• Final Crisis. Grant Morrison,J.G. Jones, Carlos Pacheco, Doug Mahnke. DC Comics. 352 pages. $29.99.

During its original release in a series of standard-format comics, this elegiac visual tone poem engendered a decidedly mixed response from its audience. Though some eagerly deconstructed it with expansive and incisive panel-by-panel analyses and annotations, Morrison's dense but playful meta-text baffled and angered others who demanded a more linear story. But Bruce (Batman) Wayne became a thing of the past, and Barry Allen returned to life as The Flash amid a dystopic Kirbyesque milieu of divinity and humanity. The art struggles, at times, to keep pace with Morrison's prodigious narrative, but this boisterous allegory about readers, writers, editors, heroes and gods is provocative, thrilling and resonant.

• Asterios Polyp. David Mazzuchelli. Pantheon. 344 pages. $29.95.

He might have had a stellar run in mainstream comics, but Frank Miller's visual collaborator on Batman: Year One and Daredevil: Born Again, left it all behind for Art. This new book is his first extended work in more than a decade and well worth the wait. There's no costumed crime fighting, just the small moments of life, though Mazzuchelli's extraordinary sense of design and drama ascends to heroic heights. This absorbing, idiosyncratic tale of love, ambition and opportunity marks the return of one of the modern master of graphic storytelling.

• Parker: The Hunter. Darwyn Cooke. IDW. 144 pages. $24.99.

Ex-animator and illustrator Cooke's nuevo-retro approach imbued his evocation of The Spirit with a startling jolt of energy and modernity without appreciably deviating from Will Eisner's archetypal vision. Though Will was bemused by his creation's popularity among the cognoscenti, Cooke's version resided soundly in the pulp landscape, which is why this adaptation of the Richard Stark (Donald Westlake) novel seems so effortless and natural. But Cooke's facility in capturing the ambiguity, tension and humor of the original is no small feat, and his gorgeous draftsmanship and lucid storytelling makes this first chapter in a proposed series a total blast.

• Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics into Comix. Denis Kitchen, James Danky. Abrams ComicArts. 144 pages. $29.95.

The trajectory of underground comix paralleled the rise and fall of the American counterculture of the 1960s and '70s. This guide to a museum exhibition of underground cartoons is accompanied by cogent essays and flashbacks of original art that miraculously survived the abortive social revolution. Lovingly presented, this book also serves as a terrific guide to the brilliance that illuminated that near-forgotten era.

• The Nobody. Jeff Lemire. Vertigo. 144 pages. $19.99.

Ably capturing the claustrophobia and mystery of small-town life, Lemire favors little moments that reveal personality over broader, more sensational strokes. His story, a riff on invisibility and identity, is unsettling and unforgettable.

Richard Pachter is The Miami Herald's Business Monday books columnist.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@