So, you’re sitting at the office, alternately...

So, you’re sitting at the office, alternately staring at the clock and the sliver of window you can barely make out if you twist your head the right angle, daydreaming of the career you should have had--say, lifeguard on “Baywatch”--or, if you’re more artistically inclined, drawing comic books filled with men and women in tights fighting the forces of doom and darkness. Of course, you sigh, none of that for you, the die is cast, your goose is cooked, you’ve got to bring home the bacon.

But the kid! Maybe the kid still has a chance! And so you rush out to sign him or her up for intensive swimming lessons from former Olympic champs and then race to the nearest bookstore to buy a copy of DRAW THE MARVEL COMICS SUPER-HEROES, development and interior art by Richard Becker (Klutz Press: $12.95, paperback).

Hulk! Spider-man! Captain America! They’re all here in this fabulous, colorful book that could have changed your life--if only!

“Superheroes” is a wonderful, stylish activity book, a working tool book to be drawn in, colored in and, of course, read. Step by step, the book guides budding artists through increasingly complex drawings covering such topics as muscles, faces, hands, feet and action. There are tips and pointers on most of its 94 pages, and the instructions and guidelines are excellent. Particularly valuable and impressive are the nine pages of tracing vellum overlaying full-color artwork, giving neophytes the chance to do just-as-good-as-the-big-guys drawings.

Most of all, it’s all self-contained fun stuff, perfect for lazy summer days. Nothing extra is needed; each copy comes with a pencil and four double-nibbed color markers in a bound-on vinyl pouch.

And you know, it may not be too late after all for your desk-bound self. Buy an extra copy for your inner super-hero, for your inner artist. Yourboss will appreciate the sketches of “Pamela Anderson: Super-Hero.”

AMAZING MAGIC TRICKS, written by Dave Brown a nd Paul Reeve (Dorling Kindersley Children’s Books:$12.95) , should keep little Houdinis entertained for hours. The large-format work has all of its publisher’s signature markings: solid artwork, easy-to-follow instructions, clear writing.

Tricks range from oldies such as “cups and balls” to the “antigravityspectacular” and my favorite, the “levitating card.” All in all, “Amazing Magic Tricks” makes putting on a show pretty easy--and fun.

Get ready to be thoroughly mystified!