Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2025
- CBCCPodcast
- Nov 27, 2025
- 21 min read
Updated: Dec 1, 2025
We've packed our Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2025 with some of our favorite stories and trinkets, hoping to bring you and your friends and family some joy this year.
As Darwyn Cooke once said, “There’s amazing stories out there. Tell your friends.” Well, friend, here are some amazing stories to share this season. Our Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2025 is jammed with comics, both new releases and new reprints. We’ve also sprinkled in a few comic book-related trinkets and gifts, but our mission, as always with these Comic Book Holiday Gift Guides, is to stay focused on the medium and its readers. No Funkos. No Fudge.
Of course, a Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide doesn’t die when it's published. After you’ve scrolled through this one, make sure you go back to our Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2024 and Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2023. Those catalogs are still effective this season.
If you do have success using our Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2025 with your friends, family, or even yourself, please let us know. Send all stories and pictures to cbccpodcast@gmail.com, and we’ll share them on our socials. Happy shopping, and we’re wishing you and yours a wonderful, joyous holiday season. Love, Brad and Lisa.
Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2025 - Cheap (Under $20)
SKTCHD Subscription ($2.99 - $4.99 Per Month)
The new “Comics Are Dying!” is “Comics Journalism is Dead!” If you believe such Chicken Little exclamations, then you probably don’t subscribe to SKTCHD. A quick hop over to the site operated by Eisner-nominee David Harper will reveal how comics journalism is very much alive and thriving. Every week, you’ll find articles and podcasts devoted to our beloved medium, digging into the discourse and uncovering hope through dissecting the worry.
Harper recently suffered some harsh realities, which you can hear all about in the Comic Book Couples Counseling episodes posted below, and was forced to bet on himself. As a result, his readers and the industry as a whole have massively benefited. And while you’re supporting David Harper, you might as well jump over to The Comics Courier and grab yourself one of those as well. Comics have always survived on the backs of those doing it them damn selves. Now is the time to support the indies, not the corporately controlled ad sites.
Good Devils Don't Play Fair With Evil ($5.99)
Over the last few years, David Brothers (Time Waits) and Nick Dragotta (Absolute Batman) have been cranking out cool little shorts, and now they’re all bound into one nifty place. Good Devils Don’t Play Fair with Evil is a radical anthology bouncing between fight manga, crime, and science fiction. These stories are wallops, with characters acting in extremes within extreme environments. Brothers and Dragotta are a fun pair, pushing each other and the medium as far as they can, and it makes for an electric read.
DC Compact Comics - WE3, The New Frontier, V for Vendetta ($9.99)
After spending a year traveling over fifty comic book stores and talking to retailers, one thing is obvious: DC’s Compact Comics is a massive win. After a year of publishing digest-sized editions of iconic stories like Watchmen and The Court of Owls, DC is now moving a little deeper into its back catalogue, releasing V for Vendetta, The New Frontier, and WE3. All for $9.99!
Frankly, even though we already have versions of these books, from single issues to hardcovers to paperbacks to deluxe hardcovers, we cannot resist the digest price tag. We understand that some of you bemoan the page decrease, but we’ve found the smaller versions enhancing the reading experience of titles like WE3. Even better, after a quick re-read, they’re easy to pass off to curious friends and new readers.
Bat Book Page Holder ($12.29)
Ugh. Who has the energy to hold down their own pages!?! Not us, we need assistance! And if we’re going to purchase a one-handed book-page holder, we might as well make it Batman. GridLab’s Bat Book Page Holder retails for $12.29, but if you click This Link around the time of this article’s publication, you can score one for just a little over eight bucks. Bonus, you don’t have to settle for black. You can get yours in nearly any color your heart desires. Gift yourself an even easier, more whimsical reading experience.
Hulk Teach! ($12.99)
Cartoonist Jeffrey Brown made his bones with deeply heartfelt autobio comics, and he’s brought his intense internal vision to several franchises. You’ve seen his take on Star Wars, The X-Files, Batman and Robin, Thor, Loki, and now The Incredible Hulk. These stories are thoughtfully humorous, offering space for young readers (and even old readers) to contemplate their own ordinary adventures.
