Comics For Christmas!

In a Ninth Art exclusive, Santa, the holiday season's answer to Alan Moore, gives you his suggestions for the perfect comics to buy your family as Christmas gifts this year!
19 November 2001

Oh bloody hell. Is it that time of year again?

Hello children! My calendar tells me we're barely a month from Christmas, the Christian holiday that celebrates alcohol in all its many forms. That means it's time for you to start thinking about presents, even though you'll still probably end up rushing around at the last minute trying to get everything before the shops shut.

Those nice people at Ninth Art (I've checked my list, and for the most part they have been nice this year, if you ignore the incident in Tijuana after the San Diego comic convention) have asked me to make a few suggestions for those of you who may be struggling for ideas.

Now, comics make excellent presents, because they're rectangular, and therefore very easy to wrap. They also fit nicely into your suitcase for when you're travelling home. Plus, if you get everyone comics, you can do all your shopping one store! And you don't need to worry that they already have it, because let's face it, who reads comics? Ha!

OK, so you may be nervous about buying comics for someone who doesn't usually read them, or someone who isn't likely to ever want to visit a comic shop, but have faith. You're not trying to convert anyone to a new way of life; you're just opening them up to a different form of entertainment. If you pick the right book for the right person - which is what I'm here to help you do - your loved ones should be pleasantly surprised by what they discover. After all, if it weren't for experimentation at Christmas time, they might never have invented brandy butter.

Besides, if you don't buy them comics, not only might they never discover them, but also they'll end up getting ugly sweaters that don't fit, or the same CD from three different people. So listen to Santa. Buy comics.

Now, dads are always hard to buy for, but in comics it seems fatherly tastes are well catered for. SAFE AREA GORAZDE ($28.95, Fantagraphics), by journalist Joe Sacco, will appeal to any father or grandfather with an interest in history, war or current affairs. It's not fiction, it's Sacco's honest and intelligent first-hand account of war in Eastern Bosnia. Hugely acclaimed and highly absorbing, it's certainly substantial enough for your father to really get his teeth into.

In a similar vein, Jason Lutes' BERLIN: CITY OF STONES ($15.95, Drawn & Quarterly) is an excellent historical novel, telling the tale of Berlin between the world wars. BERLIN is peopled with complex and engaging characters, and Lutes' art tells a clear story that even a complete newcomer to the medium will be able to follow. The trade paperback is actually volume one of a planned trilogy, but it holds up as a work in its own right. The book's romantic and humanistic elements mean that it might also be a good choice for mum.

Historic novels are one option for the folks. Thrillers are another. The suspense-filled Antarctic murder mystery WHITEOUT ($11.95, Oni Press), by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, would make an excellent gift for either parent. It's a tense and dramatic book, with a strong female lead and exquisitely realistic and powerful art.

Or, you could combine murder and history with a book like TORSO ($24.95, Image), by Marc Andreyko and Brian Michael Bendis, or FROM HELL ($35, Eddie Campbell) by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. The former tells the nearly-true story of Eliot Ness' attempts to track down America's first serial killer, a concept that's sure to appeal to any crime story fan.

The latter, a work of speculative fiction based around the Jack the Ripper killings, has the advantage that even your mother has now heard of it thanks to the Johnny Depp movie. A brilliantly intricate period piece, FROM HELL is a challenging read that will stay with the reader a long time after they've put it down.

Another book for mum, in a very different vein, is MAIL ORDER BRIDE ($19.95, Fantagraphics) by Mark Kalesniko. It's a story of a woman brought over from Korea to be the wife of a lonely, pathetic toy store owner; of his fumbling attempts at romance, and of her desire to become a liberated woman. Long-suffering wives will certainly find plenty to enjoy in it.

Mothers and sisters may be gratifyingly surprised by the emotional impact that comics can have, and books like MAUS ($14, Random House) and PEDRO & ME ($15, Henry Holt) would be excellent choices to illustrate that power. MAUS is Art Spiegelman's famed Pulitzer-winning retelling of his father's experiences as a European Jew during the Second World War, in which Jews are portrayed as mice and Nazis are portrayed as cats. Intensely affecting, MAUS has a way of getting through to anyone, even if they haven't picked up a comic since they were a child.

