•  Green River Killer: A True Detective Story. Jeff Jensen, Jonathan Case. Dark Horse. 240 pages. $24.99.

Entertainment Weekly senior writer Jensen scripts the true tale of the quest and capture of the notorious Washington State serial killer by his father, a Seattle police detective, in this taut, smart and visceral tale, most ably illustrated by Case, with clear line and expressive characterization. Stark but subtle, Jensen’s brilliant realization of this complicated and easily exploitable tragedy demonstrates a real flair for the medium, and one hopes that he’ll follow through with more graphic realizations.

• Feynman. Jim Ottaviani, Leland Myrick. First Second. 272 pages. $29.99.

This book had escaped me until I witnessed Ottaviani’s amazing presentation at Miami Book Fair International. This splendid biography of the renowned physicist and all-around cosmic noodge was part of a team that helped create the atom bomb and another that later solved the mystery of the Challenger shuttle disaster. Myrick’s art is supple and interesting, no mean feat as Ottaviani’s script is mostly exposition with little of the action that typically lends itself to visual storytelling. But it’s quite readable and absorbing, a great book to introduce readers of all ages to this heroic American original.

• Return to Perdition. Max Allen Collins, Terry Beatty. Vertigo Crime. 192 pages. $19.99.

The story depicted in the 2002 film, based on a graphic novel by Collins and Richard Piers Rayner, was continued by its author with other artists. Here, in tandem of frequent collaborator Beatty, he winds up the saga with a noirish coda of malice, murder and redemption. It’s entertaining and engaging, and if you admired the original tale and wanted to see how it ends, you’ll enjoy this book.

• The New 52. DC Comics. Various writers and artists. 1,216 pages. $150.

When DC rebooted and relaunched its venerable comics line a few months back, it opened an opportunity to clear the boards and create a new beginning for continuity-conscious fans. Though some titles quietly disregarded the supposed fresh start, most of them took an ala carte approach by variously borrowing and ignoring bits and pieces of 75+ years of backstory, as deemed necessary by the writers and editors, with little or no explanation. All of the 52 first issues are included in this heavy volume. Highlights include Animal Man, Swamp Thing and most of the continuing Batman titles. Some of the lesser-known and actual “new” tiles, like Frankenstein, Blackhawks, Men of War, All-Star Western and O.M.A.C. have been fun, too, with a nice mix of super- and non-super heroics. The jury is still out for me on reimagined iterations of Superman, Justice League, Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman, though the company has enjoyed a nice boost in sales, so this experiment is at least a commercial, if not a total, aesthetic triumph.

• Yiddishkeit: Jewish Vernacular & The New Land. Harvey Pekar, Paul Buhle. Abrams ComicArts. 240 pages. $29.95.

One of Pekar’s final projects, this expansive work includes numerous strips by the late, great Bard of Cleveland, with reviews and autobiographies covering many of the great and not-so-great figures of Yiddish literature and ethos. It’s a fascinating and enlightening effort that takes full use of the graphic storytelling medium in an insightful and revelatory way. As an entrée to this diverse, fascinating — and fading — culture, filtered primarily through Pekar’s opinionated but knowledgeable brain, it’s a terrific look backward.