Comic Book Gift Guide 2013

It's that time of the year again for Collected Editions to offer my top trade paperbacks and graphic novel presents for you to give as gifts this holiday season. I think I've got a couple of winners here that'll make you a hit with your loved ones (or that you might want to snag for yourself!).

Of course, there's nothing I like less than using my holiday money on shipping, so once again I've got tips for how you can get three, even four or five books all with free shipping.

Don't miss my 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 lists for more great ideas. Happy gifting!

• JSA Omnibus Vol. 1 HC

The JSA Omnibus doesn't come out in time for the holidays, but I thought I'd mention that it's selling right now for almost 40% off. If you've had your eye on it (especially since the contents changed) or need to have a gift for your favorite comics fan in reserve, this is a good opportunity. Geoff Johns's tale of DC's Golden Age heroes training the new generation is some of my favorite of Johns's work.

Pair with anything else on this list -- the JSA Omnibus comes with free shipping, so you can order to your heart's content as long as you have this in your cart.

• Amazing Spider-Man (Little Golden Book)

Every year I like to include a couple items on the gift list, not too expensive, that you can use to pad out your order for free shipping, and then you can either give them to a young reader in your life or donate them to charity. This children's Spider-Man book is under $5.00 and written by Frank Berrios (former DC Comics editor), and it'd be a fun introduction to comics for a young reader.

Pair with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Monolith, Black Beetle, or Star Wars: Shadow of Yavin for free shipping.

• Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis TP

This might very well be my favorite Superman story (though Superman: Panic in the Sky is no slouch), and certainly with the Superman/Batman movie coming up, now's the time for every comics fan to get this in their collection. This three-part story heralded the beginning of the great Triangle Title days in 1990s Superman comics that also brought us "Death of Superman." A murder brings Batman to Metropolis just as Clark Kent himself is marked for death; it's a great mystery and also makes a landmark change in Superman and Batman's partnership by the end. If you or your favorite comics fan has not read this story, do yourself a favor and pick it up, a steal at under $10.

Pair with the Amazing Spider-Man Golden Book, Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Sonic/Mega Man, and Lazarus, and get five gifts for $35 with free shipping. Or, add something like the Al Jaffee biography or the Fables Encyclopedia and also get free shipping.

• Happy! Deluxe HC

I reviewed Grant Morrison's Image comic Happy! back in April, but it's really a Christmas story (of sorts), and Image has a deluxe edition just in time for the holidays, with ten pages of new material. Be warned, however -- I called Happy! a "demented" Christmas story in my review and I meant it. This is Christmas by way of a Quentin Tarantino movie, in which a hardened hitman hunts down a kidnapper in bloody fashion -- while accompanied by a bright blue cartoon horse. If your favorite comics fan takes their holidays a little less seriously, Happy! should make them, well, happy.

Pair with Lazarus (an equally bloody story) and then a book like March, Black Beetle, or Monolith for free shipping.

• Sandman Omnibus Vol. 1
• Sandman Omnibus Vol. 2

Both volumes of DC Comics/Vertigo's Sandman Omnibus are now available. They're about $100 each, but so pretty! Seriously, between these two books collects all seventy-five issues of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series; there's an Absolute edition out there, but for me, a two-volume omnibus is just more manageable. With Gaimain releasing a new Sandman story right now, this is the perfect time to get these collections for your favorite comics fan -- and think what a hero of the holiday you'll be when they unwrap these! (DC also just announced a Silver Edition of this, for the fan who already has everything else.)

Pair with anything on this list; each book comes with free shipping, so you can use these to secure free shipping for your entire order.

• Captain America, Vol. 1: Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection TP

The first trailers for Captain America 2: The Winter Solider are hitting the airwaves, and if you don't know it, your favorite comics fan does: the movie is based on a very popular storyline by fan-favorite writer Ed Brubaker. A few years ago Marvel released this Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection, which includes Brubaker's Captain America #1-14. This sizable volume will make a good impression on your favorite comics fan and help them gear up for the flick.

Pair with Happy! and the Amazing Spider-Man Little Golden Book for free shipping on your order.

• Black Beetle Vol. 1: No Way Out HC

Many of us fell in love with Francesco Francavilla's pulp artwork in his contributions to Batman: The Black Mirror, and I love seeing his designs on Twitter. Black Beetle started out as a webcomic of sorts on Francavilla's website; Dark Horse eventually picked up the series and now Francavilla is writing and drawing Black Beetle as an ongoing set of miniseries. This first collection has been in my "to read" pile for a week or so now; it collects Dark Horse's Black Beetle #0 and the first four-part story arc, "No Way Out." For the superhero or pulp fan that's mostly stuck with the mainstream, Black Beetle might be something for them to check out.

Pair Black Beetle with Monolith and Lazarus from Image and get your favorite comics fan some great "indie" comics with free shipping.

• Al Jaffee's Mad Life: A Biography

This biography of MAD's Al Jaffee came out a couple years ago, but I just stumbled upon it in a bookstore the other day. Anyone who's ever read MAD (or used to read MAD as a kid) knows Jaffee's work, from the MAD "fold-ins" to "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions" and plenty of bits in between. Though not a graphic novel, Jaffee illustrates this authorized biography by Mary-Lou Weisman, and it'd make a great companion gift for a long-time comics fan.

Pair with Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis for free shipping, or add Star Wars: Jedi Academy and Sonic/Mega Man to get free shipping and gifts for young and old on your list.

