Dynamite Entertainment; $39.99

The Art of Sean Phillips, which was released just under a year ago, is one of those rare retrospectives that starts with the artist as a child. So many books like this go straight to the polished works of the professional artist and show us nothing of their background, but this one embraces Sean Phillips’ dream to become an artist and follows it through his most notable successes with Scene of the Crime, Sleeper, Criminal and Incognito, among other projects.

Starting with childhood work, the book spins through his illustrations for British girls’ comics and 2000AD before his Vertigo, Marvel, DC, and WildStorm days before getting to his creator-owned efforts with writer Ed Brubaker.

In addition to Brubaker, the book includes comments from writer Warren Ellis, former Vertigo editor Karen Berger, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons and others.

If you’re a fan of Phillips’ work, this book offers copious amounts of insight into the art and its creator. If you’re not yet a fan, this book will make you one.