Maybe your holiday shopping isn’t over, and you’re looking for that last-minute gift for your cousin come New Year’s Eve. Or maybe Santa was extra nice and slipped a few twenties in your stocking. Whatever the case, here are ten comic book and graphic novel ideas to fill that lonely space under the tree. Read about my picks here.

Read my weekend reviews of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #3, Mudman #1, and The Occultist #1.

Stop by Impulse Creations for reviews of this month’s Near Death #1 (coming next week), Pigs #1, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Nine #1. Enjoy!

Miss out on your favorite comics while running around full of holiday cheer this season? Three new reviews are online at the Impulse Creations forums to catch you up to speed. Batman Inc., Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead, and Ratchet and Clank are on deck this time around.

Mike Mignola is one of my favorite storytellers in comics, so the release of Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects from Dark Horse was hard to resist. All fangirlishness aside, find out whether the graphic novel hits its mark in my new review at OneMetal.com.

Speaking of OM, check out the website for some great Halloween goodies!

Many of my pre-teen mornings and afternoons were spent glued to the television, obsessed with episodes of Pokemon, Digimon, and Sailor Moon. One of my favorites on Kids WB was the anime show Cardcaptors. Years later I discovered the manga the show was based on, but after a few volumes my interested dwindled. At ten or fifteen bucks a pop, the books weren’t worth repeat trips to the bookstore.

Now I can’t help but giggle like a school girl over pancakes because Dark Horse has some fantastic news: Hot from the printer is the manga’s first volume omnibus.

Black and white and tallying 500+ pages, the omnibus is a steal at $20 (basically the cost of two regular volumes).

Fourth grader Sakura Kinomoto finds a strange book in her father’s library — a book made by the wizard Clow to store dangerous spirits sealed within a set of magical cards. But when Sakura opens it up, there is nothing left inside but Kero-chan, the book’s cute little guardian beast . . . who informs Sakura that since the Clow cards seem to have escaped while he was asleep, it’s now her job to capture them!

More information at the publisher’s website.

If you like Felicia Day, or just about anything Joss Whedon touches, then chances are you’re already a fan of “The Guild.” With Felicia Day writing the new story, the popular web series graced comic books last week and tells of the colorful guild’s origin.

Welcome to another installment of Pilot! As comic book readers ourselves, we at Impulse know how important it is to get a quality bang for money spent on a single issue. Comic prices add up, after all! So every so often we’ll take an in-depth look at a new title or mini-series. We’ll give you the heads up on whether it’s is worth getting into or passing up. If it’s good, then you’ll know. If it’s not so good … well, we read it so you don’t have to.

Internet sensation Felicia Day invented The Guild, a web series that thousands of fans popularize, the mass-market Xbox Live (Microsoft) continuously distributes, and company Sprint sponsors. The Youtube hit has grown out of its purely loyal PayPal donation shell and flourished into a fan favorite that has claimed numerous awards, including the SXSW, Youtube, and Yahoo Awards Series Awards. Day’s home project has even garnered thrice the praise from the internet famous Streamy Awards. Now The Guild, which the commonly recognized Joss Whedon television actress engineered for her fellow MMORPG (massive multi-player online role-playing game) gamers, charms its way into Dark Horse’s comic book realm.

Read the rest at Impulse Creations.

Dark Horse recently passed along A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer, two excellent novellas rolled into one pretty little book. Vampire Hunter D fans will want to grab this one, as it’s written by the series’ creator. Those unfamiliar with Kikuchi’s work will definitely enjoy the two stories, as well.

Most books and comics never make it out of their papery, multi-colored form or burst out of their speech bubbles, and that’s okay—we nerds like ’em just the way they are. Here at RadNerd, we don’t always need fancy pants movie adaptations endorsed by big budget Hollywood mouths or plastered with Nicholas Cage’s face. A little less Nick is good for everyone. We love movies and TV just as much as the next joe, but sometimes going back to to the roots of what we adore just sounds better. You know … all those crazy words and stuff. Letters are like atoms for the literately-inclined.

Vampire Hunter D writer Hideyuki Kikuchi unleashes a science-fiction double feature with the new A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer book. The merry folks of Dark Horse Comics pack two novellas into one paperback collection featuring the sporadic black and white illustrations of Yoshitaka Amano. You can now swipe the English translation and enjoy a refreshing culture switch.

Read the rest at RadNerd.com.

Mass Effect aficionados might want to snag a copy of this month’s Mass Effect: Redemption #1 (out now), which preludes the new Mass Effect 2 video game. Yesterday’s Impulse Creations article determines whether it passes the quality test as a comic, but chances are you’ll want to purchase the issue regardless if you’re a fan.

Welcome to another installment of Pilot! As comic book readers ourselves, we at Impulse know how important it is to get a quality bang for money spent on a single issue. Comic prices add up, after all! So every so often we’ll take an in-depth look at a new title or mini-series. We’ll give you the heads up on whether it’s is worth getting into or passing up. If it’s good, then you’ll know. If it’s not so good … well, we read it so you don’t have to.

Another video game series enters the comic book world this month with Mass Effect: Redemption #1 (of 4), penned by the lead writer of the upcoming Mass Effect 2, Mac Walters. Published by Dark Horse, the mini-series agrees to test its weight against the demands of an audience who favors a printed, visual medium. The transition between mediums—and in this case, from the screen to the page—usually requires a certain toll, and many times the cost proves high. Either the nature of the source gives way to convolution or the end product doesn’t try to function as a new work. I might not be a Mass Effect familiar, but the comic feeds more than just the interests of the original fans: By stepping foot into comic book waters, readers with little or zero Mass Effect education are going to flip through the pages. In fact, the point of the transfer lies with reaching new audiences and inviting them to dip into the video game experience, as well.

Man, it’s been a busy week! Good thing I like this job so much. It does have its perks, after all—like getting to talk with Karl Moline, guest artist on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: Willow one-shot out today. In the interview, Karl discusses the comic and the There’s Something about Willow issue.

A very special one-shot ships today from Dark Horse—and it’s just in time for the holidays. Avid Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans might not be able to have their favorite witch gift-wrapped under the tree this year, but they can snatch a generous dose of Willow action in today’s comic. Guest artist Karl Moline agreed to sit down and answer some of our pressing questions. Who is that serpent lady on the cover and what does she want with Willow? What’s it like working with Joss Whedon? And most importantly, who’d win in a pillow fight: Spike or Angel? Okay, I made that one up, but Moline does give us the behind-the-scenes skinny on the Willow extravaganza.

GEN: Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to talk shop with us, Karl! Let’s get down to business: the upcoming Willow one-shot. Regular Buffy artist Georges Jeanty is stepping aside for this issue. As co-creator and artist on the Fray-themed comics, what made you turn your focus from the future Vampire Slayer to the series’ number one redhead? How did you become involved with the one-shot?

Karl Moline: Well, while Fray has been my major focus with Dark Horse, I’ve developed a good working relationship with my editors and that has led to a few non-Fray related projects. I had a really good time drawing the Buffy characters, and Willow was probably my favorite of the bunch. I guess the Powers that Be felt I did a good a good job drawing her and thought of me for the one-shot.

GEN: That serpent lady on the cover—Willow has met her before, right? She seems to know a lot about Willow and her powers. How much of a role does she play in this issue?

Moline: We have seen her before, although her appearance was brief and somewhat mysterious. This issue will shed light on her ties to Willow and explain who she is and why we should care. Their history is important to Willow’s magic powers and fans will want to read this to get a clearer picture.

Read more at the Girls Entertainment Network. And while you’re at it, make sure to check out TheNerdyBird‘s chat with Georges Jeanty.