“A collection of world maps, where territories are resized on each map according to the subject of interest. There are now nearly 600 maps.” The maps are sometimes confusingly labeled or keyed, but there are plenty of engrossing visualizations, including population in year one, geographic areas with poor sanitation, and where global refugees are going.

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In advance of Frank Miller’s adaptation of this significant but little known comics character, these twelve examples are intended “to show once and for all why Miller can’t hope to bring [creator Will Eisner’s] genius to life.” Personally, I’m more optimistic about this film, but these pages do demonstrate Eisner’s visionary and ambitious facility with the comics medium — and make a compelling case for how inherently difficult it would be to translate that genius to the cinema.

Note that many of these splash pages rely on a masterful sense of typographic whimsy; in my opinion, they can hold their own against most of the finest examples in the wider canon of great graphic design. The comics medium in general owes much to Eisner, not least for the fact that he was probably the first and most faithful believer in the long-term potential of comics as a mature art form. So if nothing else, I hope Frank Miller’s film draws more attention to the man’s under-served legacy.

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“My country has had crisis that has caused need for large transfer of funds of 700 billion of your dollars (US). If you would assist me in this transfer it would be most profitable to you.” A pretty hilarious and accurate (right down to the all caps) send-up of the familiar Nigerian email scam.

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Times architecture critic Nicolai Ourousoff on removing eyesores from the city’s skylines. “True, the city is close to broke. But even with Wall Street types contemplating the end and construction of new luxury towers grinding to a halt, why give in to despair? Instead of crying over what can’t be built, why not refocus our energies on knocking down the structures that not only fail to bring us joy, but actually bring us down?”

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The estimable Merlin Mann has been writing lately about a surprisingly under-explored topic: how to blog better. This particular post takes a look at what story arcs in “The Wire” can teach bloggers about themes in blog writing. Also includes, at the bottom, a terrific presentation deck outlining these ideas. But really, he had me at “The Wire.”

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“Thirty designers create thirty posters and give you their thirty reasons to vote for Barack Obama.” I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from getting involved in the electoral process, but there seems to me to be something shortsighted and quixotic about choosing posters as a tool for change. Sadly, it also represents the limit of most designers’ imaginations. See also the on-the-ground, anecdotal evidence that a related graphic design tool, the political lawn sign, is irrelevant to winning votes.

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Winterhouse launches a companion Web site to Jessica Helfand’s new book “Scrapbooks: An American History.” From what I hear, this is just the start of Jessica’s full-court P.R. press for the book.

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Excusing the disconcerting lack of distinction between ad links and content links, this site is a quite enjoyable, time-sucking collection of minimalist web design. Compiled by Junghoon Park.

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