IDW Publishing; $49.99

Dean Mullaney, Bruce Canwell, and Lorraine Turner, through The Library of American Comics (LOAC) imprint at IDW Publishing, have put together an exciting and insightful new companion volume to their Eisner Award-winning Alex Toth: Genius trilogy (Genius Illustrated, Genius Isolated, Genius Animated).

Like Hemingway’s work was with words, Toth’s art is deceptively simple. The history of comics is littered with lesser artists who looked at his work, said “Oh, I can do that!” and failed miserably. Yet the medium is also replete with stellar talents whose art was at some stage affected by the work of this master.

This new collection contains seldom-seen or even forgotten stories and art from Toth, ranging from the 1950s on up, and includes comics, animation storyboards, presentation pieces, and more. The title, Treasures Retold: The Lost Art of Alex Toth, is a bit of an understatement. The book is a superb mix of material, and it continues the investigation into the person behind the art as well.

With this new volume, the Genius trilogy, and Bravo For Adventure (which effectively was another companion to the Genius books), LOAC has delved well below the surface of Alex Toth, and yet they keep on finding new insights to share with their readers. Here’s to hoping they find more!

–J.C. Vaughn