In the Trades #2: The Gift of Comics

Recently my buddies from college, most of whom still live in the Washington, D.C. area, did a really nice thing for me. Knowing I've had an abysmally difficult time the past few weeks on the homefront, they insisted I make a trip down to D.C. on them this past weekend. They took care of my flight, a ticket to the Georgetown Hoya's game against Memphis (a big win), and brought me to a big open bar Christmas party. It was exactly the kind of thing I needed and a hell of an early Christmas present.

Wanting to show my gratitude, I decided to give my boys all the gift of comics this Christmas. Now, not a single one of my friends are big comics readers today, and most probably don't own a single comic. Still I was confident I could find something for each of them. I had a good time picking out a graphic novel appropriate for each of my boys. Here are the books I picked up:

• Guns- He was the easiest. He actually collected comics for a while, and as long as the art is strong, and the story is decent, he'll give a book a read. I bought him Wanted by Mark Millar, as I know he liked the movie. Of course, the movie and the comic are incredibly different, but that's a whole other post.
• Suff- Not a comics reader, and not much into fantasy or scifi. He's a cop and our favorite show back in the day was NYPD Blue. So, I picked up Fell Vol1: Feral City by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith for him. I think he'll dig the interrogation scenes and the messed up cases Det. Richard Fell gets into.
  
• Dipps- Probably the most difficult. Super heroes aren't his bag. I took a chance on this pick, (because I hadn't read it, only heard good things) and got him Girls Vol 1: Conception by the Luna Brothers. I've already heard back from him...he says he's hooked.
  
• Jimmy Twos- Another difficult one and a wild-card because I hadn't read this book yet either. Twos works in Capital Hill for a U.S. Congressman, so I thought something political would be up his alley. Since I'm a huge fan of his other work, I rolled the dice on Ex Machina Vol 1: The First Hundred Days by Brian K. Vaughn and Tony Harris for him.
  
• Repps- Again, Repps isn't a comics reader. But Y: The Last Man Vol 1: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra is so good, I could have given that to anyone and be confident they'd enjoy it.
  
• Longball- The Boys Vol 1: Get Some by Garth Ennis and Darrick Robinson. No question about it. The perfect book for someone who probably hasn't read comics in years and would get a kick out of the shock value style of the envelope pushing Mr. Ennis.
  
• Tuna- An easy one. I've been mowing through the Queen & Country series thanks to my local library's wonderful GN collection. Tuna works for the National Security Agency. While he much prefers non-fiction to fiction, I think he'll enjoy Rucka's series that is strongly grounded in the real world. So I grabbed Queen & Country Definitive Edition Vol.1 by Greg Rucka for him.

And there you have it. My comic gifts this Christmas. (And I fully realize my friends all have names like bad mobsters. But what're you gonna do about it?)