Acme Novelty Library HC (2005-Present) comic books

Volume 1 - 1st printing. By Chris Ware. F. C. Ware returns to the book trade with The ACME Novelty Library, a hardcover distillation of all his surviving one-page cartoon jokes with which he tuckpointed the holes of his regular comic book periodical over the past decade. This definitive congestion of stories of the future, the old west, and even of modern life nonetheless tries to stay interesting by including a luminescent map of the heavens, a chart of the general structure of the universe, assorted cut-out activities, and a complete history of The ACME Novelty Company itself. Hardcover, 9-in. x 15-in., PC/PB&W. NOTE: Vol. 2-15 does NOT exist in HC format. Cover price $27.50.

Volume 16 - 1st printing. By Chris Ware. This newest edition of The ACME Novelty Library features the first serial installment of Rusty Brown, Ware's first major lengthy 'narrative indulgence' since his Jimmy Corrigan graphic novel. Rusty Brown will be serialized in ACME over the course of several issues. The first installment begins with young Rusty, an outcast in his suburban Chicago elementary school, befriended solely by his Supergirl action figure... until he meets new kid on the block and fellow comic nerd, Chalky White. Rusty's story is an uncomfortably vivid and uncompromising look into the life of a social outcast. Hardcover (Horizontal Format), 9 1/2-in. x 7-in., 56 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $15.95.

Volume 17 - 1st printing. By Chris Ware. Continuing with the second half of the introduction to his shamelessly meandering graphic novel "Rusty Brown" (which began last issue at a private school in the 1970s Midwest) the six-sided crystal suggested by the exegesis of the first installment is slowly turned and examined in mid-morning winter sunlight sometime between the bell of first period and the conclusion of lunch for the first through the fourth grades. Also included are more thorough examinations of many of the main characters' cloudy motivations, personal habits, and favorite restaurants, to say nothing of the small dust mote around which they have coalesced and the complications in its life due to the acquisition of superpowers sometime the night before. Hardcover, 9-in. x 7-in., 96 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $16.95.

Volume 18 - 1st printing. By Chris Ware. An Eisner Award-nominee! Cartoonist Chris Ware abandons the engaging serialization of his "Rusty Brown" and instead focuses upon his more experimentally grim narrative, "Building Stories." Set in a Chicago apartment building more or less in the year 2000, the stories move from the straightforward to the complex, invading character's memories and personal ambitions with a text point size likely unreadable to human beings over the age of 45. Hardcover, 8-in. x 10 1/2-in., 52 pages, PC/PB&W. Mature Readers Cover price $17.95.

Volume 19 - 1st printing. By Chris Ware. The penultimate teen issue of the ACME Novelty Library appears this autumn with a new chapter from the electrifying experimental narrative "Rusty Brown," which examines the life, work, and teaching techniques of one of its central real-life protagonists, W. K. Brown. A previously marginal figure in the world of speculative fiction, Brown's widely anthologized first story, "The Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars," garnered him instant acclaim and the coveted White Dwarf Award for Best New Writer when it first appeared in the pages of Nebulous in the late 1950s, but his star was quickly eclipsed by the rise of such talents as Anton Jones, J. Sterling Imbroglio, and others of the so-called psychovisionary movement. (Modern scholarship concedes, however, that they now owe a not inconsequential aesthetic debt to Brown.) New surprises and discoveries concerning the now legendarily reclusive and increasingly influential writer mark this nineteenth number of the ACME Novelty Library, itself a regular award-winning periodical, lauded for its clear lettering and agreeable coloring, which, as any cultured reader knows, are cornerstones of any genuinely serious literary effort. Full color, seventy-eight pages, with hardbound covers, full indicia, and glue, the ACME Novelty Library offers its readers a satisfying, if not thrilling, rocket ride into the world of unkempt imagination and pulse-pounding excitement. Hardcover (Horizontal format), 9-in. x 7-in., 80 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $15.95.

Add to cart Near Mint $23.95

Volume 20 - 1st printing. By Chris Ware. The landmark 20th volume of the seminal comic book series! Jordan Wellington Lint, 51, is Chief Executive Officer of Lint Financial Products, a company he began serving in 1985 as assistant and advisor before working his way up its corporate ladder to record-setting innovation in the fields of finance and high-yield investment. In his seven years as the head of Lint, Jordan has grown the company from a business lender and real estate speculator to a leading provider of network financial infrastructure services, all the while positioning Lint as a model of corporate integrity and high-yield, low-risk product. Lint's vision has made him one of the most influential and widely sought-after leaders in the complex Omaha securities industry, and his fresh approach to an understanding of local problems, leadership and determination have enabled Lint to grow, outdistance and outpace its competitors. Lint graduated from UNL in 1981 with a BA in Business and briefly studied music and recording in Los Angeles before returning to his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where he has continued his life journey ever since. In his ongoing role as Chief Executive Officer and his dual roles as public servant and father, Lint continues to put his creative leadership and vision to work in a variety of challenging settings. He is married and is the father of two boys. Hardcover (Horizontal format), 9-in. x 7-in., 72 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $23.95.

Volume 20 - 2nd and later printings. By Chris Ware. The landmark 20th volume of the seminal comic book series! Jordan Wellington Lint, 51, is Chief Executive Officer of Lint Financial Products, a company he began serving in 1985 as assistant and advisor before working his way up its corporate ladder to record-setting innovation in the fields of finance and high-yield investment. In his seven years as the head of Lint, Jordan has grown the company from a business lender and real estate speculator to a leading provider of network financial infrastructure services, all the while positioning Lint as a model of corporate integrity and high-yield, low-risk product. Lint's vision has made him one of the most influential and widely sought-after leaders in the complex Omaha securities industry, and his fresh approach to an understanding of local problems, leadership and determination have enabled Lint to grow, outdistance and outpace its competitors. Lint graduated from UNL in 1981 with a BA in Business and briefly studied music and recording in Los Angeles before returning to his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where he has continued his life journey ever since. In his ongoing role as Chief Executive Officer and his dual roles as public servant and father, Lint continues to put his creative leadership and vision to work in a variety of challenging settings. He is married and is the father of two boys. Hardcover (Horizontal format), 9-in. x 7-in., 72 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $23.95.