Featuring simple, bold, and colorful illustrations, A Beginner's Guide to Immortality examines humanity's never-ending quest to discover the secret to eternal life. The book is categorized into five options on extending one's life: Elixirs, Meeting Immortals, Visiting Magical Places, Patience, and The Future.

Starting with a look at historical figures such as Gilgamesh's search for youth-restoring seaweed and Qin She Huang's hunt for a fruit which grants eternal life, the book touches on the unsuccessful search for mythical life-extending tools like alchemical elixirs, the philosopher's stone, and the flesh of the ningyo fish. The folkloric Moon rabbit is shown is vibrant yellow, stirring its cauldron of the Elixir Of Life.

The journey continues to mythical places where some form of a fountain of youth supposedly exists in Bimini, St. Brendan's Island, and Tir Na Nog. A dynamic full-page illustration of a maiden soaking in a mountain stream in bold aquamarine evokes an idyllic atmosphere. Real-life places such as those in Earth's Blue Zones occurring in Sardinia, Okinawa, and Loma Linda, California, where inhabitants regularly live to upwards of 90 years, are also investigated.

Venturing into the realms of biology and other sciences, long lived animals such as naked mole rats, planarian worms, and a jellyfish known as turritopsis dohrnii are described. A gene that centenarians may possess known as FoxO is examined. Healthy routines like eating well, regular exercise, and flossing are suggested. A humorous full-page illustration of famous literary immortals is shown, featuring amazons, wizards, Pinocchio, and Dracula.

Ending the book with options that might exist in the future, cryogenics, mummification, cloning, and inserting one's consciousness into a digital avatar are all represented. The theory of biomechanical immortality is vividly illustrated in emerald green with an enormous robot having its puny human brain installed as pleased scientists look on. Finally, the belief in an afterlife in world religions is presented.

A Beginner's Guide to Immortality is a lively, quick read, exploring concepts in history, science, literature, and geography, and presented in an easily digested manner. Charmingly illustrated in a blocky, comic book style, with chunky images of futuristic robots with glowing brains, medieval alchemists mixing strange chemicals, and Ponce De Leon wielding a metal detector, it's an informative, humorous book.

– SD

A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: From Alchemy to Avatars

by Maria Birmingham, Josh Holinaty (Illustrator)

Owlkids

2015, 48 pages, 7.4 x 0.6 x 9.7 inches, Hardcover

$11 Buy on Amazon

"Is becoming a successful manga artist an achievable dream or just one big gamble?" The back cover of every Bakuman. poses this question, the central question to a series about the highs and lows of professional art, and the troubles an artist has to endure for their work. In Bakuman., two high school students named Mashiro and Takagi team up to create manga, taking on the roles of artist and writer, respectively. They have different and unique motivations for pursuing this path, Takagi doing it to avoid falling into the trap of a boring life, while Mashiro endeavors to impress the girl he loves. They're both incredibly well developed characters that struggle, win, lose, and never accept defeat. Over the course of the 20 volumes in this set, we're offered an in depth chronicle of their attempts at success.

Manga fans may recognize creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata as the team behind the popular Death Note. While Death Note was a high concept mystery, Bakuman. is a much more accessible "everyday life" kind of story that blends comedy and drama with ease. Now excuse me while I gush a little, because I think Bakuman. may be my favorite manga series. Any manga/comics fan should read it, but I cannot recommend it enough to anybody working in an artistic medium. Ohba & Obata use the simple plot to develop a complex reflection on the nature of creation. In their journey, Mashiro and Takagi have to confront the reality of achieving their dreams, struggling to discover if it was worth the struggle. They make sacrifices in the balance between art and commerce. They learn that life is what happens while you're working towards your dreams, and that while it's important to have a goal, it's also important to appreciate where you are. There are no superpowers, no fights, no action scenes, just real character driven drama.

The complete set pictured here also includes a double-sided full color poster, and a bonus "issue" of Otter No. 11, a fictional comedy series produced within the main story of Bakuman. The box itself is of high quality, with gorgeous illustrations on every side, and a velcro flap that seals in the volumes. If you're already a fan of Ohba & Obata, this is the best value for your money. New adopters should at least check out volume one, which introduces the boys on their first summer creating manga, racing to complete a demo work before school starts again. If you're looking for a change of pace from your usual superhero or shonen fare, Bakuman. will not disappoint.

