Every year, in every family or friend group, there's always that one person who's impossible to shop for, not because they're unknowable or have vague and/or boring tastes, but because they feed their hobby habit weekly: every Wednesday, at their local comic book store. What do they already have? Asking would be a give-away, and discreetly finding out would take hiring Jessica Jones herself. That being said, here are five(ish) items to consider for the comic book fan who has everything (maybe) and clearly wants more.
Thanks to Disney now owning both Marvel and the world's most famous movie franchise about warrior priests in outer space battling genocidal asthma patients, and with “The Force Awakens” debuting a week before Christmas, merchandise representing your favorite Jedi Knights, Sith Lords, bounty hunters and everything in between will be all over your local comic book store. Three ongoing series - “Star Wars,” “Star Wars: Darth Vader” and “Kanaan: The Last Padawan” have all recently seen their first story acrs collected in paperback, as well as the recent mini-series “Shattered Empire,” set between the events of Episodes VI and VII. There's also the paperback collection of “Princess Leia,” penned by current “All-New All-Different Avengers” writer Mark Waid. The great “Lando” and “Chewbacca” mini-series are yet to be collected (“Chewbacca”'s final issue doesn't ship until the end of the year), but these new comics, all set within the realm of the film continuity, will get your friends or family even more excited for “The Force Awakens” and all the future films that are currently in pre-production. Plus, they're just damn good comics by any measure.
DC Collectibles has recently released a small line of adorable SuperPets plushies, including such old-school staples as Streaky the Supercat and Krypto the Superdog, side by side with the far newer Dex-Starr, the famous Red Lantern cat who serves as the right hand of the vile Red Lantern leader Atrocitus. Cartoony and adorable, they're a treat for fans old and young, new or veteran. Ace the Bat-Hound is among the characters slated for next year, but let's be honest: everybody really wants Batcow.
“The Multiversity,” former “Batman” writer Grant Morrison's long-in-the-works, unparalleled epic story that spans the DC Universe's 52 realities completed earlier this year, and now the gorgeous hardcover edition has been released so you can enjoy the entire mind-warping saga in one sitting. From stories as bold and critical as “Mastermen,” wherein Morrison and artist Jim Lee re-interpret the Justice League as Nazi stormtroopers in an alternate Aryan world to tales as reflexive and meta as “Pax Americana,” Morrison's deconstruction of Alan Moore's “Watchmen,” which itself was a deconstruction of comic books as a whole, there's at least one story here for every kind of fan, all tied together by the threat of the universe-spanning Gentry, Lovecraftian beasties with a penchant for cosmic gentrification. In the years to come, people will look at “The Multiversity” as a pillar of the comic book canon, right up there with “Kingdom Come,” “Black Hole,” “Bone,” “The Sandman,” “Stray Bullets” and even “Watchmen” itself. Twisty, mind-bending psychedelia, “The Multiversity” is pure comics.
Let me be abundantly clear: I don't care about football. I really don't. I cared about the characters, settings and storylines of NBC's excellent “Friday Night Lights” because it merely used high school football as a vehicle to tell the tales of the residents of Dillon, Texas. “Scalped” writer Jason Aaron and “Spider-Gwen” co-creator Jason Latour have achieved the HBO equivalent of the beloved Peter Berg/Jason Katims drama. While centered around the Fightin' Rebels of Craw County, Alabama, the series' first two arcs, collected in the new “Southern Bastards: Deluxe Hardcover Volume 1” feels more like “Justified” than “Rudy,” telling the tale of the aforementioned County and the rise to power of the once-bullied and abused Coach Euless Boss to corrupt, absolute power. It's “Walking Tall” meets “Sons of Anarchy” as written by Paul Thomas Anderson. It's beautiful and graceful in its violence and cruelty.
“The Private Eye,” by “Saga” and “Y: The Last Man” writer/co-creator Brian K. Vaughan and former “Amazing Spider-Man” artist Marcos Martin is collected in hardcover for the first time after a successful run online. In a near-future world, everyone has a secret identity after the colossal failure of the Internet and examines how our tech-fixated descendants struggle to maintain anonymity in a world where there is literally almost none. And that's when the murders start. Part “Chinatown,” part “Blade Runner” and all heart, this innovative series is just what the doctor ordered as an antidote - nay, an alternative - to the average, everyday headline.
And there you have it. 2015 was a fascinating, weird and wild time for comic book fans, and what's here is some of the best stuff that the fan in your life may just not have yet. So go ahead, surprise them this holiday season. As one of their loved ones, giving the proper gift is in your power. And you know what they say about power and responsibility.
Happy holidays, all!
-Kevin M. Brettauer
