We’re a few days closer to the holidays and we’re all hurriedly crossing off items on our gift-giving lists.
But with only one more weekend of shopping ahead of us, there are, invariably, items left to be purchased or (aghast!) blank spaces left beside the names of friends and loved ones.
Fear not! If you’re a reader of Bif Bam Pop!, you’re definitely into pop culture. And it stands to reason that you’ve got pals (or family) in your circle that are also into pop culture. And if you’re reading this column, you must be into comic books, too. So why not get that loved one in your life one or two of the coolest comic books available? You know. Something they’ll be excited to read over the holiday season or when they get some well-deserved downtime from a certainly hectic end-of-year schedule.
Over the last two weeks, we’ve given you two great installments of our Holiday Gift Guide 2025, dedicated to comic book collections. Part one can be found here, while part two can be found here.
At last, we come to part three, where we list comic book collections dedicated to those who not only love great comic books, but also love great cartoons!
The shopping clock is ticking – let’s have at it!
The Transformers Compendium Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
Those of us who are of a certain age will distinctly remember running home from elementary school in the mid-1980s to plop ourselves down in front of the television and tune in to The Transformers cartoon.
What a great premise for wide-eyed kids: duelling sentient robot cultures that destroy their own world, then find their way across the galaxy to find modern earth and rekindle their hatred of each other, hiding… nay…transforming…into human technological constructs like cool cars and wicked airplanes and then back to their original robotic selves again. With more than meets the eye, mankind was woefully stuck in the middle of an age-old war!
Autobots! Decepticons! Ravage…eject!
OK. I’ll try to simmer down my latent boyish enthusiasm for a moment or two.
Alongside the cartoon, Marvel Comics published The Transformers monthly series, and any fan of the animated version was also a fan of the four-colour series. Earlier this year, Skybound/Image Comics released trade paperbacks of The Transformers Compendium, Vols. 1 and 2, collecting the original mid-80’s publications.
With each volume numbering nearly 1,200 pages and costing approximately $85, the two volumes of The Transformers Compendium collect the entire 80-issue Marvel Comics run. One or both would make for a perfect gift for a comic book or cartoon lover in your life! Roll out to your local comic book shop or bookstore and grab them a copy!
G.I. Joe Compendium Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
Speaking of running home from school and turning on the TV, along with mentions of cartoons and compendiums, Skybound/Image Comics has recently published the latest installment of the G.I. Joe comic book archives, initially released by Marvel Comics in the 1980s.
Why Skybound/Image Comics and not Marvel?
Well, Skybound/Image has the licensing rights to both the G.I. Joe franchise and the previously mentioned The Transformers franchise…and they’ve successfully joined them in a shared universe with various comic book titles over the last few years.
With the release of the G.I. Joe Compendium Vol. 2 (joining Vol. 1, which was published late last year), Skybound/Image Comics has now collected the first 76 issues of the acclaimed original comic book series along with several specials and one-offs over two books, each with close to 1,200 pages and only at a price point of about $65!
Yo Joe! That’s a lot of exciting reading for a great price!
Not only were we kids glued to our TV sets after school watching America’s greatest heroes keep the world safe from the Cobra terrorist organization each day, but we were also avidly reading those original comics – and then talking about them at recess! It was the comics that focused on favourite characters like Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow and their mysteriously tangled origins – something that every fan of G.I. Joe wanted to know more of!
Now it’s your turn to be a real hero!
Your comic book and/or cartoon loving friend or family member, nostalgic for their youth or just looking for a great pop culture read, will love either (or both) of these two books wrapped up for them this holiday season.
Adventure Time Vol.1 and Vol. 2 (and 3)
Let’s turn to a more modern animated series, but one no less beloved than the other two mentioned in this column.
I’m talking about the Adventure Time cartoon series, and its comic book cousin, the Adventure Time Compendium Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (and a heads up with Vol. 3 set to be published at the end of this month).
Adventure Time is like a 9-year-old’s fever-driven dream take on Dungeons & Dragons, Calvin & Hobbes, and Peter Pan, set in a skewered McDonald’s playland. No, that’s not quite right. But maybe it’s a start.
More to the point, Adventure Time is both funny and fun! If you’ve ever watched the cartoon, you’ll know that. It’s got (like all great modern cartoons) nods and winks to things that only adults would recognize or have experienced, and crazed, silly fun that all the more youthful kids adore.
The comic book compendiums are no different: here you’ll find our main protagonists, Finn and Jake, along with other characters you know and love and still more that you’ll meet for the first time in a whole series of wacky, fun, funny and, most importantly, heart-warming adventures.
The two (and third on its way) Adventure Time Compendium tomes run 688 pages long (Vol. 1), 576 pages long (Vol. 2) and 640 pages long (Vol. 3) and cost anywhere from $30-$60. Money well spent for the laughs and sheer enjoyment any-age reader will get from poring through these books this holiday season!
Well, that concludes this third part of our Holiday Gift Guide 2025 Comic Book Compilations entries. Certainly, there’s enough cool fodder here to get you scribbling titles down on your gift-giving list.
Still, just in case, we’ve got one more comic book compilation entry to go this holiday season. See you again in a few days with some spooky, old-timey – but modern – takes on some of our fall-time favourite monsters!
