Yes, this book leaves a lot to be desired, and, yes, it has its problems, but, hey, it's from the  Smithsonian Institute, that national icon on the Mall in Washington DC, that is (thankfully) as close as we come in this country to an official cultural repository, and if the same culture that is currently playing host to the blinkered Bush administration decides to place its imprimatur on the works of R. Crumb, Dan Clowes, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, Jim Woodring, Chris Ware, Ben Katchor, Gary Panter, Melinda Gibbe, Rick Geary, Charles Burns, GIlbert Shelton, Paul Mavrides, Art Spiegelman, Kim Deitch, Spain Rodriguez, Frank Stack, David Mazzucchelli, along with the likes of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, Will Eisner, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, well, we have to say that, all in all, this is a very good thing; a veritable break in the clouds of gloom allowing a stray ray of hope to break through.