THE BEGUILING’S HOLIDAY GIFT RECOMMENDATIONS!

Whether you’re a comics fan looking for an amazing gift this Christmas/Hanukkah/Holiday Season or you’re trying to buy something for the hard-to-buy-for, we’ve got you covered (24 years and counting) with some of the greatest graphic novels in the English language. Better yet? All of these books are available signed by their authors. We hold dozens of events each year, we work with stores across Canada, and we get all kinds of cool stuff in stock, and that means if you want a copy of Meta Maus signed by Art Spiegelman? Come to The Beguiling. We’re not charging a premium for any of these books either, just the standard cover price.

We will update this post when books sell out, and if/when we add additional titles.

Sorry to our international customers, these books are currently available in-store only, due to the complete lack of shipping time available before Christmas. If any of these books are available after the holidays we will make them available to mail-order customers.

Signed Graphic Novels – Art Comix

Hark a Vagrant, by Kate Beaton – While we could go on at length about how “we knew her when…” we’ll instead just point out that this is a fantastic collection of strips, touching on literature, Canadian history, popular culture and much more. This is a whole book of hilarious, expressive comic strips that will surprise and entertain anyone lucky enough to get them. Signed by the author.

Paying For It, by Chester Brown – The truly surprising hit graphic memoir of the year, Chester Brown’s Paying For It is the edgy sort of graphic novel that makes a perfect—and perhaps even scandalous—gift, but once read is a thoroughly unscandalous and utterly thought-provoking work. Signed by the author.

Louis Riel, by Chester Brown – Chester Brown’s unlikely breakout hit, a biography of the Metis rebel leader that has become required reading for every school-age kid in Canada and is soon to make its way to the top of the Canada Reads event, if we have anything to say about it. Signed by the author.

The Death Ray, by Daniel Clowes – While Eightball #23, which this book collects, was one of the best-selling single-issue comic books we have ever stocked at The Beguiling, we know there are tons of you out there that still haven’t read what Peter Birkemoe describes as “The Last Superhero Comic Anyone Ever Needs to Read”. While I wouldn’t personally go that far, I would say that anyone with an affection for superheroes (past, present, future) definitely needs this book on their shelves. Signed by author.

The Complete Essex County, by Jeff Lemire – While many folks first became aware of this title through the Canada Reads event this year, we’ve long been supporters of Jeff’s work and career, and we enthusiastically recommend his first full length graphic novel to you. Set in Southern Ontario, these intersecting stories of small town life are touching, and starkly beautiful. Available in Hardcover and Softcover. Signed by the author.

The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists, by Seth – The spiritual successor to Seth’s comic book collecting adventure Wimbledon Green, the GNBCC is the mythical history of Canadian cartooning and comic bookery. A handsome little hardcover marked with gold foil, it’s practically already giftwrapped! Signed by the author.

Meta Maus, by Art Spiegelman – Just in case you’re unaware, Art Spiegelman’s MAUS is his comic book (graphic) memoir detailing his parents’ time in a Nazi Concentration Camp during the Second World War. Seeing as MAUS has won the Pulitzer prize, is required reading in university courses the world over, and has been lauded hundreds of times in its 25 year history, chances are you or someone you know has read MAUS. Well now there is a follow-up, Meta Maus, the complete companion piece to the original. An examination of Spiegelman’s creative process, the process of creating MAUS, all of the how’s and whys backed up with hundreds of historical documents, sketches, and a bonus DVD with the audio interviews with his father that eventually became the graphic novel. An essential work. Signed by the author.

Habibi, by Craig Thompson – Though he’s generated no small end of controversy with Habibi, I found Craig Thompson to be a warm and engaging speaker on his trip through Toronto earlier this year, and his exploration of his creative process to be unique and noteworthy, and the discussion around Habibi has been with a few exceptions smart and informed. Join the discussion, pick up a copy. Signed by the author.

Sand and Fury: A Scream Queen Adventure, by Ho Che Anderson: A story of blood, of sex, of death—of sound and retribution. It opens as a girl by the side of a desert road accepts a ride from a stranger. How could she know that behind that wheel sits the angel of death? Of course, even the angel of death once had a life. During that life, death was a successful business woman, with a great career and an even greater future. It’s true she could be a little cavalier with her innate gifts; she had, after all, broken the heart of everyone who had ever loved her. Signed by the author.

SKIM, by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki: “Skim” is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth who goes to a private girls’ school in the early ’90s. When her classmate Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend, who then kills himself — possibly because he’s (maybe) gay — the entire school goes into mourning overdrive. It’s a weird time to fall in love, but that’s what happens to Skim when she starts meeting secretly with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But then Ms. Archer abruptly leaves the school, and Skim has to cope with her confusion and isolation while her best friend, Lisa, tries to pull her into “real” life by setting up a hilarious double-date for the school’s semi formal. Suicide, depression, love, homosexuality, crushes, cliques of popular, manipulative peers — the whole gamut of teen life is explored in this poignant glimpse into the heartache of being 16. Signed by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki.

The Klondike, by Zach Worton. Drawn in an inviting, engagingly detailed style, The Klondike is the story of The Klondike gold rush which shook the Yukon on the eve of the twentieth century and stands today as the defining era in the taming of North America and especially Canada’s Great North. The history of how a handful of colorful characters sparked the largest mobilization of gold seekers in history is brought vividly to life in this debut graphic novel by cartoonist Zach Worton. Notes and introductory texts accompany each chapter, and a thorough, illustrated index of all the key players in the gold rush, as well as a glossary featuring notes about “How to Pan for Gold” and tips on how to spot the differences between “fool’s gold” and the real thing complete the book. Signed by the author.

