You’ve made your list. Maybe.
You’ve checked it twice. Unlikely.
No worries. Biff Bam Pop! has got your back.
Over the past week or so, you’ve probably noticed our columns dedicated to gift ideas – the good gifts you give to family and friends during the great holiday season of December.
From music to toys to video games, we’ve got you covered with ideas that any pop culture enthusiast in your life will enjoy.
But no gift-giving list is complete without entries that include the most outstanding comic books you could ever wrap up with a bow. I’m specifically talking about the almighty comic book compilation: the hardcover and softcover tomes released by publishers this past calendar year, full of action, adventure, horror and pathos—perfect reading for the couch on a late-December day…or night.
In this first part of our comic book compilation gift guide series, we’ll look at some hefty offerings from the DC Comics stable of high-priced omnibus books. Don’t worry, we’ll have a list of more affordable, and no less excellent, books shortly. But let’s start with the biggies, shall we? Comic books that any genre reader or comic book enthusiast would assuredly love!
Here we go!
Jonah Hex All-Star Western Omnibus
One of the great titles that came out of the DC Comics “New 52” reboot in 2011 was Jonah Hex: All-Star Western. Written by comic book legends Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, with art by the outstanding Moritat, the monthly comic book series borrowed the famed “All-Star Western” banner, first published in 1951 and again in the early 1970s. It always featured the comic book publisher’s western-themed, American-frontier characters (such as Jonah Hex, Johnny Thunder, Scalphunter, and even real-life figures like Davy Crockett and Billy the Kid) in hard-hitting, entertaining stories of justice, crime, and racism.
With Jonah Hex: All-Star Western, the creators featured the most popular DC western character in Hex and took him through adventures in Old-West Gotham City. The great thing about the series was that, contrary to nearly all modern comic book publications, each monthly issue was a throwback to the time of the standalone story – and boy, were they great!
Finally, after over a decade of waiting, readers can finally get their hands on the just-released Jonah Hex: All-Star Western Omnibus hardcover compilation that collects the entire series of thirty-four issues in 1,064 glorious gun-toting, hot-lead pages – at a price point near $100. It’s perfect reading for the western-genre lover in your life.
You can order Jonah Hex: All-Star Western Omnibus here.
The Spectre By John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake Omnibus Vol. 1
Let’s turn to horror now, shall we?
Released last month, The Spectre By John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake Omnibus Vol. 1 is a wonderfully terrifying 800-page collection of the highly regarded monthly comic book series of the 1990’s. Interestingly, this Spectre series (the character’s publication history goes back to 1940) was released under the mainstream DC Comics banner – and not the more mature Vertigo publication banner that was prevalent for mature, chiefly horror, titles at the time. But that didn’t stop Ostrander and Mandrake for pushing the limits of mainstream tastes!
The Spectre is a divine agent of an all-powerful and brutal brand of justice, battling against serial killers and demons and, perhaps most importantly, caught between human ethics and morals.
This first volume, priced near $100, collects the first thirty-one issues of the series alongside some bonus material. It’s riveting reading that stands the test of time – as fascinating, important and enjoyable today as it first was over thirty years ago!
You can order The Spectre By John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake Omnibus Vol. 1 here.
Shade the Changing Man By Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo Omnibus Vol. 1
Well, speaking of Vertigo Comics and their offerings of mature, sophisticated stories and art during the last decade of the twentieth century, Shade The Changing Man was one of that publishing line’s OGs.
Written by plucked-from-England, Peter Milligan, and kinetically illustrated by young upstart , Chris Bachelo, who would go on to work a hall-of-fame comic book career, Shade was a hallucinatory, sci-fi trip that showcased the madness of Americana. From abject violence to gross consumerism to transgenderism and the politics of all these things and more, the series was ahead of its time, a spotlight and riveting treatise on everything you see in headline news today.
It was always one of the all-time great Vertigo Comic book titles, a story that could only be published under that banner, finally released in the wonderful hardcover omnibus format this past summer.
At near $100, the Shade the Changing Man By Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo Omnibus Vol. 1 is theperfect gift to give someone deeply interested in the cultural zeitgeist of our times! (Or just loves a maddeningly good and trippy cross-country romp by three disparate and altogether fascinating characters).
You can order Shade the Changing Man By Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo Omnibus Vol. 1 here.
John Constantine Hellblazer By Jamie Delano Omnibus Vol. 2
In last year’s Holiday Gift Guide, we highlighted the first terrifically horrific volume of a classic late 80’s early 90’s groundbreaking comic book series for the mature reader. This year, we can’t speak highly enough of the second and final edition of John Constantine: Hellblazer By Jamie Delano Omnibus Vol. 2.
John Constantine: Hellblazer was the first and longest-running comic book series from DC Comics to utilize the Vertigo Comics brand name. The character originated within the pages of Swamp Thing but would go on to blazed new trails in horror storytelling, chiefly under the pen of writer Jamie Delano, who brought a punk-political sensibility to the character. More than just fighting against demons and the eternal flames of hell, Delano’s Constantine also fought against the horrors of mankind with this particular omnibus including the highly regarded The Family Man storyline, where everyone’s favourite bastard-protagonist is caught in a game of cat and mouse with a serial killer, as well as a terrifying human tale where he must confront both himself and the remembrance of his stillborn twin brother.
The 960-pages compilation of Jamie Delano’s multi-year late 80s-early 90s run on the title includes special publications where the writer triumphantly returned to the character he molded like the dark and moving The Horrorist and the Bad Blood special. It also includes a whole bloody host of behind-the-scenes offerings.
At less than $100, the John Constantine: Hellblazer By Jamie Delano Omnibus Vol. 2 hardcover compilation is the perfect gift for lovers of the horror genre as well as literary observations on the dark side of humanity.
You can order John Constantine Hellblazer By Jamie Delano Omnibus Vol. 2 here.
These four selections give you a good start as we head through the second week of December and into the second-last weekend of holiday shopping. We’ll be with you again in a few days where we highlight more curated comic book offerings, with many of them more moderately priced.
See you soon for our upcoming Holiday Gift Guide 20025: Comic Book Compilations – Part 2!
