Quality Jollity; $14.99

Originally published in 1991 by DC’s innovative Piranha Press imprint, Kyle Baker’s Why I Hate Saturn has gone through multiple printings over the years for a good reason: It’s an amazing read that transcends minor bits of dated material by the power of its story and its humor.

What’s even more impressive about this Harvey Award-winning piece of storytelling is that big chunks of it are simply conversations between its main character, columnist Anne Merkel, and other characters (or sometimes her writing by herself). Yet it holds the reader’s attention and won’t let go.

This is the kind of work that survives multiple readings over decades, and how many comics can you say that about.

Cultural commentary, insights about creative habits, and relationship moments make this a truly special work.

The current Deluxe Screenplay Edition also includes the first draft teleplay Baker wrote for a Why I Hate Saturn TV series pilot, in addition to other bonus material. While I love the aforementioned pilot script and the bonus material, I miss the larger format of the original printing, but this is still a wonderful book.

– J.C. Vaughn