– Alex Strine

Bakuman. Complete Box Set (Volumes 1-20 with premium)

by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata (Illustrator)

VIZ Media LLC

2013, 3864 pages, 7.5 x 5.3 x 5.0 inches, Paperback

$159 Buy on Amazon

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Superman always left me cold. Virtually omnipotent, unerringly virtuous, and slightly boring, Superman is capable of rescuing kittens from trees, leaping over buildings with a single bound, and routinely saving the entire planet from certain cataclysm. He always wins. Sure, he was sort of killed once, he's been naughty on occasion (usually due to some form of Kryptonite or an alternate reality), and he certainly has a fascist streak in the current movies, but his most recent controversy is whether he's wearing the red trunks or not. Yawn.

I was always fascinated by the C-squad heroes, the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time group just below Aquaman and Elongated Man in name recognition. Red Tornado, the 1940's heroine who fought crime while wearing a bucket on her head, utilizing only her fists and wit. Mr. Terrific, the Golden Age 'Man of 1000 Talents', who rarely used any of them. Phantom Stranger, a mage with omnipotent powers who was merely a narrator in his own book, generally only appearing in the first and last panels. And then there's The Legion Of Superheroes, whose members included Bouncing Boy, who had the ability to inflate himself and bounce around, Ferro Lad, who could turn himself to solid iron, and Matter Eater Lad, who could eat anything, which inspired the indie rock group Guided By Voices to write a song about him. Don't even get me started on the League Of Substitute Heroes, the minor leaguers with questionable abilities not quite up to snuff to join the Legion.

The League Of Regrettable Superheroes examines the careers of a few of the comic book history's least likely heroes. Snarky and humorous, the book pokes good-natured fun at the heroes who couldn't quite make the big Leagues. Beginning in the Golden Age and working right up to the modern age, it features full page images of the comic's front cover, a page from the interior of the book highlighting some of their less-than-spectacular exploits, and a sidebar gives important statistics. Some of the characters presented include: Bozo The Iron Man, a Nazi-slugging robot with a inexplicably menacing grin on its face. Doctor Vampire, a caped physician who is actually not a vampire, but battles them. Fantomah, the beautiful heroine who transforms into a hideous skull once angered. Kangaroo Man, a daredevil explorer fighting fascism with his trained kangaroo sidekick. Mad Hatter, the rhyming crime-fighter whose fighting togs do not include a chapeau. And finally, The Puppeteer, whose day job as a puppet maker has almost nothing to do with his powers or origin.

With its gorgeous full page images of the comics and humorous descriptions of the heroes, each second-stringer gets a few pages of glory. Zipping along through 70 years of comic book history, The League Of Regrettable Superheroes is a fun, quick read.

– SD

The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book History

by Jon Morris

Quirk Books

2015, 256 pages, 7.3 x 1.0 x 9.3 inches, Hardcover

$18 Buy on Amazon

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With over 4.3 million followers, Aimee Song is certainly the Instagram expert. Her debut book, Capture Your Style, aims to teach readers how to transform their Instagram photos, showcase their life, and build the ultimate platform.

Whether you're into snapping stylish outfits, delectable food, awe-inspiring architecture, or wanderlust-inducing travels, this book covers them all. With sections about editing photos, hashtags versus geotags, curating the ultimate grid, working with brands, and pricing (just to name a few), Song's publication is the all-in-one guide for those wanting to 'up their Instagame'.

Add-in pages upon pages of beautifully curated photographs from Song's own Instagram feed and you've got yourself a publication that isn't just educational, but pretty inspiring too.

This is a must-read for individuals interested in pursuing the platform more seriously, particularly those who are bloggers or wishing to become social media influencers.

– Melanie Doncas

Capture Your Style: Transform Your Instagram Photos, Showcase Your Life, and Build the Ultimate Platform

by Aimee Song

Harry N. Abrams

2016, 208 pages, 8.0 x 0.5 x 8.1 inches, Paperback

$12 Buy on Amazon

Looking through these books, I find myself wanting to shout out phrases I haven't thought of in decades: the Triangular Trade! Crispus Attucks! Isthmus of Panama!

(more…)

Award-winning children's author, Davide Cali, teamed up with visual artist, Alice Lotti, to create When an Elephant Falls in Love, a book about the sweet and silly things one does for love.

A no-named elephant works hard to impress the one he adores. He tries to eat healthy foods (no cheesecake!), he takes daily baths (and washes behind his ears), he tries on stylish neckties, and he leaves flowers on a doorstep (but runs away before the door is opened). He's unsure, confused, gleeful and sometimes sad. He's normal. He's in love.

But does he enchant his beloved?

Charming pen and ink illustrations accompany text that is understandable to children and truly relatable to adults as well.

Appropriate for ages 4-8.