If ‘N’ Oof, by Brian Chippendale: We had an amazing event for Brian Chippendale and C.F. this year, and Brian left us a healthy (large) stack of his very healthy (very large) new graphic novel If ‘N’ Oof. That supply has dwindled to almost nothing, but we did find 5 copies that we have just put out. I’s a great book! Signed by the author.

Christmas Days, by Derek McCormack with Illustrations by Seth: I’m not quite sure how this fantastic collection of Christmas traditions–Canadian and otherwise–hasn’t become an instant holiday classic alongside other contemporary bits of excellent like Sedaris’ Holidays On Ice, but let me help to rectify that: It’s lovely. Poking fun at both the cheap and the extravagant traditions, the dark, delerious, and even drunken origins of our holidays. Lavishly illustrated by Seth, and signed by both Seth and author Derek McCormack.

Not Simple, House of Five Leaves v1, by Natsume Ono: We do love us some Natsume Ono here at The Beguiling, and when Ono-sensei was here in Toronto for TCAF, she was very kind and signed a number of copies of her work for us! NOT SIMPLE is her debut graphic novel, a stand-alone work about the unluckiest boy on earth and it is heartbreaking and sad and really pretty. HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES is about a wandering Samurai who’s terrible at being Samurai, who is taken on as hired muscle by a gang of thieves… drama ensues. It’s great, trust me. Signed by the author.

Signed Graphic Novels – Superheroes,
Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Sweetness Hardcover Sketchbook, by Adrian Alphona and Christina Strain – SWEETNESS is a 56 page, hardcover art book collecting all-new sketches by Alphona and gorgeously digitally painted by Strain. Includes several ‘raw pencil’ illustrations to compare pencils and colour art, even includes translucent vellum overlays of select pieces! Full colour throughout, spot-varnish embossed hardcover. Signed by Adrian Alphona.

Runaways, Volumes 1-7, by Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphona – One of Marvel’s best comic book series of the past decade, pencil artist Adrian Alphona and inker Craig Yeung have signed all of our softcover and hardcover editions of this series.

Mike Carey, Complete Works – While Mike Carey was in town a few months back, he was gracious to sign pretty-much every book of his that we had in stock. That means we’ve got full runs of The Unwritten, Lucifer, Hellblazer, X-Men, and much more all signed by author Mike Carey!

Sweet Tooth, by Jeff Lemire – Jeff Lemire’s post-apocalyptic survivalist story continues apace, and is now on its third collected edition. It continues to be a cliffhanger-filled and nail-biter of a series, and if you haven’t caught up yet you might want to now!

Superboy, by Jeff Lemire – Jeff Lemire’s complete 11-issue Superboy run has been collected in one brand-new collection! Featuring amazing covers by friends-of-The Beguiling Karl Kerschl, Marco Rudy, Rafael Albuquerque and more, this is a great superhero choice for the fan on your list, and it’s signed by Lemire!

Skullkickers Volume 1 + 2 – We’ve held 2 big launches for Jim Zubkavich’s SKULLKICKERS this year because we’re big fans of Zub and because he managed to get 11 issues of his comic book out on time! Two trade paperbacks from the same Image Comics Series out in the same calendar year—it’s a Christmas miracle! Volumes 1 + 2 are signed and available in store now.

Lychee Light Club, by Usamaru Furuya: Out of the greatest tradition of the Grand Guigenol comes this book, a fairly depraved work that exists in its own world–where the uncontrolled id of children runs wild, violence and sadism are praised, and nothing is worse that growing old. It is not for everyone. But if you need a direct comparisson, in Japan, ero-grotesque author Suehiro Maruo did a tribute-piece for the Lychee Light Club series in Japan. Get it? Get it! Signed by the author.

Infinite Kung Fu, by Kagan McLeod: The culmination of nearly a decade of Kung-Fu excellence from Kagan McLeod! Collecting the entire in-print saga and hundreds more pages, including tons of redrawn material. Weighing in at over 400 pages it is assuredly the perfect gift for someone on your list. Signed by Kagan McLeod.

Scott Pilgrim v6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, by Bryan Lee O’Malley: What else is there to be said about Scott Pilgrim? It’s awesome. We know it, you know it, and maybe through a combination of loaned copies, reading copies, library visits, and downloads (legal and otherwise), you never got the series’ titanic conclusion? Or maybe you want a signed one instead? Or maybe someone else does? Either way, we’ve got signed copies, 1st printing! Signed by the author.

Signed Comics $5 and Under!

The World of Gloria Badcock, by Maurice Vellekoop – A sexy stocking stuffer for the 18+ folks on your list, Vellekoop’s Gloria Badcock is a freewheeling sexual adventurous, with enough combinations and explorations on these pages to ensure there’s literally something for everyone! Surely you must have someone on your list deserving of a little pansexual smut…?

Assorted Comic Books, by Various – Creators like Jeff Lemire, Francis Manupul, Jim Zub, Marco Rudy, Matt Fraction, Stuart & Kathryn Immonen, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Guy Davis, and many more creators have dropped by the store and signed their comics on the stands this year! Ask the second floor staff to point you to a cool signed comic or two for a stocking stuffer or Hanukkah gift!

– Chris