Buying gifts can be tricky, especially for a big comics fan. On the one hand, you know exactly what they are into. But on the other hand, there’s always the worry that they already own that book or that collectible. We wanted to help with some inspiration, so we asked our staff what they would want to receive as a gift. Hopefully, this will help you get started; happy holidays!
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And if you have any cool experiences or suggestions you want to add, well, the comment section is below.
Christopher Egan
Star Wars Volume 12: Rebels and Rogues ($11.53 Retail)
As Marvel Comics winds down its main “Star Wars” series, the penultimate volume arrives November 19, 2019. Darth Vader is hunting Luke Skywalker, Chewie and C-3PO are off on their own mission, and Han & Leia run into one of Leia’s exes. Collecting issues 68-72, we are nearing the end! Marvel superstar Greg Pak takes over writing duties for Kieron Gillen with Phil Noto drawing and coloring each issue. One of the best things to come out of the new Star Wars era is coming to a close and you don’t want to miss out!
The Fly Collection from Scream Factory ($59.37 (Amazon)/$63.97(SF) Retail)
Here’s one for the horror-heads in your life. Shout Factory’s horror imprint Scream Factory is releasing a huge five movie collection for the classic experiment-gone-wrong, The Fly! This set includes the three original films: The Fly (1958), The Return of The Fly (1959), The Curse of The Fly (1965)…as well as one of the greatest sci-fi horror remakes of all time: The Fly (1986), and its sequel The Fly II (1989). Filled with brand new bonus features including commentaries, interviews, and other goodies, as well as all bonus features ported over from previous releases – this is the ultimate Fly set.
The original film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring the great Vincent Price and Al Hedison (as the doomed fly-man) is still creepy and has one of the most disturbing endings in all of horror history! Return sees Vincent Price reprising his role as the scientist’s brother who must now convince his nephew (Brett Halsey) to not continue his father’s work. The final film in the trilogy, Curse, features a woman (Carole Gray) who realizes too late that she may have married into the wrong family. Ranging from scary to cheesy, these films are still a fun watch to this day.
Following the original series body-horror maestro David Cronenberg directed the 1986 remake; which saw scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) experiment with teleportation and slowly turn into a human fly while the woman he loves (Geena Davis) must watch in horror. It is still one of the saddest, grossest, and most terrifying films ever made. In 1989, special effects guru Chris Walas took over the directing reins from Cronenberg to make a sequel following Brundle’s son (Eric Stoltz) who may have some of those nasty recessive fly genes deep in his DNA. A modern mash-up of the original two sequels picking up where the ’86 film left off, it may not be anywhere near as good as its predecessor, but it still a super fun gross-out monster flick.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order PS4/XBOX One/PC ($59.99 Retail)
Here’s a game that everyone is talking about this holiday season. Just released on November 14th across the major platforms, it’s a perfect game for the Star Wars fan in your life. Picking up a few years after the Jedi purge seen in Revenge of the Sith, you play as a former Padawan Cal Kestis. A young Jedi in hiding who gets swept up in running from the Empire, following a mystery set before him by a dead Jedi Master, and forming loose allegiances with early factions of what would become the Rebel Alliance. Some familiar characters come into the story, but for the most part this is a brand new story, set in a little seen era, that is engaging, exciting and a lot of fun.
Continued belowFans are finally treated to a new 3rd person action adventure game that allows them to have some faith in EA creating Star Wars games again. The game play and story progression feel like a combination of “The Force Unleashed,” the “Uncharted” series, and “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.” Feel the power of the Force with this brand new chapter in the Star Wars saga.
“Our Encounters With Evil” – Hardcover ($12.59 Retail)
The genius behind “Hellboy,” Mike Mignola returns with artist, Warwick Johnson-Cadwell (“Tank Girl”) to their heroes from “Mr. Higgins Comes Home,” with the follow-up “Our Encounters With Evil.” This hardcover edition showcases adventures of the characters as they hunt down vampires, werewolves, and other creatures that man has yet to name. This entire chapter is a thrilling read of occult terror. Want to escape all that holiday cheer? This beautifully crafted volume of gothic horror that will get your gooses bumped and your spines tingled on a cold winter night.
Mark Tweedale
Monstress – Book One ($49.99)
Marjorie Liu and Sana Takaeda’s “Monstress” is a fantastic series and it deserves every award it’s won (and it’s won quite a few now). This is a beautifully designed volume and the best presentation of the series available.
