While I understand the natural tendency to have more sympathy for one person vs another it is really hard for me to look at the stories/histories of Jimmy and James in these terms. 

When I consider the way Ware has constructed this story what with its stream of conscious and interconnecting panels that more often than not flow seamlessly from present to past to imagination/dream to present again, I consider this and can’t help but think that Ware does not really want us to look at these men separately (not entirely). I think the entire structure of the work points to how connected these men are.

In my mind I see them as two sides of the same coin. They are almost like the same raw product/raw material placed under different circumstances and the entire novel unfolds the results.

In childhood they are very similar both largely live in a fantasy world to escape the circumstances that surround them. I would say Jimmy and James equally fantasize about women James just happens to have recurring fantasies on the same woman that doesn’t want him. Now of course we aren’t shown Jimmy’s childhood fantasies, excluding Superman, but one could argue that Jimmy is stuck in a perpetual state of childhood, thus we can still compare the sexual fantasies Jimmy has as an adult child to the sexual fantasies James has as an actual child.

Another thing that connects them is violence. All of the violence in James’ life is based in reality. He is physically abused and physically attacks the people (the red-head girl) around him. Jimmy is also physically violent but it is all rooted in his imagination. Jimmy’s life in reality is emotionally violent (for lack of a better term) abandoned as a child, coddled all his life by his mother rather than raised to be independent, largely unwanted by the opposite sex, used by the males in his life (Superman and his male co-worker). I see the violence as mental/emotional as well as passive thus it manifests in the subconscious/imaginary world.

Circumstance dictates that James take care of himself. Jimmy has never been on his own; this is where their tales drift. Their fathers(and lack thereof) directly influence the course of their sons lives. (The resemblance of  James’ s father to Jimmy’s father is another parallel in the story)

James, though he has his issues, has become in many ways a whole person. We see in his old age the complete person with a full life that Jimmy can become. And that we are possibly led to believe he will become with the entrance of his new co-worker.

I see James and Jimmy as the past and future of each other.  I have equal pity for both of them. I feel sorry for a child that’s been forced to fight all his life; the same way I feel sorry for a child who has been rendered incapable of defending himself. I think of his outburst at his grandfather’s kitchen table–“I just want people to like me!” How could I not feel sorry for such a person. Jimmy has gotten a lot of flak for his weakness but I think that is why Jimmy is relatable he is just the magnification/exaggeration of the small desire that is in all of—a desire to be liked. Perhaps we dislike the magnification of that dark/weak/human part of ourselves—a desire for acceptance—whatever the reason is