Hulk Teach sees Tony Stark forcing Bruce Banner to do a little community service after his latest rampage. Banner must help the planet's most ferocious animals: middle schoolers! Hulk not Smash, Hulk Teach! Hijinks ensue. Next year will also see the publication of a sequel, Hulk Teach 2: A Tale of 2 Teachers, guest-starring the ever-loving Thing.
Little Mouse Saves the Day! by Jeff Smith ($13.43)
Hey! Did you know that Jeff Smith, the cartoonist behind Bone and Tuki, published a brand new comic book this year? Bet ya didn’t. Little Mouse Saves The Day! is a sequel to his original Toon Books comic, Little Mouse Gets Ready. These stories are freaking adorable and perfect gateway comics for the little one in your life. Little Mouse Saves the Day! was named one of the best kids’ books of 2025 by Good Housekeeping for its impeccably drawn art and its healing story of overcoming one’s fears. Got a monster in your closet? No worries, Little Mouse has it under control.
Marvel Age of Comics ($14.95 each)
Do you remember Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series, where they would invite authors like Douglas Wolk to write 150 pages or so on Live at the Apollo, or Joe Pernice on The Smiths’ Meat is Murder? Smart people digging into iconic works. That’s just the best. Welp, Bloomsbury is now doing the same thing, but for the Marvel Age of Comics.
Already published are deep dives by Chris Ryall on Daredevil: Born Again, Stuart Moore on Doctor Strange: A Decade of Dark Magic, and Paul Cornell on The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s. Next year, we’ll get Jim Rugg digging into Weapon X, Ted Adams into The Ultimates, and Ytasha L. Womach into Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Comics are as valid a storytelling medium as any other. Let’s treat them as such. Get these books for the diehard geek in your life.
The Cartoonists Club ($14.99)
For our money, Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics is as significant to the medium as Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns. And, ya know what, so is Raina Telgemeier's Smile. Comics were not the same after the publication of these works, certainly not for the readers who consumed them. These two titans coming together for The Cartoonists Club is a major event. The comic is basically Understanding Comics 2.0, geared toward a younger audience, encouraging its readers to pick up their pens, pencils, and pads to tell their stories.
This is community building of the finest order, and if we could, we’d put The Cartoonists Club into the hands of all schoolchildren. We’re certainly purchasing a copy for every kid in our family, and maybe sprinkling a few extras in the Little Lending Libraries across our neighborhood.
Bug Wars Book One ($16.99)
Bug Wars is the comic middle school Brad imagined after watching Honey, I Shrunk the Kids for the first time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, riding around on ants is fun and all, but what if we went to war with other insect clans while riding those ants? BUG WARS!!! Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar certainly know how to have fun with a concept. While this first arc promises more gooey, gruesome action to come, it’s perfectly satisfying all on its own. Asrar delivers top-tier buggy violence, and Jason Aaron supplies the heart while also dishing out some delicious wish-fulfillment fantasy.
Partisan ($16.99)
“One of the best graphic novels ever.” - Brian K. Vaughan. Should we keep typing? Do you need any other reason to snatch up Partisan from Garth Ennis and Steve Epting? We sure don’t think so. However, we did read this the other night. It is fantastic, and probably even better than Ennis and Epting’s last collaboration, Sara, which is one of the finest World War II comics published in the last twenty years or so. Maybe most exciting of all is that Partisan, along with Crossbones USA, announced the return of TKO Publishing. They always deliver on story and packaging. Keep ‘em coming, please. Less wait between releases, please.
The Gift of Everything ($17.99)
Do you want to live a more enlightened life? You should be reading Patrick McDonnell. Like Calvin and Hobbes or Peanuts, McDonnell’s Mutts is as profound a strip as it is heartwarming and hilarious. The Gift of Everything is a rhyming sequel to McDonnell’s The Gift of Nothing, published twenty years ago. In it, Earl and Mooch or Mutts discover the gifts they’re given every day, simply through the act of living. If you allow yourself to sink into its pages, you will discover how Patrick McDonnell’s comics are meditations more than anything else; pleasant places to escape into whenever a need arises.