Hellboy: The Board Game ($99.99)
I went all in on the Kickstarter for this, so my recommending it shouldn’t come as a surprise. What better way is there to spend your holidays than hunting ghosts and demons and monsters with your friends? Also painting minis is fun too.
Avatar: The Last Airbender—The Rise of Kyoshi ($18.99)
The canonical continuation of the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe unfolds in more than just comic books. F.C. Yee’s novel (the first of two), under the watchful eyes of creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, develops the deep history of the series. There’s so much still to explore here, and I’m glad that when the series expands, the creators are always involved to make sure each piece isn’t just tacked on, but contributes to the universe in a meaningful way. The Rise of Kyoshi has been met by Avatar fans with an overwhelmingly positive reception.
If you haven’t read it yet, you need to check it out.
Haddock & Calculus (£595)
Fariboles Productions does absolutely fantastic statues, especially of very rounded figures that somehow maintain the feel of their hand-drawn counterparts (see any of their “Asterix” statues). It’s nice to see Hergé’s characters getting the care and attention they deserve.
This is a specialty item, so the best place to get it is from the official Tintin shop, which offers all sorts of collectibles from the beloved comic. Still, nothing quite captures the iconic duo like this expressive Fariboles statue!
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 4K Blu-ray ($18.99)
I know streaming’s more convenient, but the compression required undermines 4K pretty badly, and this is a movie that demands the 4K presentation. And for the love of god, please make sure you turn off motion smoothing on your TV before watching this. I mean, you should never have it on when watching animation anyway, but for this film, with its clever use of frame rate manipulation, motion smoothing is downright shameful.
Frankly, this is one of the best comic book movies ever made―not just a movie based on a comic book, but an actual comic book movie, a movie that celebrates the medium of comics. In terms of animation, it was simply the best of 2018, no exceptions. Nothing else came remotely close. And this kind of gets lost in the conversation a bit, but it has an absolutely fantastic score by Daniel Pemberton. So many film scores sound like other movies and just kind of blur into each other, but Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sounds as unique as it looks.
Continued belowDrew Bradley
Collectors Art Comic Book Frame ($24.95 retail)
Regardless of taste or collection size, every comic reader has a favorite piece of cover art. Therefore, the perfect gift for the hard-to-shop-for fan in your life must be this gorgeous museum-quality frame. Even if your recipient already has one of these, they can always use another.
Kerry Erlanger
“Princess Jellyfish” Complete Manga Box Set (retail: $100.99)
After a few years of feeling kind of sluggish about my manga prospects, “Princess Jellyfish” was the series that reignited my passion. Akiko Higashimura’s hit saga about jellyfish lover Tsukimi and her unique friends really tugged at my heart strings, and in turn this box set is tugging at my purse strings. Besides containing all nine volumes, it includes extras like author interviews, extensive annotations, full-color illustrations, an exclusive Clara keychain and, my favorite, a 2-sided poster with the infamous slogan “a life with no use for men.” While I don’t necessarily subscribe to the sentiment, it would look hilarious hanging in my office.
A Disney+ subscription (retail: $70.00)
Yes, I know it’s only $70/year, which is just about the best price we can hope for in a streaming service. Could I pay for it myself? Yes, but where’s the fun in that? I have too many bills to keep track of as it is and would love to have someone else cover the cost so I can watch The Mandalorian, Star Wars, and the MCU, but mostly so I can relive the glory days of my youth watching movies like Brink.
Chewbacca seat belt cover (retail: $14.99)
Because I’m really committed to two things: 1) further outfitting my Jeep in Star Wars accessories and 2) giving people reasons to think I’m a lunatic.
Nick Palmieri
The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Box Set ($59.99 retail)
I didn’t expect the best thing I’d read in 2019 to be a Disney duck comic originally published in Denmark in the 90s. And yet, here we are.
I struggle to find the words to describe how great this book is, a complete account of one man’s life from poor Scottish child to world adventurer to business tycoon to rich old shut-in. It’s a perfect adventure, a vivid history lesson of late 1800s and early 1900s culture, an exquisitely structured epic, an engaging rise-and-fall story, and an absolutely pure vision from one of the world’s best cartoonists. Best of all, it’s suitable for anybody of any age.
This year, Fantagraphics released the complete 12-part story as a single, oversized, affordable hardcover volume. They also released a follow-up companion book featuring Don Rosa’s later stories that filled in even more gaps in the character’s history.
Batman Beyond: The Complete Series Blu-ray ($99.99 retail)
Batman Beyond has been a staple of my life for as long as I can remember. I was a fan when it aired when I was a kid, I rediscovered it via the DVDs in my early teens, and I’ve been returning to it every few years since then. Watching it in blu-ray has been a revelation, almost like experiencing a brand new show.
