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One of the best publishers extant is NBM, which has a large and eclectic catalog of comic gems.

One such is “The Museum Vaults” by Marc-Antoine Mathieu ($14.95), the second graphic novel in a proposed series of four by different creators, co-published with the famous Louvre museum. I never saw the first one – “Glacial Period,” by Nicolas De Crecy – but “Vaults” is definitely a winner.

The story, invariably described as Kafkaesque by reviewers, involves an “expert” who is hired to catalog the contents of a crumbling museum whose name has been lost to time. What the “expert” discovers is that the surface museum is just a façade, with endless basements and sub-basements stretching deeper and deeper into the bowels of the earth – and deeper and deeper into plain old craziness.

The writing is droll and deadpan, filled with dry wit that punctures the pomposity of art criticism. The art is of the French-Belgian school familiar to fans of “Tintin,” subdued in black and white with gray tones, which effortlessly and attractively propels the narrative.

 

“Vaults” is a slim volume, but don’t let that fool you. Like the unnamed museum, it has surprising depths.Elsewhere at NBM:

 

* “Moresukine” ($15.95) is a strange little project by German artist Dirk Schwieger, who issued this challenge on his blog: “Here I am in Tokyo. Tell me what you’d like me to visit, experience. And I will do it, no questions asked and whether I like it or not!” He then illustrated the results, and collected the vignettes as “Moresukine,” which is how the Japanese pronounce art notebooks called moleskins.

I have to say I’m not a fan of Schwieger’s art, which is reminiscent of some of the cruder underground comix of the ‘60s. But it’s readable, and this collection is a fascinating and eye-opening exploration of an Eastern culture in ways that most Westerners will never experience. Schwieger eats the strange foods, starts the uncomfortable conversations, sleeps in the uncomfortable positions and dances the strange dances, so that we don’t have to.

 

* I thought it would be hard for me to look at any Alice in Wonderland book in an innocent way again, after reading Alan Moore’s pornographic take in “Lost Girls.” But if anybody can pull it off, it’s Kyle Baker, one of my favorite cartoonists (“The Cowboy Wally Show,” “Why I Hate Saturn,” “Plastic Man”).

 

Which he has done in the hardback “Classics Ilustrated Graphic Novel No. 3: Through the Looking-Glass” ($9.95). This is actually a reprint from First’s first-class foray into Classics Illustrated in the ‘80s, and it has lost none of its luster. The story is necessarily truncated (to 56 pages), but Baker’s expressive faces and clean linework bring to life Humpty Dumpty, the Lion, the Unicorn, the Red Queen, Tweedledum, Tweedledee and especially our old friend Alice.

 

* NBM has resurrected the old EC title “Tales from the Crypt,” an anthology of horror stories that aren’t really all that horrible. (It’s an all-ages book.) Which is OK – the hokey black humor can amuse more than the kids, and we can always read the original ECs, as they are being collected in gorgeous hardbacks by Gemstone. (And those ‘50s tales were also all-ages, but scarier.)

 

I’ve mentioned most of this before, but the current issue (No. 8, $3.95) bears mention, as it offers an alternate cover starring no less a personage than vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. It’s a riff on the rumors that Palin was in favor of book banning while mayor of Wasilla, Alaska – a topic very familiar to “Crypt” fans, since the original ECs were hounded out of existence by that mentality.

 

As an editorial makes clear, the cover is a lampoon, and not meant to be a criticism of Palin or confirmation of those rumors. But if nothing else, it’s a bit of silliness that the politically minded might want to buy and put with their buttons, bumper stickers and esoterica from campaigns past.

 

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .