We love the work of cartoonist Chris Ware, but we maybe love his Rusty Brown character even more than the rest – as Rusty's an inveterate collector, with the sort of special drive that's plagued us all of our lives! Yet the depth of this volume really matches Ware's more famous character Jimmy Corrigan – as the long narratives here trace out the "origins" of Rusty, and follow him through years past – with a sensitivity and lingering sadness that's beautifully delineated in the kind of artwork that sets Ware apart from anyone else we can think of. The production quality is beautiful – hundreds of pages in full color, laid out sideways to replicate a book of vintage comic strips – which furthers the Ware exploration of the Rusty Brown aesthetic. Book

A pretty amazing survey of the Cali art scene of the late 70s – served up here in a book that's half essay, half images – with work from dozens of important artists who include Edward Ruscha, Jim Melchert, Charles Gaines, Joe Goode, Patrick Hogan, The Kipper Kids, Hal Fischer, Judy Chicago, Robert Arneson, Peter D'Agostino, Karen Carson, Robert E Brown, Tony Berland, Terry Fox, Gary Panter, Raymond Pettibon, and even the folks at Survival Research Laboratories! The book offers up large, full-color images of dozens of important art works – and the writing does a great job of contextualizing the material – as part of an exhibition put together by the Museum Of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. 312 pages, hardcover, and super-heavy! Book