– Carole Rosner

When an Elephant Falls in Love

by Davide Cali, Alice Lotti (Illustrator)

Chronicle Books

2016, 32 pages, 7.8 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches, Hardcover

$10 Buy on Amazon

When you meet someone new, do you know what to say but still say the wrong thing? How much do you overanalyze everything that's happening in your relationships? What do your brain, your heart, and your uterus think when their expectations of you are too high? Adulthood is a Myth explores these questions and more in over 100 comic strips.

Writer and artist Sarah Anderson compiled the best of her work from the online "Sarah's Scribbles" collection and created plenty more comic strips to explain the insecurities and set back introverts face as they come into adulthood. These crisp black-and-white comic strips cover stressful situations like trying on clothes, being in crowds of people, obsessing over your flaws, and making the inevitable but always ill-advised comparisons to people who have figured out more than you have. Other comic strips show the unnamed main character having fun with her body fat, embracing her imperfections, and finding pleasure in little things like lying on warm laundry, wearing men's hoodies, and embracing holiday costumes.

If the title doesn't make you want to pick it up, the fuzzy sweater on the cover might convince you. Read it all in one sitting or start wherever you'd like as you linger over the expressive drawings, wonder about the talking rabbit, and generally relax with the knowledge that the things that made you think you were weird and alone are universal among introverts.

– Megan Hippler

Adulthood is a Myth: A Sarah's Scribbles Collection

by Sarah Andersen

Andrews McMeel Publishing

2016, 112 pages, 6.5 x 0.3 x 8.0 inches, Paperback

$12 Buy on Amazon

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Attention, fellow mad scientists and monster creators! It's time to put down our scalpels and electrodes and move into the twenty-first century. We need to upgrade our bio laboratories, transforming them into modern mechanical/electrical engineering labs. Anybody can pump several thousand volts into a creature created from spare parts. But, it's the modern robot that gives us true control over every tiny detail of our creations, right down to the 1's and 0's of their digital brains. Imagine the horror and chaos that we can unleash with an army of mass-produced metal-monsters . . . mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Papertoy Glowbots is a collection of forty-six robot designs by fifteen notable papertoy artists from around the globe including the author, Brian Castleforte. These robots glow, taking the previous book, Papertoy Monsters, a step further. Some have glow-in-the-dark stickers while others require the use of glow sticks, night-lights, or battery-operated tea light candles. One way or another, they have the ability to light up in some fashion.

Every robot is printed on both sides, so the finished toy has colorful graphics inside and out. Pieces are perforated for easy punch-out, and they are pre-scored for easy folding. Even the slots are pre-cut for easy assembly (no dangerous craft knives to contend with). Construction difficulties range from easy to advanced, and is recommended for everyone nine years or older, but my seven-year-old nephew gets a kick out of them too.

The book contains a variety of robots ranging from cyborgs to fully autonomous metal bots and mechanical horrors driven by living beings. Some are extraterrestrial in nature, and each one has its own back story for added fun. Choosing your next robot to build can be hard, but worth it in the end.

The really fun part is seeing your finished creations glow! Here's a pro tip from one mad scientist to another: use a black light to make the glow-in-the-dark stickers spark and sizzle with intense light. It's awesome!

Papertoy Glowbotscontains hours of tinkering fun at home, at school, or on the go. And, you don't have to raid your father's tool box or take apart the toaster looking for spare parts. The only tool you'll need is glue.

Papertoy Glowbots: 46 Glowing Robots You Can Make Yourself!

by Brian Castleforte

Workman Publishing Company

2016, 196 pages, 8.4 x 0.7 x 11 inches, Paperback

$19 Buy one on Amazon

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If you're an aging comic book fan, say in your late 40s or early 50s, Comic Book Fever will scratch the hell out of any nostalgic itch you've ever felt about the hobby. George Khoury's picture-heavy examination of comics and comics culture from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s triggers a flood memories.

There are the comics themselves: Landmark runs of the X-Men, Teen Titans and Daredevil. And the artists: Frank Miller, George Perez and John Byrne. Not to mention all the ads, toys and snacks.

Remember ROM Space Knight, Big Jim and Micronauts? And all those superhero ads for Hostess Twinkies? Or the classic Jack Davis-illustrated ad for Spalding basketballs featuring Rick Barry and Dr. J?

Heck, this book even includes a feature on Grit, the family newspaper that lured generations of comic fans into selling its tabloid door to door with the promise of cash and prizes.

There are also features on such classic stand-alone comics as Captain America's Bicentennial Battles by Jack Kirby; the first-ever DC-Marvel match-up, Superman Vs. Spider-Man, and the Neal Adams-illustrated Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali. They don't make 'em like that anymore. And that's the point.

