FOR DEVOTEES OF COMICS - OR COMIX, THE UNDERGROUND KIND - a lollapaloozer of an exhibit is now on view in the New York area. Not just one, but two - and up to four, if you pay close attention.

"Masters of American Comics," a two-part exhibition that traces the evolution of this most American of art forms, runs concurrently at The Jewish Museum and The Newark Museum until January 28, 2007. The section at The Jewish Museum covers the period starting in the 1940s, when comic book art began its gradual transformation from the realm of superheroes, created mainly for children, to the rise of the underground comics movement, a highly political adult counter-culture phenomenon that continually morphs through the present.

Arranged chronologically, the Jewish Museum installation includes work by Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, R. Crumb, and Chris Ware. It unfolds with Will Eisner's newspaper serial, "The Spirit," a long-running Sunday feature balancing suspense, violence, and humor. One volume begins with the warning, "In the algebra of crime, there is no more deadly equation than this," and ends with the protagonist dead on the pavement after plummeting five stories down, "...but not until after I flew." This section of the show sets the pace for what follows, with original drawings, complete with margin scribbles, Pelikan White corrections, and non-photo blue production stamps, along with many of the actual newspaper reproductions in display cases.

The large scale of the originals, generally about two times the reproduction size, enables viewers to zero in on the outstanding drawing styles on display. One of the most dazzling moments for this viewer was a 1952 piece by Harvey Kurtzman, one of the originators of MAD magazine. A 2-pager is rendered in ink, with hand worked cross-hatching, stippling, and tonal gradation, in combination with an array of Zipatone dot- and grid- patterns, which were a mainstay of the cartoonist's line and tone arsenal until they were made obsolete by computer graphics programs.

R. Crumb, at the forefront of the underground "comix movement" that began in the 1960s, drew upon styles from earlier times to create a new, first-person style of self expression that captured the radical social changes of the day. Sex, psychedelic drugs, women's lib, and novel, often sinister forms of frolic, were just a few of the subjects that inspired his uncensored, and independently distributed productions. Among the five here, Crumb alone enjoys the distinction of having created fashion spreads for The New York Times Magazine.

The working secrets of Chris Ware, the third generation represented in this showing, are revealed through drawings that are often heavily worked in non-photo blue pencil before the ink goes on. Literary content is high on his list, with the promise of "Cartoon booklets of every size and shape. Each issue embraces the most fashionable variety of literary finish and artistic hi-jinx..and robust prevarication - a shrewdly ornamented index of twaddle." For his "Jimmy Corrigan" series, Ware created not only the title character's family history and future but also a believable neighborhood in which they reside. Among the items on view is a miniature model of the Corrigan house, built of card stock and carefully rendered to describe its Victorian shingles and shutters.

Most visitors are likely to mention a favorite comics artist not represented in this handsomely produced exhibit. But it's the depth of the presentation for each of the artists included that makes this a show to remember. However tight or tenuous is your connection to comics, this exhibition will satisfy the eye - and the ear too - if you are given to reading out loud.

Illustration: Chris Ware, "Building Stories," 2002. Courtesy and © 2006: Chris Ware.

In an adjacent gallery at The Jewish Museum, "Superheroes: Good and Evil in American Comics" presents more than 70 drawings and artifacts from the golden age of comic books by 15 artists and writers. Among the classics on hand are Superman, Batman, and Captain America.

But that's not all. Independent comics from Fantagraphics reign in a delicious selection of original drawings at the Society of Illustrators, through October 21. So count 'em up: that's four in all.

For details, directions and an array of fascinating public programs:
Masters of American Comics and Superheroes at The Jewish Museum
Masters of American Comics at The Newark Museum

Read about the Newark Museum section in Benjamin Gennocchio's article in the New York Times