The Spirit of Giving

As much as I enjoy getting presents as I've gotten older I've found that the best part of gift exchange is giving presents to others - especially when you find them a great gift. It always makes me happy when I find something for someone that not only surprises them but makes them happy. Take my boyfriend for example - as much as it's easy enough to find things that he likes it is always hard to get him into the holiday spirit. He tries for my sake but he doesn't get excited about Christmas. This year I found him an excellent gift though and it actually made him a bit happier about the whole holiday ordeal - after 7 years of searching for a shirt with the "S" symbol from the Death of Superman story I finally found it for him (at Hot Topic of all places - I mean we've searched conventions for this shirt!). Anyway, giving gifts is one of my favorite things to do and I always spend a lot of time and effort trying to find things that will make people smile.



So what does this have to do with comic books? Well, as my Mom and Grandmother are going to be in town in four days I have been cleaning and trying to get rid of some of my books (I honestly need a library). Anyway, I've found quite a few graphic novels that I'm willing to part with and it's been fun to give them away to people who will enjoy reading them. Here's a few graphic novels I've passed along to others along with a few books I gave as gifts this Christmas.

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152
(ASP)



I purchased an extra copy of this for a friend of mine who has several small children. She's already read it but I know that the kids enjoy being read to so I thought this would make a good gift. It's a story both parents and kids can enjoy and being a comic book it has the merit of pictures as well. David Peterson does such a good job creating his lovable and brave hearted mice that I feel this book makes a great gift for almost anyone who enjoys reading. I'm fairly excited for Winter to end as then I can give away that graphic novel when it comes out. The other great thing about this book as a gift is that it makes a great story for girls or boys and manages to avoid being geared toward one gender or another.

G.C.P.D
(DC)



My Dad sent me five Gotham City P.D. graphic novels a few months back. I had a lot of fun reading them as I had never read the material before. I think that these are some of the best cop stories I've read before while having the extra added bonus of being tied to Batman. They really developed the supporting cast of Gotham City and made them into characters you're concerned about and want to know what happens to them. These stories also give a unique perspective into what it's like to be an everyday person in a city like Gotham. As I have a friend who is both a fan of Batman and a cop these seemed like a perfect set of books to pass along to him. While I enjoyed them I'm glad to have them passed along to someone else who will have fun reading them (possibly even more so than me!).

Local
(Oni Press)



I found the hardcover for this mini series in Barnes and Noble. I hadn't seen it in this format before and was really impressed by the quality of the book considering it was only $30. Especially considering how much the big two charge for their hardcovers of the same quality. Anyway I picked up this book for my sister as she has a lot in common with the main character. My sister has, like the main character, moved around to various different places around the country and I wouldn't be surprised if she kept moving around for awhile yet. This story was a series of (essentially) one shot stories about one girl with each book being a different year and city in her life. It was a very well done story and hopefully my sister enjoys it.

30 Days of Night - various
(IDW)



I have several of these books floating around and while I've had a lot of fun with them I have a friend who loves horror stories. I also happen to know how much he liked the movie version of the original 30 Days story. Either way, these will be leaving my home to move into his possession as he will get a kick out of reading them. I also know he's a big fan of Ben Templesmith's art work so that makes it an even better gift!

Sandman: Dream Country
(Vertigo)

This is the only Sandman book I ever had in soft cover and now that I have my own set of Absolutes (thanks Dad!) there's no need for this single soft cover edition to be floating around in my collection. Of course this book has one of my favorite Sandman stories, A Dream of a Thousand Cats, so in some ways it is a sad parting. However, unlike my accumulation of multiple copies of a Princess of Mars, I really don't need multiple copies of Sandman stories especially when I have such beautiful editions. So I'll be passing this graphic novel along to a friend who's trying to get all the Sandman stories he can. It's a small edition to his collection but a worthy one regardless.

S&B: The Search for Kryptonite
(DC)



I got this book for my boyfriend as he really enjoyed a few of the previous Superman/Batman graphic novels. He really likes comic books but I think the monthly thing gets hard for him. I actually feel bad because he had been reading Fear Agent on a monthly basis but I managed to miss giving him an issue somewhere so now I'm hoping to get him those stories in graphic novel format one day. Either way I know he'll have fun with this book as this was a pretty good story arc in this series. I've also seen a hardcover of the Death and Return of Superman floating around that I need to get for him even if it means saving it for his birthday.

Well that's just a few of the comic books I gave away this year. I know there will be more to come as I continue to go through my collection. This was a really great Christmas and I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season so far!