Next comes Les Daniels's lavishly illustrated volume, Superman: The Golden Age, tracing our hero through the years 1938-1955. The book features rare and never-before-seen images of pre-Superman artwork and story drafts by Siegel and Shuster. It also includes stills from cartoons and early movies. But the real treasure here is the polyresin figure-exclusive to this set. The statue is, frankly, one of the best pieces of Superman art you'll ever find: a tribute to Shuster's original Superman artwork rendered by comics master Alex Ross (of Kingdom Come fame) and painted by Chris Ware (creator of the cult classic Acme Novelty Library). The statue is a tasteful piece of Americana that will likely find a home atop your local version of the Daily Planet (e. g. , a CD tower or bookcase). -Patrick O'Kelley.

More than a corporate history or a fond look back, Comics As Art: We Told You So makes the warts-and-all case for Fantagraphics Books' position near the heart of the modern reclamation of the comics art form.

Colón's stunning artwork powerfully conveys the facts, insights, and urgency of the original. Published on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States, an event that has left no aspect of American foreign or domestic policy untouched, The 9/11 Report puts at every American's fingertips the most defining event of the century. "Never before have I seen a nonfiction book as beautifully and compellingly written and illustrated as The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation. I cannot recommend it too highly. It will surely set the standard for all future works of contemporary history, graphic or otherwise, and should be required reading in every home, school and library. " -Stan Lee A Statement on The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptationby Sid Jacobson and Ernie ColónThe cave paintings in Altamira, Spain, tell stories. Mostly they tell tales of the hunt. Drawn during the Paleolithic Stone Age, they still amaze us with their lucidity and directness. As an artist, and as an editor and writer in the graphic medium, we each pay homage to those delineators and interpreters of experience. They offered accounts of what happened and provided a way of remembering, honoring, and learning. When retold by the fire's flickering light, these stories must have lent the drawings a compelling, virtual movement. There is something eerie, but deeply gratifying, in knowing that a direct line runs from our contemporary comic art to these earliest efforts to record and convey what happened. Storyteller, audience, drawings depicting continuity of event: it all sounds familiar. In a culture that has become the most visually oriented in the history of humankind, comics retain the original concept of storytelling and remain a potent force of information. Read more Excerpts from The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation Timeline of Terror American Airline Flight 11 (AA 11)Boston to Los Angeles • 7:59: Takeoff • 8:14: Last routine radio communication; likely takeover • 8:19: Flight attendant notifies AA of hijacking • 8:21: Transponder is turned off • 8:23: AA attempts to contact the cockpit • 8:25: Boston Center aware of hijacking • 8:38: Boston Center notifies NEADS of hikacking • 8:46: NEADS scrambles Otis fighter jets in search of AA 11 • 8:46:40: AA 11 crashes into 1 WTC (North Tower) • 8:53: Otis fighter jets airborne • 9:16: AA headquarters aware that Flight 11 has crashed into WTC • 9:21: Boston Center advises NEADS that AA 11 is airborne heading for Washington • 9:24: NEADS scrambles Langley fighter jets in search of AA 11 United Airline Flight 175 (UA 11)Boston to Los Angeles • 8:14: Takeoff • 8:42: Last routine radio communication • 8:42-8:46: Likely takeover • 8:47: Transponder code changes • 8:52: Flight attendant notifies UA of hijacking • 8:54: UA attempts to contact the cockpit • 8:55: New York Center suspects hijacking • 9:03:11: Flight 175 crashes into 2 WTC (South Tower) • 9:15: New York Center advises NEADS that UA 175 was the second aircraft crashed into WTC • 9:20: UA Headquarters aware that Flight 175 had crashed into WTC American Airline Flight 7 (AA 77)Washington, DC to Los Angeles • 8:20: Takeoff • 8:51: Last routine radio communication • 8:51-8:54: Likely takeover • 8:54: Flight 77 makes unauthorized turn to south • 8:56: Transponder is turned off • 9:05: AA headquarters aware that Flight 77 is hijacked • 9:25: Herndon Command Center orders nationwide ground stop • 9:32: Dulles tower observes radar of fast-moving aircraft (later identified as AA 77) • 9:34: FAA advises NEADS that AA 77 is missing • 9:37:46: AA 77 crashes into the Pentagon • 10:30: AA headquarters confirms Flight AA crash into Pentagon United Airline Flight 93 (UA 93)Newark to San Francisco • 8:42: Takeoff • 9:24: Flight 93 receives warning from UA about possible cockpit intrusion • 9:27: Last routine radio communication • 9:28: Likely takeover • 9:34: Herndon Command Center advises FAA headquarters that UA 93 is hijacked • 9:36: Flight attendant notifies UA of hijacking; UA attempts to contact the cockpit • 9:41: Transponder is turned off • 9:57: Passenger revolt begins • 10:03:11: Flight 93 crashes in field in Shanksville, PA • 10:07: Cleveland Center advises NEADS of UA 93 hijacking • 10:15: UA headquarters aware that Flight 93 has crashed in PA; Washington Center advises NEADS that Flight 93 has crashed in PA.