The DC Fan's Essential Holiday Shopping List 2016
If you're a DC fan, the publisher (and its other multimedia arms, but let's focus on comics, just [...]
If you're a DC fan, the publisher (and its other multimedia arms, but let's focus on comics, just this once, okay?) has made this year easier than ever for you to to do your holiday shopping.
At least for yourself. But let's be honest: most of us spend the holiday shopping season trying to figure out what we can get somebody, and using "what would I want?" as a barometer for our success.
And now that we're about halfway through the holiday shopping season (that's two weeks after Thanksgiving and two weeks before Christmas and Hannukah), it seemed like a kind of now-or-never time to do this.
So we took a spin through DC's Holiday Gift Guide (plus threw in a few suggestions of our own) to come up with an essential DC holiday shopping list for the year.
What do we want in our super-stockings? Read on, and comment with your favorite gift ideas we missed below.
DC Universe: Rebirth #1 Deluxe Edition
Earlier this year, DC rebranded its entire publishing line with DC Universe: Rebirth.
With the tantalizing promise of a showdown with the characters of Watchmen down the line and a return to greatness for titles like Superman and Batman who had spent the last 18 months or so wandering without a status quo, Rebirth probably would have been a big hit even if the one-shot that kicked it off weren't one of the best comics the publisher had released in years.
But it was -- and now just in time for the holidays, you can get a copy in hardcover, with extra commentary and process art in the back.
prevnextSuicide Squad: Extended Cut
This writer is partial to Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice over Suicide Squad, but since that Blu-ray has been available for months, it seems likely that anybody who wants it, has it.
Meanwhile, Suicide Squad is a brand-new release, dropped square in the middle of the holiday shopping season. If you know somebody who doesn't really read comics, but always enjoys the big summer blockbusters they spawn, this is the gift for you!
prevnextWatchmen
This season, DC has reissued Watchmen, the seminal classic from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, in hardcover -- but unlike anything they've done before.
This time, it's a slipcase collection of 12 oversized hardcovers, each collecting one of the individual issues (remember: Watchmen was only a "graphic novel" after the fact).
What looks like -- and to some extent, is -- an unseemly double-dip on the surface is actually a stunning package. Criticisms of the practice ignore the fact that there is an audience for this kind of content.
And it isn't just like a variant cover -- for which there is an audience, but the added value to the average consumer is fairly small. These reissues give the sort of fans who buy IDW's Artist Editions an opportunity to examine some of their favorite comics texts in an entirely new way.
There's an argument to be made that this shouldn't be done with Watchmen in particular due to the decades of arguing with Moore about the rights. That's certainly an understandable position. But if you're not dead-set against it, you ought to own this.
prevnextSuper-Pets
There are a new line of stuffed animals out this year -- including a Bane teddy bear (complete with unitard and luchador mask) and a laughing fish toy based on those old Jerry Robinson Joker covers -- that you can get for the special child in your life...
...although the fish are pretty creepy. So only get those if you want to scare the child in your life.
prevnextDarwyn Cooke Toys
One of the coolest things about toys in the age of the collector's market is that their quality is, overall, so high that they can exist both as playthings and as low-cost statuettes.
That's certainly the case with this year's beautifully-crafted batch of superhero toys -- Catwoman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and the John Stewart Green Lantern -- based on the designs of the late Darwyn Cooke.
So if that "special kid in your life" is maybe a little bit older and can appreciate these -- or if you're buying for your friendly neighborhood dude who writes for a comic book website -- these are a safe bet.
prevnextDC Superhero Girls
The DC Superhero Girls brand has been a massive success. The toys, DVDs, clothing, and more, earned more than $1 billion much faster than anybody thought possible and have changed a lot of the conversation about "what girls will buy" in the superhero marketplace.
And, yes, they're all still available at Christmastime. There's a DVD, a graphic novel, a whole bunch of comics, and more toys than you know what to do with.
"Someone like Harley, she doesn't have all those experiences that led her to be a villain," writer Shea Fontana told ComicBook.com about the first graphic novel, DC Super Hero Girls: Finals Crisis. "Now she has a really supportive group of friends at High School and how does that change her? How does that make her a better person? Instead of choosing to be a villain, she's choosing to be a hero."
prevnextBatman By Snyder & Capullo
You knew this was coming.
The Batman By Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo softcover slipcase is probably not the best possible way you can get these -- we always love a good hardcover -- but it will likely be the nicest way to get a cool, consistent trade dress with DC's post-Rebirth logo on it and all that good stuff for the just-ended "New 52" run of Batman.
This is the latest in a run of new trade paperbacks that collect great runs of comics by putting the creators' names up top, released alongside things like Mark Waid's The Flash and Geoff Johns's Green Lantern.
prevnextOdds and ends
There are plenty more cool things in DC's official holiday gift guide, including the trade paperback collection The Adventures of Supergirl, which collects the digital-first series set in the world of the Supergirl TV series.
For you Arkham fans -- we know you're out there -- there are some toys hitting stores around this time, including our personal favorite, a Batgirl/Oracle two-pack that allows you go celebrate both versions of Barbara Gordon.
prev