If you haven’t browsed through our Holiday Gift Guide 2024: Comic Book Compilations – Part 1 or our Holiday Gift Guide 2024: Comic Book Compilations – Part 2 just yet, take a peek before you head out on your next gift buying shopping excursion. Time is at a premium, after all, and those list will help you save some of it for the obligatory caffeine fix your body will soon crave.
Of course, there’s always this column, the third and final installment of our comic book related gift guide. This particular one showcases two offerings with distinct science fiction and, more interestingly, musical themes.
Let’s take a look now, so you can save time later!
Lifehouse H/C
Published by Image Comics at the beginning of this year, the sci-fi Lifehouse actually has its origins in the late 1960s and early 1970s – and in a completely different genre: rock music.
Lifehouse was first conceived as a rock opera by The Who guitarist and songwriter, Pete Townsend, as a follow up to the band’s now classic Tommy. Fans of The Who know the story. The rest of us have this very concise abstract: Townsend, his head brimming with ideas full of music and its power, conceived Lifehouse as a science fiction tale set in a dystopian future where the world has been ravaged by pollution and, even worse, a lack of electric guitar music. Songs were crafted for the opera but the project failed to materialize. Many of those tunes would find themselves on the brilliant Who’s Next album, released in 1971, including huge rock hits like “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,”and “Love Ain’t For Keeping,” among others. The music was most assuredly there – the rest of the story and perhaps the final physical push to get it done, a little less so.
Still, the Lifehouse ideas simmered and the story continued to beckon over the decades, finally pointing to a different art form: the comic book graphic novel.
Taking Pete Townsend’s original story, the writer/artist team of David Hine, James Harvey and Max Prentis drove Lifehouse to sci-fi extremes and created a wonderous work of art. Here is a dark future where humanity lies under the weight of a tyrannical government. But, like Townsend’s original flourish: only music can save!
The Lifehouse H/C graphic novel is a perfect, must-have read for lovers of science fiction or for any The Who or rock music fan or historian. Read it while listening to the Who’s Next album and get the full, soul-lifting, experience. Brilliant.
The Singularity TPB
From one musical piece to another.
Also published by Image Comics earlier this year, The Singularity graphic novel is a companion piece to a rock opera album, created by the award-winning and world-renowned film, television and video game composer, Bear McCreary (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica, The Human Target and many others).
The Singularity is a science fiction tale of immortality, where one man is born, again and again, across multiple universes. The one constant is his varied experiences is a mysterious figure who might hold the reason for his seemingly cursed existence – and the means of escaping it.
Jumping from McCreary’s story, writer Mat Groom and a host of accomplished artists tell a colourful, harrowing and emotionally impactful tale that will engross those who love art, music and literature. The Singularity music, on the other side of the artistic coin, makes for an added layer of enjoyment when listened to while reading the graphic novel. On that concept album, McCreary’s score is accompanied by other great musicians from a broad swath of musical genres including Rufus Wainwright, Slash, Joe Satriani, Serj Tankian and many others.
The Singularity is a riveting art piece, whether in graphic novel or musical form – or, even better, both, simultaneously. It would make a wonderful gift for the special reader – or listener – in your life this holiday season.
And that closes another year of holiday shopping, gift giving ideas, in the comic book compilation realm. Hopefully you’ve found something in these lists that will aid you in your bookstore or comic book shop hunt.
Until next year, best wishes over the holiday season – and happy comic book reading to you and yours!
