The Globe and Mail

JERRY ROBINSON: Ambassador of Comics
By N.C. Christopher Couch, Abrams ComicArts, 224 pages, $45

Robinson may be most famous for having created the Joker, Batman’s arch-nemesis, in 1940, but this profusely illustrated biography, on which he collaborated, shows how widely his writing and drawing ranged. He drew editorial cartoons, worked on comic strips and panels and wrote "The Comics," a 1974 tribute to comic-strip art. It was he who suggested that Batman’s sidekick be named Robin, after Robin Hood.

THE 100 GREATEST LOONEY TUNES CARTOONS
Edited by Jerry Beck, Insight Editions, 214 pages, $30.50

It doesn’t compare with watching the cartoons themselves, but otherwise there’s no faulting this admiring review of the mini-epics produced for Warner Bros. by inventive geniuses to accompany theatrical movies. The obvious titles are here ("One Froggy Evening," Elmer Fudd singing Wagner in "What’s Opera, Doc?"), along with the lesser known ("Wholly Smoke," in which Porky Pig puffs a cigar and regrets it).

SHAZAM! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal
By Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear, Abrams ComicArts, 246 pages, $45

The “mightiest mortal” is Captain Marvel, into whom young Billy Batson turned from 1940 on by shouting “Shazam!” Designed like a crowded scrapbook, this book with a lightning-shaped hole in the cover drops the reader into a whirlwind of images – not just of the comic books, but of the inexhaustible spinoff merchandise, including paper cut-out dolls of Mary Marvel, Capt. Marvel’s sister.

THE PEANUTS COLLECTION: Treasures from the World’s Most Beloved Comic Strip
By Nat Gertler, Little, Brown, 64 pages, $43

Even those who think they have exhausted what Charles Schulz’s Peanuts has to offer will find this ingeniously designed book of colourful memorabilia full of surprises. Page after page has pockets containing facsimiles of colouring books, sketches, promotional brochures, a cel from the movie "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and even a booklet of “pumpkin carols.” Good grief, Linus!

DC COMICS YEAR BY YEAR: A Visual Chronicle
By Alan Cowsill et al., DK, 352 pages, $55

You may not need to know that fan-favourite artist Neal Adams broke into DC Comics by drawing a 1967 comic based on Jerry Lewis, but once you dive into this richly illustrated compendium, it will be tough to tear yourself away. Revisit the 1938 Superman issue of Action Comics that sold this year for $1.5-million, or marvel that Wonder Woman recently celebrated issue 600.

THE HORROR, THE HORROR: Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read
Edited by Jim Trobetta, Abrams, 304 pages, $35.95

In 1954, the U.S. Congress, flashily blaming comic books for everything from juvenile delinquency to the Cold War, began a system of censorship that that took the horror (vampires, corpses rising from the grave, axe murders) out of horror comics. This stunning volume contains 14 of these stories, a number of eye-popping (sometimes literally) covers and a series of essays on the whole sordid business – plus a 1955 DVD on the evils of comics. Keep this away from the kids.

HOT POTATOE: Fine Ahtwerks: 2001-2008
By Marc Bell, Drawn & Quarterly, 272 pages, $44.95

There’s a fuzzy line between comics and fine art, and Marc Bell is determined to doodle all around it. A spiritual heir to R. Crumb and Jim Woodring, the Canadian artist has collected more than a decade’s worth of his absurdist tableaux, rendered in ’zines, mixed-media art and watercolour drawings. Is this a graphic novel or an artist’s monograph? Potatoe, po-tah-toe.