Especially interesting books to consider

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The Teetering Tower of Things to Review needs to be winnowed out, and here are some of the more interesting books:-- "Kirby: King of Comics" (by Mark Evanier, $40, Abrams): As I say in a much longer review on my home newspaper's "Shelf Life" books blog (www.theshelflifeblog.com/category/comics), there probably isn't anybody more important to the history of American comic books than writer/artist Jack Kirby, and probably nobody better suited to write about him than Evanier, a former Kirby assistant and award-winning TV/comics writer.Kirby, who died at age 77 in 1994, virtually invented the visual language of American comic books. In the 1940s, when others in the newly born comic-book industry were all aping comic-strip artists (especially the stiff and studied Milt Caniff of "Terry and the Pirates"), the self-taught Kirby invented his own dynamic style that kids today would (inevitably) describe as "in your face" or "smash-mouth." In fact, the cover of the first comic book starring Captain America (whom Kirby co-created with Joe Simon) famously depicted the Star-Spangled Avenger smashing Adolf Hitler in the mouth ... about six months before Pearl Harbor.Kirby also co-created (with the legendary Stan Lee) the superhero pantheon at Marvel Comics in the '60s, including Fantastic Four, Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man, Thor and (arguably) Spider-Man. His work was the house style during the era when upstart Marvel rocketed past DC Comics as the top seller, and virtually every comics artist in the field today owes something to the guy Stan dubbed "The King."Evanier covers all that, and more, with a "just the facts" approach that is a very quick read. He doesn't speculate, as so many (lousy) biographers do, about what his subject was thinking or why he did the things he did. Which is fine by me -- Evanier's fascinating subject, and his own lively writing style, kept me turning the pages. And he let Kirby's own work do a lot of the talking, which is pretty smart. When you're writing about one of the greatest storytellers in American history, you can't go wrong letting him tell much of his own story.Accurate, thorough, lively and important, this book has my highest recommendation.-- "Showcase Presents: Superman Family Vol. 2" (DC Comics, $16.99): Here's a confession: I hated Jimmy Olsen when I was a kid.Maybe it was contempt; Olsen's behavior in the 1950s and '60s was described as "impetuous" in the comics, but I always saw it as "dumb as a bag of hammers." Maybe it was jealousy; this useless moron got to be Superman's pal, while I was a straight-A student who didn't have any Super Friends to make my life easier. Maybe it was resentment; unlike my own life, the bad decisions Jimmy made never had any long-term consequences -- he kept failing upward.But, mysteriously, I now find the adventures of Jimmy Olsen from 40-50 years ago to be charming. The second volume of "Superman Family" -- roughly 500 pages of black-and-white reprints from 1958-59, mostly of Jimmy -- is naive, innocent, tech-free and thoroughly grounded in a "Leave it to Beaver" world that, if it ever really existed, is gone forever. So maybe it's nostalgia for my own youth. But what's more likely is that in the early '60s I compared my ordinary life with Jimmy's charmed one (and was aggrieved over the difference), but now I identify with Superman -- and chuckle at Jimmy's antics.But that's not all. This book is called "Superman Family" and not "Jimmy Olsen" because it contains stories from "Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane" from the same period. I didn't like Lois stories as a kid, either, primarily because they were often incredibly sexist and condescending to women, which the Li'l Capn thought was cruel. They still are, but I'm beginning to warm to them as reverse nostalgia -- because Lois' "I Love Lucy" world is just as gone as Jimmy's "Beaver" one, I can laugh out of relief.Confused? Me, too. But I'm having a blast with "Superman Family."-- "Superman: The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen" (DC, $14.99): This trade paperback also reprints old Jimmy Olsen stories, only in color, and focusing on the "Olsen" writers' weird predilection for metamorphosis. So here we have Porcupine Olsen, Giant Turtle-Man Olsen, Future Man Olsen, Elastic Lad Olsen and so forth. It's "Superman Family" condensed, and harmless fun.(Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics(at)aol.com or visit www.captaincomics.us.)