Comic Book Fever celebrates the mass-market popularity of comics even as this popularity was starting to fade. By the end of the period covered, comics were no longer something that every kid grew up on, but a hobbyist product available only in specialist comic book shops. The industry's move to direct marketing and emerging competition from other pastimes, such as video games, spelled the end of an era. The bright side was the emergence of the independent press and creator-owned series such as Elfquest, Love and Rocket and, ahem, the Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtles, all also covered here.

Now, of course, superheroes are again hugely popular thanks to the movies. And comics, in the form of collected editions and graphic novels, are widely available in bookstores. But the days of sipping a Slurpee at 7-11 and plucking comic books from the spinner rack are, sadly, gone forever. With the help of this book, at least, we've still got the memories.

– John Firehammer

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Comic Book Fever: A Celebration of Comics: 1976-1986

by George Khoury

TwoMorrows Publishing

2016, 240 pages, 8.5 x 0.7 x 10.9 inches, Paperback

$27 Buy one on Amazon

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Morbid Curiosities: Collections of the Uncommon and the Bizarre

by Paul Gambino

Laurence King Publishing

2016, 160 pages, 7 x 9.8 x 1 inches (hardcover)

$22 Buy a copy on Amazon

Dark and delightful, artistic and unusual, Morbid Curiosities: Collections of the Uncommon and the Bizarre is a glimpse into 18 fascinating collections of oddities. But more than that, it is also a collection of the collectors themselves. Author Paul Gambino's familiarity with these traders of the macabre has granted him access to their greatest finds and most beloved possessions and in turn into their psyches as well.

We are talking about the types of things that most of us don't encounter grouped together outside of museums: Jars of diseased organs and the owner's own placenta; shelves of human skulls of various shapes and histories; exhumed items; masks; ephemera; the letters and art of serial killers; antique wax anatomical dummies; shrunken heads and mummies; parts of deformed people and animals; vintage prosthetic devices; poisons; Ouija boards and séance contraptions; a hangman's record book and tape measure…and the list goes on.

Gambino presents the collections to us succinctly, with great visuals and a thoughtful introduction. And in doing so, he also presents to us a look at the folks who champion these items, who go to the ends of the earth to acquire them, who save them from garbage bins and bonfires, and who display them lovingly, beautifully, as objet d'art.

Their collections are every bit as ghoulish as you would imagine, but the collectors themselves are a variety of folks with regular lives. Aside from a high degree of correlation to tattoos (either by having them or by giving them or both) and for preferring bones over beanie babies, they appear to be the same everyday folks who you might encounter in your neighborhood, not knowing they have hair sculptures and jars of brains on their mantels. Their aesthetic tastes are unique, as are their reasons for collecting. But as Gambino notes, the common thread is a love of history. They have a passion for learning and curating and for the thrill of the hunt.

The book itself is a beautiful hardcover with black-edged pages, a nice touch. The photographs are well done and abundant on matte pages. Captions are small, but explain clearly what you're looking at. This book isn't for everybody, but to those it is for, it will be a nice addition to their own collection. The folks herein have undertaken the various dangers of acquiring their pieces, spent large sums of money, and painstakingly displayed them. It can be gross, but it is never dull. You might as well take a peek. You know you want to.

– Aaron Downey

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Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story

by Peter Bagge

Drawn and Quarterly

2013, 104 pages, 6.8 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches (hardcover)

$15 Buy a copy on Amazon

When I think of Peter Bagge, I think of his work in Hate or Neat Stuff, both comics about teenage angst and living in suburban malaise. Therefore, when I saw he wrote Woman Rebel, a biography of Margaret Sanger (the woman responsible for Planned Parenthood), I was curious. Once I started reading, it made perfect sense. Discontent, anger, and frustration with the status quo translate perfectly to the life of Ms. Sanger. Margaret Sanger is most famously known as the founder of Planned Parenthood and for her endless fight for women's access to birth control in the early 20th century. The book highlights key moments in Sanger's life – it starts with her childhood (she was born in the 1880s to Irish immigrants) and takes us through her early work as a nurse, mother, and eventual activist.

What makes this biography unique are Bagge's illustrations. His faces, especially the contorted, frustrated ones that work in Bagge's earlier work (say, on his teenage anti-hero Buddy Bradley) cross over really well. There is a lot of sadness and anger in Sanger's life, whether it was her mother (who had 18 pregnancies in 25 years) or Sanger herself facing the many smug and misogynistic critics attempting to halt her progress. There is a lot of emotion in this book, the same that made Sanger persevere.

