The person who buys comics for the National Library clearly knows his stuff. We found a copy of Chris Ware’s The Acme Novelty Library, only slightly worn. The filigree on the cover is still shiny, and all the pages are intact and clean. It’s close to right-off-the-shelf.
I’m amazed that it’s still in such good condition, when it’s on a floor populated wholly with teenagers and surrounded by lots of well-thumbed graphic novels.
Maybe it was just lucky. Due to its large size, it was stacked cover-down with Art Spiegelmann’s oversized In The Shadow of No Towers, on a floor-level shelf. (I’d seen the latter at Central Lending btw, but never The Acme Novelty Library before). There’s no text on the spine, so you wouldn’t notice it unless you were really browsing and already knew Chris Ware’s penchant for intricate covers.
Or maybe, kids just don’t read enough these days.
writing without rhythm 