• Fables Encyclopedia HC

Bill Willingham has announced that he's bringing Fables to a close with issue #150, so if you're a Fables fan (and who isn't?) or know one, you might start feeling a bit nostalgic. DC Comics/Vertigo has just released the Fables Encyclopedia by writer and comics annotator Jess Nevins, who details the backgrounds of all the mythic and fairytale figures Willingham has used in his Fables saga. If you're in the mind to revisit Fables, this is the way to do it right.

Pair this with Lazarus and the Amazing Spider-Man Golden Book for free shipping; this reference book might also pair well with the Al Jaffee biography, with free shipping.

• March Book 1 TP

March is by congressman and civil rights figure John Lewis, and it begins to chronicle Lewis's life journey. The book is nonfiction, black and white, and part of a trilogy, so this is a great gift to get a comics fan who maybe hasn't read so many graphic novel bios, or even for a young adult reader who maybe likes comics a little better than other books, and then you have two more ready-made gifts available when the other parts come out.

Pair with Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis for a one-two superhero-nonfiction action, plus maybe something like Star Wars: Shadow of Yavin or Sonic/Mega Man, Jedi Academy, and the Spider-Man Golden Book for free shipping.

• Star Wars Vol. 1: In The Shadow of Yavin TP
• Star Wars: Jedi Academy HC

I thought the first collection of Brian Wood's new "classic era" Star Wars series was very good -- not perfect, but a great, faithful attempt at telling new Star Wars stories. I like movie-based Star Wars comics better than the ones set in the far-flung past or future, so Star Wars: In the Shadow of Yavin was just right for me. If you've got a Star Wars fan gearing up for the new movies, there's no question this should be in their collection.

Also out now is Jeffrey Brown's Star Wars: Jedi Academy. Brown is the author of the absolutely precious Star Wars cartoon books Darth Vader and Son and Vader's Little Princess. Jedi Academy is more a storybook/graphic novel than the comic strip humor of the previous books -- think Star Wars meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid, set at an intergalactic middle school.

Pair these two together for a Star Wars fan young and old (or a fan who's young at heart), plus something like the X-Files Season 10 collection for a bunch of media tie-ins and free shipping.

• Star Trek: The Stardate Collection, Volume 1

I like collections, obviously, and especially when there's a collection of unusual or unexpected materials, that piques my interest. IDW is about to release their first Star Trek: The Stardate Collection volume, which collects Star Trek comics from all different publishers, in their general "stardate" order. This first collection includes Star Trek: Crew from IDW, which precedes Captain Pike's tenure on the Enterprise (before Kirk's time), Alien Spotlight: Vulcans, also from IDW (a Pike/Spock adventure), and Early Voyages #1-6, a Pike series published by Marvel. I love this idea of trying to bring the disparate series from various publishers into "continuity," and I'm eager to see this collection series continue. A great gift for your favorite Star Trek fan. For fans of the new movies, I'd also recommend the newest volume of IDW's ongoing "new Trek" comic, Star Trek: After Darkness.

Pair with anything on this list. This book qualifies for free shipping on its own, so whatever else you pick up with it will ship free, too.

• Lazarus Volume 1 TP

I recently reviewed Greg Rucka and Michael Lark's Lazarus; I'm a fan of Rucka and Lark from their work on Gotham Central, and this new Image series doesn't disappoint. In a post-apocalyptic setting, various "families" negotiate both within and without for power and supplies, buffered by their invincible Lazarus assassins. It's as much an action comic as it is the kind of political procedural that Rucka is known for; this collection includes the first four issues for a very cheap price.

Pair with Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis, Sonic/Mega Man, Star Wars: Jedi Academy, and the Amazing Spider-Man Golden Book to get five gifts for $35 with free shipping. Or, a creator-owned book like Lazarus would pair well with Black Beetle and Monolith, also for free shipping.

• Monolith HC

Monolith collects issues from Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray's DC Comics series, now re-published by Image. Monolith is one of those books that received critical acclaim but didn't catch on enough to last, and I'm glad to see books like Monolith and Chase getting collections (still holding out for that Peyer/Morales Hourman collection). Though this book is a couple years old, it involves a modern take on the Jewish golem story, making it a perfect Hannukah gift, or simply an introduction to a great overlooked comics series.

Pair with Black Beetle and the Sonic/Mega Man crossover for free shipping, or add to the Al Jaffee biography also for free shipping.

• Sonic/Mega Man: Worlds Collide Vol. 1 TP

Regular Collected Editions writer Doug suggested this collection, which collects the first four parts of the Sonic/Mega Man crossover, with two more books scheduled for next year. Kids will like this one, but as Doug said, he's not even a video gamer and he enjoyed it. If your favorite comics fan is old enough to remember Sonic and Mega Man in their original heyday, this one will be a blast from the past, and makes a great stocking stuffer at less than $10.

Pair with the Spider-Man Golden Book and Star Wars: Jedi Academy for the young readers in your life, plus something like Happy! or Black Beetle and Lazarus to get five books with free shipping.

• X-Files Season 10 Volume 1

This has been a good year for media tie-in comics -- Ghostbusters relaunched, there's Smallville Season 11, a Heroes comic is coming, there's Brian Woods's new Star Wars, IDW's Star Trek comic picks up from the movies, and more -- and the one I've been most excited about is X-Files Season 10. Writer Joe Harris gets Chris Carter's blessing for these stories that take place after the second X-Files movie and cameos just about everyone you'd want to see in a new X-Files series. This is in stores in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Pair with Lazarus and Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis for a great trilogy of gifts, or grab X-Files and Happy! plus the Spider-Man Golden Book -- free shipping either way!

