SHOPPING LIST :: Jason Wheatley Suggests--

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Well, aside from the lack of snow and temperatures in the 70s despite it being mid-November, of course. What I mean is, there is so much cool stuff coming through our doors right now, it’s hard not to think about how many of them would make wonderful gifts!

First off, for the fan of classic Marvel Comics on your list, it’s hard to go wrong with their series of Omnibus Editions. These hefty hardcover volumes reprint large runs of Silver Age sweetness, and a few more modern runs as well, complete with the original letters columns and supplementary essays, in Marvel’s oversized format. Surprise someone with the entire Lee/Ditko run of The Amazing Spider-Man, a large part of Stan and Jack’s Fantastic Four, or the first 25 issues of Ed Brubaker’s now-classic Captain America run! Several of these volumes just came back into print, so now’s your chance to grab them again! Not only that, should you find yourself in a bad spot, you can use one of these big suckers to knock out any would-be attackers! (No, really – I read a story online about a comic fan who walloped a mugger with his trusty Fantastic Four omnibus.)

Going from big to small, nothing puts a cherry on top of a holiday sundae like a neat stocking stuffer. I’ve got just the thing, a personal favorite of mine – Minimates! These 2-2 ½” block-style action figures by Art Asylum are just adorable and are pretty expansive in their scope: We’ve got Minimates of your favorite DC Comics and Marvel Comics superheroes (and some of their movie counterparts as well!) and other properties such as Star Trek. There’s even a box set of those pesky Marvel Zombies that seem to be popping up everywhere these days.

Does your lucky gift recipient like their action figures a little bigger? Not a problem – DC Direct has put out a few items lately that might bring a smile to their faces. As part of the promotion surrounding the release of the “Superman: Doomsday” DVD, they put out a set that includes a Superman figure and a Doomsday figure, plus a copy of The Death of Superman trade paperback, reprinting the original storyline. Read the story, then re-enact the epic showdown! Or, pick up a set of the “Superman: Doomsday” figures, based on the look of the animated movie!

Another recent DC Direct release, out just this past Wednesday, is a four-figure set based on Alex Ross’ art from the Justice miniseries. The set comes with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern figures, and like the Superman/Doomsday set, it comes with a copy of an issue of Justice. This is one sharp-looking set of figures, so they probably won’t last long!

Wow, thinking up all of these great gift ideas sure has made me thirsty – I think I’ll sip a tasty beverage from one of my Toon Tumblers. Did I mention I got them at Heroes? The glasses come decorated with dozens of characters, from the X-Men to the Fantastic Four to Spider-Man and other Marvel Comics heroes. There are also glasses available featuring Harvey characters like Hot Stuff and Richie Rich. We’ve even got a few exclusive glasses from conventions around the country. They’re a pretty neat way to enjoy your beverage of choice!

It’s hard to stop suggesting things, knowing I’ve just scratched the surface of all the cool things we have available that would make awesome holiday gifts. Statues, busts, Absolute Editions, other graphic novels and comics, manga – if you’re a regular customer, you know each of us can recommend things all day! But listening to us recommending things all the time, that’s old news. How often do our customers get to recommend items to each other? In the spirit of holiday giving and sharing, we’d love for you, our valued customers, to share some gift ideas! Your fellow customers will certainly appreciate it, and so will we – we know you’ll come up with things we might never think of! And feel free to drop by the store for more suggestions!