Cartoonist's work on display at Chicago museum

May 8, 2006 (WLS) -- A cartoon character created by Chicago area resident Chris Ware is on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth, is a very unusual character.

"I just wanted to be a cartoonist. I had no aspirations at all, in anything. It's all I could do was to sit by myself and draw," said Chris Ware, Cartoonist Creator of Jimmy Corrigan.

Cartoonist Chris Ware has a sense of humor so dry he leaves you thirsting for more stories about his creations like Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth. But if you haven't heard of Jimmy don't be surprised because he really isn't all that famous. But now this comic strip art work is being recognized by the Museum of Contemporary Art with a summer-long exhibit. And the art work is very fine and interesting but Ware disagrees.

"The drawings aren't good. They're not really intended to be good drawings. You're supposed to read them extremely fast. You don't really look at them with the same sort of regard like you look at typography on a page. You only spend about half a second on each image," said Chris Ware.

But despite Ware's negative reviews of his own work he has built up a cult following. He had a series in the New York magazine and a 380 page book of Jimmy Corrigan has sold quite well.

It's not easy finding Chris Ware's work and that's because it's usually only in select newspapers like the Chicago Reader. It will never be in the Sunday comics and that's exactly the way he likes it.

"Appearing in a small Chicago newspaper is really my preferred way of getting work done. I like the idea of not many people reading it. And no one ever edits it or tells me how to write it or change anything," said Chris Ware.

Chris Ware might not be high on his worn work but the Museum of Contemporary Art is. The show runs through August 27th.

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