If you have more gift suggestions, I'm happy to hear them. Please let us all know in the comments section. (Special thanks to contributor Doug Glassman of Hell Yeah '80s Marvel! for his suggestions.) Collected Editions turned eight this year, and it never could have gone on so long without all the readers who support this site -- thank you, happy holidays, and happy new year!

(Lots of bloggers have affiliate links like the ones above, and when you do your holiday shopping after clicking these links, the blogger gets a few cents. This year, if you're buying gifts online, consider clicking on someone's link before you buy -- when I buy online, I always try to click through a blog before I do. There are lots of hard-working bloggers out there [see blogroll], and this is a great, easy way to support them. Thanks!)

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Comic Book Gift Guide 2012

The Collected Editions blog is back with our list of the top trade paperbacks and graphic novel gifts that'll make great presents this holiday season. If you've got a comics fan in your life and you don't know what to get them (or you're looking for a little something extra for yourself), here's my picks and some suggested by our Collected Editions readers.

And as always, I've got tips how you can get two or even three books for under $25 and $30 with free shipping, so you can get the most collected comics bang for your buck.

(Check out our 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 for more great ideas, too!)

* Saga Vol. 1

The first issue of Saga is free on the digital Comixology app, and I recommend anyone who’s on the fence about this book to read it. Brian K. Vaughan brought us Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina (and also some episodes of Lost), and Saga is the place to go when you’re done with those. Saga is part Star Wars-type alien sci-fi battles, part magic fantasy tale — definitely for mature audiences. Saga combines Vaughan’s trademark subversiveness with a surprising amount of heart; this one has my highest recommendation for the season. The first Saga collection is only ten bucks, and with Manhattan Projects and the first volume of Unwritten (both below), you can gift three collections for under $30 with free shipping.

* Building Stories

Just about every gift list you read is going to include Chris Ware’s Building Stories. More performance-art-in-the-privacy-of-your-own-home than “book,” the fourteen items within (book, pamphlet, magazine, comic strip, board game, etc.) tell the story of various residents of a Chicago apartment building. Read the pieces in any order, or find numerous discussions of the book online. For the comics fan who has everything, here’s one thing they’ll never have seen before. Building Stories is just under $30 with free shipping, so anything else on your list would ship free with it.

* A Tale of Sand

Archaia Entertainment publishes a number of Jim Henson books -- Muppets, Fraggle Rock, and such -- but this for-grownups graphic novel is based on one of Henson’s lost, unproduced screenplays, written before his Sesame Street work. As such, Tale of Sand gives great insight into Henson’s creative process and, as it’s mostly wordless, is also a surreal, interpretive visual feast. Archaia is known for their high-quality graphic novel printings. Add this to Unwritten and get two fantastical books for just over $25 with free shipping.

* Marvel Comics: The Untold Story

In my review, I called Sean Howe’s book a good but uncomfortable read. This will teach any fan -- whether of Marvel, DC, or other -- a lot about the comics industry, but the book is also filled with a lot of in-fighting, and a lot of bickering between some of the biggest names in comics. Everyone should read this (and then Howe should turn to DC Comics next), but prepare to be disillusioned. Pair with Saga and get two books and free shipping for just over $25, or with a book like Judas Coin for two books just under $30.

* The Judas Coin

This graphic novel emerged from DC Comics a little under the radar, maybe because no one was quite sure what to make of it. Walt Simonson’s Judas Coin is about a whole lot of things, from Batman to a future incarnation of Manhunter (with whom Simonson is often associated) to esoteric DC characters like Bat Lash and the Viking Prince. This is, essentially, a Walt Simonson vanity project, but Simonson is such a legendary talent that the fact might very well sell the book itself. For the fan who has everything but might’ve missed this, here’s a chance to spend some time with a comics master. Judas Coin plus Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (in which Simonson appears) will get you free shipping for under $30, or pair with Saga and one of the kids' books (see bottom) for free shipping at just over $25.

* Manhattan Projects Vol. 1: Science Bad

Jonathan Hickman has been Marvel’s popular “science guy” for a while now on Fantastic Four and other titles. His creator-owned work from Image emerged to mixed reviews; if you like wacky science like X-Files and Fringe, this might be the book for you, but if Grant Morrison’s strange, self-referential stories turn you off, then maybe not. Hickman reimagines the Manhattan Project as a front for other science experiments, and takes the scientists like Einstein and Oppenheimer and gives them weird super-traits. A book for some, if not for all. Consider Manhattan Projects, Unwritten, and Saga for three “new classics,” under $30 together with free shipping.

* Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity

For fans of Fables, Mike Carey and Peter Gross’s Vertigo series The Unwritten might be of interest. Protagonist Tommy Taylor’s father wrote a series of Harry Potter-type books, and fans for years have confused Tommy with his father’s hero -- except Tommy is learning he may actually be the boy wizard. Unwritten quickly becomes a Fables-type story in which Tommy encounters numerous literary figures, including the Golden Age of superheroes and, soon, the Fables characters themselves. Some wonder about Vertigo’s future, but here’s a place where Vertigo is still alive and strong. Get the first volume of Unwritten plus Manhattan Projects and Saga, three books for under $30 with free shipping.

* Avengers vs. X-Men

No 2012 gift list would be complete without including the Avengers vs. X-Men hardcover, a massive almost-600-page book featuring the whole blockbuster series plus some of Marvel’s Infinite digital comics now in print. Though the story has been controversial, Marvel certainly lead into their Marvel NOW! initiative in much better style than DC’s lackluster Flashpoint before the New 52. I can’t imagine any Marvel fan’s shelf would be complete without this one. Avengers vs. X-Men clocks in at almost $50, the most expensive book on the list, but everything else here would get free shipping right along with it.

