FELIZ NAVIDAD !

Although I have had a few free days this and last week I didn´t post much. My computer is on the fritz again which means I can´t burn any files on CD.


Of course this just had to happen when I finally decided to make some space and get rid of all old files. So now I have a lot of files on my computer and not much space left. I already tried everything from installing new drivers to deleting some non - essential files to setting the computer back to an earlier date. But like all problems with the computer I have no idea why it happened and most likely some day it will work again without any reason. I just hope I don´t loose all my pictures for this blog.

Now the other thing I did since my last post is catching up on my tv - series. I have watched the first two tapes of One Piece ( although almost all of the Navarrone adventure is missing ) all but two tapes of Naruto and the fourth season of 24. Which is just in time because next year RTL II is showing the fifth season. We got some DVDs to watch and yesterday we watched PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN - Dead man´s chest and FIREWALL. Today we watched MYTH with Jackie Chan and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III which was waaaay better than I have heard. Thank god I never pay much attention to movie critics. So now I have a little time for the big christmas post :

Happy holidays to all readers of TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN ! Christmas is just the best time to spread some comic goodness among the family and your loved ones. For me it has become a tradition to give only comics as christmas presents. And there are a lot of reasons for this.

First of all : Everyone loves comics. It´s a fact that while there are a lot of people who wouldn´t caught dead in a comicshop nobody wouldn´t read a comic if they had the chance. I never had the experience that somebody did not like comics. They just think they are too adult to read them. So if you give them a comic for christmas they could find out that there are comics that they could buy without feeling like a geek. Especially if it is a manga.

Reason number two : Most people don´t know very much about comics. Let´s face it. Your basic citizen doesn´t know the difference between WATCHMEN and YOUNGBLOOD. So it´s your job to get them the premium comic experience. Who knows, maybe they like it so much they ask you for more reading material. And you will have prevented that this person dies without ever having read one good comic in his life.

Reason number three : Ask the expert. Now I don´t know much about books. I have no idea who is hot on the bestseller list or who is the next Stephen King. I don´t know much about wine or ties or cigars. So I have no idea if what I buy would really be of top quality or just from the sweatshop in China. But what I DO know are comics. So I prefer to give a present where I really know that is is the best out there. And if they want more information or explanation I can give that too. I think that´s better than : " I have no idea. I just bought it in some shop. I hope it´s not total crap. " So pick your present in the category where you are the undisputed master. I mean, if they need to they can buy their socks, ties or cigars without you - and they will probably get better merchandise. So help them in getting what they don´t know they always wanted.

Reason number four : This will sound cheap but sometimes it is the best way to streamline your comic collection without loosing too much money. If you have a comic collection like mine there are a lot of comics that you bought but they weren´t as good as you thought. Now you can sell them again and lose a lot of money. Or you can give them away as a christmas present. I know, it sounds cheap but first of all : don´t take any old comic that you have already read a million times. The most important thing is that you take only comics that are in a premium condition. Secondly try to pick hardcovers over softcovers. There are surely a lot of items like this in your collection. If you are like me you will probably buy the new kingdom come trade even if you have all the individual issues because of the extra material. So if you have some redundacies in your collection you may already have some presents.

Or there are, like I said earlier, some comics in hardcover you paid good money for but which you only read ONE time and never looked at them again. Now, remember that even YOUNGBLOOD had fans so just because you don´t like it that doesn´t mean that somebody else will not like it and think it cool. Now before coming to the last point I just want to say that the best place to get comics for presents is at comic cons or comic fairs where you can get a lot of comics for half price or less. I always buy some comics to give away later and I always have four or five comics who I could give as presents. Because there are always people who pay you a surprise visit and I just love to see their faces when I can get them a christmas or birthday present in one or two minutes.

Now what comics to pick ? As a rule of thumb for non comic readers try to find a comic in a field of interest they already have and look for VERTIGO books or mangas first. Comicmuggels normally have a fear of superheroes and capes and they don´t think of mangas as comics. So try getting something else for the first time and when they have read the comic and trust your judgement you can go to the best part. Try to match their hobbies with you present like for crime fiction fans you can get 100 BULLETS or CASE CLOSED. If they have seen movies like Spider - Man, X - Men, V FOR VENDETTA, FROM HELL or SIN CITY and they have liked them get them the comics to show them that they are far better. With SIN CITY or HELLBOY it doesn´t really much matter which story you get but with X - Men or Spider - Man go for the best of the best like the DEATH OF PHOENIX storyline or KRAVEN´S LAST HUNT which has just come out again as a hardcover. If they like westerns you could go for DESPERADOS and if they liked PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN you could try CAZADOR from CROSSGEN. As an aside most comics of CrossGen had more female readers so if you are thinking about a present for a girl you might pick ROUTE 666 ( if she is a horror fan ) or MERIDIAN ( if she likes fantasy ) or SOJOURN ( if she liked LORD OF THE RINGS )with a female lead character. And if the person is a fan of tv shows like 24 or CSI or X - FILES they might not know that there is a comic to that show.

No comic reads for today. I hoped to be able to read some of the issues I saved for the holidays like SUPERMAN / BATMAN, EXILES or GREEN ARROW. But so far I had no luck. Anyway, best wishes to all and I hope I gave you some ideas for the next presents.

Merry Christmas !Fröhliche Weihnachten ! Feliz Navidad ! Bon Noel ! Happy Hannukah !


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