Appearances Can Be Deceiving

“Trust not too much in appearances.” Although more than two millenniums have passed since ancient Roman poet Publius Vergil gave this shrewd warning, the idea that appearances can be deceiving still holds true today. The graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware is a brilliant illustration of the idea that every person has a unique perception of the people he or she interacts with and the events that he or she encounters. The suicide of Superman, which only Jimmy seems to be entirely aware of, demonstrates the novel’s overarching theme that appearances can be deceiving.

            The Superman character is introduced on page 4 as a smarmy actor making a guest appearance at a car show that Jimmy and his mother attend during Jimmy’s childhood. Superman ends up sleeping with Jimmy’s mother, unbeknownst to Jimmy, and leaves his mask with Jimmy the next morning. A few pages later, the reader sees Superman on page 17 when now grown-up Jimmy watches him commit suicide by jumping from the top of a building. The death of Superman represents the shattered illusion of Jimmy’s childhood, as Jimmy comes to the horrified realization that no one, not even Superman, is infallible or eternal.

The concept of what a hero is differs for every person, and changes fluidly as the person changes as well. In Daniel Raeburn’s essay, “The Smartest Cartoonist on Earth,” Raeburn comments on how Superman is utilized in the novel: “(Superman) appears as both a bum and a celebrity, your murderer and your saviour. Chris Ware says that his Superman is ‘all things at once.’” With an absentee father, Jimmy looks up to Superman during his childhood as what a man should be. However, when Jimmy reflects on the scene from his childhood when Superman spent the night with his mother, he suddenly and sickeningly understands what was really happening during the one-night-stand. The subsequent suicide of Superman that the reader sees is really all in Jimmy’s head.

The manner in which Superman commits suicide on page 17 is significant as well. In movie and comic book depictions of Superman, he is typically seen jumping from rooftops and flying off to save the world. This time though, when Superman jumps, he fails to take flight, and instead lands face down in the middle of the concrete street below. The fact that few pedestrians take notice of the dead Superman character lying there and the fact that an ambulance is not called furthers the idea that it is all in Jimmy’s head.

The use of color in the suicide is obvious but nevertheless important. Everything—the buildings, the cars, the people—are drawn in varying shades of sepia. Superman, in his brilliant blue suit, red gloves, and yellow cape, is the only part of the scene that is drawn in color. In the Fear No ART video interview conducted by Elysabeth Alfano, Ware comments that he uses color “in a way to connect themes or objects or people on the page.”

Humans have an innate tendency to see what they want to see, and ignore the rest. This theme that appearances can be deceiving is woven throughout the novel, particularly through the Superman character and what his suicide represents for Jimmy.