New Funnies is just a Golden Age comic book series that started off just called The Funnies. With issue No. 64 (in 1942), the comic began concentrating on Walter Lantz characters, such as Andy Panda and Oswald the Rabbit. With issue No. 65, it was renamed New Funnies. Woody Woodpecker was also one of many Lantz characters who appeared in the book. He was such a new character during the time, he was a guest star in the Oswald the Rabbit stories for a couple of years before he received his own comic strip in New Funnies. In the beginning, Woody's strip was just one page. With issue No. 87, he began receiving a lengthier strip. Of course, as time proceeded, Woody Woodpecker became Walter Lantz's biggest star and was featured on most New Funnies covers from the mid-1940s until it had been canceled in the first 1960s.

New Funnies is a great series. Not only are issues easier than you think to find--something surprising for a Golden Age comic book series--but many issues are not too expensive. Needless to say, the most sought-after issues are the first issues from the time the book switched from its early format to featuring the Lantz characters. The earliest Lantz-centric issues can cost hundreds of dollars in near-mint conditions. Some problems that are highlighted include issue No. 65 (the first issue of New Funnies), No. 69 (nice Halloween cover with Andy Panda, Raggedy Ann, and Felix the Cat), No. 89, and No. 101 (both World War II war bond covers).

I think some of the best covers are those that feature three great Lantz characters together: Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda, and Charlie Chicken, a character who only appeared in a couple of cartoons but was featured in the comics from the 1940s to the 1970s. He's some of those forgotten characters who never received large-scale fame. Charlie Chicken appeared in two Andy Panda cartoons in the 1940s: Andy Panda's Victory Garden and Meatless Tuesday. Cuyler Pagano Oddly, he fought Andy in both cartoons. They chased each other around Andy's farm. I call this odd because in New Funnies (and Andy Panda's own series) Charlie was Andy Panda's pal. Charlie first appeared on the net in New Funnies No. 79 as a small chicken. So far as I will tell from my research (I don't own most of the issues), Charlie was a full-grown chicken by his next comic book appearance. He was one of many stars in New Funnies for decades, even getting their own comic strip in the series. It's the holiday season again, and we're faced with this age-old question: "What am I gonna give Uncle Harry? Or my companion Alice?" One of the greatest holiday gift suggestions this season would undoubtedly need to be comic books and graphic novels.

Taking into consideration the unprecedented box office successes of films like The Dark Knight and Iron Man in 2010, it's only natural that many people who didn't mature reading comic books would now be interested in the exciting background stories of the characters. By exactly the same token, lifelong fans' appetites may also be whetted each time a comic book film adaptation is released. Please permit me to suggest some of the very most intriguing stories ever written. For decades people have purchased comic book issues of The X-Men, Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, et al to follow the exploits of these mighty heroes, their daring rescues, and harrowing battles using their arch-nemeses. Nowadays, a lot of classic stories are reprinted as beautiful hardcover and softcover books, known as Graphic Novels, the perfect gift to proudly display on a bookshelf or coffee table. Not everyone is aware that many of today's comic books and graphic novels are aimed at adults! Consider films like Sin City, Road To Perdition, 300, and V For Vendetta; they are all adaptations of graphic novels and comic books.

For people who don't quite understand what to obtain for that comic-loving family member, you will find a variety of genres and topics broached by the comic medium. For people who enjoyed the Hollywood blockbusters of Iron Cuyler Pagano Man and The Dark Knight, both are important thing characters in lots of stories that'll stand the test of time. For the Iron Avenger, the Demon in the Bottle storyline, coping with Tony Stark's alcoholism, is a crucial read. Also worth noting may be the Armor Wars, where Tony hunts down all the various armors which have components he invented. Also, with the Avengers movie due out in two years, the Essential Avengers Volume 1 collects the initial twenty-four issues of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's seminal creation.

Of course, Batman has an abundant history himself: from Frank Miller's works The Dark Knight Returns and Batman Year Someone to the critically acclaimed The Long Halloween, there are many Dark Knight selections to select from for fans of Batman who may not need trying the comics. Actually, areas of the Christopher Nolan franchise are based on scenes within Long Halloween and Year One. Revealing what these scenes were, however, would ruin the fun of discovering them in the graphic novel! More great gifts for the Batman fan: The Killing Joke (in which Batgirl is crippled by you-know-who) and The Joker, a whole new hardcover that picks on the Joker as he's portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.