The Fantastic Comics School for Gifting Youngsters...

... and oldsters, too. Everyone needs gifts!

If you think about it, a comic book store proprietor is basically a never ending gift guide, because even a book you buy for yourself is still a gift. So we pestered Uel for gift ideas this gift-giving season.

Most links here go to bookshop.org, of which the store gets 30%, but of course the best gift of all is Fantastic Comics Gift Cards, which you can pick up in person at a procrastinator’s leisure, and of which the store gets 100% until it gets spent. Uel says he will be open Tuesday the 24th for last minute shoppers (a rare treat since the store is not usually open Tuesdays) but stay tuned to our Instagram in case of last minute changes.

Of course, The Beast Who Shall Not Be Named is tough to beat, both in terms of pricing and in shipping speed, and if you can’t fight the power this year, our landlord, who gets 4.5% of your purchases if you click through this link, totally understands.

For All Ages that lasts for all ages
Jeff Smith’s Bone has been the go-to for Retailers and Librarians alike for a steady and sturdy recommendation that threads that impossibly small needle of being great for kids and being just as engaging for the adults who might very well be conscripted into reading the thing to them. Other books like Mike Allred’s Madman (new edition coming next year) sometimes comes close but the dude eats a guy’s eyeball in the first book. I mean, c’mon…!

For fans of slept on barbarians!
Jim Zub’s Conan run at his new home at Titan Comics spans multiple volumes and you can start at volume one.

For 90s kids wondering, “What If Liefeld’s Youngblood got the Watchmen treatment?”
Joe Casey’s Blood Squad Seven

Speaking of, for the five people left in the world who haven’t been gifted Watchmen yet…
Alan “He Who Shall Not Be Credited” Moore’s Watchmen in Deluxe Edition and sub-$10 stocking-stuffer edition. Pro-tip: search for “dc compact comics” for more under-$10 books — they are smaller, perfect-for-vacation-reading editions of classic DC trades.

For those who gave up waiting a decade for another Charles Burns book to come out and didn’t realize the Charles Burns-bonanza we had this year
Kommix - this was the tease, a coffee table book of fictional covers.
Final Cut - this is the actual book-book you’ve been waiting for.

Uel was less enthusiastic about this book, but I say this is top form Dan Clowes from last year:
Monica - combine the multi-format of Ice Haven with the character studies of Ghost World with the Lynchian horror of Velvet Glove. At the very least, you can argue about its merits with Uel, like a gift that keeps on giving!

For those studying Religious Studies and/or Buddy Comedies
Saint Young Men — Jesus and Buddha are roommates. What wacky hijinks and misunderstandings do they get up to?

For those who kept the faith in a Transformers Universe unspoiled by Michael Bay
Daniel Warren Johnson’s Transformers — easily our breakaway hit of the year!

For People Who Don’t Read Comics
In the bygone days of Comic Relief, it was a genuine phenomenon that as soon as a graphic novel was mentioned in NPR or the New York Times, there’d be a rash of shoppers curious for it, and then… they would go back to their comics hibernation until the next one. Of course this dynamic is a bittersweet one for retailers, but if you’re shopping for a person who is not necessarily a comics person, this isn’t the worst way to go:

My Favorite Thing is Monsters was the monster hit of this kind of comic, and chances are your gift-giving target might have it, but chances are also good they haven’t heard of the sequel. I think we have at least one copy of the first volume in store…

Kate Beaton’s Ducks just keeps racking up more critical acclaim, recently winning the Jan Michalski prize for Literature. As far as memoirs go about economic and physical precarity working in the Canadian Oil Sands go, it’s actually quite breezy, but definitely for that one person who wants their books escapism-free.

Some unfinished Giveaway Business…

Archibald and Alfonso were the only entrants for a Batman book, so in the spirit of the Bruce Wayne from the universe where he’s just a philanthropist instead of a guy who beats people up at night, you both win a Batman book! First one in the store picks which of the two they want.

Archibald also solved our knockoff-wordle puzzles with blinding speed so ask Uel to give you a magnet as a prize.