After reading Woman Rebel, I went online to learn more about Sanger and was immediately slammed by my own ignorance as to what a controversial person she is today. Aside from any expected generic criticism of Planned Parenthood, she is described as a "racist eugenicist" and guilty of "black genocide." Bagge addresses this controversy in his afterword "Why Sanger?" He delves into how she advocated birth control to women of the KKK (that's right – the KKK – another reason why this book is full of surprises) as well as black women living in Harlem. Bagge gives lots of examples of how her legacy has been dissected over time, and Bagge's description of her critics is great: "It's an irony festival!"

Regardless of how you feel about Margaret Sanger's legacy, this book is an illustrated education into a woman, that as Bagge puts it, "lived the lives of ten people," and is directly responsible for the access women have to reproductive health care in 2016. The only actual criticism of this book for me is that I wanted more. The book could be twice the length, and dive deeper into more details of her life, because it seems they are endless.

– Amy Lackpour

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Craft for the Soul: How to Get the Most Out of Your Creative Life

by Pip Lincolne (author)

Penguin Books Australia

2016, 216 pages, 6 x 9 x 0.9 inches (hardcover)

$28 Buy a copy on Amazon

When it comes to dishing out all there is to know about living a creative life, Pip Lincolne is certainly your go-to woman. She's the author of several creative titles and the talent behind popular blog Meet Me at Mike's. She is also the founder of multiple inspiring projects, including worldwide craft group Brown Owls and the eMag series The Good Stuff Guide.

For some, stumbling upon Pip Lincolne's book, Craft for the Soul, might seem a bit like discovering a rare gem. Sure, there are plenty of books about creativity, as well as numerous books filled with cute craft projects, but Lincolne has seamlessly blended the two to produce a book that is bursting with all things creative. Nestled among her down-to-earth advice about morning rituals, keeping active for creativity's sake, and how to constantly generate ideas (among plenty of other topics), you'll also find her favorite delicious recipes, along with adorable illustrations, inspiring quotes, and crafty DIY projects.

The author stresses that each and every one of us are capable of filling our day-to-day lives with more creativity, happiness, and fun. And for those of you thinking you don't have a creative bone in your bodies – the pang of inspiration you feel every time you turn a page will certainly have you thinking otherwise!

– Melanie Doncas

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The Coloring Book for Goths: The World's Most Depressing Book

by Tom Devonald

Atria Books

2016, 96 pages, 5.5 x 7.5 x 0.4 inches (paperback)

$9 Buy a copy on Amazon

I wasn't a big fan of high school, and my high school wasn't a big fan of me. Weird, awkward, and music-obsessed, I was a concert-tee-clad speck in a sea of polo shirts and boat shoes. My 30th high school reunion was last July. A friend of mine from high school, who has a sadistic sense of humor, added me to the reunion Facebook page. One of the organizers for the event asked the group what songs they wanted to hear at the reunion. They all commented with one singular word, "Eighties." The organizer tried their best to be diplomatic, and calmly asked which particular songs they wanted to hear, which then prompted the response of, "Eighties." This went on for a while. Finally, someone commented with Starship's "We Built This City."

Needless to say, I didn't attend the reunion. I try my best to avoid situations where I might accidentally hear one note of Starship's "We Built This City." In a strange coincidence, some of my friends who didn't attend my high school organized a gothic/punk/industrial 'club kid' reunion the weekend prior to my high school reunion. During the early-to-mid '80s, the midwestern city I lived in had a great alternative music club scene. We would spend most of our evenings dressed in black and coiffed outrageously, dancing to Bauhaus' seminal track "Bela Lugosi is Dead," Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," amongst other doomy, angsty, deep cuts and non-hits. Going back to my hometown and dancing with old friends to great music was one of the highlights of 2015. Yes, I dressed in black.

Well, let's segue into the review. The Coloring Book For Goths is a humorous coloring book requiring only one color: black. Geared to the current coloring book fad, it has one joke. Once you color it in, the page turns completely, thoroughly black. Featuring crows, black widow spiders, pentagrams, coffins, and crypts, and making references to Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Smith, and Friedrich Nietzsche, the book often only makes a passing reference to the goth subculture.

Some pages are funny and clever – a page of Metallica lyrics, pages exploring oblivion, the unknown, and the unknowable – but there are just as many embarrassing pages that belie a rudimentary understanding of the culture. An insecure killer whale? A polar bear in witness protection? Embarrassing tattoos? Unfortunately, someone enveloped in the goth culture would probably never purchase this book, and tourists to the culture probably won't come away with a better understanding of it. It both embraces and pokes fun at the culture. Still, it was cute and made me snicker, because while we may have a serious demeanor, goths (and former goths) can take a joke.

