Comics for Christmas morning

If you’re like me, you’ll be heading to do the last of your Christmas shopping right about now.

Comics were always a big part of our Christmas when I was growing up—we always had an Archie or Casper comic in our stockings, and our Irish relatives would send us boxes of colorful Christmas annuals.

So if you’re looking for something that will make a kid smile, check out these comics—and if you don’t get to the store till the day after Christmas, they’ll still be just as good (and handy for keeping the youngsters occupied when you’re traveling).

Pokemon Black & White Pocket Comics

This chunky little book is over 300 pages of Pokemon cartoons and quizzes. Each two-page spread has a four-panel cartoon and a quiz question about the Pokemon characters. Unlike the regular Pokemon manga, there’s no continuing story, so this is a great pick for kids who are obsessed with the characters and enjoy the trivia aspects of the Pokemon world. ($9.99)

Sonic Super Special #9

This will have the most appeal to kids who are already Sonic the Hedgehog fans, as the stories all tie pretty heavily into the game. There are four comic stories in this magazine, and each one has a pretty good chunk of story, but a couple of them end on cliffhangers and they all exhort the reader to play the game or get the next graphic novel. (One of the stories is basically the backstory to the Sonic Lost World game.) There are extras such as pages of character designs, but be warned that much of the non-comics matter is pretty blatantly promotional (“The top 10 reasons to be excited about the new Sonic universe!”) Still, the stories have a lot of action to them, and I particularly liked that one of them had basically an all-female cast (until the bad guys showed up on the last page). There’s a preview here. ($9.99)

Spongebob Comics #27

If you haven’t been reading the Spongebob comics, you’re in for a treat. They are those rare comics that are smart enough for an adult to enjoy yet simple enough for kids, and they often feature comics by well known creators (James Kochalka is a regular contributor, for instance). In this issue, Spongebob faces down a mob of angry jellyfish, Squidward gets in trouble for interrupting Spongebob’s warm-up exercises, and in “The Amazing SpongeBot,” a mechanical from the future has to stop his current incarnation from performing a comedy routine, or something vaguely terrible will happen. It’s all goofy good fun for kids who are fans of the cartoon or those who are new to the world of Bikini Bottom. ($2.99)

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #1

Like chocolate and peanut butter, Scooby-Doo and Batman are two great comics that go great together, and writer Sholly Fisch has combined them in this new series. Our own J. Caleb Mozzocco talked to Fisch a few weeks ago, and CBR has a preview here. If you’re not so sure about Batman, you can get Scooby-Doo straight up in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #40, which we previewed right here at Good Comics for Kids. ($2.99)

Filed under: All Ages