The title of Gareth Hinds' new work may ring a bell: "The Merchant of Venice" (Candlewick Press, 68 pages, $21.99). Attempts to make the Bard's works "relevant" by staging them in different, usually modern, settings and times are often cringe-inducing, but adapter-illustrator Hinds ("Beowulf") remains true to the master, albeit in truncated form.

Hinds' straightforward, moody art augments and helps propel the story (not that it needs it), and the play is as thought-provoking and troubling as ever. It's a fine rendering of the classic as well as a fine introduction to it.

From one classic to another: The artwork is the story in Yoshitaka Amano's "Mateki: The Magic Flute" (Radical Publishing, 128 pages, $29.95). Many of Amano's full-color illustrations can stand alone, apart from the story; it's easy to see why he's notched a number of gallery exhibits to go with his much-lauded graphic novel work.

"Mateki" — "inspired by" the Mozart gem — is a pretty fantasia, lovely to dip into. Set it on the coffee table.

Uh, oh. When the hubby delivers the news that he's in love with his jogging partner — "It's not just her beauty: she's light and girlish. You used to be light and girlish" — it's time to pull out the carving knife. Or art materials.

Thorina Rose chose the latter, and turned grief into gold with "Heartbreak Diet: A Story of Family, Fidelity and Starting Over" (Chronicle Books, 176 pages, $19.95). "Heartbreak" is a terrific memoir with fine writing and artwork, as Rose navigates her new life and its twists and turns ("Primarily I concentrate on Coping Mechanism No. 5: Denial"), interspersed with "Words of Wise Women" advice tidbits — from everyone from Martha Washington to Kitty Carlisle Hart.

One of the many pleasures in "Demo" (Vertigo, 328 pages, $19.99, paperback) is the shape-shifting artwork by Becky Cloonan. Cloonan ("American Virgin") bobs and weaves, mixing illustration styles and light and dark to give life to Brian Wood's stories. Wood ("DMZ") is no slouch either, delivering 12 fine stand-alone tales.

His name won't be a surprise, not with some 350 million copies of his books having been sold, but the format might. Dean Koontz serves up a graphic manga with "In Odd We Trust" (Del Rey, 204 pages, $10.95, paperback). A prequel to his novels about a young fry cook with some unusual powers, "In Odd We Trust" puts a face on one of Koontz's more engaging characters, courtesy of Queenie Chan's fine artwork.

Bonus: An "exclusive essay" on Odd's creation: "What I knew of Odd ... was his heart, every chamber of it, all its secrets, all the hopes and dreams that he sheltered there, all his losses ... I did not know what his face looked like."

It's a staple of graphic novels, as well as other literary genres, but "La Perdida" (Pantheon, 275 pages, $14.95, paperback) nonetheless is a solid rendering of the coming-of-age tale. In her first full-length novel, Jessica Abel mixes black-and-white artwork with the bilingual story of Caria, age 20 and half-Anglo/half-Mexican, who heads to Mexico City to explore a part of her heritage she previously ignored.

Caria's a bit clueless. Before you know it, she's running with low-rent drug dealers and pseudo-intellectual revolutionaries; she winds up locked in a basement lamenting, "It was impossible. There's no beginning to my wrongness."

No doubt Edward Abbey would enjoy "Burnout" (Minx, 176 pages, $9.99, paperback), written by Rebecca Donner and illustrated by Inaki Miranda. Donner's well-done graphic novel debut mixes radical environmentalism with young love. The story is nicely enhanced by solid work from Miranda ("Fables").

One more playful Minx release is "The New York Four" (176 pages, $9.99, paperback), which is written by Brian Wood and illustrated by Ryan Kelly ("Lucifer"). College. Sisterhood. Love. Sex. Rock 'n' roll. The city. Easily digested — take it to the beach.

Just a hunch: The folks at Minx have timed a batch of releases for summer. "Water Baby" (176 pages, $9.99, paperback), written and illustrated by Ross Campbell, is a literal wild ride.

Brody, a surfer who loses her leg in a shark attack, has to rediscover herself, especially when never-do-well boyfriend Jake moves back in. She and her pal Louisa hit the road, with Jake in tow so they can dump him far away.

It's not a graphic novel, but any Comic-Con attendee worth his or her salt will enjoy "The Mystery of Sausage: And Other Ridiculous Blueprints" by Paul Osborne (Andrews McMeel, 79 pages, $12.99, paperback). Osborne was the owner of a firm supplying "construction documents" to magicians. Far more impressive, Osborne, a former magician, once worked as "Bozo's ringmaster!"

"Sausage" has wonderful blueprints and more; each page illustrates magic tricks along with such topics as "Martha Stewart's Guide to Nuclear Reactor Cleaning" ("I try to make it a point to clean my reactors' core every two weeks"). A favorite: "How to Pick Up Men: A Foosball Piercing" — "That's right, get yourself a hip piercing that features a foosball rod, handle and two players, and you will instantly be a hit with the men."

To find out more about Martin Zimmerman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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