Markley’s Fevered Brain: Ho Ho Holiday

Wayne Markley

Wayne Markley


by Wayne Markley

Since Thanksgiving is this week and the holidays are coming very soon, between two to four weeks depending on your believes, I thought I would make some suggestions for holidays reading for your family, friends, or even yourself. Some of these books are brand new and some of them are from years past but are still great gifts. Some of these books I have discussed in the past but they still hold up and make a great gift. I have tried to offer a broad selection for all age groups and a wide variety of material for a number of different types of fans.

Bone Vol. 1

Bone Vol. 1


Bone has been a best seller for a number of years now and it is still one of the best books for young adults and maybe even younger readers. It is a fantasy adventure story about three Bone cousins and their misadventures and quest to help the beautiful Thorn. These stories by Jeff Smith have only gotten better over time as the current versions from Scholastic are in full color and span nine volumes. There is also a complete omnibus with the entire saga in glorious color for a hefty price if you really want to spoil someone. While Bone has been a best seller to younger readers, it really is perfect for readers of any age. It is filled with charm and wit and the storytelling is both whimsical and fascinating. Each page leads the reader and the Bone boys on new adventures. There are also a number of other books that tie into the Bone series, such as Tall Tales, Rose, and Quest for the Spark (a trilogy of prose novels written by Tom Sniegoski with art by Jeff Smith).

Rip Kirby

Rip Kirby


Rip Kirby combines of two of my favorite things, detective stories and newspaper strips. Rip Kirby was a creation of the master Alex (Secret Agents X-9, Flash Gordon) Raymond. This daily is a thinking man’s strip where the stories are globetrotting, complex, the pacing is lightning fast, and the art is breathtaking. It is a daily only strip, no Sundays, so the entire run is in black and white. IDW has done an amazing job of reprinting the strip. They did four volumes collecting the complete work of Alex Raymond (from its start in 1947), and have also done three volumes collecting the strips by John Prentice who took over the strip when Alex Raymond was killed in a car accident. Prentice was already assisting Raymond at the time of his death so he was a logical replacement and the art in the early volumes looks just like Raymond. In the later volumes (seven for example), Prentice slowly moves into his own style, which is almost as good as Raymond, and far better than most anyone else. The stories were all written by Fred Dickerson, for both Raymond and Prentice, so that aspect did not miss a beat. It is also interesting to note that the great Al Williamson was an assistant to Prentice and did a number of these strips. There are seven volumes so far and there is an eighth volume scheduled for the Spring which would bring the reprinting of the strip up to 1967. Any of these handsome volumes would make a perfect gift.

Nancy

Nancy


Fantagraphics is slowly collecting all of Ernie Bushmiller’s daily Nancy newspaper strips. There are three volumes so far collecting the complete run from 1943-1951. Nancy is a strip for all ages and it is a charming and almost surreal strip at times. Bushmiller’s style can seem stark and even awkward at times but the more one reads of these strips, the more you get sucked into her world. The gags are at times painful and at other times they are so creative you wonder where Bushmiller ever got the idea from. Nancy has a worldwide cult following (headed by Denis Kitchen), and the strip can be off putting at first, but I strongly encourage you to pick up one of the three volumes as they are sure to bring a smile to anyone’s face, or even your own.

Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 20

Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 20


I have highly recommended the Marvel Epic Collections for some time know. Recently, Marvel has ended the Essential series and it looks like they are also ending the paperback Masterworks. Fortunately, with the Epic Collections, Marvel is offering a wide selection of their classic material in affordable, full color, massive (generally 20 issues per collection) trades. The Epic Collections are numbered series reprinting all of the material in sequence. For example Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 20 collects most of Walt Simonson’s Fantastic Four, issues #334-346. Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 1 collects the first 20 issues of the Fantastic Four. Over time, volumes 2 through 19 will reprint Fantastic Four issues #21 through #333. So over time, these Epic collections will reprint complete runs of all of their major characters. These books are large, with bright white paper, great coloring, and extras that make these a great package. I would also be remiss if I did not mention the package design which is also top notch and looks great on anyone’s book shelf. So far Marvel has done Epic Collections of Fantastic Four, Avengers, Moon Knight, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man, and coming soon are Wolverine and the X-Men.

Walt Disney's Donald Duck Christmas Treasury Gift Box Set

Walt Disney’s Donald Duck Christmas Treasury Gift Box Set


Walt Disney’s Donald Duck Christmas Treasury Gift Box Set collects two volumes from the Complete Carl Bark’s Disney Library and sticks them in a beautiful slipcase making for a wonderful Christmas gift. You get two volumes of Carl Bark’s Donald Duck hardcovers, which are pieces of joy to read and look at, as Barks material is reprinted the way it was meant to be, on white paper with great coloring and all sorts of extras, in a stunning hardcover format. The lead stories in these two volumes are the classics, Christmas on Bear Mountain and A Christmas for Shacktown. In addition to these full length epics there are numerous short stories and gags all by Carl Barks to round out each collection. As I mentioned in my last blog while talking about Don Rosa, Carl Bark’s was Rosa’s idol, and these books show why. Barks was, without a question, a genius and was the biggest influence on the history of the Disney Ducks. After all, he did create Uncle Scrooge, Gyro Gearloose, and many other charters. This two volume set is a perfect gift or a reader of any age, young or old alike, and the packaging screams Christmas. (Editorial note: Christmas on Bear Mountain is a real treasure as it features the introduction of Scrooge McDuck.)

The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories

The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories


The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories edited by Craig Yoe is a great present for any comic book fan. In this deluxe hardcover collection, Yoe has cherry picked the very best Christmas stories from over the years (mostly the 1940s and 1950s), and put them all into one full color hardcover. In these pages you will find everything from Walt (Pogo) Kelly’s Santa Claus stories to classics by John Stanley. There are 21 stories in these 178 pages and all of them are filled with Christmas cheer. It is impossible to read this book and not find yourself in the Christmas spirit by the time you are done, which is just one of the reasons that this book makes such a great gift.

Everything I have listed here are my chooses for holiday gifts. I would gladly give any of these books to any one of my co-workers at Westfield. But, saying that, everything I have written here is my opinion and does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics. I welcome comments or suggestions for other gift suggestions. What do you think of what I have recommended? Any and all thoughts are welcome at MFBWAY@AOL.COM.

Thank you.

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