Today is the penultimate day of The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide. I’d intended to stop this a week ago, but decided to go ahead and fill up November with gift suggestions after I got my other writing committments out of the way this month and discovered that I had a lot of candidates that I hadn’t gotten around to yet.

So today we have five random, but very cool, gift suggestions that might just brighten up the holidays for the folks on your shopping list.

There’s no theme today, just the stuff that I hadn’t managed to list here yet. Tomorrow we have a big theme to finish things out, but today, it’s random.

Today we have a graphic novel, a book about toys, a video boxset, a music boxset and an autobiography.

So let’s dive in…

Boy Maximortal
by Rick Veitch
King Hell Press
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8867560027
$19.99 at Amazon

Rick Veitch, Quixote of Comics, brings his King Hell Heroica to a furious boil in this collected edition of Boy Maximortal. Originally serialized in comics, here is the complete Boy Maximortal graphic novel; Volume Two of Veitch’s planned five book cycle, the King Hell Heroica. It joins The Maximortal (Volume One) and Brat Pack (Volume Four), in the hearts and minds of discriminating superhero readers around the world.

Accelerating faster than a speeding bullet, Boy Maximortal continues the story of True-Man, now a teenager hiding from an increasingly desperate military while trying to come to grips with powers and urges far beyond those of normal men. Played against a backdrop of the sleazy underworld of comic book publishing, Veitch’s superhero deconstruction digs deep into the roots of a cultural mythos that has come to define our times.

Young True-Man is a higher dimensional entity enthralled by a cheap disposable fantasy, grappling with otherworldly origins while hoping to save the world. With the government hunting him down and a girlfriend obsessed with his secret identity, life for our young super being is anything but simple.

What happens when the most powerful creature on Earth reaches puberty? What secret truth running through history has led to his manifestation? If the military catches him can he be contained? Rick Veitch continues his Eisner nominated superhero deconstruction in this highly anticipated second volume the King Hell Heroica series.

Note: the back-up material that was included in Boy Maximortal comics #1-4, is not collected in this volume. A short essay on modern superhero culture, “The Forgotten Quest”, by Veitch, is printed here for the first time.

Veitch is a bit of a legend who’s worked with Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette and his brother Tom, but has created an incredible adult-oriented superhero universe by himself.  Boy Maximortal is the latest collection of what has become known as The King Hell Heroica, which encompasses Brat Pack and Maximortal and planned future works.

Boy Maximortail is recommended for fans of Veitch, as well as fans of The Boys and Invincible and other post-Watchmen superhero comics.

GI Joe: Action Soldier: Celebrating 60 Years of America’s Movable Fighting Man!
by R.J. Jones
Independently published
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8864792452
$19.99 at Amazon

A companion volume to a book we recommended in the first day of The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide, GI Joe: Action Soldier, R.J. Jones has delivered the first of four planned volumes that focus, not on the entire military era of GI Joe, but instead just one one branch, in this case, the Army.

This is a complete checklist of all of the figures and accessories that made up GI Joe’s Action Soldier line. In the coming months you can expect GI Joe Action Sailor, Action Pilot and Action Marine books.

This book is packed with photos, information, a value guide, a checklist and more.  It’s a book every vintage GI Joe enthusiast and collector is sure to love.

And it’s a great gift idea for veterans of the Army, as well as collectors of the toys.

The Vincent Price Collection
4-Blu Ray boxset
by Shout Factory
$47.99

You can’t go wrong with Vincent Price movies. These Roger Corman productions are dripping with style and include some of Price’s most memorable performances.

This collection includes new and vintage bonus features that focus not just on each film, but on Price’s illustrious and enduring legacy as cinema’s most chilling actor.

DISC ONE:

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM: 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1)/DTS-HD Master Audio Mono/1961/Color/Not Rated/+/- 80 Minutes

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES: 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.85:1)/DTS-HD Master Audio Mono/1971/Color/PG-13 (Some Horror Violence/Gore)/+/- 93 Minutes

Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman And Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr; Rare Prologue
Audio Commentary By Producer/Director Roger Corman and Robert Fuest; Theatrical Trailer; Still Gallery.

DISC TWO:

THE HAUNTED PALACE:1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1)/DTS-HD Master Audio Mono/1963/Color/Not Rated/+/- 93 Minutes

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER: 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1)/DTS-HD Master Audio Mono/1960/Color/Not Rated/+/- 80 Minutes

Bonus features: NEW Audio Commentary With Film Historians Kim Newman And Barry Forshaw (Extended Cut): NEW Introduction By Film Historian Stephen Jones; Includes Both The Theatrical Cut And The Extended Cut; Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman (Theatrical Cut); Interview With Producer/Director Roger Corman; Theatrical Trailer; Still Gallery.

