Holiday Gift Suggestions 1997

Originally published December 12, 1997, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1256

‘Tis that time of year again. The time when Maggie Thompson asks the musical question: What five gifts would you suggest for holiday giving?

I’m going to try and do things differently this year. Why? Because I have trouble with trying to separate gifts by age. That really doesn’t seem to work in our little genre. I mean, let’s not kid around, okay? Most comic books (at least of the superhero variety) are aimed at the eight-to-fourteen-year-old male market, but they’re read by somewhat younger and far, far older readers. Manufacturers of action figures loudly proclaim that there’s no market for female action figures because they’re aiming their product at an audience who thinks girls are yucky. In the meantime, a battalion of comics fans (including myself) lobbied for figures of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy (finally met). Meantime, kids can barrel through computer games that leave adults scratching their heads. So I’m just gonna write about whatever comes to mind, and leave it to the individual tastes of you folks to decide what’s appropriate for your respective tastes. Some of it is high-end, some considerably less. It is, to say the least, an eclectic selection.

1) Plush Bugs Bunny from Steiff — Much of the time, I don’t particularly like Steiff plush toys. They seem “cold,” somehow. Impersonal. Excellently manufactured, but not particularly loveable. Not so with the 2500-piece limited edition designed by Steiff and available only through the Warner Bros. Studio Store gallery. Paul Dini brought him to my attention and I immediately ordered one (takes a few weeks, so get him now if you want one.) Bugs’ head is jauntily perched, he has a carrot snug in his right hand, and nicely tapering ears. Comes with a special little storage bag, although it would be criminal to keep him in there.

2) White Wolf Harlan Ellison Books — No, it’s not just that Ellison’s a friend. I recommended The Essential Ellison years ago before I even knew him. Lately, White Wolf publishing has been re-releasing Ellison’s titles in smart-looking editions (my personal favorite is the slip-cased edition of Slippage).

3) A custom-made “Muppet” — Okay, not a Muppet (TM) per se, but rather a hand-and-rod puppet of the type that was popularized by Jim Henson. There is a superb craftswoman down in Atlanta named Katherine O’Shea whose work I’ve admired for a bunch of years. Among other things, she handcrafts some of the most charming puppets I’ve ever seen. Her work has been on display at an assortment of conventions. I’ve commissioned her work in the past (she made a delightful “Jack Deth” doll from the Trancers movie series, complete with trenchcoat and gun, which I gave to actor Tim Thomerson), she’s made assorted characters (including Pinhead, and every incarnation of Doctor Who) and she’s even done puppet versions of assorted comics pros. The one she did of me is pictured below, although I had a moustache when she originally made it. (No, I didn’t commission a puppet of myself; even I’m not that egocentric. She also did one of Neil Gaiman, I understand.) Puppets come with stands and, when possible, custom-made boxes. And hey, if not in time for Christmas, there’s always birthdays.

4) A video starter pack — I was at a convention where someone complained that there had been no good comic book movies in the past couple of years. They couldn’t be more wrong. You might want to consider a set of fun comic book videos such as The Phantom, The Mask, The Crow, and even the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (I’ll never forget the woman who wandered into a comic store after buying her kid all sorts of Turtles merchandise and saying in surprise, “There’s a comic book too?”)

5) The Sandman Bookends — Sculpted by William Paquet and based on designs by Michael Zulli, we have the original incarnation of the Sandman seated on a somber black throne, with a gothic feel in the carving. The other end has the more recent incarnation of Sandman dressed in pure white, with a striking Egyptian motif. Painstaking detail was given to this pair of cold-cast bookends, and it’s absolutely nifty looking if you have a shelf large enough to accommodate it. Also, for the Neil Gaiman fans out there: Neverwhere, the novel version of Gaiman’s superb television series.

6) The Incredible Hulk Bump-and-Go Motorcyle — I don’t know why. It’s just so… so stupid. How can you pass up something that dumb? The Hulk astride a motorcycle, barreling around your living room floor, bumping into stuff and heading in another direction. Not the Punisher or someone that makes sense, no. They gotta use a character capable of leaping two miles at a clip, the absolutely last person you’d see on a chopper. The only thing sillier than the green goliath riding a motorcycle is that there really was a sequence years ago—in an early issue of the Wolverine comic—wherein the Hulk really did hop astride a hog and zip off down a highway. Why? I don’t know. It seemed absurd to me then, and it still seems that way.