PEDRO & ME is the true story of author Judd Winick's friendship with Pedro Zamora, whom he met when both were stars on a series of MTV's THE REAL WORLD. Zamora had AIDS, and the story follows the friendship from its inception through to Zamora's death and Winick's efforts to make sense of it. It'll go down especially well with anyone in your family who followed the TV series.

For kids, there are plenty of options available. Brothers of all ages would probably love PREACHER: GONE TO TEXAS ($14.95, DC Vertigo), Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's violent, witty and sacrilegious tale of a preacher who sets out on the road to find and kill God, accompanied by his gun-toting ex and an Irish vampire. Since GONE TO TEXAS is the first in nine volumes, it gives you something to buy your brother for the next few birthdays and Christmases too!

AUTHORITY: RELENTLESS ($17.95, DC Wildstorm) is also the first volume in a series, but so far only two trades have been released. Still, RELENTLESS works well enough on its own, since there's really not much of a grand arc to worry about. Rather, this is superheroics taken to an extreme that's sure to delight and deprave any adolescent. People get kicked, things explode, courtesy of writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch.

If you have a relative that loved the X-MEN movie, then another superhero book you might consider buying them is the fantastic first collection of NEW X-MEN ($12.95, Marvel), by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely and Ethan Van Sciver. In fact, Marvel's new trade policy has produced a whole shelf of works that will appeal to boys everywhere, including PUNISHER: WELCOME BACK FRANK ($24.95), again by Ennis and Dillon, and MARVEL BOY ($15.95), by Morrison and JG Jones.

For something less violent or bloody, perhaps for a younger sibling, you might want to consider the CrossGen fantasy books, such as SCION, MERIDIAN or MYSTIC ($19.95 each). These books have proved hugely successful outside of the standard comics reading audience, especially among female readers. If you really want to drag your kid sister into the world of comics, then swallow your own prejudices and make her a CrossGen reader!

Or, if you're going for younger still, the most obvious choice is THE POWERPUFF GIRLS ($1.99 per issue, DC Comics), based on the hit Cartoon Network series about three girl superheroes. There's no trade paperback, but for some kids a whole pile of back issues is a lot more fun than a bookshelf collection. Other Cartoon Network comics you might consider are DEXTER'S LABORATORY and COW AND CHICKEN. A mixed heap of that lot (and maybe a few copies of Bongo's SIMPSONS and FUTURAMA comics, $2.95 each) will be like a treasure trove on Christmas morning.

If you do want to buy a bookshelf comic though - perhaps even something that parents and kids can read together - there's a good few of those to choose from as well. Jill Thompson's LITTLE ENDLESS STORYBOOK ($5.95, DC Vertigo) may be based on Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN series, but they don't have to know that, and the art is absolutely wonderful. In fact, any of Jill Thompson's SCARY GODMOTHER books ($9.95-$19.95, Sirius), full of cutesy monsters and Halloween charm, would make for an excellent gift.

Then there's Renee French's beautiful and sensitive THE SOAP LADY ($19.95 Top Shelf), a story about friendships and goodbyes, the kid-friendly science of Jay Hosler's CLAN APIS ($15, Active Synapse), all about a clan of bees, or James Kochalka's absurd and entertaining MONKEY V ROBOT ($14.95, Top Shelf), in which monkeys... fight robots! These aren't books that kids just read once and forget. These are books that kids cling to, books that reward kids again and again. These are books that become a best friend for kids and parents alike.

Trust me on this. When it comes to Christmas presents, I'm an old hand.

(Special thanks to all Santa's little helpers, who provided Santa with information about the comics they're buying for their relatives this year. All of the bookshelf editions mentioned can be bought online from stores such as Mars Import and Amazon, often at a discount on the prices quoted. Please note that other religious festivals are also available.)

Santa Claus is a philanthropist and housebreaker, and a spokesman for the Coca-Cola Company.

Ninth Art endorses the principle of Ideological Freeware. The author permits distribution of this article by private individuals, on condition that the author and source of the article are clearly shown, no charge is made, and the whole article is reproduced intact, including this notice.