– S. Deathrage

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The Pet Dragon

by Christopher Niemann

Greenwillow Books

2008, 40 pages, 9 x 11.8 x 0.4 inches (hardcover)

$16 Buy a copy on Amazon

Chinese characters are wonderfully expressive, straddling the fine line between the written word and illustration. Esteemed graphic designer and picture book creator Christoph Niemann realized as much with The Pet Dragon, a whimsical story about a Chinese girl who raises a baby dragon to adulthood. In his introduction to the book, Niemann states that he had fun imagining connections between the calligraphic characters and their meanings. Reading the book, it's clear that the author has a love of his subject and was very much enjoying himself.

The story is straightforward. A young Chinese girl named Lin receives a baby dragon who grows too quickly to stay in her home. After breaking a vase, Lin's father condemns the baby dragon to its cage. The wily dragon escapes, leading Lin on a quest to find her beloved pet. Niemann enriches his tale by transposing Chinese characters on top of his illustrations to demonstrate the relationship between each symbol and what it represents. A forest is shown as a series of trees with the symbol for tree superimposed on them, the curving lines below indicating the roots and the extended lines at the top stretching outward for the branches. The upraised slashes and crossed lines in the symbol for father become the raised eyebrows and nose on his face, while the character denoting mountain has its three upward prongs displayed over a towering mountain range. The story concludes with the twin calligraphic symbols denoting the word friend displayed atop the reunited Lin and the titular dragon.

Niemann's artwork is clean and modernist in style, and his novel approach to integrating expressive, ebullient images with the sparse, minimalist strokes of traditional calligraphy proves both endearing and effective. Although this is a book that can be read quickly, the reader should also take time to examine and enjoy the interplay between pictures and meaning that the author meticulously constructs.

– Lee Hollman

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Daytripper

by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon

Vertigo

2011, 256 pages, 6.7 x 10.2 x 0.5 inches (softcover)

$12 Buy a copy on Amazon

I don't think it would be too hyperbolic of me to say Daytripper is one of the best graphic novels I've ever read. It's a big story told in small moments. The epic, emotional core is powerful and life affirming, but brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá get there through the lightest touch of character.

Without giving too much away (because there is so much to discover), the story is about Brás de Oliva Domingos, an aspiring novelist stuck writing newspaper obituaries. His life is both unique and unremarkable, and we meet Brás at a different age in each chapter. Theses ages are told in a non-linear fashion, and mostly feature life-changing moments. The twist is that these moments rarely seem life changing as they are happening, as is usually the case in real life. We live each day as if it is any other, only noting the important bits later.

For Moon and Bá, recognizing the personal is a matter of life or death. Brás spends most of the book pining for more in his life, always dissatisfied with where he is. It's as if he's constantly waiting for his "real life" to begin. Moon and Bá suggest that life isn't the point when you finally find the success you've been craving, or when you finally meet the love of your life, or any number of other things. Your life is now, today, in whatever situation you happen to be in. Life is happening all around you, and it's crucial that you not miss it.

The storytelling alone is incredible, but the art pushes the novel to even greater heights. Moon and Bá employ a realistic style that makes their São Paulo feel like the real city. This is crucial considering the more fantastic elements they periodically introduce into the book; they tiptoe across magical realism, and the art helps to keep you grounded. Their work is incredibly rich in detail, while the color has an almost sun bleached quality to it that appears lifelike. This is a masterful novel by any metric.

– Alex Strine

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Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe

by Tim Leong

Chronicle Books

2013, 196 pages, 7.4 x 9.4 x 0.6 inches (softcover)

$20 Buy a copy on Amazon

How has Superman's logo changed shape since it was first created in 1938? How long do comic book characters tend to stay dead? How do the populations of fictional cities compare to New York City or London? Tim Leong's Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe uses bright maps, word webs, graphs, and flowcharts to answer questions like these and illustrate correlations among different comic book characters. Most of his information comes from the usual Marvel and DC superhero comic books, but he also analyzes information from such classics as Tin-Tin, Peanuts, and Archie comics.

The smartest graphs show Leong's skill for bringing together information into succinct visuals, such as the charts showing that superheroes tend to wear primary colors while supervillains tend to wear secondary colors. Other spreads draw information from the comic book business or affiliated merchandise. For example, some infographics discuss which demographics reads comic books, which characters won most often in Marvel Universe Trading Card Series, and which comic book writers are the most prolific. Still other pages use the graphs to make sight-gags without providing any insight or trivia. These pages, such as the graph entitled "A Personal History of Saying 'Good Grief'" which is drawn as the pattern on Charlie Brown's shirt, are briefly amusing but not the pages to study. Instead, take your time exploring Scrooge McDuck's family tree, the character web of Sin City, and the pie charts of every weird pizza the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have eaten. You never know when that information might be useful.

