Behold the Geek! Holiday Gift Guide for Geeks 2

Welcome to another installment of Behold the Geek!'s holiday gift guide for geeks! The holiday season is upon us, and if you're having trouble deciding what to give your geeky friends, family or loved ones then these series of articles is for you. The comic book geek, the music geek, the movie geek...they all need some loving this festive season, and I've got some gift ideas to help you along!

We've already covered trendy and geeky apparel in my last article, and today we'll be looking at something near and dear to my heart...comic books! Graphic novels, floppies, whatever you like to call them, they're fun and thoughtful gifts to give your comic book geek...or someone you want to turn into one!

Tomo vol. 1 to 7 (Powerbooks and National Bookstore, P175 each)

If you've got a pamangkin or budding tween geek that needs gifting, you can't go wrong with Tomo, an adventure manga from Zondervan Publishing. Tomo is the story of Hana, a thirteen-year-old ninja-in-training trying to survive in an American high school while fulfilling her destiny as savior of an alternate world. I've reviewed the first two volumes here (I'm already up to volume 7) and I assure you this is one kick-ass book series that kids can learn from and enjoy. Get them one volume, or if you love them enough, get them all (it's up to volume 7 right now)! They'll be glad you did.

Neko Ramen vol 1: Hey! Order Up! (Planet X Comics, P550)

I've been raving about this hilarious manga series for a while now, and so I highly recommend we all pay it forward by getting this for your cat-loving, manga-reading loved ones for the holidays. Neko Ramen is the story of Taisho, a cat who runs a ramen shop who dreams of making it big in the business. Let me say that again: a cat who runs a ramen shop. Who doesn't like those? Get your wallets ready!

Marvel Essentials (Fully Booked, prices may vary)

With the Captain America, Thor and even Avengers movies coming up on the horizon, the best gift you can give someone is to brush them up with their history with some Marvel Essentials. They're cheap reprints of massive Golden Age and Silver Age runs of Marvel's most popular properties. Essentials usually have 20-30 issues crammed in one book, and costs less than 6 or 7 of the latest 22-page comic books! They're also easily accessible, and anyone can pick these up and enjoy them immediately. It's a gift that's definitely a bang for your buck.


Annihilation (Fully Booked, Book 1 and 2 - P1,245. Book 3 - P1,455)

Annihilation is Marvel's crossover event that jump-started the modern cosmic era, bringing back from limbo their space-faring characters and the worlds they inhabit. Annihilus, the old Fantastic Four baddie, set his sights on our universe, destroying worlds in his wake. It's up to a handful of heroes, let by a souped-up Nova the Human Rocket to save the entire universe from total annihilation!

If you've got a sci-fi geek for an exchange gift partner, your money's better spent on giving them the trade paperbacks collecting all the tie-ins to Annihilation and the 6-issue event itself spread through three volumes. I'm still waiting on somebody to get me these, but alas one must give to receive!


Power Girl: A New Beginning/Power Girl: Aliens and Apes TPBs (Fully Booked, P725)

A beautiful heroine who proudly pronunciates her prodigious pectoral expanses while battling primates and prime evils...that's Power Girl's very first solo series for you! Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray served up a fun romp with their 12-issue run, and you can spread the love by getting your Secret Santa a trade paperback collecting Power Girl's first 12 issues! It's got some fun superhero action, and Amanda Conner draws a really, really great Power Girl. It's like a match made in heaven!

The DC Encyclopedia/The Marvel Encyclopedia (Powerbooks, P1,765 each)

Turn your loved ones into walking comic book encyclopedias with DK Publishing's line of encyclopedias dedicated to the two biggest comic book publishers DC and Marvel. Trivia-lovers will find tons of stuff to enjoy in these books, like comprehensive A to Z listings of DC and Marvel's characters, fun trivia, quizzes and the oh so beautiful pictures. Gift this to yourself, or make someone smile with these under their Christmas tree.

Absolute All-Star Superman (Fully Booked, P4,199)

If you're feeling a little bit generous, get your comic book geek giftee the Absolute All-Star Superman hardcover collecting Grant Morrison's 12-issue love song to the Man of Steel. Maxi-sized for maximum enjoyment and with a beautiful slipcase cover illustrated by series artist Frank Quitely, any geek would be proud to display this on their bookshelf.


These are just some of my humble suggestions on ideal gifts to give your geeky loved ones this Christmas. If you think you know of other comic books and comic-related literature that make great holiday gifts, leave me a comment below and let the readers know! Watch out for the final installment of my holiday gift guide, where I'll be looking at toys, toys and more toys! Thanks for reading!