At first I was worried some of the show’s trademark grunginess would be erased by the remaster, but I needn’t have worried. Any essential grunge is built into the character designs and painted into the backgrounds. All that extra murk from the poor DVD transfer just obscured the excellent design work on the show, and now we get to experience it in as pure a form as possible.
This set also contains a digital copy, a pretty boss Pop figure, and some 3-D prints. While I’m not usually one for all these extras in the Collector’s Editions, and I’m sure a regular version will be released soon, I’m so glad to have the series in this format. This will make an excellent gift for the DC animated fans in your life.
Continued belowTeen Titans: The Complete Series Blu-ray ($47.99 retail)
I just went off about how excited I am to have a different childhood favorite in hi-def, so I’ll keep this simple: Teen Titans was produced in 16:9 but was released on DVD in 4:3 and, until recently, was only ever aired in 4:3. The stories are still the same as ever, and since the show was made to air in 4:3, no essential visual information has been added, but the show undeniably feels different in widescreen. If you know someone who was a fan during the show’s original run, consider gifting this set!
Ms. Marvel: Kamala Khan, or any of Marvel’s new thick kid-format collections! ($12.99 retail)
If you’re looking for a cheap gift for a younger superhero fan, look no further. Marvel has been releasing affordable ($12.99) paperbacks with 10-12 issues each for their biggest characters suitable for younger readers. There are already volumes for G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel, the original Miles Morales stories, Hawkeye by Kelly Thompson, and Squirrel Girl, and more are on the way! They’re slightly smaller than Marvel’s typical trim size, but only a bit (6×9). Kid-sized, thick, affordable, and featuring popular characters… you can’t go wrong!
Kiss Number 8 ($17.99 retail)
This one’s for the LGBT YA fans. This was probably the best original graphic novel I read this year. A down-to-earth LGBT drama that isn’t afraid to explore difficult topics, “Kiss Number 8” goes all across the LGBT spectrum and ties in elements of broken friendships, Christian faith, and familial secrets and expectations. That all may sound par for the course for these types of books, but Venable and Crenshaw inject such raw emotional power into the story that it stands far above the rest, and I’d give this to anyone looking for this type of story.
Christa Harader
Darcy Van Poelgeest & Ian Bertram’s “Little Bird: The Fight for Elder’s Hope” HC ($23.72 retail)
“Little Bird” was a luminous and gripping book for me this year, and a hardcover trade edition will show off Bertram’s amazing artwork, Hollingsworth’s fabulous colors and Bidikar’s stellar lettering, and look very nice on my coffee table, to boot. “Little Bird” is one of those stories that sticks with you long after you’ve finished, like the best Miyazaki (it’s Nausicaä, by the way.)
Good for indie fans, lit nerds and anyone who’s into sci-fi with a grim, futurist twist and isn’t afraid of debunking a colonialist narrative or two.
Alex Paknadel and Martin Simmonds’s “Friendo” Trade Paperback ($17.99 retail)
If you, like me, crave the final nail in the coffin of individualism and wish to pledge your undying devotion to our capitalist overlords, only to have it blow up pretty spectacularly, “Friendo” is the book for you. Cunniffe’s colors add the right manic horror to this gripping story, and Esposito’s lettering sets off the soul-killing slick vibe perfectly. Paknadel’s at his utter best here, and you’ll want to grab this gem so you can say you were there when it all went down. Skip the Funko Pops as stocking stuffers and pick this up instead.
Good for those friends who dig stylized T.V. but don’t know where to start with comics, the comics die-hards who are looking for a singular experience, and anyone who wakes up in this media-saturated nightmare every day and wishes things were different.
Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino’s “Gideon Falls, Vol. 1: The Black Barn” ($9.99 retail)
“Gideon Falls” is one of those books that needs to be read in physical form. The page turns are vital, and Sorrentino’s art is exceptional and lends itself to reading, rereading and poring over with all the fascination and obsession of the characters themselves. Lemire’s storytelling is gripping, well-paced and tense as all get-out, and “Gideon Falls” is one of the best ongoing stories out now.
Continued belowGood for first-time comics fans, teenagers who are looking for some serious horror or those pulp aficionados you know who sneer at comics as “being for kids.” Show ‘em what’s what.
