96 pages of mind bending color intertwined with stark black and white for an enhanced effect fill out Crawl Space, Jesse Jacobs'sfirst hardcover edition. Hot off the press from Koyama!

The concluding volume of Ellsworth's ambitious cartooned deconstruction of the psyche has arrived! This is the third in a matched series of full size, full color, hardcover graphic excursions. Prepare yourself for a trip like no other, as The Understanding Monster turns identity inside-out and then plays out a series of dramas with its component parts... it's pretty difficult to describe actually. Hereis our take on the initial volume in the series. See you on the other side!

back in print, at last! Originally published in 1994, City of Glass was ahead of the comics history curve in many respects, with its "serious" literary concerns and dazzling formal inventiveness. It was the most requested out-of-print volume in the history of the Copacetic Comics Company before being brought back in print in this 2004 edition. This edition remains faithful to the original, but has been updated with a new cover as well as a new introduction by Art Spiegelman (see above) that lays out the genesis of this particular work, helping to place it in the proper historical context. Recommended!

In this, the twenty-first issue of cartoonist/illustrator/designer Seth's (almost) annual,Palookaville, we have another elegantly designed hardcover volume. Between the two embossed covers – which show Seth moving closer to Deco stylings – readers will find three "sections" containing: the continuation of the fourth installment of Clyde Fans; selections from the seventh and eighth volumes of Seth's "Rubber Stamp Diary", andthe first forty pages of"Nothing Lasts", a tale taken from "Sketchbook 10." It pretty much goes without saying that this is a must for all fans of Seth's work. To anyone yet to sample his wares, all we have to say is,...

What more can be said about the genius of Carl Barks? It towers over the landscape of comics history like the statue of Duckburg's founder, Cornelius Coot (erected by Uncle Scrooge in "Statuesque Spendthrifts" fromWalt Disney's Comics and Stories#138; collected inA Christmas for Shacktown),towers over that fair city. The title tale of this latest volume in the 15 year project to collect the entirety of Barks's Disney oeuvre, "The Old Castle's Secret" is a classic book-length tale of eerie mystery that was originally presented inFour Color#189, published in the summer of 1948, that provides the first fleshed out iteration of Uncle Scrooge...

A long time coming, Collier's Popular Press is a hefty softcover volume just released by Conundrum Press. It starts off with an introduction by noted Canadian comics scholar, Jeet Heer, who situates Collier's work here squarely in the tradition of "observational cartooning," for which he provides a concise history before ushering in a whoppin' 200 pages of Collier comics, originally published over three decades in a variety of Canadian newspapers and magazines – few, if any, of which have previously reached the straining eyeballs of stateside comics readers. In addition, a series of Collier's essays and personal recollections are mixed...

At long last, a book edition – and a swell hardcover, no less – collecting Ethan Rilly's excellent Pope Hats series. Only, it turns out, Ethan Rilly is really... Hartley Lin*! So, now we have Young Frances by Hartley Lin. A finely crafted tale of young urbanites navigating the worlds of work and life as they come of age in 21st centuryNorth America. Recommended.

Don't want to take our word for it? Then how about these wordsfromsomeone whose opinion is worth paying attention to:

"Young Frances is a meditation on work and meaning. Its depiction of corporate culture and the finesse required to exist within it feels unlike anything I've read...

THE essential guide to drawing comics. Start here.

You want funny? Look no further: This book will make you laugh. Like Peter Bagge's Hate, but smarter and more brutal in its judgments on this dysfunctional society of ours, and with a distinctive flavor all its own, this is a comic for people who see past the façade as a matter of course. Hey, Mister takes sarcasm to new heights. It makes us think of the Monty Python episode, the "Piranha Brothers," in which a fearful and trembling thug played by Michael Palin relates how Doug Piranha was the most terrifying gangster he had ever encountered because of the deft manner in which, "he used... sarcasm." And the bitterness, oh, the bitterness!...

Pope Hats #4 is a wow; different from the previous issue in almost every way. This issue is oversize, full color (as well as monochrome) and filled with short stories rather than the ongoing saga of Frances and Vickie, which will resume next issue (yeah, it's going to be awhile...). The deft characterization that we have come to associate with Rilly's work is here in spades. Every story here is worthy of your attention, but the real standout is the centerpiece of the book, the harrowing tale of "The Nest." A subtle yet devestating tale of urban alienation, mental illness, hope, despair, confusion, doubt and faith that centers on parenting...