Christmas gifts for pop culture fans: Books and comics collections

Here's part one of our annual gift guide -- DVDs and music tomorrow. This list may help if you're looking to find last-minute presents for pop culture-loving friends and family, or in developing your own wish list.

Books

Whether it's to dive into an read or "coffee table book" to leaf through while sipping eggnog, there are always a lot of great pop culture books released each year. Here are some recent ones:

 Life
Life by Keith Richards

Bond Cars and Vehicles
Bond Cars and Vehicles

Walt Disney Animation Studios The Archive Series: Design
Walt Disney Animation Studios The Archive Series: Design

The Art of Hammer: The Official Poster Collection From the Archive of Hammer Films
The Art of Hammer: The Official Poster Collection From the Archive of Hammer Films

 Mad Men: The Illustrated World
Mad Men: The Illustrated World

Let's Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By
Let's Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By

Forry: The Life of Forrest J Ackerman
Forry: The Life of Forrest J Ackerman

Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History
Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History

Frank: The Voice
Frank: The Voice

All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono
All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono 

Bob Dylan In America
Bob Dylan In America

Starting Over: The Making of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy
Starting Over: The Making of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy

Whiter Shades of Pale: The Stuff White People Like, Coast to Coast, from Seattle's Sweaters to Maine's Microbrews 
Whiter Shades of Pale: The Stuff White People Like, Coast to Coast, from Seattle's Sweaters to Maine's Microbrews


Comics collections

This is truly a golden era of comic book reprints. It seems like nearly any comic book series or comic strip you can think of is now available in collected form, whether it's in a spendy hardcover or relatively inexpensive paperback.

Here are some recent releases that would be great gifts to comics lovers:

Adventures of Superboy

Adventures of Superboy

Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics
Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics

Xenozoic
Xenozoic  by Mark Schulz

Fire and Water: Bill Everett, The Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics
Fire and Water: Bill Everett, The Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics

MAD's Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works
MAD's Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works

 Art of Jim Starlin
Art of Jim Starlin

Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s
Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s

DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle
DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle

75 Years Of DC Comics: The Art Of Modern Mythmaking
75 Years Of DC Comics: The Art Of Modern Mythmaking 

Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal
Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali Deluxe
Superman vs. Muhammad Ali Deluxe

Absolute All Star Superman
Absolute All Star Superman

Little Lulu's Pal Tubby Volume 1: The Castaway and Other Stories
Little Lulu's Pal Tubby Volume 1: The Castaway and Other Stories

Flash Gordon Comic Book Archives Volume 1
Flash Gordon Comic Book Archives Volume 1

Thun'da, King of the Congo Archive
Thun'da, King of the Congo Archive  by Frank Frazetta

Archie: Pureheart the Powerful Volume 1 (Archie (IDW))
Archie: Pureheart the Powerful Volume 1 

Golden Collection of Krazy Kool Klassic Kids' Komics
Golden Collection of Krazy Kool Klassic Kids' Komics

DC Greatest Imaginary Stories Vol. 2: Batman & Robin (DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories)
DC Greatest Imaginary Stories Vol. 2: Batman & Robin 

Wednesday Comics
Wednesday Comics

Atomic Knights
Atomic Knights 

Giant Size Little Lulu Volume 1
Giant Size Little Lulu Volume 1

Nancy: Volume One (John Stanley Library)
Nancy: Volume One (John Stanley Library)

The Boy Commandos by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Vol. 1
The Boy Commandos by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Vol. 1

The Simon and Kirby Superheroes
The Simon and Kirby Superheroes

The Creeper by Steve Ditko
The Creeper by Steve Ditko

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset

Legion of Super-heroes: The Great Darkness Saga (Deluxe Edition)
Legion of Super-heroes: The Great Darkness Saga (Deluxe Edition)

Archie Firsts
Archie Firsts
 
Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal


Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal

Also see:

DC Showcase Presents

DC Archives

Marvel Omnibus

Marvel Essentials

EC Comics Archives

Dark Horse Comics Archives

Dark Horse Comics Omnibus books