Ram V and Sumit Kumar’s “These Savage Shores” Trade Paperback (retail $16.99)
“These Savage Shores” is the third entry from Vault Comics on my list this year, and that should tell you something. I’ll pick up any project that Ram V touches, and Kumar’s art is incandescent. Add Astone’s colors and Bidikar’s lettering and you have a stunning visual package. Not to mention the nuanced story, the moments of sharp humor and the unflinching look at all the darkness man possesses.
Great for those Anne Rice fans who’re bemoaning the lack of sophisticated vampire narratives, history buffs and anyone who wants a pulp take on British colonialism that’s not from an outsider’s perspective.
Elias Rosner
A Silent Voice Box Set by Yoshitoki Oima ($77.00 retail)
I’m a book nerd. Ask anyone, and they’ll tell you most of my gifts for them are book related. So it should come as no surprise that I’m recommending books again for the holiday gift guide. I’m also recommending another manga box set because shut up I can. Unlike the last time I did this though, this set is much more affordable. “A Silent Voice” is about Shoya and Shoko’s relationship, about being deaf in a hearing society, about the cruelty of children and the equally cruel nature of adults. It is about friendship and earning forgiveness, about depression and how far we go to hide it. It is about making amends, the selfishness of it, and the walls we put up to avoid having to bear our souls in the act of teshuvah (repentance is a poor translation but close enough.)
“A Silent Voice” is not perfect but it is a masterpiece. Only seven volumes, it destroys your heart and brings big, weepy tears to your eyes and everyone should read this series. Oima did career defining work here. Oh, and then check out her next series, “To Your Eternity,” which is SO WEIRD and different but retains the expressive and touching art.
A ComiXology Unlimited Subscription (Around $6 a month)
OK. OK. I just said that I’m mostly recommending books but hear me out. ComiXology Unlimited is such a good deal for both newcomers and old comics readers alike. There are tons of comics on the subscription and while they may not all be permanently there, this gives you the chance to try out a whole host of series you may never have even thought about before. Want to read “Rachel Rising?” You can! Want to read some old “Terminator” comics? You can! Want to read “Watchmen?” Well, not anymore but it was there for a hot minute.
The service will not replace your comic collection the way Netflix was thought to become a movie collection replacment way back in 2012 or whenever but it will get you to expand your horizons, check out eclectic or modern stuff with minimal friction, and gives you 10-15% off purchases of digital comics from a bunch of the companies on the service (including Image, Marvel & DC.) That’s a sweet deal.
OH! ANd did I forget to mention that every ComiXology original is free AND you can read full runs of classic, rescued manga series like “Initial D,” “BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad,” “Seven Shakespeares,” “Mars,” “Alita: Battle Angel” and one I’m very excited about “Drops of God,” a comic about, I shit you not, wine tasting and it is one of the most engrossing comics I’ve read. They made me care about wine, y’all! Get on it!
Bad Luck Chuck TPB ($18 Retail)
“Bad Luck Chuck” was so much fun. I did not expect it to be as much fun as it was from the solicit. I thought, “Hey, this seems like a noir book. That’s right up my alley!” And it is. . .for a couple seconds before it careens into “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” levels of antics. The beats of this comic, the BEATS! Y’all, I want more of this series and the only way that happens is if we support the trade. So get yourselves, your friends, your random cousins, a copy of “Bad Luck Chuck.” You won’t be disappointed and you probably will be laughing, going “oooh, that’ll leave a mark” and cheering the whole time.
Continued belowBrian Salvatore
“House of X” / “Powers of X” Hardcover ($60.00 retail)
Yes, this is overpriced. That said, this is one of the best reading experiences in recent memory, and to have it all together in a deluxe hardcover is very, very good. This is a book you’re going to want to pull off the shelf and read whenever you like, so no use having it stuffed in a longbox.
Lego Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Millennium Falcon ($159.00 retail)
Thus far, I’m sticking with stuff that’s likely out of my price range. But that’s what Christmas is for: letting your relatives buy you stuff you’re too cheap to buy yourself! But this set is a must have for a few reasons: 1) a Lando minifig, 2) a nice way to spend a post-Christmas afternoon with the kids, and 3) it just looks so damn dope.
Shazam Blu-Ray ($34.98 retail)
In my humble opinion, this is the best superhero move of recent vintage, and you can own it and watch it whenever you want to. Sometimes being an adult is ok!
“BOWIE: Stardust, Rayguns, & Moonage Daydreams” ($39.99 retail)
Ok, so technically this doesn’t come out until January, but that makes it a perfect gift for someone you won’t see until a few weeks later. But folks, and this is not a drill, this is Mike Allred drawing a David Bowie OGN. What are you waiting for?