* Battlepug

One of my recent obsessions is webcomics (I read the whole of Cameron Stewart’s Sin Titulo in almost one sitting, but we’ll have to wait for next year’s gift guide to get to that), so I’m happy to pass on a reader recommendation for Mike Norton’s webcomic Battlepug, collected in print form by Dark Horse. This absurdist tale about a Conan-like warrior that rides a giant pug into battle will be something silly and different for fantasy fans, plus the book continues in the ongoing webcomic. Pair Battlepug with any two of Saga, Manhattan Projects, or Unwritten, and you can come in with three graphic novels at just about $30 with free shipping.

* Walking Dead Compendium Vol. 2

Back in 2010 we recommended the Walking Dead Compendium, a 1,000-plus-page book collecting eight Walking Dead trades in one volume. Well, two years and three television seasons later, Image has published a second Walking Dead Compendium, with another 1,000 pages, collecting volumes nine through sixteen. You want to gift zombie horror for a reasonable price, here’s an impressive present to leave under the tree. The Walking Dead Compendium comes in around $35; it’s a little pricey, but it qualifies for free shipping and so will anything else you include with it.

* Stumptown Vol. 1

Most of what’s suggested on this list are new 2012 releases, but another reader recommended Greg Rucka’s Stumptown, and I’m such a Rucka fan and so miss his work at DC that I had to include it. Rucka writes great mysteries and strong women, and Stumptown has both — Rucka’s detective Dex, good at her job but a compulsive gambler, tries to find a missing girl to clear her debts. From Oni Press, this is an oversized hardcover, sure to look good under your tree. Stumptown qualifies for free shipping all by itself, so anything else on this list can hitch a ride with it!

* Underwater Welder

If Scott Snyder’s was DC Comics’s breakout star at the end of last year with Batman: The Black Mirror, his collaborator Jeff Lemire is right on his coattails this year with Animal Man, Justice League Dark, and now Green Arrow. Lemire’s graphic novel from Top Shelf, Underwater Welder, has been described like a Twilight Zone episode, as a man who welds for oil rigs begins to time travel around events in his own life. Lemire has said that themes of fathers and sons in Underwater Welder may be reflected in his Green Arrow work, so fans of Lemire’s DC work may want to check this out. With Infinite Horizon or Battlepug, you’re almost right at $25 and free shipping if you add one of the super-hero kids' books, or choose Saga, Manhattan Projects, or Unwritten to get a three-book package at about $30 with free shipping.

* Infinite Horizon

Image won an Eisner for this re-telling of Homer’s Odyssey. Far from mythic fantasy, however, the book is set in post-apocalyptic America, and features a soldier trying to get back to New York after fighting in Syria. Art is by Phil Noto, which speaks well for the book in and of itself. Writer Gerry Duggan is less well-known, but he’s written for Attack of the Show for a while, and he’s writing Marvel NOW!’s Deadpool with his long-time collaborator, comedian Brian Posehn. Pair with Battlepug and a DC Super Friends or Marvel Super Hero Squad book for just over $25 and free shipping (if you can’t use the kid’s book, you can always donate it to Goodwill), or get Infinite Horizon plus any two of Saga, Manhattan Projects, or Unwritten, for three graphic novels with free shipping for just over $30.

* Superman: Earth One Vol. 2
* Batman: Earth One Vol. 1

The first Superman: Earth One graphic novel was the smash hit of 2010; the second one has received a slightly cooler reception, but fans of this more realistic back-to-basics approach to Clark Kent will surely want to check out the sequel (the Earth One books remain fairly accessible for new comics readers, too). Even better was Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Batman: Earth One Vol. 1, released earlier this year, which has a stronger story and might appeal to fans of the Dark Knight Returns movie. Together, these books come in at just over $25 and qualify for free shipping, the perfect package for a new comics fan in your life.

* DC Super Friends
* Marvel Super Hero Squad

I like these DC and Marvel kids' books both because they’re a lot of fun, but also because they tend to be pretty cheap when I’m looking to round out my shopping cart. If you’re right about at $25 and need something to push you over, consider one of these books for your favorite young comics fan -- or, buy one and donate it to Goodwill and get yourself one more check on the “nice” list.

Your turn! What did I miss? What else should be on this list?

Collected Editions turned seven years old this year -- how the time has flown by! Thanks to everyone who visits and supports this site -- happy holidays and happy New year!

(Lots of bloggers have affiliate links like the ones above, and when you do your holiday shopping after clicking these links, the blogger gets a few cents. This year, if you're buying gifts online, consider clicking on someone's link before you buy -- when I buy online, I always try to click through a blog before I do. There are lots of hard-working bloggers out there [see blogroll], and this is a great, easy way to support them. Thanks!)

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Top Legion of Super-Heroes trade paperbacks

What are the best or most accessible Legion of Super-Heroes collections? If you had to pick the top ten (or so) greatest Legion of Super-Heroes trade paperbacks to read, what would they be? We've tried to answer this question already with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern, and Justice League (plus our top ten DC trades with female protagonists); now we're going to give a Legion of Super-Heroes trade reading order a shot.

The Legion is unique in the DC Universe, second only to the New Gods in its own engrained mythology. Batman fights the Joker and sometimes Superman does too, but there's hordes of heroes special just to the Legion, not to mention villains like Nemesis Kid, Dr. Regulus, and Tyr, rarely been seen outside Legion comics.

