Bryan Lee O'Malley
Moreau: 'Scott Pilgrim appeals to a wide market: video game people, comic book people, music people.'
Christmas is fast-approaching and you still have presents to buy. For the comic book geek on your gift list, try Westfield Comics. Bob Moreau says that graphic novels aren't just all about superheroes and bad guys (also known as Capes and Cowls) anymore.
"Marvel's been doing some great adaptations of classic literature," he says. "They just released a third Jane Austen title, for people who like classic romance, and they are doing a terrific adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, from the original source material."
Other titles that might surprise include Fables, a series about fairy tale and folklore characters who move to New York City, and Y: The Last Man, a series about the only surviving male on the Earth.
Moreau notes that The Walking Dead series, recently adapted for an AMC television series, is wildly popular. "We're reordering the first volume every few days," he says.
Westfield also sells the first Walking Dead compendium, which includes the first eight volumes. There are 80 issues of the comic so far, and it's not done yet. The AMC series was renewed for a second, longer season, so these comics will stay popular for a while.
For teenagers, Moreau recommends Runaways, an award-winning comic series about a group of teenagers who discover their parents are actually supervillains, and the Scott Pilgrim series, adapted this summer into a video game-culture drenched movie. "Scott Pilgrim appeals to a wide market: video game people, comic book people, music people," he says.
Kids love comic books and graphic novels, too, and Moreau has plenty of suggestions for them. Tiny Titans is a series about characters from the DC Universe... when they were kids. The art is adorable, the storylines are kid-friendly (it takes place in an elementary school), and it has plenty of female characters for little girls who often get left out when it comes to comics. Bone, by Jeff Smith, is another series that appeals to kids, but adults will appreciate its sly humor. There are plenty of these comics to read, even though the series is finished; the compendium is 1,342 pages long.
Still don't know what to get that comic book lover on your list? Westfield carries gift cards so you can give the gift of comics without pulling your hair out.
Westfield Comics now has two stores in Madison: one just off Mineral Point Rd. in the High Point Center at D'Onofrio, and their new location on Williamson St., next to Burrito Drive.