It’s 7 days ‘til Christmas It’s 3 days ’til Christmas
or: Wouldn’t you like a few good comics gifts suggestions?
It’s actually fewer than 7 shopping days until Christmas, not to rush you or anything, but we figured that you might want a few very cool, very unique gift suggestions courtesy of The Beguiling. We’ve come up with this list of hard-to-find items that are perfect for the hard-to-buy-for folks on your list, and better still, might just express a little bit of your own personality to the recipient as well.
So without any further ado…
Item #1:
KAPTARA VOLUME 1, $13.50, by Chip Zdarsky and Kagan McLeod
The short version: Awesome Comic, Toronto Creators, Just released!
Launched this year, the brand new fantasy/adventure/comedy series KAPTARA comes to the world from Image Comics and Toronto’s own Chip Zdarsky and Kagan McLeod. An outstanding take on the beloved toys of our youth, from one of the folks who brought you Sex Criminals, Howard The Duck, and more. Oh, and it just came out, so there’s almost no chance anyone you buy it for will already have it.
ITEM #2:
HELLBERTA, $20, by Michael Comeau
The short version: Limited edition art comix for your friends who grew up reading X-Men.
Toronto-based zine and printmaker Michael Comeau presents a very unauthorized satire, as Weapon X returns to Canada to fight Stephen Harper. An incredible pastiche of politics, religion, comics, and exploitation films, so good it won a fancy award. New edition now available.
ITEM #3:
Regular Recommendation, Any Budget, Various
The short version: Let us pick the perfect gift
Hey, we here at The Beguiling are TRAINED BOOKSELLERS. We’ve been doing this thing for a very long time, and we’ve gotten pretty good at it! Tell us about the recipient of this gift, and we’ll pick out something perfect for them.
ITEM #4:
Bargain Recommendation, ANY Budget, Various
The Short Version: Let us pick the perfect inexpensive gift
We’ve got a big move on the horizon, and we’ve been pulling all sorts of crazy overstock out of the depths of the store and offering it at fantastic prices. Whether you need to look like you spent way more than you did, or just need to stretch your budget to make it count, we can find something great. Help us by helping you.
ITEM #5:
Christmas Days & The Juggler of our Lady, $14-95-$23.00, Various
The short version: Nothing says Christmas like a book about Christmas
If you want to give the gift of Christmas, at Christmas, we highly recommend these two excellent books. First up, Christmas Days is a beautiful illustrated guide to how the holiday was celebrated in Canada, courtesy of Derek McCormack and Seth. One of my personal fav X-Mas books, goes well with David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs. And if you want something a little less wry, check out The Juggler of Our Lady, by R.O. Blechman. A 1952 retelling of a medieval legend, this proto-graphic-novel is somewhat unknown, but comes with an incredible pedigree thanks to introductions by Jules Feiffer and Maurice Sendak.
ITEM #6:
Original art from a bunch of great artists, $100 and up, Various
The Short Version: A one-of-a-kind item for a comic art fan
The Beguiling represents the original art sales of a few dozen artists. While it’s probably too late to ship art to you, if you buy art from our site you CAN pick it up in store and gift it for the holidays! We have everything from TCAF Posters for $10, all the way up to gorgeous original works by Kate Beaton, Marc Bell, Jeffrey Brown, Marian Churchland, Farel Dalrymple, Becky Cloonan, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, Ray Fawkes, Anders Nilsen, Sammy Harkham, Brandon Graham… the list goes on! Head over to http://store.
ITEM #7:
Dan Clowes’ PATIENCE Voucher, $40, Dan Clowes
The Short version: If you’ve got a PATIENT giftee, get them the promise of future fun.
SO! This March, The Beguiling will be hosting Dan Clowes in an exclusive speaking engagement as he’s on tour for PATIENCE, his new graphic novel. The book isn’t released until the week AFTER our event, but if you want to get a voucher for an early copy of the book (available at our event) AND a ticket to his event, we can hook you up. Just know that you’re getting a VOUCHER, and not the actual book or ticket yet, because they won’t be released until like March.
ITEM #8:
Other Peoples’ Suggestions, Various, Various
The Short Version: We have more-or-less everything on every best-of-the-year list.
So, you don’t HAVE to take our word for it. There are tons of best-of-the-year lists being released right now in comics, and The Beguiling has one of the deepest and broadest selections of comics in North America! Minis, floppies, trades, graphic novels, hard covers, manga, and much more–if you read someone talking about it, there’s a very good chance we have it in store. For example, the Drawn & Quarterly 25th Anniversary Book makes an excellent gift…! 🙂
