Messiahs, Meshugganahs, Misanthropes and Mysteries by Bob Levin. $30, 356 pages, published by Fantagraphics.

There is no writer in comics like Bob Levin. In my work as an editor of comic magazines, anything you ask Bob to write about will be better in his hands than most anyone else. Levin doesn't write about the art form with attention reserved solely for its technical aspects, and he's not overly focused on purely historical concerns. Instead, he views the people who make comics as unique humans, and their art as an key aspect of who that unique person is and what they are trying to say. This is an incredible collection of over 300 pages of Levin's best writing from recent years, with essays on Crumb, Kurtzman, Toth, Colwell and many many more. An absolutely essential book for any customer on this site who values the art of cartooning.