Doug: I'm always surfing around on Amazon.com for some trade paperback goodness, and lately I've spied a volume here or there that's caught my attention. A few weeks ago I also made a quick stop at our local Barnes & Noble and was excited to see a couple of books on the shelves of which I'd not previously heard. So today is just a public service announcement of sorts -- whether you want to make your Christmas list, or just spoil yourself, here are some great books to think about.
You can do the price comparing on your own from your favorite retailer.Doug: I'm juiced for the new series of Batman hardcovers. Recently I reviewed Batman #237 and used the Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams hardcover for the art scans. Now the Dark Knight's other 1970's artists are getting some love. Be on the look-out for:
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan Volume I ($39.99 and shipped on August 23, 2011)
Legends of the Dark Knight: Marshall Rogers ($49.99 and ships on November 22, 2011)
Tales of the Batman: Don Newton ($39.99 and ships on December 20, 2011)
Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Volume I ($29.99 and ships on April 10 2012)
The Batman Files ($100 and shipped on October 25, 2011) -- If you've not heard of this, it looks pretty cool. You can go to Amazon and see several interior pages. It's done up to the effect that it's a government or police dossier on all things Dark Knight. There are facsimile newspapers and magazines, blueprints, plans for the Batmobile, etc. It's a huge, faux-leather book; pricey yes, but discounted if you look around.
Doug: We love teenaged heroes around here. How about --
New Teen Titans: Games by Wolfman and Perez ($24.99 and shipped on September 27, 2011) -- This is an all-new graphic novel but of the Titans at the height of their popularity by their all-time great creative team.The Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse by Levitz and Giffen ($49.99 and shipped on October 25, 2011) -- I own the deluxe edition of "The Great Darkness Saga", and it's a really nice book -- huge! I'm sure this one will not disappoint, either.
Legion of Super-Heroes Archive Volume 13 ($59.99 and ships on March 27, 2012) -- As I'd said earlier, I'm stoked for this one. I have the first 12 volumes, and there's no sense in leaving a hole in the set.
Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth Omnibus Volume I by Jack Kirby ($49.99 and shipped on October 4, 2011) -- I had a buddy who had a few issues of this when I was little, but I never had any. I will say that I found this whole concept a bit interesting when Kamandi guested in a Superman/Batman tpb I read.
Doug: Also from or about DC Comics --
The Jack Kirby Omnibus Volume I (featuring the King's version of Green Arrow, 1959-style!) ($49.99 and shipped on August 9, 2011) -- This is a Kirby DC collection I'd be inclined to check out.
Aquaman: Death of the Prince ($29.99 and shipped on July 5, 2011) -- Not an Aquaman fan, but the Aparo art alone makes this intriguing.
The Art of Joe Kubert ($39.99 and shipped on October 31, 2011) -- Master.
The Art of George Perez ($49.99 and ships on January 10, 2012) -- Ditto.
Doug: And what, you didn't think I'd been shopping for the House of Ideas??
Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus ($125 and shipped on April 27, 2011)
The Spider-Man Vault - A Museum in a Book ($49.95 and shipped on October 4, 2011)
Doug: I'm sure there is plenty more Marvel stuff out there this season -- the Marvel Firsts: the 1970's volumes I and II come to mind, but it seemed to be the DC products that really caught my eye. Anyway, happy shopping! If you have a particular fave that I didn't mention, help a brother out and leave a comment.
Man, I need to win the lottery. Most of those selections look great. Since I almost never buy new comics, most of my tiny disposable income can go towards trade paperbacks, or the occasional back issue at the LCS.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time some of that Aparo goodness on Aquaman and Batman is finally getting quality reprint treatment. And I'm elated to see that the Batman stories by the almost criminally underrated Don Newton are finally being collected.
ReplyDeleteBut, those are some hefty price-tags. If I ever do get around to buying these, it will probably be sometime next year when they start appearing on e-bay or similar venues at really high discounts...
Edo -
ReplyDeleteI decided to pre-order the Aparo Batman book from Amazon. They are listing the MSRP now as $50 and the discount was down to $19 and some change. It's not going to ship for several months, but if it's true that the list price is going to be that much higher, I wanted to lock in the $19. Check it out if you want!
Doug
On my Yahoo Captain Action group emails, someone (perhaps Amazon..?) is listing that Kirby book for $9.99.. Not sure how limited time that was, but you should check.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I LOVED that 'Spiderman Vault' book, just for the blown up comic panels and ALL the vintage merchandise pics. Beautiful book, it's much better than the rather-OK Marvel Vault Museum a few years back, which I picked up for $6 or something..
BTW, the Spiderman Vault books were also discounted down to $15 at B&N.
Love ALL these marvelous books, especially now when I'm starting to sell off my vintage Marvel comics to buy up the Masterworks series and/or DVD collections.
(...will have to reinforce all my library shelving again.)
I already picked up the "New Teen Titans: Games" book bout a month ago. Still haven't read it though.
ReplyDeleteI paid $15.99 on Amazon and it's currently going for $14.21 new. (Sucks for me). Looks like a great book. Artwork is beautiful. I plan to read finally read it this weekend.
I recently bought and read Teen Titans:Games and I liked it. Usually $25 is alot for me to spend on one book, but I love the 80s Perez/Wolfman Titans, so I splurged and picked it up. I'd love to discuss "Games" sometime, if enough posters have read it.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Aparo Batman and Aquaman, and interested to see Newton's work collected. I'd like to pick up the Kamandi omnibus, but I have a number of the old issues, so the price is a bit high now. Our comic stores often do a boxing day sale, so that might be the time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Aparo tip, Doug!
Doug,
ReplyDeletethanks for the tip, but even with that discount it's still pretty costly for me (remember, I'm in Europe now, so I have to factor in much higher postage charges). That's why I mentioned ebay and the various online used book sites - at least once a week I do searches for titles I'm interested in buying just to find those great deals, i.e. an otherwise $20-30 book being offered for $5-6. You'd be surprised at how many times I've gotten lucky...