Jimmy Corrigan: The Most Depressing Kid on Earth

The Adventures of Jimmy Corrigan is the first graphic novel that I have read. I went in to this experience with as open a mind as I could have, and have found myself enjoying the book more than I expected. One apprehension that I had before reading that has proved to be real, though, is that I can’t get passed the fact that Jimmy (1, 2, and 3) and all of the other characters in the book are cartoons. Maybe this is the same reason why I don’t enjoy animated movies, but I can’t easily make myself relate to animated people. I feel bad for Jimmy, but only to the extent that I would feel bad for Eeyore in the Winne the Pooh series- my subconscious cannot separate the fact that he is not real. I know that pretty much all of the characters in the books we have read thus far are also fictional, but the fact that colorful cartoon versions of them aren’t staring up at me on every page makes them more transcendent and relatable, in my opinion.

That being said, the page I picked is the one that evoked the most emotion out of me when reading, even if it was more fearful disgust than empathy. This page is the one that follows the dream Jimmy has about Superman picking up his house and dropping it on his imaginary child. We see this child, Billy, pegged into the ground, a conglomerate of limbs and body parts. Jimmy picks up Billy’s head and holds it close, as Billy tells him that he is in pain. Then, Jimmy sets Billy’s head on the ground and crushes it with a cinderblock.

This page perpetuates the theme of violence that seems to run through the novel, especially in Jimmy’s dream scenes. It has a series amount of shock value, but at the same time, an underlying current of sadness. We know from Jimmy’s less-than-shining social skills that he probably won’t ever marry and have children. This dream, however, lets us know that he would probably like to. He wishes to be a father and have meaningful relationships, but yet, he also dreams about smashing his own child’s head. This also is an example of Jimmy being his own worst enemy, another theme in the book. If he could seem to get out of his own way, maybe his life would be better. How will he ever do this though, if he keeps dreaming about things like smashing his child (or stabbing his father)?

Ware does a good job of making readers think that Jimmy is a weirdo, this page being a prime example. Every time a sliver of hope reveals itself (maybe Jimmy has the capacity to be a loving father despite is own paternal relationship!), Ware, most literally, crushes it.

“It’s okay Billy it’s okay they’ll fix it they’ll fix it just like it was,” Jimmy lovingly says, cradling his imaginary son’s decapitated head. Here, Ware makes readers think that he has the ability to have a loving human relationship. The last scene of that page, however, is Jimmy standing over the cinderblock, his sons head squashed underneath. One step forward and two steps back for Jimmy Corrigan.