Two-Face: Trial Separation ($17.99)
DC Comics had a brilliant year. You could throw a rock in any direction along their line and hit a good-to-great title. Obviously, the Absolute books made the most noise (deservedly so), but there were also several sleeper bangers that didn’t gain as much attention for whatever reason. We’re thinking about Chris Condon and Montos’ Green Arrow (although its fans were rabid, especially when the title got the axe) and Two-Face: Trial Separation by Christian Ward and Fabio Veras. Ward proved on Batman: City of Madness that he had a deep understanding of Harvey Dent/Two-Face, and it was thrilling to see him apply that empathy to the main continuity character. Fabio Veras was a new discovery for us this year, but yowza - the inner life he mystifyingly depicted for Harvey and Two-Face was painfully beautiful. Wish we could have gotten more, but happy with what we got.
Supergirl: Universe Ends ($19.99)
The "Summer of Superman" may be over, but the goodwill that James Gunn’s film won Kal-El in the hearts and minds of mainstream society is thriving. Next year, we’ll get the cinematic Supergirl, and you can only recommend Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow so many times. The moment your friends come asking you for more Kara, slap Supergirl: Universe Ends by Mariko Tamaki and Skylar Patridge in their hands. Collecting the backups from Action Comics 1070 - 1081, as well as 2023’s Supergirl Special, Universe Ends uses the Kryptonian recontextualization from Woman of Tomorrow and propels Supergirl into an exhilarating space adventure.
Wish We Weren't Here: Postcards from the Appocalypse ($19.99)
Now, if you want to stew in a completely different vibe and lean into the dystopia, grab yourself a copy of Peter Kuper’s latest. Wish We Weren’t Here: Postcards from the Apocalypse is a grim plunge into our shrinking human timeline. Kuper looks upon us and rages via a series of sequential political cartoons, basically. They’re raging against climate change, or at least, our inability to react to climate change. Like all Peter Kuber cartoons, they’re viciously funny, but mostly just vicious. A fantastic stocking stuffer for the like-minded or the willfully ignorant in your household.
Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2025 - Affordable (Under $60)
Usagi Yojimbo: Kaitō '84 Ashcan ($20)
For years, Stan Sakai has suggested that other writers and artists tackle his Usagi Yojimbo universe. We loved the idea, but as time passed and no spin-off titles arrived, it seemed like the possibility had faded. Then, at San Diego Comic-Con this past July, they announced Usagi Yojimbo: Kaitō ‘84 by Zack Rosenberg and Jared Callum. The series is set in 80s-era Osaka, following a descendant of the main title’s Miyamotoa Usagi. While the book won’t arrive until March 2026, you can snag a sneak peek at the series by picking up the Ashcan from www.stansakai.com.
We got ours at NYCC last month and, wowza, it sure is pretty. Jared Callum is an astonishing artist, and if you need even more gorgeous art to tide you over until March, you might as well get yourself a copy of Callum’s Kodi graphic novel.
Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre ($21.99)
IDW Publishing’s Godzilla line might be the best-kept secret in comics, and it’s quickly becoming not so secret since its editor, Jake Williams, took home an Eisner in July. You honestly cannot go wrong picking up any of their Godzilla books, but our absolute favorite is Tom Scioli’s Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre. It helps that Scioli didn’t settle for just a Godzilla book; it’s also the weirdest adaptation of The Great Gatsby, featuring Dracula, HG Wells’ Time Machine, and a few other literary surprises. Tom Scioli should be one of those cartoonists you trust completely, never skipping a title by him. So, you might as well also purchase Space Opera Xanadax, published by Image Comics a few months ago. Also, if you’ve already read Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre and have some extra cash rolling around, you can also acquire the Signature Folio Exclusive from the IDW website.
Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis: An Original Graphic Novel ($25.99)
Is Megalopolis a good movie? Snooze, friend. That’s the least interesting question one could ask. The quality of a thing is nowhere near as interesting as the thing and its pursuits and attempts at those pursuits. Francis Ford Coppola put all of himself into Megalopolis, and the result is something deeply fascinating, especially when you consider how eager he was to explore his story’s ideas in other media. As you can hear in the podcast below, Coppola pursued writer Chris Ryall to transform Megalopolis into a graphic novel, and Ryall recruited the brilliant Jacob Phillips to get the job done. Compared with the film, the graphic novel offers a very different emotional experience, with certain scenes achieving a radically different vibe. The juxtaposition is thrilling, especially for folks who are equal movie and comic book freaks like ourselves.
ELOBOON Fireproof/Water-Resistant Short Box ($26.99)
One of our favorite thought experiments we have around the family dinner table is...imagine your house is on fire. Your friends, pets, and loved ones have already escaped the flames. You only have time to save one item from your home. What item do you rescue? If your answer is a certain comic book collectible, you probably actually have several comic book collectibles you’d want to snatch from these hypothetical flames. Well, if you place all those cool comics in an ELOBOON Fireproof and water-resistant short box, you can count it as the one item you save. Victory!
Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier ($26.99)
As we stated above, regarding The Cartoonists Club, Raina Telgemeier is one of the industry’s modern masters. She’s responsible for millions of kids reading comics, and Facing Feelings is her attempt to reveal her technique and influences. It’s an exciting introspection; a proper conversation about why books like Smile, Drama, and Sisters resonate with middle-grade readers, offering previously unavailable access to Telgemeier’s artwork and thought process. Also, if you have any interest in turning your own stories into comics, Facing Feelings is a must.
Armored Hardcover ($29.99)
We spent a good portion of last year screaming at everyone, “READ ARMORED!” Many cool folks listened, but we think even more cool folks will hear our cry now that Clover Press has collected Michael Schwartz and Ismael Hernández’s series into such a handsome hardcover. Armored is a fabulous kid adventure in the tone of The Goonies or The Monster Squad, but done in a style that’s totally its own. Hernández’s watercolor sequentials are gobsmacking, delivering hauntingly heartfelt panels. It’s a story about managing grief and finding purpose in your outsider pursuits while accepting support, family, and friendship.
Black Canary: Best of the Best ($29.99)
Maybe our favorite structure for a limited series in 2024/2025. Tom King and Ryan Sook put Dinah in the ring, battling an impossible match against Lady Shiva, where whatever outcome will result in emotional catastrophe. Ryan Sook returns to DC Comics, dishing out one vicious panel after another, while outside of the narrative, Tom King attempts to understand his son’s love for fight entertainment (here’s a plug for another one of our episodes). Black Canary: Best of the Best is a mother/daughter story. It’s a Dinah/Ollie story. It’s just what we were hoping it would be. Romantic as Hell.
Elfquest: The Original Quest Book 1 - Fight or Flight ($29.99)
Elfquest is comic book history. Created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978, the epic fantasy series began as a self-published miracle but found temporary homes at Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and, most recently, Dark Horse Comics. Wendy Pini had a planned conclusion for the series from the beginning, and while it might have taken a little while to get there, as life interfered in the way it always does, Elfquest did achieve its proper climax. Now, in these beautiful hardcover Dark Horse Comics editions, the series finds new life in color. Now is the time to see what all the fuss is about.
Helen of Wyndhorn ($29.99)
You’ve probably encountered Helen of Wyndhorn by Tom King and Bilquis Eveley somewhere before. It made many Best Of lists last year (including ours) and took home an Eisner for Best Penciler/Inker Team. It’s a feast of a comic where no panel is wasted, and every emotion is engaged. Yes, the book has some Conan the Barbarian, some Wizard of Oz, and some Wuthering Heights. Mostly, however, it’s its own heartbreaking, bittersweet thing. The hardcover came out earlier this year, but if you can wait until February 26th, you can acquire a new Deluxe Edition.
