When it comes to holiday gift-giving and receiving, it’s a great time to be a comic-book fan. If you have a comics fan in your life, there’s a wide array of gift possibilities on shelves at comic-book stores and other retail outlets. Most comic stores should have staples including comic-book collecting supplies, graphic novels and gift certificates. Here are some suggestions for the comics fans on your list.
Comic Book Subscription
Give your geeks the gift of reading their favorite comic books month after month. You can get them mailed to your front door via the many companies that publish comics or you can go us an independent company such as Midtown Comics, TFAW, or 1UP Collectibles. You can also set up a subscription/pull list at a comic book shop and sign up for their favorite comic books, often at a discount.
Trade Paperbacks & Graphic Novels
If you’re looking to get that person something that they can hold instead of something that they can only read online, then consider purchasing them a full volume collection of comic books.
These are basically hardcover (or softcover) books with the whole comic series in-between the covers. They’re ideal for newcomers to the comic book world since they’re affordable and hold the whole story in them, and also because if they’re damaged, it’s not as much of a big deal.
Superhero Self-Portrait
What’s better than a poster of their favorite superhero? Easy — a poster of them as a
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Power Girl Original Artwork by C. Benware
superhero!
If you’re willing to shed some green, then you can find someone to make you an amazing superhero poster of the comic book geek you’re shopping for. Can you imagine their face when they unwrap that box and pull out a framed portrait of them in their own superhero getup, complete with a cape?
While you might decide to do a Google search for mascot or character artists, you’ll find that a lot of them can be super pricey, asking $350 to even $1000 for this to be done. Instead, I recommend looking through sites such as Comic Art Fans, which is a an online community that serves as a sort of art portfolio space for amateur individuals. You can find some absolutely amazing artists (in many cases, better than those that would charge you insane amounts of money) who’d be ecstatic to take on the project for under $200. How should I know? I went this route before with a gift for a special friend.
Superhero Clothing & Accessories
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Deadpool Costume T-Shirt
Superhero clothing is making a big splash in pop-culture clothing and can be found in many large retails such as these Batman shirts at Target or these Superman clothes at Walmart. There are also online retailers like Superherostuff.com, Stylin Online, 1up Collectibles that carries a huge assortment of online items.
Video Games and Movies
Most people who like comic books also like video games, especially if they’re younger. There are so many video game titles based around superheroes that I couldn’t tell you where to start, except for the obvious fact that you’ll want to find a game that includes their favorite superhero.
As a suggestion, you might want to get them fighting games such as Marvel vs. Capcom, or Image may be NSFW.
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DC Universe vs. Mortal Combat so that they can fight superhero against superhero! It’ll definitely keep them busy for a while.
Movies are also a nice gift, but gift these as a last resort unless they specifically tell you that they’d enjoy a movie. The reason you’ll want to avoid them otherwise is because most avid comic fans usually aren’t too happy with cinematic versions of the books, and prefer to stick with the paper alternative.
Superhero Collectibles
Does your friend in question have a favorite superhero or comic book publisher, such as DC or Marvel? Chances are they do, and they’d probably love to get some comic-related memorabilia.
Drop by the local comic book store and see what they have to offer since they’re usually loaded with awesome stuff! Action figures, novelty items, tin lunchboxes, mini statues, and more can all be found there, and it’s the best place to look!
Furniture and Household Items
Image may be NSFW.
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If the comic book geek that you’re shopping for has their own place, then you can always surprise them with a really cool piece of furniture that will stand out. Perhaps a certain superhero-themed table lamp, a comic book panel picture frame, or some shot glasses?
You can even find unique and personalized furniture and household items on sites such as Etsy. Custom framed prints, hand-sewn blankets and pillows, tables and chairs, and lots of other cool stuff. I personally think that the custom framed posters and artwork are the best pieces of accent furniture a comic book enthusiast could receive as a gift. I mean, look at that set of posters that were made by an Etsy artist to the right — aren’t they cool?
Gift Certificate
If all else has failed and you can’t figure out what on Earth to get them, then buy them a gift certificate to their favorite comic book store. Many shops offer some sort of gift certificate or credit system, but you usually need to ask them about it.
Gift certificates can be better than all of the above since it’ll give them a choice of their own on what to buy, but they’re not the most personable. Either way, a good amount to put on a gift card for a comic book store would be around $50 or more, with that being minimum.