This year marks the 40th anniversary of the comic strip, Doonesbury. To celebrate two new books have arrived to highlight what made the strip one of the most successful comic of all time. While cartoonist, G.B. Trudeau is known for his commentary on political and social issues, the book Doonesbury and the Art of G.B. Trudeau focuses primarily on the artistry that went into the strip, and they way Trudeau’s style changed through the decades. The book offers insight to Trudeau’s early influences and his creative process, while also showing Trudeau’s magazine illustrations, animation drawings, posters, and product designs, as well as previously unpublished works.

Also celebrating the work of Trudeau is 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective by G.B. Trudeau himself. The book features thousands of comic strips that Trudeau has drawn in the last 40 years. In his introduction he explains that this book does not include the more radical strips he became known for, but rather illustrates the time he was recording through the eyes of the everyday person, remembering how they saw the world. Both of these books serve as wonderful reminders of the artist and visionary G.B. Trudeau had proven to be.

To mark the 2010 re-launch of the Looney Tunes brand come a book that is sure to bring out the kid in everyone; The Looney Tunes Treasury. The book looks at the directors, writers, draftsmen, and composers who helped make Looney Tunes the classic we recognize it for today. There are also exclusive interviews and essays with the characters themselves. Bugs Bunny will tell you how he got his first big break and we will finally know what goes on in the head of the Tasmanian Devil.

There are 200 pieces of concept art such as the original sketches of the characters as well as interactive mementos like Bugs Bunny’s Rabbit Hood script, a Daffy Duck sticker book, and Pepe Le Pew Valentine’s Day cards. This is the perfect book for anyone who grew up watching these characters, which is to say, almost everyone.

For the comic fan on your list is DC Comics Year to Year: A Visual Chronicle. The massive book covers a timeline of over 70 years to bring you the history of DC comics, from the first incarnations of Superman in the ‘40s to the modern comics of today.

DC Comics is filled with pictures and facts about the iconic characters that have come to define the comic world. The book includes original comic art from Jim Lee, Adam Hughes, Alex Ross, and many more. Collectors and non-collectors alike will enjoy this in-depth look at the history of DC comics in all its colorful, buoyant glory.

For anyone with a love for obscure, random pop culture facts, the fandex series is the perfect gift. The series combines images and facts in a fan style format. The newest additions to the series are Star Wars: Deluxe Edition and Super Heroes and Villains: Deluxe Edition. These two deluxe editions have twice as many cards as the standard fandex, with twice as much facts and pictures. With Star Wars you will learn the answers to burning questions such as, what’s the difference between a clone trooper and a stormtrooper and why can there be only two Sith Lords at any given time? With Super Heroes and Villains you’ll get the important stats on everyone from Superman to Poison Ivy. The cards contain biographies, origin stories, motivations, secret affiliations, mysterious powers and weaknesses, plus the year and issue each character made its debut.

Social strife, dirty politics, gadawful war—none of it’s funny, dammit. At least not ‘til some eagle-eyed, tongue-in-cheek talent comes along and nails current events and its players to the seemingly simple format of a single panel cartoon. We check ‘em out, grain of salt held firmly between our back molars, and chuckle at the absurdities of human nature, and marvel that we survive as a species at all. 

Not all political cartoons intend to evoke laughter, but they certainly aim to provoke thought, poke holes in things deemed sacred, and ideally, capture a moment in our historical timeline that will speak volumes to future generations with, maybe, just a few words. Herblock: The Life and Work of the Great Political Cartoonist, showcases Herblock’s 72-year career under 12 presidential administrations, Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush. There’s a lot of history captured between these pages and in the accompanying DVD. The work speaks volumes, as well, about what was in the American headlines, in its editorial pages, and on everyone’s mind during some of the most tumultuous years of the 20th century.

The man who instructed an entire generation on how to behave, Theodore Seuss Gisel, aka Dr. Seuss, had his hand in editorial cartoons covering World War II during his career as a political cartoonist for the New York daily newspaper, PM. The man of morals makes no bones about what he thinks Americans on the brink of war, and largely resistant to getting involved, should do. In the company of fellow progressive cartoonists Al Hirschfeld, Arthur Szyk, Carl Rose, Mischa Ricter and others (the ‘& Co.’ of the title), more than 300 cartoons spanning six years of the war are provided, here. This makes a nice companion book to Herblock for the history buff.