Nemesis The Warlock: The Definitive Edition, Volume 4 ($32.99)
Bless 2000 AD for maintaining the awesomeness that is Nemesis the Warlock in these hefty and bright definitive collections. Written by madman Pat Mills, and illustrated by a bevy of sicko geniuses (John Hicklenton, Carl Crichlow, and Kevin O’Neill), Nemesis the Warlock crosses time and space, threatening all who live within its walls. This comic is one you should just dive into and let it do with your brain what it wishes. Submit. Accept pleasure.
Panda Khan NECA Figure ($34.99)
While Panda Khan eventually found his way into the 80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series and Playmates toyline, just like Miyamoto Usagi, he began life as an original comic creation. Panda Khan sprung from the brains of married couple Dave Garcia and Monica Sharp, and his stories even popped up in WaRP comics from Elfquest’s Wendy and Richard Pini. So, yeah, Panda Khan is comics history, too. And he’s back in plastic thanks to the cool folks at NECA. So, whether you dig the Turtles or pedantic comic book lore, you need Panda Khan on your shelf.
Batman and Robin: Year One Hardcover ($39.99)
As usual, Batman readers were fed well this year. Between Absolute Batman, Batman: Dark Patterns, and the main monthly series, we were given one exceptional Gotham story after another (not to forget the numerous other Bat-related titles serving wins all year long). With so much stiff competition, it’s natural that certain Bat-titles didn’t receive the attention they deserved, and while conversation around Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s Batman and Robin: Year One was strong, it should have been deafening.
Waid and Samnee are an all-timer duo. Their runs on Daredevil, Black Widow, and Captain America should already have homes on your shelves. To finally have their attention on the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder is a tremendous gift to longtime fans, and a warm welcome to those curious about Gotham’s dynamic duo. Thankfully, December will see Waid and Samnee’s twelve-issue series collected in a hefty hardcover, and we can guarantee that this will be a perennial seller and eventually celebrated with the same reverence as Batman: The Long Halloween.
Turn Loose Our Death Rays And Kill Them All! ($44.99)
Describing Fletcher Hanks comics is an impossible task. You just have to read them to believe them. They are pure comics, where Hanks wrote, penciled, inked, and lettered everything. His time in the medium was brief, 1939 to 1941, but what he left us with was more than fifty comic stories, unlike anything else being made at the time. Their logic is bizarre. The characters even more so. Beware the violent judgment of Stardust the Super Wizard. Shiver in the presence of Fantomah, before she tears you limb from limb. This year, Fantagraphics collected all the Fletcher Hanks comics in one place. It’s not the kind of thing you blitz through. To do so might cause madness. It’s a comic you sip and savor; a book that finds a permanent spot on your coffee table.
The Art of Judge Dredd by Jock ($49.99)
In December, we’ll have an in-depth conversation with Jock on the podcast. In it, you’ll hear how 2000 AD and Judge Dredd shaped his early imagination and left a mark on his work that you can see all the way through to today, and his upcoming Absolute Batman issue, which reveals Absolute Joker in all his terrifying beauty. The Art of Judge Dredd by Jock operates like a tour through the artist’s life. You’ll see his earliest works as well as the critical pieces that solidified his style. Jock is also a major geek for art books, and that’s utterly present in the design and aesthetic of this tome.
Friday Image Comics Hardcover ($49.99)
Friday is your new comic book obsession. Written by Ed Brubaker, illustrated by Marcos Martín, and colored by Muntsa Vicente, the new deluxe hardcover published by Image Comics finally collects the entire series, which began as a Panel Syndicate digital exclusive. The characters recall those who might wander through Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Scooby Doo, or The Hardy Boys. However, the plots stray into the wickedly weird and compelling, the way only Ed Brubaker could do, and Marcos Martín and Munsta Vicente provide career-best artwork.
Lost Marvels No. 2 - Howard Chaykin Vol. 1 ($49.99)
Fantagraphics and Marvel Comics, what a fun combination. Their Lost Marvels series uncovers those gems that Wednesday Warriors tend to ignore or forget. This second volume highlights Howard Chaykin’s immense impact on the publisher and the medium itself, collecting his Dominic Fortune, Monark Starstalker, and Phantom Eagle comics. If you’ve never read these violent tales before, here’s your reminder that you absolutely need to do so.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen ($49.99)
One of the ten best superhero comics of the last twenty years. Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber is a joyous comic book celebration; a great big hug around all the comics that came before. And yet, it feels vibrant and as relevant today as it was when its first issue was published in 2019.
