good

Rusty Brown settles into its story in a pleasing way, but the real winner here is BRANFORD THE BEST BEE IN THE WORLD.

Okay, so if I was to say I was just like Rusty as a kid, that would just sound shallow or something, I guess. But these graphic novels really made me feel like they were written for me and me alone. Maybe that's how everyone feels and that's why they're so good, but I used to retreat inside my imagination too. No, I never fantasized about Supergirl or drew awesome superhero pictures, but still- I won't tell you what my fantasies were, just believe that I can relate.

I can't relate to the other characters as much personally- I am like Rusty, but I was never like any of the others. Still, I just love them- especially the little asshole who bothers the new girl because he thinks she's hot. And the little extra comics at the end of the books are great too. The best bee in the world- I'll never squash another bee again.

A really beautiful book, both in terms of Ware's beautiful drawings and in terms of the actual book itself - the front cover is an etched representation of images familiar from any American childhood in the late twentieth century. The book almost has the physical feel of a school library volume from that era, and the story lives up to that unusual starting point. As always, Ware is a master at weaving a tale that is simultaneously melancholy, beautiful, and astonishingly honest. It's hard to say enough good things about The ACME Novelty Library #17 - if graphic novels are one of the most rewarding segments of the art world in the early twenty-first century, then Chris Ware deserves a lot of the credit for that fact, and this volume amply demonstrates why.

I don't understand people who complain that Ware is too bleak and his stories are too slow. The glacial pace of this and the next in the series allows him to tenderly, gingerly build a tiny little everyday universe full of tragedy, slow-rolling humor, and tenuous hope.

i wanna get them all

Another brilliant, bizarre, unique and strange Chris Ware book.

Ware is definitely one of the unique voices in graphic novels. I would love to see him do a longer form book. #20 is the best of his I have read so far.

A crack addict says, "I will suck d*ck for a rock," and I say I would do the same for the next edition of the Acme Novelty Library. Please, Mr. Ware, give me my next fix! I'm dying!!