One of the big questions originally raised by the rise of digital comics is "what happens to print?"  As we’ve discovered, the answer is basically nothing.  People who like printed comics keep buying them, and people who like digital comics also buy graphic novels, merchandise and the occasional printed copy at their outlet of choice.

But because that outcome was far from inevitable, some publishers adopted a strategy of creating high-end printed editions that are so nice as physical objects that you’d never even consider replacing them with digital.  In any case, most of them are big enough to pound an iPad into scrap metal.

Aimed primarily at affluent older fans, these hefty tomes are reissuing just about everything worthwhile from the vast history of comics, at levels of quality previously reserved for museum retrospectives of Old Masters.  IDW, Abrams, Dark Horse and Fantagraphics seem to be the main players in a deluxe edition arms race that sees new volumes coming to market just about every month that are designed to wow your senses, strain your bookshelf, and bust your budget.  Here are a few from my review shelf.

Fantagraphics’ The Complete Zap Comix is the current heavyweight champion in this category.  The single-printing limited edition set includes a slipcase of five large hardcovers reproducing every issue of the legendary underground comic series including unreleased stories and scholarly essays, plus full color Gicle prints of every cover.  With exquisite reproduction, beautiful design and top-end binding and paper, this set is not only the most deluxe edition of comic-related material ever released, it’s one of the most beautiful books about anything I’ve ever seen.  At a list price of $500 ($750 for a signed and even more limited edition), it’s not exactly a casual purchase.  But if there were ever a reason to take out a second mortgage to buy a comic-related item, The Complete Zap Comix might be it.

One other function that The Complete Zap Comix serves, in addition to bringing the work of Crumb, Spain, Wilson and company back to the market in style, is that the price point makes all the other deluxe editions from Fantagraphics and others look affordable by comparison.

Take for example IDW’s new Will Eisner’s The Spirit Artist Edition Volume 2.  Featuring some of the very top selections of Eisner’s classic stories from the late 1940s and shot, as usual with Artist Editions, from ridiculously high resolution scans of the original artwork, The Spirit Artist Edition clocks in at a massive 22"x15' (the size of the twice-up art boards that Eisner used) and nearly 10 pounds for around 150 pages.  Pricing varies depending on your retailer and your discount, but expect this tome to set you back $150-175.  Considering that peak-period Eisner Spirit stories are about the pinnacle of the graphic storytelling artform, any collector with knowledge, taste and shelf space will have a hard time walking past this one.

Abrams ComicArts is another player at the high-minimum table, consistently producing some of the best designed contemporary graphic novels and editions of vintage material. In the latter category is their recent The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio, featuring seldom seen crime, horror, science fiction, romance, kid gang and superhero comics from the legendary Golden Age tandem.  The reproduction of the original artwork here is so good you can practically smell Kirby’s cigar smoke on the pages, and Mark Evanier’s annotations provide historical context.  At a list price of $60 for nearly 400 pages and several dozen featuring Kirby, Simon, Mort Meskin, Al Williamson, Leonard Starr and others, this handsome edition practically qualifies as a bargain.

It’s not just the specialty publishers getting in on the act. Possibly the most unique and audacious coffee table release in the comic art genre is the new revised edition of The Silver Age of Comic Book Art, written, designed and self-published by artist and critic Arlen Schumer.  Yes it’s a book about a very well-explored area of comics, the mainstream superhero titles of the 1960s.  But don’t overlook it just because you think you are already familiar with the art and the history.  As you’d expect, the book is chock full of fantastic art by the likes of Kirby, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Gil Kane and Carmine Infantino, here presented in big bold two page spreads that deliberately strive to recreate the newsprint aesthetic of the originals.

However Schumer’s design choices don’t just please the eye; they are instrumental in making the book’s central argument about how Silver Age comic art influenced and was influenced by fine art and design trends taking place during the 1960s.  Schumer juxtaposes the aesthetics of Pop Art, psychedelic concert posters and iconic images from the comics to make that case through demonstration, not just argumentation.  The combination of blown up images, text and annotations in each two page spread force the reader to see familiar work in a new context, revealing relationships that had not been obvious before.  There are few if any critics and scholars approaching the study of comics art from this perspective, and few if any titles even in this glutted market that use the communication potential of book design so ambitiously.  At $49.99 for the unsigned hardcover ($55 signed), it’s also one of the more affordable items out there.

This list is just the tip of a very large iceberg. Whether the current Golden Age in deluxe editions is caused by a reaction to digital, the maturation of the high end market, a surfeit of good taste and talent on the design and production end or the simple desire to get old-time fans to pay one more time for their old favorites in fancy new duds, connoisseurs should enjoy it.  At least as long as their wallets and their shelf space holds out.

--Rob Salkowitz (@robsalk) is author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.