In this epic saga, we see how Jimmy Olsen is connected to Metropolis' past, present, and future. The intrepid reporter throws himself into situations he shouldn’t, but in doing so, accomplishes heroic feats that should make his number one crush, Superman, proud. The new DC Comics hardcover is an essential spine on your shelf, featuring a Neal Adams homage cover that’s actually worthy of the original.
2000 AD Christmas Jumper ($54 - $75)
Be the coolest kid at the Christmas party, rocking your “Ho Drokking Ho” Christmas jumper. 2000 AD has some of the most uniquely pleasurable clothing items on their site, and while putting this 2025 Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide together, we bought two Judge Dredd and Judge Death jumpers ourselves. Merry Deathmas, friends.
Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 1 Deluxe Edition ($54.99)
The comic that made every Gen X reader a manga lover. Originally published in singles by First Comics and later collected into the massively addictive mini-digests by Dark Horse Comics, the series is finally being published in the original Japanese left-to-right format. Not only that, there is nothing mini about Dark Horse’s new deluxe edition hardcover. This beast is 7 x 10! While we read this series long ago, we’re ridiculously excited to experience Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s masterpiece the way it was intended. The book arrives in stores this December, and it is a frickin’ event.
Batman: Black and White Compendium Trade Paperback ($59.99)
There’s nothing better than watching the best writers and artists go off on Batman, free from continuity restraints. The Batman Black and White stories produced some of the all-time best Batman comics, and now, they're all found in one place for a solid price tag. In this collection, you’ll find Nick Dragotta’s first foray into Gotham, as well as his buddies Daniel Warren Johnson and James Harren. Plus, Neal Adams, Dwayne McDuffie, James Tynion IV, Bilquis Evely, Tom King, Mariko Tamaki, Jim Lee, Chip Kidd, Michael Cho, and many, many more.
The Complete Klaus Deluxe Hardcover ($59.99)
After our recent conversation with Grant Morrison discussing their latest collaboration with Dan Mora, Batman/Deadpool, we had to dive back into their original partnership. Thankfully, Boom Studios has reprinted Morrison and Mora’s Klaus in its entirety. Forget Superman. Forget Doc Savage. Santa Claus was the first superhero. At least, that’s how Morrison and Mora see it, layering the Christmas icon with all the cape fiction tropes. The result is an epic origin story told with incredible sincerity and draped in superhero cool by the reigning champ of spandex comics.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Mirage Years 1993 - 1995 ($59.99)
After the original Mirage Studios Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series concluded with issue 62, the franchise relaunched with a new number one in 1993. It didn’t last long, just thirteen issues, all drawn by TMNT veteran Jim Lawson. As weird as these stories can get, this era is perhaps its strangest, and maybe its most consistent. Recovering in Northampton after the City of War event, Donatello and Splinter find temporary peace while the three other brothers and April keep watch on New York City. Then along comes Baxter Stockman to cause major havoc. Rarely are these stories celebrated, but maybe that will change with the release of this new hardcover collection from IDW Publishing.
Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2025 - Expensive (Over $60)
Bone Deluxe Slipcase Edition TP: Part 01 - The Valley ($60)
Bone might be the comic we’ve collected in the most varieties. We’ve got the singles, the black and white hardcovers, the Scholastic editions, the one big volume, and now this new oversized slipcase edition. Why? Because it’s the Greatest Comic Book of All Time. And if you doubt that, then you must admit that it belongs in the conversation. The new edition collects the first two storylines, Out from Boneville and The Great Cow Race, plus additional backmatter that provides context for their creation. You’ll find new Jeff Smith drawings, articles, photos, reviews, and early scripts. If you already love Bone, it’s a must. If you’re looking to turn family members into Boneheads, it’s a must.