But despite the characters being set apart in the future, DC has perennially published the Legion title (often even more than one). Creators and stalwart fans thrive on Legion trivia. It's not hard to see why; I am new to Legion fandom, but the tapestry on which the stories are built is so rich, and the universe so engagingly expansive, that I think Legion titles will always have a place on my reading list now.

I am far from a Legion expert -- I'll provide links to some of those at the end of this post, who can likely answer any Legion question you'll ever have, ever -- but I think my new Legion fandom is a benefit in this instance. What follows are suggestions from a new Legion fan, not a seasoned follower, and in that way maybe I can better help those just starting to read about the Legion of Super-Heroes.

To wit, I believe can be entirely caught up with the Legion with just these books, all but two of which published in the last couple years:

* Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga
* Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse
* Justice League of America, Vol. 2: The Lightning Saga
* Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes
* Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds
* DC Comics Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes #2
* Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton Vol. 1
* Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton Vol. 2
* Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Early Years
* Legion of Super-Heroes: The Choice
* Legion of Super-Heroes: Consequences
* Legion of Super-Heroes: When Evil Calls

DC New 52

* Legion of Super-Heroes: Hostile World
* Legion Lost: Run From Tomorrow

(Enter sound of true Legion fans weeping for all that I've just skipped over.)

What you have above in Great Darkness and Curse are part of writer Paul Levitz's 1980s run on Legion ("Great Darkness" is considered one of DC's all-time classic stories); the rest are Geoff Johns's post-Infinite Crisis relaunch and Levitz's current modern run on the title. Legion continuity got a little confusing, to say the least, shortly after Great Darkness, but Johns's relaunch preserves Darkness and then picks up fresh from that point. Levitz's The Choice refers back to Darkness also.

If you want to hit the ground running, catch up on the Legion and their major characters and relationships, and be able to read the DC New 52 Legion titles, this is all you need.

But of course, there's so. much. more.

The Golden Age of the Legion

There is a lot of Legion you could read. A lot. That is, there's thirteen Archives editions (with Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 13 coming out in May). These would take you from the Legion's earliest appearance in 1958's Adventure Comics #247 all the way to Legion stories published in the late 1970s, Paul Levitz's first run on the series, and important adventures too numerous to list, some still in continuity, including the death and resurrection of Lightning Lad, the death of Ferro Lad, the introduction of Brainiac 5 and others, the marriage of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, and on, and on.

No kidding, you could read back issues of Legion forever, and it's a testament to the team's popularity that DC has released so many collections. Material from the first nine Archives is also collected in four black-and-white Showcase Presents volumes, plus a special DC Comics Classics Library: The Life and Death of Ferro Lad hardcover (which duplicates some material from Showcases vols. 2 and 3, or Archives vols. 5 and 6).

Legion Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths

* Legion of Super-Heroes: An Eye for an Eye
* Legion of Super-Heroes: The More Things Change
* Superman: The Man of Steel, Vol. 4

DC has released two Legion collections that take place just after Great Darkness and The Curse and just before Crisis on Infinite Earths, Eye for an Eye and The More Things Change. The Legion titles, at this time, had split into Legion and Tales, and the two books only collect the Legion issues, which lessens their readability somewhat, though these are good stories of the Legion versus the Legion of Super-Villains. I'm still hoping DC will release deluxe hardcovers, like Great Darkness, of both the Legion and Tales stories from this era.

Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman had never been Superboy and therefore wasn't a member of the Legion. DC revised the Legion's history through the machinations of a villain called the Time Trapper, and this collection of the John Byrne-era Superman stories includes Legion issues and a post-Crisis Superman/Legion team-up. Other than this, precious little of the post-Crisis (including Keith Giffen's famous "Five Years Later" Legion and a spin-off Legionnaires title starring back-to-basics Legion clones) has been collected.

Legion Post-Zero Hour

* Legion of Super-Heroes: The Beginning of Tomorrow
* Final Night
* DC Comics Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes #1
* Legion Lost
* The Legion: Foundations
* Teen Titans: The Future is Now

DC rebooted the Legion completely after the Zero Hour crossover (as they maybe should have done after Crisis). Only basically the beginning of this series is collected and the end; the Legion and Legionnaires titles shuttered with the "Legion of the Damned" storyline, and then DC relaunched the franchise (though not the continuity) with the excellent Legion Lost miniseries that followed from "Damned," and then a new series just called Legion. (Maybe two years in, this Legion factored heavily in the Final Night crossover.) The Connor Kent Superboy guest-starred with this Legion in Foundations, a poor riff on Great Darkness Saga, before this Legion was lost in time and the series ended as of the Teen Titans trade.

"Threeboot" Legion

* Legion of Super-Heroes: Teenage Revolution
* Legion of Super-Heroes: Death of a Dream
* Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Strange Visitor from Another Century
* Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes: Adult Education
* Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Dominator War
* Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Quest for Cosmic Boy
* Legion of Super-Heroes: Enemy Rising
* Legion of Super-Heroes: Enemy Manifest

Called such because it would be the third from-scratch version of the Legion, the "Threeboot" series was written by Mark Waid with no connection to any previous Legion series. The first volumes, especially, are quite good, and I credit this series with sparking my own interest in the Legion. Waid portrays the Legion as a youthful political movement in a way I hadn't considered the Legion before, and his take is definitely more "space opera" than action series, much like that of Levitz. The final books by classic Legion writer Jim Shooter are also good enough, though Shooter quite famously feuded with DC towards the end and even had his name removed from some issues.

