These readers are the readers that only venture a few pages into Jimmy Corrigan's story before making the mistake of placing it on a shelf to never be touched again. Some readers enjoy books that hand them a roadmap within the first couple of pages. The red bird is found in the panels between Jimmy’s first meeting with Superman to the current time and is used again to transition from Jimmy’s grandfather to Jimmy’s time throughout the novel. Jimmy Corrigan is a story told in multiple places and times, and Ware uses a red bird motif to bridge these gaps. Ware also makes use of visual symbols for technical purposes. The rest of the book presents Superman with imperfections and his image is tied to various encounters with Jimmy’s father, constantly reminding Jimmy and the reader of the estranged connections between the two of them.

In fact, Superman is a constant reminder of Jimmy’s lack of a father figure in his life even in his childhood, the Superman figure had left him after having a one-night-stand with Jimmy’s mother. The story opens up with a scene from Jimmy’s childhood in which he idolizes Superman, but as he grows older, he begins to view Superman as a flawed figure, especially when he sees him plunging to his death from the top of a building. One of the first symbols readers are introduced to is Superman. As Jimmy attempts to reconnect with the paternal figure he never had, he discovers more about himself, too. In parallel to the plot, a secondary storyline, set during the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, reveals the abusive childhood of Jimmy’s grandfather and the striking similarities between the two men. The story begins when Jimmy is contacted by his father, who he had never met before, asking for some bonding time with him over Thanksgiving break. Looking for an escape from the grimness of reality, Jimmy constantly uses his overactive imagination involving his Smartest Kid on Earth alter-ego. Jimmy Corrigan details a powerful and touching tale of a socially confined, cubicle-bound, middle-aged man, Jimmy Corrigan, who had grown up with an absentee father and an overbearing mother. Of course, it did not win this title without good reason.

Chris Ware’s widely praised graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth, has won numerous awards since its publication in 2000 and, in 2005, was recognized by Time magazine as one of the top 10 English language graphic novels ever written.

Jimmy corrigan comic