NBM ComicsLit's partnership with the Louvre art museum in Paris has produced another outstanding graphic novel.

"The Sky Over the Louvre" ($20) almost couldn't miss. It's written by celebrated screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière ("The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie") and drawn by leading French artist Bernar Yslaire ("Sambre"). The results demonstrate their sure-footed experience in quality and content.

It says a lot that NBM was willing to go with an odd size (10 1/2 by 11¼ inches), which often is the kiss of death in the marketplace. That extra width gives the reader room to appreciate Yslaire's delicate pencil and elaborate ink renderings. It also allows for the unobtrusive appearance of 38 of the Louvre's greatest pieces, from Jacques-Louis David's "Marat Assassinated" to Michelangelo's "Captive (The Dying Slave)."

The extra size also yields more room for story than you'd expect in a 72-page graphic novel -- and what a story it is. Carrière puts his stamp on the tale of Robespierre and David in the French Revolution, during which the former wanted to replace religion with a secular Supreme Being and demanded that the latter paint it. David, meanwhile, had an obsession of his own with a delicate young soldier he thought represented the purity of France (which resulted in the famous painting "Death of Joseph Bara").

All of this occurs with the Terror as a backdrop. Thousands are marched to the guillotine ("The Widow"), while Robespierre attempts to re-create society from scratch, up to and including a new calendar. It's a horrific, violent turning point in Western civilization, and neither artist nor writer attempts to soften its brutality or surreal "logic."

Batman returns: Cartoon Network's "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" is an odd but clever cartoon in which the Caped Crusader teams up with other DC characters. The TV show will end after the current 13-episode third season, but Warner Home Video continues to collect the episodes on DVD. "Season 1, Part 2," debuted March 15 with 13 episodes, with co-stars ranging from the obscure (Bat-Mite) to the famous (Aquaman). It's worth it for the unusual take on these characters.

"Blondie" begins: Few Americans know the back story to "Blondie," a comic strip that started in 1930 with filthy-rich Dagwood Bumstead and airhead flapper Blondie Boopadoop. (Yes, that's her real maiden name.) But when Dagwood married Blondie in 1933, his parents cut him off without a cent, and the former silver-spoon slacker had to learn how to hold a job -- thus creating the modern domestic comic strip. IDW has done history a favor by reprinting the pre-marriage strips chronologically ("Blondie: The Courtship and Wedding: The Complete Daily Comics Strips from 1930-1933," $50).