– Megan Hippler

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Nimona

by Noelle Stevenson

HarperTeen

2015, 272 pages, 6 x 9 x 0.7 inches (softcover)

From $8 Buy a copy on Amazon

A few years ago, I had the good fortune of discovering Noelle Stevenson's comics through an interview she did with Danielle Coresetto of the webcomic Girls with Slingshots. I read Nimona when it was available in full online and fell absolutely head over heels in love with the comic, blasting through it from start to finish in one sitting. When I revisited the site a few months later to show it to a friend, I was delighted to find out that it had been picked up by HarperTeen and was to be published later that year – no one deserved a publishing deal more than this incredibly talented illustrator and writer.

The graphic novel is set in a fresh fictional world of Stevenson's imagining, inspired by the medieval fantasy scene but infused with science and technology. The titular character, Nimona, is a shape-shifting young girl who has foisted herself upon her favorite super-villain, Ballister Blackheart, as his sidekick and general mischief-maker. In a Despicable Me-esque fashion, the moral and big-hearted Blackheart has dedicated his life to grand (and mostly failed) schemes against the Institution of Law Enforcement & Heroics, a shadowy corporation with shadowy motives that ousted Blackheart years before. Nimona herself is brash, mischievous, and reckless – and in a split second, can turn into a rhino to smash through a steel door, or into a dragon to fly off with a massive chest of gold.

The characters are clever, snarky and lovable; the plot is filled with adventure and, at turns, heartbreak. Stevenson's art is wonderfully stylized, colorful and expressive with charming and memorable character design. It's a tricky thing to make a cast of characters this likable without it feeling cheap or like pandering, but don't worry, there are no Mary Sues here. Every character has depth and pain and plenty of flaws, but they wiggle into your heart a little deeper for it. Their bickering and bantering give them a real family feel.

What I love most about Nimona is the delightful subverting of expectations and conventions: the collision of the modern and the medieval; a world where science and magic and technology all work side by side. The bad guys are good guys and the good guys often aren't. Our hero is a super-villain, and the strongest characters are the most vulnerable. The contrasts don't feel like stark juxtapositions – they feel like a harmonious blend of swords and science in the loveliest way possible.

– Michelle Kaatz

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

My Dad Used to Be So Cool

by Keith Negley

Flying Eye Books

2016, 48 pages, 9.1 x 10.7 x 0.4 inches

$11 Buy a copy on Amazon

To believe that your own parents are "boring" or "typical" is a pretty common thought amongst children. Unless your parent is a spy or superhero, you aren't going to refer to them as "cool." And why would you?

Keith Negley's book, My Dad Used to Be so Cool, illustrates the dynamic between a son and his father. The story is told from the son's point of view as we journey through his fantasies of what his father used to be like when he was younger. Through descriptive illustrations and minimal word usage, a world that we are all too familiar with is created. The son sees his father doing laundry and vacuuming just like every other child has seen their parent do. Nothing particularly "cool" about those daily tasks, right? The son begs the question, "What happened?" A life event changed the father from a tattooed rock and roll super star to a laundry-folding dad. What was it? The answer – his son.

Negley perfectly demonstrates the sacrifices a parent makes for their child, but how beautiful those sacrifices really are. This story opened my eyes to how "cool" my own parents actually are. At 18 years old, I am not a parent but I can honestly say that the daily struggles and chores that any parent deals with are nothing short of remarkable.

This is a truly heart-warming tale and I would strongly recommend that not only children read this book but adults as well. The story is a solid reminder to appreciate our parents and if you are a parent, congratulate yourself because you are awesome. I look forward to my child asking me, "Did you use to be cool?" I'll laugh and smile. "You know, I was never that cool anyway."

– Madeline Shapiro

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Coloring DC: Batman: Mad Love Featuring Harley Quinn

by Paul Dini (author) and Bruce Timm (illustrator)

DC Comics

2016, 7.5 x 11.5 x 0.4 inches (softcover)

$10 Buy a copy on Amazon

Over the past few decades the dynamic duo of legacy comic book companies, Marvel and DC, have introduced hundreds of new characters. Most have failed to catch on (sorry, Adam-X, the X-Treme!), and while recently many new characters have garnered acclaim and small cadres of devoted fans, the new Ms. Marvel and Prez have yet to become the next Wolverine.

