Good lord, is it that time of year again? Yeah, it's post-Halloween, so it's time to put away the feel-bads and start up with the feel-goods. You don't have to trick anyone and you don't expect people to give you treats – it's up to you to give other people treats. You know what qualifies as 'treat'? Certainly not Treet. So instead of Spam knock-offs, how about you give the ones you love comic books this year? The graphic novel is an fantastic gift that can be cherished year round. So let's take a look at ten cool holiday gifts you might want to get for the comic fans in your life.
10 Cool Holiday Gifts For Your Favorite Comic Fan
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The Fifth Beatle by Vivek J. Tiwary & Andrew C. Robinson
PRICE: $19.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comWe know every story about the Beatles, but not so much about the manager who made them famous, Brian Epstein. A gay Jewish man from Liverpool in an era where homosexuality was a felony, he took the roughneck rockers and turned them into a global sensation. Get the lush graphic novel now, to prep for the feature film version soon to follow.
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You Shall Die By Your Own Creation by Fletcher Hanks
PRICE: $24.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comThe Golden Age of comics was a crazy time, and Hanks was the first guy to go all out with writing, penciling, inking and lettering all his own comics from 1938-1941, and the results are wild. This, along with the first volume called "I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets," gathers up Hanks' entire body of work and boggles minds with it.
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Science Fiction by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
PRICE: $49.95
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comWith the impending celebration of 75 years of Marvel Comics (including Timely), you'll hear a lot about Captain America - but his legendary creators did a whole lot more than that. Amazing tales of aliens and madness in one collection from the godfathers of comics - or you can get their "Crime" and "Superheroes" collections from Titan Books as well.
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Saga, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
PRICE: $14.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comWalk into any comic shop and ask for a recommendation, and dollars to donuts they'll bring you to this book. Your favorite comic fan likely already has the first volume, but you could swing them the next chapter to make sure they're up on their crazy star-crossed space lovers and TV-headed robot racist villains. It's good and twisted emotional dramedy.
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Superior Spider-Man, Vol. 1: My Own Worst Enemy by Dan Slott, Ryan Stegman & Giuseppe Camuncoli
PRICE: $17.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comPerhaps the most consistently entertaining book at Marvel this year has been the stunning tale of Dr. Octopus hijacking Spider-Man's body "Freaky Friday"-style to try and beat Peter Parker at his own game. If your comic fan isn't up to speed, here's where to start watching a supervillain try to be a superhero with unexpected results.
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Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction & David Aja
PRICE: $16.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comThis is the other book comic store clerks will likely recommend, because it's Fraction and the incomparable Aja at their best, profiling the Avenger Clint Barton in his off-duty hours. He's got a snarky teenage partner, bad choices in women and a Russian track-suit mob who can't stop saying "bro." Off-beat superhero stuff at its finest.
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Joker: Death of the Family by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo & More
PRICE: $29.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comSnyder & Capullo brought the Clown Prince of Crime back in a big way, attacking everyone in the Bat-family for making Batman weak. This is a massive collection of every stunt he pulled, from Batgirl to Nightwing to Harley Quinn over in the Suicide Squad. He's a force of nature to be reckoned with.
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Nowhere Men, Vol. 1: Fates Worse Than Death by Eric Stephenson & Nate Bellegarde
PRICE: $9.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comStephenson & Bellegarde have crafted a world where science is the new rock & roll, and the Fab Four geniuses behind World Corp are treated like rock gods. But with a ruthless ethos of progress over ethics, one of them drives the group apart, and the evolution of unwitting test subjects into strange superhuman creatures creates chaos and gruesome body horror. But it's fascinating!
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Richard Stark's 'Parker: The Hunter' by Darwyn Cooke
PRICE: $17.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comFew comic creators can come close to matching the brilliance of Darwyn Cooke, and since he dedicated his time to adapting the Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake) "Parker" books into graphic novels, he's been giving us wonderful noir tough-guy potboilers. You might also grab "The Outfit" and "The Score" to complete the collection.
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Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke & Amanda Conner
PRICE: $29.99
BUY IT NOW!: Amazon.comYou have to know your comic nerd very well before making this choice, as some fans are angry that this even exists. But again, Cooke is a fantastic storyteller, exploring the twisted original heroes of Watchmen, and Conner is at her best illustrating Cooke's heartbreaking tale of Laurie Juspeczyk's teenage years. This is the best of the Before bunch.