The second and third Legions are interesting and relevant, in that the second interacted with the DCU and Superboy and the third interacted with the post-Crisis Supergirl, but they're not imperative reading if your only goal is to catch-up with the present. All three Legions appear, as the name suggests, in the Legion of Three Worlds series, though the original and current Legion is the most prominent of the three.

Further Legion reading and resources

* Legion of Super-Heroes: 1,050 Years of the Future

* Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes

* The Legion Omnicon
* Legion Abstract
* Legion of Substitute Podcasters
* Legion Wiki

Published for the fiftieth anniversary of the Legion, 1,050 Years of the Future collects stories from about every Legion era. The first appearance is in there and the aforementioned death of Lightning Lad story, as well as material from the post-Zero Hour team. The volume came out in 2008, however, so nothing from the "Threeboot" nor Geoff Johns-reboot series.

Teenagers from the Future is a collection of essays on Legion stories and themes, many by popular authors and bloggers around the 'Net (edited by GeniusboyFiremelon and ComicBookResources's Tim Callahan). I've been holding a copy of this on my shelf for a long while until I'm more familiar with the Legion; now that I've read through Great Darkness Saga, it's probably about time to crack it open.

And then there's a brain trust of Legion sites. Back in 2008, Collected Editions crossed over with the Legion Omnicom for a series of trivia questions supporting a week of Legion reviews (thanks Michael!). I've visited/listened to the other sites throughout my reading when I've been trying to figure various things out (Why does White Witch look like that if she's Dream Girl's sister? Who was Andromeda again?) -- check 'em out!

So that's my Legion run-through. Whew! Hopefully that gives new or confused Legion fans a better idea where to start. If you've got additional Legion questions, just ask, and I'll do my best to answer them. And coming up, our review of Legion of Super-Heroes: Consequences.

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Comic Book Gift Guide 2011

The weather is colder, the holidays are nigh upon us, and once again it's time for the Collected Editions blog's picks for the top trade paperback collections and graphic novel presents you can give as a gift for your favorite comic book fan. (See the 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007 lists for more suggestions, too!)

And of course, I've built this list to help you get free shipping on all your gifts (nothing worse than cutting into your holiday budget with shipping!).

I think I've got a fun list this year with lots of variety for every readers' interest -- and of course, everyone appreciates additional suggestions in the comments.

* Avengers Prime
* Avengers Forever
* Marvel Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide
* Marvel Adventures Avengers: Captain America
* The Ultimates: Ultimate Collection

You might've heard there's a little thing called the Avengers movie coming next year, so Avengers gifts are bound to go over well this holiday season. As crowdsourced from the Collected Editions Facebook page, our suggestions for Avengers collections include Avengers Prime, a story focusing on Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor that's controversial because it contains more talking than action, but might be interesting for fans of the "Big Three"; Avengers Forever, by popular Avengers writers Roger Stern and Kurt Busiek, is a continuity-heavy story of Avengers joined together from different eras -- most likely meant for the educated fan, but might pique the curiosity of a newcomer, too (comes with free shipping on its own, so you could pair it with the Marvel Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide).

Though set in Marvel's Ultimate universe, The Ultimates is a back-to-basics, no-nonsense recreation of the Avengers by Mark Millar with breathtaking art by Bryan Hitch. For a fan new to the Avengers, this is a book with no previous knowledge required. And for the younger fan, Marvel Adventures Avengers: Captain America is one in a series of young readers Marvel graphic novels. This might be a nice follow-up for a young fan of the movies; there's Iron Man, Spider-Man, and plenty other entries into this series as well.

* Batman: Noel
* Batman: Arkham City (graphic novel)
* Batman: The Black Mirror

Between the new Arkham City video game and the new Dark Knight Rises movie coming out next year, DC Comics has a slew of Batman books coming out for the holidays. Their biggest push is Batman: Noel, a graphic novel written and drawn by Lee Bermejo and based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Bermejo drew the Joker and Lex Luthor books that we listed for the holidays in past years, and it seems his holiday work is becoming something of a tradition.

Speaking of Arkham City, you can pair Noel with the Batman: Arkham City graphic novel by popular Batman writer Paul Dini, and get both for just over $25 with free shipping. Also getting good reviews is Scott Synder's Batman: The Black Mirror, a classic mystery starring former Robin Dick Grayson as Batman -- pair Black Mirror with either of the other Batman books for free shipping.

* Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human
* Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes
* Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed

I love to give books about comics out to my comics-reading friends as stocking stuffers, and there's just hundreds of them out there. Hot this year, of course, is writer Grant Morrison's tome on all things comics, Supergods. For free shipping, I'd like to suggest pairing it with either of two books by comics-website writers that I like, Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes edited by GeniusboyFiremelon's Tim Callahan, and also Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed by Brian Cronin of the Comics Legends Revealed column on Comic Book Resources.

* The Spirit: A Pop-up Graphic Novel

Writer and artist Will Eisner is considered the father of the modern graphic novel, essentially, and what better gift for a graphic novel fan than a pop-up Will Eisner graphic novel (because you can never have too many pop-up comic books!). The Spirit: A Pop-up Graphic Novel collects Eisner's last two Spirit issues re-designed as a pop-up book -- and any other item on this list will qualify for free shipping with this collection (or if you hurry, I think there's still some bargain copies available!).

* Castle: Richard Castle's Deadly Storm

ABC's mystery series Castle seems to be popular with comics fans (at least that's what I see on my Twitter feed), and an episode last September even featured a graphic novel starring fictional writer Richard Castle's character Derrick Storm. That graphic novel, Castle: Richard Castle's Deadly Storm, was actually published by Marvel and ought be a must-have for any fan of the show. Pair with Stuffed! and Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (see both below) and get three graphic novels somewhat off the beaten path for just over $25 with free shipping.

* Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
* Tintin in America

Admittedly I'm not all that familiar with The Adventures of Tintin, the European comic (and television series, and radio broadcast, and so on), but I imagine everyone's going to be when Tintin comes to theaters next month. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets is the very first black and white collection, available in hardcover and paperback -- pair the hardcover with Marvel Adventures: Captain America as a gift for your favorite young reader with free shipping, or get the paperback with Captain America and the The Muppet Show Comic Book: Meet The Muppets (see also below), all for just over $25 with free shipping.

(See comments section -- some readers in the know have suggested Tintin in America might be a better place to start.)

* Infestation (IDW)

I'm a bit enamored with IDW's Infestation collection -- you might call Infestation "just another crossover," except that it was a crossover that included Transformers, GI Joe, Star Trek, and Ghostbusters segments! This hardcover lands in stores pretty close to Christmas, but I think the cool factor makes it worth it. This one just about qualifies for free shipping on its own -- you can pair with the Meet the Muppets collection to spend just over $25, or any other title on the list for free shipping.

* New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1
* New Teen Titans: Games

* Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse (deluxe)
* Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga (deluxe)

* Flashpoint
* The Flash: Road to Flashpoint

DC got a bunch of impressive-looking goodies coming out this season, sure to make you look good at gift-giving time. A nice two-fer is the New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1, which was supposed to only contain sixteen issues of the classic 1980s series and instead included twenty-four plus issues; that gets free shipping on its own, and you can pair with the brand new New Teen Titans: Games graphic novel for a great gift package. The Omnibus gets free shipping on its own, as would anything else with it.

There's also Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse, a deluxe oversized follow-up to one of last year's top-rated gifts, the deluxe Legion: The Great Darkness Saga. And chances are your favorite comics fan is already on top of this one, but there's the collection of the recent universe-changing event (which heralded DC's New 52 titles), Flash: Road to Flashpoint that lead in to the event, and DC Comics: The New 52, a whopping, expensive collection of all the DC New 52 #1 issues. Legion: Curse gets free shipping on its own, the Flashpoint books would get shipping together, and just about anything would get free shipping with the New 52 book.

* Dolltopia

* Stuffed!

Looking for things your favorite graphic novel fan may not already have, I recently had a chance to flip through Abby Denson's Dolltopia and really enjoyed it. Call it the un-Toy Story, this is the tale of dolls who run away to try to escape their pre-determined societal roles. Definitely "indie" in art and story, this might also be a good present for that friend you've been trying for a while to interest in comics (read preview). Pair with Supergods, Batman: The Black Mirror, an Avengers book or more for free shipping.

Also off the beaten path is Stuffed! by Colbert Report and Daria's Glenn Eichler with art by Nick Bertozzi. Two sons must decide what to do with their late father's stuffed African warrior known as "The Savage" in a comedy that looks both at family dynamics and race relations. This'll probably be another new addition to most collections; you can get Stuffed!, Dolltopia, and the Spirit pop-up for just over $25 with free shipping and look really clever on Christmas morning.

* The Muppet Show Comic Book: Meet The Muppets

Of course you know there's a new Muppets movie around the corner, so the Muppets are back en vogue (when have they not been?!). Not only is this funny Muppet Show collection fairly well regarded, but it comes in at just about $4.00. If you were going for Batman: Noel and Batman: Arkham City, for instance, or Castle and Tintin, consider tossing in the Muppets comics either for your favorite young reader or just to give away to charity (Barnes and Noble, for instance, is collecting kids books this holiday season). If your free shipping can get a child reading, hey, why not?

We're in the middle of Collected Editions sixth year right now, and couldn't be having more fun. Thanks for reading -- and happy holidays and happy New Year to all!

(Lots of bloggers, by the way, have affiliate links like the ones above, and when you do your holiday shopping after clicking these links, the blogger gets a few cents. This year, if you're buying gifts online, consider clicking on someone's link before you buy -- when I buy online, I always try to click through a blog before I do. There are lots of hard-working bloggers out there [see blogroll], and this is a great, easy way to support them. Thanks!)

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Top Justice League Trade Paperbacks

We've looked at the best graphic novels starring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern, so now it's time to name Collected Editions' greatest ten Justice League TPBs. As always, your results may vary, and I'm eager to hear what you would include on your own list.

* JLA: The Obsidian Age

Joe Kelly wrote JLA third after Grant Morrison and Mark Waid, and his run didn't receive nearly the attention that the others did, despite overall good quality and a nice emphasis on the Martian Manhunter -- not to mention art by Doug Mahnke, later of Final Crisis and Blackest Night: Green Lantern. In The Obsidian Age, Kelly perfectly captures the tone of Morrison's earlier work with a time-spanning tale that follows the JLA searching for the missing Aquaman in the past (after Superman: Our Worlds at War) and a group of substitute heroes sitting in for the JLA in the present. The conclusion is a rolicking era-spanning epic worthy of the name JLA; this is one of my favorite stories of this group's particular incarnation.

* JLA: Year One

I'm still waiting for DC Comics to release a hardcover version of this book and its sequel, Green Lantern and the Flash: The Brave and the Bold; both certainly deserve it. This twelve-issue series by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson looks at the formation of the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Justice League (with Black Canary taking Wonder Woman's historic role). Waid treats the Leaguers as twentysomethings finding their place in the world; this "young-ish Justice League" approach allows for a greater emphasis on how the Leaguer's personalities intersect -- particularly the brash Hal Jordan and quiet Barry Allen, and Black Canary's reaction to both after she learns of her mother's infidelity (revealed in the pages of Starman). I love the twist three-fourths of the way through the book that temporarily breaks up the League; though largely out of continuity now, this remains a great Justice League character piece.