Spider-Man: Panel by Panel ($60)
Chip Kidd accomplishes wonders by repackaging the comics that defined the industry. Spider-Man: Panel by Panel presents Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Amazing Fantasy #15 and The Amazing Spider-Man #1 one panel at a time, one page at a time, using the most sumptuous close-up photographs of vintage copies. We’ve all read comics with our noses pressed against the pages, and Panel by Panel is this sensation cranked to its most fetishistic extreme. After you devour this one, make sure you also snatch up Kidd’s Fantastic Four: Panel by Panel. Hopefully, Abrams ComicArts will keep putting the microscope on more iconic Marvel Comics.
The Essential Peanuts ($75)
The holidays are about the mainstays of our lives - a celebration of what is constant, safe, and dependable. The things that give you that warmth in your belly that assures you that wherever you are, you can find a piece of home. For the past 75 years, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts strips have delivered those toasty warm fuzzies, and now that is commemorated in The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: The Greatest Comic Strip of All Time.
A feat of both sentiment and scholarship, this tome brings together brilliant minds in both comics and culture to meditate on what Charles Schulz and his cast of quirky kids have come to mean to us, including Mark Evanier, Ben Folds, and Chip Kidd, and it is lovingly preceded by an introduction from Patrick McDonnell of Mutts and Jean Schulz. Not only is the book itself a lovely gift, with its silvery slipcover encasing a substantial book, but it comes with its own stocking stuffers: prints, vinyl stickers, postcards, an iron-on patch, and a full-color comic book.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 1 - Return to New York - Inked Deluxe Edition ($79.99)
Last year might have been the most exciting time in recent memory to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan. Writer Jason Aaron’s year on the book injected incredible excitement into the franchise, telling an anxious story focused on the interior lives of the brothers, but doing so with an unbeatable artist bullpen. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 1: Return to New York - Inked Deluxe Edition presents the first half of Aaron’s short tenure, stripping the color, and placing a spotlight on the art of Joëlle Jones, Rafael Alburquerque, Cliff Chiang, Chris Burnham, Darick Robertson, and Juan Ferreyra. Well, there is some color, actually, as Ferreyra puts a rough color draft directly on his pages. You gotta see them, then compare them to the finished results in the regular collection.
The Art of Daniel Warren Johnson ($80.00)
The Art of Daniel Warren Johnson has been a long time coming. The artist first referenced it on Comic Book Couples Counseling way back in 2021, while discussing Beta Ray Bill. Since then, we’ve been wringing our hands, salivating, waiting for the day when this big boy would be in our hands. Well, that wait is almost over. Flesk Publications lands the title in shops this December, but we’re already checking our mailboxes daily.
The 9 x 12 hardcover is limited to 2,000 copies and comes signed with an exclusive print. It’s 288 pages, featuring over 170 comics pages, covers, and personal works. Even cooler, for the first time ever, Daniel Warren Johnson is publishing sketches from his massive sketchbook library. If you’re subscribed to his YouTube channel, you’ve already caught a glimpse and understand what a treat this collection will be for yourself and others.
Dark Horse Direct x Dogu Publishing Edition - Usagi Yojimbo Vinyl Figure ($150 - $230)
Race over to www.stansakai.com and get your exclusive Dogu Publishing/Dark Horse Comics vinyl Usagi Yojimbo statue. If you’ve spent any time around these parts, you know we’re Stan Sakai-obsessed. The cartoonist has excelled in this industry for so long (Usagi Yojimbo premiered in 1984) that the industry and its readers can take him for granted. He’s like the air, always there.
But ya know what? Everyone on the planet isn't reading Usagi Yojimbo every month, and that’s a shame. The vinyl statue is not for them. They should pick up the latest Ten Thousand Plums trade paperback. You’ve just read through three thousand words of our Comic Book Holiday Gift Guide 2025. You must already be in love with Miyamoto Usagi. This gorgeous vinyl statue is for you. Treat yourself. Pay a little more and get a Stan Sakai remarque on the box while you’re at it.
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