The Comics Reporter’s Black Friday Holiday Shopping Guide 2011



Today is "Black Friday" 2011. "Black Friday" is the traditional first day of the hectic holiday shopping season.

Rolling out in the following document over the next few hours will be several suggestions for comics-related gift shopping. These suggestions are intended to help you along if you've decided that sequential narrative presents and things related to sequential narratives are to be on Santa's list this year.

As I have little chance of actually selecting something for your friend or loved one, please use this as a starting point only. It's unlikely I'll have discovered just the thing. More likely what follows will give you an idea as to what's out there, or spark some brainstorming that leads to an idea for something specifically suited to your loved one.

I'm also quite certain I'm forgetting a list of items and ideas equally as long as the one that follows. That list is almost certainly filled with quality works and books. I apologize profusely for their absence here. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, and anyone that thinks such a list is even possible these days may be a fool.

Have fun today and the weeks ahead, and please remember a few simple rules about comics gift-giving:

1. When it comes to gifts, comics are best for people that already like them as opposed to people that may like them someday.

2. The bigger the comics fan, the more likely that person is to be very specific about what it is they want. Be careful!

3. Comics don't have the retail saturation of, say, DVDs, and some of the best things are carried by specific vendors or involve an element of handcraft, so make sure you have enough time to receive the thing it is you want to buy.

All that said: gifts are gifts. It's difficult to do anything wrong when giving someone a gift. Happy shopping, and here's to a fulfilling and safe holiday season.

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THE COMICS REPORTER BLACK FRIDAY HOLIDAY SHOPPING GUIDE 2011
or
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE REASONS TO SPEND YOUR SHOPPING MONEY ON COMICS THIS YEAR

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TWELVE "GIFTY"-SEEMING COMICS GIFTS FOR THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
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1. Nelson, Edited By Woodrow Phoenix and Rob Davis (Blank Slate Books)
This is a big, full-color anthology featuring work from various stalwarts of the surprisingly under-appreciated -- and therefore under-seen by most North American comics fans -- current British comics scene, with proceeds being donated to the homelessness charity Shelter.


2. Richard Stark's Parker: The Martini Edition, Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
IDW has done a really nice job with their various deluxe editions across the line, and that's certainly the case with this edition of Darwyn Cooke's first two Parker adaptations, bound together and stuffed with extras including an interview from this site. I can't really compare the experiences of reading the actual comics involved, but I know two people have reached for it right off of my bookshelf that didn't ever show interest in the initial publications.


3. Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture, Jack Davis (Fantagraphics)
I haven't seen this new Fantagraphics volume yet, but Jack Davis is an outside, little-discussed candidate for Best Living Cartoonist and I can't imagine any decent survey of his artwork not being something to behold.


4. A Piece Of Tony Millionaire Art Featured On His Yuletide Gallery, Tony Millionaire (Self-Published)
Tony Millionaire's originals are gorgeous and sometimes even humbling. This group of original art is priced in the "you gave me a kidney" or "I am the 1 percent" territory as far as most people are concerned, but I have to imagine it's worth it.


5. Full-Color Bone In A Deluxe Or A Slipcase Edition, Jeff Smith With Steve Hamaker (Cartoons Books)
Cartoons books is rolling out their one-color editions with a lot of discipline; there's an fancy edition loaded with extras and a slip-cased version at this point. The work looks really gorgeous in cover, and you won't get anything better in the way of production values for this work. Also, Jeff Smith is signing everything purchased from the company store until mid-December.


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