* JLA: Rock of Ages

My second favorite story from the JLA title is Rock of Ages, the concluding storyline from JLA's first year. I find writer Grant Morrison's actual JLA conclusion, World War III, a bit too scattered, with a conclusion that's more theme than plot; Rock of Ages is another time-travel tale that starts with a simple League/Injustice League fight and explodes into a fight to defeat Darkseid in the future. At the time Morrison wrote Rock of Ages, his cast of characters was hamstrung by the Electric Blue Superman and a Wonder Woman killed before the Genesis crossover, yet Morrison still finds a way to include the entire JLA cast plus Green Arrow Connor Hawke, the Atom, and others. To me, Rock of Ages exemplifies the Grant Morrison widescreen JLA era.

* Superman: Panic in the Sky

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite Justice League eras -- passionately and inexplicably -- is the Dan Jurgens era that followed Justice League International's "Breakdowns." Maybe it's because Jurgen's Justice League seemed the perfect distillation of the best of Justice League International -- Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, and Guy Gardner -- or maybe because, between Maxima's presence and the Doomsday crossover, that League served as almost a fifth Superman title for a while.

Irrespective, Superman: Panic in the Sky is a lead-in to that Justice League run, guest-starring almost the whole DC Universe to help Superman fight Brainiac in space. This was the storyline in which the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman took his place as the leader of the DC Universe, and I counted it as among my top favorite Superman stories, too.

* JLA/Avengers

I am not as familiar with Marvel characters, the Avengers especially, as I am with the Justice League, so JLA/Avengers could have been hit or miss for me. Kurt Busiek's story, however, could just as easily be called JLA! for the amount of Justice League history and nostalgia Busiek packs into these pages. Every Justice Leaguer in every costume they ever wore appears in these pages (I'm pretty sure), so if you ever had a favorite Justice League era, it gets a nod within. Added to that, JLA/Avengers dials back from the Morrison/Kelly-era Justice League all the way to the original seven, and we get a chance to spend time with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen as they consider their future fates. This is a super Justice League story, even if you're not sure about those other guys.

* JLA: American Dreams

After Rock of Ages, my favorite Morrison-era JLA collection is American Dreams. What's not to love about the three stories collected in this book -- one, a Justice League membership drive; two, a team-up with the angel Zauriel, whom Aquaman refers to as the then-deceased Hawkman Katar Hol; and three, Green Arrow's son Connor Hawke taking on the villainous Key and saving the entire Justice League. Each of these three stories has in common that Morrison delves into the rich history of the League -- missing members, heroic legacies -- and the stories are not so cerebral as Morrison's later work. I don't want to spoil much, but there are nice touches in these stories that give me chills every time.

* Identity Crisis

Oh yes, I know how controversial Identity Crisis is. And I know it doesn't portray the Justice League in some of their finer moments. But I love Brad Meltzer's idea of a League within the League, and Booster, Beetle, Fire, and Ice seem as much to me the core of the international League as Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Hawkman do of that earlier League. This is, to an extent, also the League featured in JLA: Year One, and there's a way in which Identity Crisis can be read as a bookend to that earlier story. Whether Meltzer's changes were right or wrong, when I think of League stories, I think of Identity Crisis.

* Booster Gold: Blue and Gold

This is not, I grant, a real official Justice League story, but in the days when Ted Kord had just died and Ice had just been resurrected, Geoff Johns and Dan Jurgens presented this time-traveling tale that not only reunited my aforementioned favorite Justice League Internationalers (living and dead), but it also included a sub-League made up of heroes including Wild Dog (!) and Pantha (!!). I'm a sucker for time-travel stories, and I'm a sucker for Dan Jurgens drawing the Justice League, so this one made my list.

* Justice League of America: The Tornado's Path

What I like about Tornado's Path boils down to the scene in which Red Tornado remembers first meeting his wife Kathy, and the flashback reprints actual panels from a Justice League story in 1973. For a number of years, likely due to widespread continuity confusion, there wasn't much reference in the Justice League titles to the team's creation or early adventures; Meltzer changes that with this scene and also in Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman's recruitment drive. Plus, Tornado's Path returns Black Lightning to the Justice League and gives Justice League Detroit some credit; all in all I thought this was a good start to the new League, even if the title has faltered since then.

* I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League

I am not, as a matter of fact, all that versed in the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire Justice League (though I know Kooey Kooey Kooey was an island), but I do have a strong affection for the characters (as this list is pointing out even to me). Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire re-teamed for a miniseries called Formerly Known as the Justice League, and then the I Can't Believe story followed in JLA Classified. Of the two, maybe Formerly is the funnier, but I Can't Believe is equally funny and also pretty emotional, especially when it comes to Fire and Guy having to come to grips with Ice's death, and then trying to rescue Ice from the depths of Hell. Maybe Justice League: Generation Lost makes this all moot now, but in the absence of a series starring Booster, Beetle, Fire, and Guy at the time, I found this book completely captivating.

And that's my desert island ten Justice League stories. I know I've left a lot out -- Elseworlds, for one, plus Justice League: New Frontier, any of the Justice League: Crisis on Multiple Earths books, and even Death of Superman was on my longer list but got cut. So, what's your ten favorite Justice League stories?

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