2016 has seen two major breakthroughs that may pave the way: Marvel's Deadpool and DC's Harley Quinn. Both were created in the 1990s and have suddenly become the superhero equivalent of rock stars, with T-shirts and tchotchkes available at every Target and Hot Topic in America. One of them even has their own make-up line (I'll let you guess who). My dad in his 70s now knows these characters, which I find equally amusing and eye rolling.

Which brings us to coloring books. Okay, maybe not directly, but the ascension of Harley Quinn as a character and the recent popularity of coloring books for adults has created a perfect storm, and now we have Coloring DC – Batman: Mad Love Featuring Harley Quinn, a coloring book written and drawn by her creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. This oversized tome contains a few extra stories of DC heroines and villians on the undercard, but the prime material is a reprinting of the terrific Harley story Mad Love.

While she was originally created for Batman: The Animated Series, no story has defined her as much as Mad Love. Her origin as both a gymnast and psychiatrist is laid out, her love for the Joker in all its complicated (and icky) glory is explained, and most importantly it showcases her as a real character. She's not a sidekick, she's not the Joker's girlfriend, she's someone who's been searching for something and now that she thinks she's found it she'll do anything (and kill anyone) to get it. Oh, and there are fights and piranhas and Batman being smart and everything else you could possible want in a Batman story. There's a reason it won the Eisner Award (the comics' equivalent of an Oscar) and is still being reprinted more than 20 years later. The story is fast-paced, funny, exciting, and disturbingly sweet. It's the perfect Harley Quinn story and it's fun to read.

One thing about Harley is that she can comfortably fit in a story for kids or adults, even if she sometimes sports lingerie ("It's just her pajamas," I told my nephew). Kids can enjoy Harley and the Joker's antics and Batman's heroics, while adults can read the story and understand the sadness and sickness that lies beneath it and makes the Batman world such an oddball creation. Plus with this version you get to color it!

I haven't colored anything since I was maybe 10 so this was a new experience for me (my son is a year old and hasn't quite developed enough Crayola patience), and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Even quickly scribbling in colors made me appreciate Timm's smooth lines and minimalist artwork. He can define body language and convey attitude with the merest of curves. No line is wasted and no line would improve it. It's amazing work and getting to savor the panels through coloring gave me even greater appreciation for the art of comics and the talent of Bruce Timm.

Even if you've read this story I highly recommend experiencing it a different way. There's no racing from speech balloon to speech balloon, no jumping through panels to get to something that caught your eye as you turned the page. You can slowly pour through the book and experience what I think is easily one of the best Batman stories (plus you'll soon realize how incredible the work of a comic book colorist can be and how much skill it takes). There's no escaping Harley Quinn this year, so succumb to her charms, grab a box of crayons, and test your coloring mettle against a great story. You'll have as much fun as Harley and Mr. J blowing something up for no good reason, I guarantee it.

– Rob Trevino

See sample pages from this book at Wink.

Big Trouble in Little China Vol. 1

by John Carpenter (author), Eric Powell (author) and Brian Churilla (illustrator)

BOOM! Studios

2015, 128 pages, 8.6 x 10.2 x 0.4 inches (softcover)

$11 Buy a copy on Amazon

(Do I really need to give a spoiler alert for a movie that came out in 1986?)

"Have you paid your dues Jack? Yessir, the check is in the mail." After shaking the pillars of heaven and defeating Lo Pan, Jack Burton drove off into the night with a monster sneaking up on him from the back of his truck. That's sadly where this incredible movie ended. It joined the ranks of other cult '80s movies bold enough to tease a sequel that would never come to be. Thankfully much like Lo Pan was in the film, this story isn't quite dead yet.

The comic picks up right where the movie ended with Jack driving his semi, the Pork-Chop Express, in the rain monologuing into his CB. From there it spirals into ninja punching, demon spewing, and Jack Burton awesomeness. What makes me especially happy is that this is a true extension of the story, as the film's director John Carpenter is back, working with the Goon's Eric Powell, with Brian Churilla doing the artwork. It's an awesome creative team up. Comic Jack is a caricature of his Kurt Russell counterpart, which seems oddly fitting and adds to the zaniness of the world.

Fans of the movie will definitely be into this comic. If you're not a fan, I guess you can go enjoy eating some celery or something, while the rest of us hear tales of ancient mysticism and armed monkeys. The story dips back into the cheesiness that made the movie so enjoyable, while still bringing some new character development to the table. While not spoiling it, Vol. 1 does leave you wanting more, but thankfully you won't have to wait 30 more years for the next installment. Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 are out, and more are on the way.

– JP LeRoux