Sleigh bells ring are you listening? In the lane, something’s glistening, a beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight, because we’ve got some comic book gift suggestions! That’s right guys and geeks, “The Hench” and “The Fac3” have reunited (and it feels so good!) for the sole purpose of giving all of your crazed souls a nice long list of comic books for everyone on your holiday gift list. This one’s going to be hefty, so make sure to pull out that list of folks you’re giving gifts to this holiday season, compare it with our list of all of this year’s top releases, and give Santa a head’s up on what everyone should be getting. Speaking of “should be getting,” should we be getting this list started? Yes. Yes, we should. Also, speaking for “The Face,” I’m pretty sure you could also get these for us. I’m just saying…

The city calm, and the night is dark, but there’s a gloom on the horizon of the newly fallen snow. It’s with this that you realize that there are very few shopping days left until the holidays are over. Well, chances are you’ve got a Batman fan in your life on some level whether they be hardcore fans, new comers or simply a casual gent or lady that enjoys the movies. Well, have I got some last minute, easy as pecan pie solutions for you! Below are several gift ideas that can be presented to your loved ones. One thing that should be mentioned about the below list is that pretty much nothing needs deep understanding of the character’s history. These are pretty safe gifts for any Batfan that you may know, no matter how hardcore. Anyway, let’s get on with this gift guide, shall we?

ABSOLUTE EDITIONS

The thing about Absolute Editions is that, even if I personally don’t like the story, I want the Absolute Edition. Does that make sense? Let me explain. Absolute Editions are presented in the giant hardcover that basically is the same size as the original art, but it’s completely colored and printed on extremely high quality paper. So, any imaginable detail in the art can be experienced, and usually only the most high profile stories with incredibly talented creative teams get the Absolute treatment. Plus, in these editions, there are loads of bonus features that liken them to the most ultimate editions of movie releases. So, with that, let’s move on to the two Batman specific ones on this list.

A lot of sites are probably putting together several lists right about now in honor of this Friday’s release of The Dark Knight Rises that would name most of these as “must-reads if you’re wanting to get into Batman comics,” or something to that effect. But how I’d like to phrase this entry is in more of an academic sense. These books that I’m about to suggest to you are being referred to as “Read these first” because a lot of the more “higher learning” readings require a sophisticated palette that must be developed by learning the different takes on the character of Batman prior to jumping shoulders’ deep into the complex and clever stories of these more advanced works.

Now, that’s not to say that any of the comics listed are bad. Sure I may not like some of them as much as others, but based on my research and personal experiences, the comics listed here in Batman 101 are some of the books that have gotten most hardcore Batman fans to start loving the character in the same way I do. Keep in mind that this is a list of comic books, so you’ll look elsewhere to see things like Batman ’66 and Batman: The Animated Series. So, if you’re ready, let’s get started with something I like to call Batman 101: A Beginner’s Guide To The Dark Knight.

Batman: The Long Halloween
Trade Paperback
Written by Jeph Loeb
Art by Tim Sale
Cover by Tim Sale
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $19.99

Recently I have been reading a lot of older comics and graphic novels and one that has stood out the most lately is Batman: The Long Halloween. If you haven’t read this trade, written by Jeph Loeb with art by by Tim Sale, it is absolutely amazing!

The story deals with a serial killer named Holiday who is picking off major members of the Falcone crime family in Gotham City. The reason why the killer is named Holiday is the fact that he only strikes on major holidays. He starts his spree on Halloween and goes on for about a year murdering over a dozen people. It’s up to Batman to find out who Holiday really is and why he’s killing all these people.

There are so many twists and turns with the plot of this story that it will keep you on your toes until the very last panel.

Fans of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale‘s series of “color” stories (Spider-Man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow, Hulk: Gray) have been waiting for their next installment in the series for a long time, Captain America: White, ever since it was first announced. We have only seen one issue, the #0 issue which saw print in July of 2008, but we haven’t seen anything since.

However, at Marvel’s Cup O Joe panel Saturday at the 2010 New York Comic Con, Loeb said that work is still going ahead on the series, and that Tim Sale is still drawing. Loeb said that they are waiting for all the issues to be completed and that Sale is basically painting every page. Loeb also said that they plan to have the series out in time for the Captain America movie.