Ho, ho, oh no! Your vacation is already over, but you still haven’t finished your shopping? Before you send your elf out of despair, consider these items for comics and comic book lovers on your gift-buying list. And don’t forget. Comics Beat has already shared some additional lists full of ideas linked at the bottom of this article.
Already bought your holiday gifts? Is there anything we left off the list that you think should be included? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
cannon
In this heartfelt graphic novel by Lee Lai, readers will learn about the titular cannon. As a cook at a Montreal restaurant, Cannon is faced with family responsibilities, a brutal love affair, the betrayal of his longtime best friend, a creepy and pitiful boss, and (on top of that) an unbearable heat wave.
What’s a queer person at the end of his rope to do? Anyone who receives this graphic novel as a gift will be glad they didn’t miss the shocking climax. Now available from Drawn & Quarterly.
Castle Swimmer Vol 2
Originally released on WEBTOON, Castle Swimmer is a fantasy romance comic about a queer mer who dreams of being the recipient of a gift. This story is about a kappa who is appointed by a surface god to become a beacon, and a siren prince who sacrifices the beacon to lift a curse placed on his people. But when Kappa and Siren fall in love, the sacrifice becomes very complicated.
The breathtakingly illustrated comics by Wendy Martin are now available in physical form. The second volume of Castle Swimmer, reformatted with the help of layout artist Jem Milton, is now available from Ten Speed Graphic. If you’re feeling particularly generous, these two volumes will satisfy any manga lover (even if you receive them a little after the holidays).
Champion: Graphic Novel
If you’re a sports fan or a comic book lover, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s inspiring story, Champion: A Graphic Novel, should be on your list. Written by Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld and illustrated by Ed LaRoche, this graphic novel is not your standard autobiography or memoir.
Instead, Champion tells the story of Monk Travers, a high school basketball player who is confident he’s heading to the NBA. However, when a rival team’s prank at school goes awry, Monk is assigned a report on Abdul-Jabbar to make up for it. However, this report is not about Abdul-Jabbar’s basketball career, but about his valuable efforts as a social justice advocate. Just like Monk, anyone on your list will be inspired by the singular story of Abdul-Jabbar’s life. Champion: A Graphic Novel is available from Ten Speed Press.
Dungeons & Dragons
Want to buy a Dungeon Master gift? Consider Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Master Campaign Journal. This hardcover journal is designed to help DMs record every aspect of their campaigns. There are dozens of dedicated pages where you can track non-player characters, player profiles, journeys, and creatures. There is a section where you can record session logs for each session you and your party participate in. It also has a page with a grid that you can use if needed, and a pocket on the back to keep your ephemera close at hand. All of this is included in a beautiful, durable book that also comes with an elastic band to keep everything together. Now available from Clarkson Potter.
Or maybe you’re shopping for a D&D enthusiast who isn’t a DM? How about Dragons of the Realms: An Official Dungeons & Dragons Coloring Book? This title includes 80 pages of official D&D dragon art. In some cases, dragons are depicted in their natural habitat, while in other images, the images feature terrifying creatures battling brave but foolish adventurers. This coloring book is perfect for players who need to do something with their hands while other players take turns. Available now from Ten Speed Press.
Lord of the Flies: Graphic Novel
It’s no wonder Lord of the Flies continues to be so relevant today. Whether timeless or timeless, William Golding’s seminal novels hold a mirror to humanity in a way that few works of art can achieve. It has also been mentioned in Lost and by Stephen King. And now it is available in a new format.
Adapted and illustrated by Emmy de Jong, Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel is a breathtaking retelling of the beloved prose story. Whether the recipient has read the original novel dozens of times or has never read the first page, this graphic novel will be an enlightening and engaging read. Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel is available from Penguin Classics.
Moomin’s Adventures: Volume 2
There is a reason why Moomin became a timeless masterpiece. And this year, there might be someone on your gift list ready to see why? Drawn & Quarterly features The Adventures of Moomin: Volume 2 by Tove Jansson and Lars Jansson.
Moomin Adventures: Book Two is a nice glossy paperback book with sexy speckles on the cover. The comics inside are divided into topical sections, such as “Moomin and his family life,” “Moomin and the railway,” and “The beginning of Moomin’s new life.” This is the second book in D&Q’s Moomin Adventures series, but readers won’t have a hard time diving into it. And if you’re feeling generous, you can always pair it with Moomin’s Adventures: Book One. Both are currently available from Drawn & Quarterly.
Dove!: A fable for our time
For politically conscious comic book lovers (and with a sense of humor), here’s Mark Chalvin’s Pigeons!: A Fable for Our Times. At first glance, this 9.25″ x 8.1″ hardcover translated by Laura Bourbonnais may seem like a fairy tale. But there’s no doubt that this is the perfect book to dive into while the bootlickers in your family dominate the conversation around the holiday dinner table.
Pigeon! The story is a deceptively simple story about a flock of unsuspecting pigeons, a crow who sees them as food, and a seagull who tries to save the pigeons from themselves. With its minimalist black-and-white aesthetic and four-panel pages, Hato! conveys a sophisticated commentary on living within the tightening noose of authoritarianism. Unfortunately, it’s a timely read for Americans on their gift lists, pigeons! Available now from Street Noise Books.
witch’s egg
In his review of Donya Todd’s The Witch’s Egg, Arpad Okay of The Beat wrote, “Todd’s modern medieval murals are incredibly difficult.” Okay notes that the book’s unconventional writing requires readers to slow down to fully understand the story, calling The Witch’s Egg “weird” and describing one image as “a psychedelic cathedral dome mosaic depicting a Furby apocalypse.”
Dear reader, I’m sure there’s someone on your gift list who would enjoy that kind of curiosity. The Witch’s Egg is the story of Wolfie, a cat witch who summons an angel to give birth to her child. Nothing says “vacation” like a great family story that spans generations, right? And did we mention that The Witch’s Egg is one of the best comics on the beat in 2025, along with the aforementioned Cannon?
Witch’s Egg is available now from Avery Hill.
Have you checked out the other entries in Comic Beat’s 2025 Gift Guide? Stay tuned for more gift suggestions from The Beat.
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