We all have them in our lives. People who don’t love comics. I know, it’s hard to believe, but they exist. So we decided to put together a list of gifts you can give to the non-comic lovers in your life. Helpfully we’ve split it up by genre, for ease of use!
Horror
There are quite a few books I’d recommend in the horror genre. There are great books like Random Acts of Violence which is so appropriate for the slasher fans, or Changing Ways which is a disturbing book about the changes that can happen.
Zombies
Of course there’s always The Walking Dead which if you haven’t been reading, you need to. Then there is Rombies, Roman Zombies as well as The Last Resort which isn’t quite zombies but the result of a biological accident.
Crime and Noir
The Last Days of American Crime shows a world in our future that is still noir. Sadly it is hard to get a copy of. But then there’s Darwyn Cooke’s beautiful retelling of Parker which is a classic crime story.
Mystery
Locke and Key is a great book who’s mystery of the key is the integral thing. Morning Glories is a book that reminds me of Lost in its twists and turns. Chew is great detective fiction with a twist.
Literature
There are so many titles I can pick in this genre. It amazes me the number of classic books that are being retold in sequential form.
The Unwritten tells an amazing story based (somewhat) off of children’s books. Kill Shakespeare is a reinterpretation of Shakespeare in the most brilliant way.
More traditionally there’s Emma retold by Nancy Butler and illustrated by Janet Lee. There are also the Oz Books retold by Eric Shanower and illustrated by Skottie Young.
Vampires
So they like vampire fiction? How about American Vampire. A bit more brutal than your typical fare, but so worth reading.
Family books
We all know people who want to read a book with their kids. How can they not? The Deep is an amazing family friendly story that all will love. Return of the Dapper Men is another story that will be a joy both to adults and those who are younger.
Westerns
I can’t move past Jonah Hex and have to encourage you to pick up any of the collections you can. Alternately Eldritch Kid: Whiskey and Hate is a great combo of western and mythology and is such a good book.
Star Wars
Star Wars Blood Ties was recently nominated for a Stan Lee Excelsior award. It’s an amazing story of Boba and Jango Fett and so worth reading. If the people you know love Star Wars it’s a great thing to get them.
Fairy Tales
Fables has long been the standard by which other fairy tale stories set their bar. One of the first few collections would be an amazing gift, as it is a story that only grows as its told.
Fantasy
The category I forgot last night when typing up this post! Strange, as it’s one of my favourite genres. Currently my two favourites are Mice Templar and Mouse Guard, both amazing books. Mice Templar is darker, and whilst both about mice in pseudo-medieval settings they tell very different stories.
If you have gift ideas, share them in the comments!
Tom Taylor/Locke and Key/The Unwritten & Kill Shakespeare?
A damn fine list.
(actually my brother-in-law had this exact dilemma on Sunday….so he rang me from within Kings Comics to ask what I wanted).
It’s a good dilemma. Honestly, I want to buy it all!
Love and Rockets…. Local…. New York 4/5 ??? What category though?
That’s a hard one. For every book I put on this list, there were at least 3 I left off. I would have loved to include so many. Love and Rockets, Blankets, Astro City, a few of the iconic superhero books but I was veering away from that genre.