You’ve got one of them in your life: a person who likes
their fiction with pictures. Sometimes with capes, too. Get some ideas about
how to make their holidays super right here.
An avid comics reader can be a tricky person to figure out a
gift for. But we’ve got a few suggestions below that should make a loved one’s
longbox or bookshelf a much happier place.
DO consider gifting
a tablet for reading comics digitally. Whether it’s for space-saving
consideration or convenience, loads of comics readers nowadays are using
touchscreen devices to read their favorite medium. Depending on your budget, a Kindle
Fire HD, iPad Air or Google Nexus 10 would certainly be a welcome present.
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DO hook them up
with a Comixology gift card.
Most of the major mainstream comics publishers have their catalogs available
through Comixology, the biggest comics digital distributor around. Chances are,
you comics fan will spend a chunk of gift cash in no time flat.
DO consider Paul
Pope’s excellent Battling Boy for both younger and
veteran readers looking for something fresh, fun and incredibly rendered.
DO get the boxed
set of Boxers
& Saints by Gene Ha for the history buff in your life. Even if they
don’t make a regular diet of word balloons, they should still be moved by this powerful
story set in one of China’s bloodiest conflicts.
DO acquaint your
superhero fan with the current run of Batgirl.
The Dark Knight’s corner of the DC Universe is full of well-done series but the
one starring Barbara Gordon is an unsung gem. It gets way dark and quite
violent but the main character remains a symbol of ingenuity, hope and
perseverance throughout.
DO hit the
bullseye with Hawkeye,
Vol. 2: Little Hits. If the comics reader in your life is over the constant
cosmic crossover stunts in superhero comics, the fun, moody character-driven
stories in this collection should suit them fine. Fine work by co-creators Matt
Fraction, Francesco Francavilla, David Aja, Jesse Alan Hamm, Steve Lieber and Annie
Wu.
DO explore one of
the best series running today by diving into Saga. If your comics-savvy loved one is smart, they’re already
reading Brian K.
Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ excellent serial about the starcrossed couple
from warring races who become parents during wartime. If they’re not reading Saga, making it a gift to them will
automatically make you the best present-giver of the year.
DO make a rap fan
delighted and slide a copy of Hip Hop
Family Tree into their hands. Ed Piskor’s intensely researched webcomic about the
early days of rap music gets a stellar collection from Fantagraphics, with
great art and a fun packaging treatment that feels like it arrived from a 1981
time capsule.
DO track down a
copy of Sean Howe’s Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. This book
is a hilarious and informative biography of the place where Spider-Man, the
Hulk and Iron Man were all created, full of facts and stories that some Marvel
lovers may not even know.
DO go up, up and
away and come back with Superman: The Unauthorized Biography. Glen
Weldon’s survey of the Man of Steel’s publishing history details the ways and
reasons that Superman has changed over his 75-year existence. Required reading
for any Last Son of Krypton fan.
DO get them a
hotel room or tickets for a local comics convention way in advance, if possible.
Comic-cons are the rare chance to meet the talent behind the characters and
series that people love, often bringing opportunities for autographs, pictures
and anecdotes. So it’s a gift that can make their collection even more meaningful.
DO build some
happiness into a fan’s life with Lego Marvel Super Heroes. The always
great Lego video games finally plant a flag in the Marvel Universe, with a
giant world to explore and a huge cast of heroes and villains battling it out
to save the world.
DON’T pick up Scribblenauts
Unleashed: A DC Comics Adventure. While it’s an incredibly thorough
catalog of the publisher’s superhero universe, this word-centric title just
isn’t a very fun game experience.
Feel free to drop your own suggestions below.
(image via Shutterstock)
