Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S., which means we’re just two days away from Black Friday and roughly a month of uninterrupted attempts to separate you from your money.
In the interest of making your holidays a little cooler, and helping support some artists I enjoy and writers I respect, ECV has put together this little holiday gift guide that features links to projects by the likes of AJ Frost, Tilly Bridges, James Milligan, and Super Eyepatch Wolf.
If you like comics, pop culture writing, and people going out of their way to express their inner selves in a relatable way, this gift guide is for you. And if you don’t…well…that’s kind of weird. You should maybe be more open to things.
In some cases, I might get a commission on these links. Mostly not, though, in keeping with ECV’s philosophy of avoiding big corporate stores wherever we can.
Just for fun, we’re going to make an Emerald City Video Holiday 2025 Catalog as a downloadable PDF. It will be out soon, and when it’s ready, I will link it here. It will include these same recommendations, and any we add, along with all-new links and photos.
Asymmetric as January: Poems by A.J. Frost
In his second book of poetry, pop culture writer Abraham J. Frost (The Beat) explores January as a concept.
Here’s how he describes it:
January is the first month of the year, featuring 31 days. It follows December, the previous year’s final month, followed by February. Poetry is a medium for expressing human feelings, ideas, and experiences, utilizing thoughtfully selected words and literary techniques. Poets frequently use rhythm, meter, metaphor, and imagery to communicate deeper meanings, allowing readers to connect with the text through its rich language and artistic form.
The Bizarre World of Fake Video Games by Super Eyepatch Wolf
Super Eyepatch Wolf has a great, fascinating channel on YouTube, which features a number of my all-time favorite video essays. About a year ago, he did a video called “The Bizarre World of Fake Video Games,” and not long after, was apparently approached to do a quasi-adaptation of that video as a book through Hollow Press.
The book is not his only esoteric pop culture product: SEW also has a fake manga, Eyepatch Wolves, for which he sells merch including art prints, t-shirts, and more. In it, he’s got plenty of clues as to what the story of Eyepatch Wolves would be…if you can piece it together. Since it isn’t actually a story, you’re going to have to do the hard work yourself, which is kind of the fun part.
Check this out if you like things like Dave Baker’s Mary Tyler Moorehawk, and if you don’t…why? Who hurt you?
Comics Bookcase by Zack Quaintance
Zack is a terrific writer at The Beat (where I’m the News Editor), and I recently backed his Kickstarter campaign for the comic Macabre Valley. It’s a terrific read, and will soon be available on Zack’s Etsy shop.
In the meantime, though, you can get copies of his Death of the Comics Bookcase and Next Door, both of which come highly recommended.
Final Gravity (A Beer Zine) feat. Ollie & Avery Kaplan
Ollie and Avery Kaplan, two other contributors from The Beat who I hold in very high esteem, contributed to the most recent issue of Final Gravity, a beer zine, with a timely and urgent essay titled “Brewing Boycotts: LGBTQ+ Resistance to Bigotry in Beer.”
Fuck Off with Dave Baker!
It’s winter, so what better time to settle in with the fiery sword of Halloween Boy? From cartoonist Dave Baker, the title is strange, fun, and earnest — and if you like it, you can get a hardcover collection soon from Oni Press (complete with an interview I wrote in the back) as well as an action figure based on the character at Big Bad Toystore.
You can also get comics and even a hat for the insane-but-fun Fuck Off Squad, which Baker made with his partner Nicole Goux.
Goux also has a great new graphic novel out with acclaimed cartoonist Mariko Tamaki, titled This Place Kills Me. You should buy it, because it’s excellent.
A great, fun comic that delivers some of the coolest and most stylish action sequences I’ve seen in a long time, Full Tilt is one of my favorite Kickstarter finds of the last few years. Now, you can get a digital copy directly from writer/artist Jason Copland. Click on the links above, and enjoy!
Meltdown Press, published by Adam Barnhardt
Adam Barnhardt, a writer and graphic designer with whom I’ve been working for years at both ComicBook and now The Beat, has amassed a small library of comics through Meltdown Press. Titles of his that I’ve enjoyed include Nock, Keepers of the Cosmos, and Sh*tshow. He’s got a new title, Moonspawn and Defenders of the Dark, out now.
I’d highly recommend giving his work a look. Keepers of the Cosmos is my personal favorite, but that’s in part because it’s very much the kind of comic I already buy.
I think Sh*tshow, a story about a world once accustomed to superheroes and now forced to live without them, is a great introduction to Adam’s work.
RPG and Sci-Fi Books by Jim Milligan
One of my favorite social media follows, Milligan has an ECV-style library of niche content. I’m just outright stealing his list of links:
His Amazon Author Page Is Here. This is automatically updated every time a new book is made available.
His Drive Thru Fiction Author Page Is Here. Same as with Amazon, this is automatically updated any time a new book is made available. This is made available for people who don’t want to buy through Amazon.
The Complete Evil Robot Games Catalog Is Here. Any of his RPG work will be presented here.
Tilly Bridges writes about trans issues and Star Trek!
Tilly, a contributor to Everyone You’ve Ever Met is Beautiful and a brilliant, thoughtful writer, has a place where fans can contribute to keep her blog Tilly’s Trans Tuesdays going…or get signed copies of her books, including Star Trek comics, which is a brand I understand is pretty popular!
Currently, you can get signed hardcovers and paperbacks of her book, Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of The Matrix, which are usually out of stock. I’d recommend starting there!
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