7) Batman vs. Poison Ivy, Batman vs. Catwoman — Kenner, who previously has put out a cool series of 12-inch-tall dolls that chart, in three stages, the evolution of Batman and Superman, has a couple of new ones which feature the caped crusader facing off against Poison Ivy (as rendered in the movie) and Catwoman (as depicted in the comic books—go figure). As always, you’re faced with the problem of whether to leave them in the box for fully mint collectible status, or whether you take them out of the box and play with them. Depends, I suppose, on the age and gender of the person you give them to. Now that I think about it, you know what would be an interesting study to make. Take about a dozen kids, equal mix of boys and girls, and give them each a set of the dolls. Say that I’m stereotyping if you wish, but how much do you want to bet that the boys would have Batman and Catwoman beating up on each other, and the girls would have them going out on a date?

8) Nathan Heller books by Max Allan Collins — Collins is known to comic book fans for his work on such characters as Ms. Tree and Batman. But if you haven’t checked out the Heller novels yet, it’s high time you did. There’s a secret history of the world, all right, but such organizations as the Illuminati aren’t involved. Life’s real mysteries are solved by Heller, a private detective who rubs arms with a deft mix of genuine historical figures and always manages to find out what really happened (and, frustratingly, the true story is never made public at the time). One of the more recent is Blood & Thunder, focusing on the notorious former governor of Louisiana, Huey Long. My personal favorite remains Stolen Away, revealing the true fate of the Lindbergh baby. Another Heller book is due out very soon. The title is Flying Blind, and for those of you who always wondered, you’ll now finally learn what really happened to Amelia Earhart.

9) Santa’s Twin by Dean Koontz — Just as a wild notion, I thought I’d actually mention something Christmas related. Koontz certainly has a reputation as a horror writer, and it’s reflected in this offbeat foray into kid’s books as Koontz tells us of the usurping of the holiday by Santa’s evil twin.

10) Superman on Radio — Available on either CD or cassette, you can thrill to six hours (the first twenty-seven episodes) of the Superman radio series, digitally restored and remastered. Superman debuted on radio in February of 1940, voiced by Bud Collyer (who would continue as Superman’s voice in the classic Max Fleischer cartoons). Collyer developed such wonderful techniques as dropping an octave, from tenor to baritone in mid-sentence to indicate to the radio audience that the change was occurring, as he would announce, “This is a job… for… Superman.” Not only was the radio series the first dramatization of Superman’s adventures, but it featured crossovers (Superman rescues Batman and Robin) and added major aspects to continuity such as the debut of Kryptonite.

Part of the Smithsonian Historical Performances series, Superman on Radio is colorfully packaged and also includes a sixty page booklet with commentary, photos and other neat items. Not especially hard to find, either; I picked mine up in the local Borders Books.

11) Dark Horse comics collections — For the Aliens fans out there, there’s an assortment of collections from the various Dark Horse limited series of the same name. It’s particularly timely considering the release of Alien Resurrection. For the Ellison fans who may want to make the transition from the White Wolf books to comics (or vice versa), there’s the collections of Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor. And for the utterly demented, there’s my vote for the nuttiest title of a crossover ever: Tarzan vs. Predator at the Earth’s Core, by no less talents than Lee Weeks and Walt Simonson. You know what I’d love to see? Tarzan vs. The Phantom. Imagine Tarzan coming across the Skull Cave, or catching the eye of Diana Palmer. Imagine Tarzan and the Phantom against the legions of Opar. Man, I’d pay serious money for that puppy.

12) Betty Boop: The Definitive Collection — A boxed set of eight tapes featuring, well, the definitive collection of Betty Boop, who was a cartoon sex symbol way before Madonna became one.

13) Electronic Imperial AT-AT Walker — It’s big! It’s electronic, with seven real noises or phrases from the movies! It comes with exclusive commander and driver figures! It falls over if you wrap a shoelace around the legs! You can’t pass this up! (Well… yeah, you can, but you’d be missing out!)

14) Mystery Science Theater 3000 — A boxed set of tapes featuring an episode with series originator Joel Hodgson and two with replacement Mike Nelson, as Joel, Mike, and the robots tear apart such clunkers as Red Zone Cuba, The Atomic Brain, and my personal favorite, I Accuse My Parents.

15) Dying to Be Heard — I’ve mentioned it previously, but I’ll mention it again. Bill Mumy (complete with a photo of Bill with the Minbari bone on his head) has a nifty CD out, featuring an assortment of good songs including the nicely ironic “The Ballad of William Robinson.”

16) Riverdance Live from New York — A much better tape than the previous concert in Dublin. Has nothing at all to do with comics, but hey, I liked it. Sue me.

What one gift would I most like to receive? Peace of mind. Still looking. Still haven’t found it. Will let you know if I do.

(Peter David, writer of stuff, can be written to at Second Age, Inc., PO Box 239, Bayport, NY 11705.)