 2001–2002 • 16 — *Rusty Brown, pt 1 *Building Stories, pt 1 — Self-published — 2005 — *hardcover *distributed by Fantagraphics • 17 — *Rusty Brown, pt 2 *Branford, the Best Bee in the World — Fall/Winter 2006 — *hardcover *distributed by Drawn & Quarterly • 18 — Building Stories, pt 2 — 2007 • 19 — Rusty Brown, pt 3 — 2008 • 20 — Lint (featuring Jordon Wellington Lint, a character from Ware's Rusty Brown series) — 2010 • 21 — 3 individual 24-page comics enclosed in a box with supplementary materials, including "The Last Saturday #6" and "Alice" — 2026 Issue 18 was published in 2007 containing Ware's "Thanksgiving" covers for the November 26, 2006, issue of The New Yorker, plus supplementary material, in portfolio format. The title has been collected into volumes published by Pantheon Books (US), Fantagraphics Books (US) and Jonathan Cape (UK): • Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth (2000), Pantheon / Cape (collects issue 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11–14). • Quimby the Mouse (2003), Fantagraphics / Cape (collects issues 2 and 4 with additional material). • The Acme Novelty Library Final Report to Shareholders and Rainy Day Saturday Afternoon Fun Book (2005), Pantheon / Cape (collects issues 7 and 15 with additional material, including parody ads and the ACME company "tour"). • Building Stories (2012), Pantheon Books Pantheon / Cape (collects issue 18 with material from issue 16, other periodicals, and new material). • Rusty Brown (2019), Pantheon Books (collects material from issues 16, 17, 19, 20, as well as new material). Numbers 1, 3, and 10 are the only issues to remain uncollected at this time.