Recently in Graphic novels/comics Category

There is no question that our state's junior U.S. senator, Barack Obama, has lit a fire in the political landscape of this country. The youth of America might even refer to him as a superhero. One might also say the same about Sen. John McCain, with his storied military history and commitment to public service.

IDW Publishing has jumped on the election 2008 bandwagon and given both presidential candidates the supehero treatment with a pair of comic book biographies: Presidential Material: Barack Obama, (by Jeff Mariotte and Tom Morgan) and Presidential Material: John McCain (by Andy Helfer and Stephen Thompson).

The books highlight key incidents in the presidential candidates' lives leading up to their participation in this current and historic presidential campaign. Both comics are 28 pages of story and art, plus annotations, and will be released on Oct. 8 for $3.99. IDW also will release a trade paperback flip-book edition for $7.99.

Not a bad investment for what will certainly become a collectors' item.

"Out of picture" is a term used for anything that's cut from a movie. It is also the title of a lush, new book put together by the animators at Blue Sky Studios, the folks behind "Ice Age" and "Robots."

In Out of Picture, Volume 1: Art From the Outside Looking In (Villard, 160 pages, $19.95), the Blue Sky artistic team was let loose to put their individual stamps on their own graphic stories. The result is one of most interesting books I've ever laid eyes on. I highly recommend it to anyone, regardless of literary taste. I'm not a big graphic novel reader but I was mesmerized by this book.

When I was in college, I lived in a house with four other women, all of whom smoked. I was the lone non-smoker — not that I was offended by it; I just found it unpalatable. They all had quit by the time we came back to school for spring semester and, one by one, they all started up again.

But none of them ever came close to another of our friends — let's call her Jane — whose habit was so ritualistic, so cool and so second-nature, it bordered on art form. Jane never entertained the thought of quitting. As if.

These Things Ain't Gonna Smoke Themselves (Bloomsbury, $12.95) by Emily Flake could have been subtitled...