DISC THREE:

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (Theatrical Cut)/+/- 88 Minutes

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (Extended Cut): 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1)/DTS-HD Master Audio Mono/1964/Color/Not Rated/+/- 89 Minutes

Bonus Features: NEW Audio Commentary With Film Historians Kim Newman And Barry Forshaw (Extended Cut); NEW Introduction By Film Historian Stephen Jones; Includes Both The Theatrical Cut And The Extended Cut; Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman (Theatrical Cut); Interview With Producer/Director Roger Corman; Theatrical Trailer; Still Gallery.

DISC FOUR:

WITCHFINDER GENERAL (aka THE CONQUEROR WORM):1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.85:1)/DTS-HD Master Audio Mono/1968/Color/Not Rated/+/- 87 Minutes

Bonus Features: Audio Commentary By Producer Philip Waddilove And Actor Ian Ogilvy; Witchfinder General: Michael Reeves’ Horror Classic; Alternate Opening And Closing Credits For The Conqueror Worm; Interview With Vincent Price Conducted By Film Historian David Del Valle; Interview with Victoria Price; Theatrical Trailer; Additional Vincent Price Theatrical Trailers; Still Gallery.

 Also Includes 24-Page Booklet With An Essay By Author David Del Valle And Rare Photos.

This is the perfect gift for the horror and/or Vincent Price fan on your holiday shopping list.

John Wetton: An Extraordinary Life
by John Wetton
Spirit of Unicorn Music
8-CD Boxset
$102.76 at Amazon

People mainly know the late John Wetton from the prog supergroup, ASIA, but he was actually in several top-level progressive bands, or worked as a sideman, for years before ASIA took off in 1982.

John Wetton: An Extraordinary Life collects all six of Wetton’s solo albums, and adds two full CDs of rarities and bonus tracks.

This is a limited-run eight CD box set. It includes John’s six solo albums, each with bonus material,  which have been fully remastered.

Also included are 2CDs of extremely rare and hard-to-find bonus material. This material is a treasure trove of wonders for the true Wetton fan.

Presented in a 12×12″ box, this collection also features an extensive 64 page book with notes written by Nick Shilton, author of John’s biography, An Extraordinary Life and artwork by Michael Inns, long-time friend and collaborator of John’s.

This box set has been carefully curated with the blessing of John’s wife Lisa and son Dylan and is released with the full support of the Wetton estate. You probably know Wetton’s voice from ASIA, and possibly from his earlier stints in King Crimson and UK. He’d also played bass and sang with Family, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, Renaissance, Brian Eno, Quango, Icon and more.

His solo work is top-notch melodic prog-rock, with his incredible voice pushed to the front and star-studded line-ups of guests and sidemen. This is a killer gift for any fan of Wetton, ASIA, UK, or prog-rock in general.

Berserker!: An Autobiography
by Adrian Edmondson
Macmillan
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1035014279
$35.92 available from any bookseller or from Amazon.

I recommended the movie, Guest House Paradiso, yesterday in the Gift Guide, and it co-starred and was directed by Adrian Edmondson, so you know I’m a fan.

Edmonson was also very kind, offering words of support for the Radio Free Charleston video show in the early days (via MySpace, no less), so I may be a bit biased, but I still think that this book would be a fantastic gift for any fan of The Young Ones, Bottom, British alternative comedy, or even Absolutely Fabulous, the show written by his wife, Jennifer Saunders (Edmonson was a recurring character on the show, and Saunder’s character name, “Edina Monsoon,” was a riff on Edmonson’s name).

This is Edmonson’s amazing story, in his own words. Let’s look at the blurb:

Berserker [noun]: A Norse warrior frenzied in battle and held to be invulnerable; often off his tits on henbane and large quantities of alcohol; one who is out of control with anger or excitement.

Ade Edmondson smashed onto the comedy circuit in the 1980s, stormed The Comedy Store and, alongside Rik Mayall, brought anarchy to stage and screen in iconic shows such as The Young Ones and Bottom. How did a child brought up in a strict Methodist household – and who spent his formative years incarcerated in repressive boarding schools end up joining the revolution? Well, he is part Norse. Could it be his ‘berserker’ heritage?

With wisdom, nostalgia and uniquely observed humour, Ade traces his journey through life and comedy: from playing the Angel Gabriel in four school productions and adolescent dreams of becoming a rock god, to revolutionizing the alternative scene with the Comic Strip Club, creating his outrageously violent characters, playing with The Who and even kissing Joni Mitchell along the way.

Brimming with nostalgia and set to a soundtrack of pop hits which transport the reader through time, BERSERKER! is a memoir like no other.

Filled with inside stories about his years working with Rik Mayall ad his wife, Jennifer Saunders, and with plenty of details about his band, The Bad Shepards and his time in The Bonzo Dog Band during their reunions, this is manna from heaven for Ade’s fans.