Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers

ARCHIE: A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE TEENAGERS by Craig Yoe (Yoe Books! / IDW)
Yoe’s affection for Archie is evident in this historical tome full of rare art and photos, but condensing the text would’ve allowed for deeper excavation. Collectibles and adaptations get short shrifted along with the breadth of titles (the semi-serious ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH isn’t even mentioned), leaving me wanting more.

House of Lies

HOUSE OF LIES
One of the (many) reasons I despised SEX AND THE CITY was there wasn’t one redeeming character for whom to root… such is the case in this odious comedy about a narcissistic team of scheming management consultants. Especially in this economy, soulless capitalist raiders do not make for endearing leads.

Alex Toth: Setting the Standard

SETTING THE STANDARD: COMICS BY ALEX TOTH 1952-1954 Edited by Greg Sadowski (Fantagraphics Books)
This comprehensive collection of Toth’s work for Standard Comics in the 1950s alternates between sententious war stories, sexist romance tales, rote horror and sci-fi schlock, but the master cartoonist made it all look so good! Not Toth’s best work, but great to have all in color under one cover.

Sucker Punch

SUCKER PUNCH
Zack Snyder’s adolescent male fantasy video game pastiche might be less interminable if its many slow motion scenes were sped up, shortening the movie’s length to probably 45 minutes. As it is, it’s a horribly acted, tiresome, puerile embarrassment for everyone on both sides of the screen.

Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture

JACK DAVIS: DRAWING AMERICAN POP CULTURE (Fantagraphics Books)
Despite some fuzzy reproductions, this handsome overview of legendary cartoonist / illustrator Jack Davis’ work is a nice (if frustratingly un-annotated) primer. Still, it barely scratches the surface of a half-century career that spans comics, advertising, LP, book and magazine illustration and movie poster design. Davis deserves a comprehensive anthology.

Cover Story: The DC Comics Art of Brian Bolland

COVER STORY: THE DC COMICS ART OF BRIAN BOLLAND (DC Comics)
Bolland’s bold, intricately detailed artwork perfectly suits the iconographic nature of comic book covers, as this collection of diverse work for DC and Vertigo vividly depicts. Amusingly annotated by the artist, the book features preliminary sketches and traces his roller-coaster relationship with (sometimes overdone) Photoshop coloring and effects.

Mail-Order Mysteries

MAIL-ORDER MYSTERIES: REAL STUFF FROM OLD COMIC BOOK ADS by Kirk Demarais (Insight Editions)
More than merely cataloguing cheap junk advertised in comics of the 1960s-80s, Demarais actually tracked down artifacts such as X-Ray Glasses, mini-spy camera and Raquel Welch pillow in order to posthumously rate their value and level of consumer fraud! A lovingly compiled, nicely designed treasury of (mostly) childhood hope-crushing dross.

Habibi

HABIBI by Craig Thompson (Pantheon)
Thompson’s skill as an artist and storyteller is almost frighteningly preternatural, and the emotional and visual breadth of these 600-plus pages is staggering. HABIBI is a timeless tale of love, faith, power, sex, gender, social inequity and the essential quality of myth. Simply put, it’s another goddamn Craig Thompson masterpiece.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Like the Swedish original, the story is overstuffed—it’s really two movies in one—and the mystery reaches a perfunctory, intellectually unsatisfying conclusion. Of course, Fincher makes it all look good, with beautiful cinematography and strong performances (but HOOO, Trent Reznor’s audio / T-shirt presence is annoying).

Mr. Wonderful

MR. WONDERFUL by Dan Clowes (Pantheon)
One of the all-time great indie cartoonists, Clowes has begun to tread water in recent years, endlessly reiterating the banality of existence and the silly pointlessness of trying to be happy. Not that I’m against a bracing dose of nihilism now and then, but I miss his “earlier, funnier work.”

Firefly the Complete Series

FIREFLY The Complete Series
How the Hell did I miss this? Joss Whedon’s late, lamented space western was a fully-realized ensemble piece, witty and engaging, unpredictable (usually) and complex (with a damn catchy earworm of a theme). Maybe my favorite sci-fi series since STAR TREK, and—sadly—years ahead of its time.