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Ranging from the technical to the quirky to the essential, these holiday electives make great presents for animation pros and fans.

The post Cartoon Brew’s Last-Minute Animation Gift Guide appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Contrary to what the Northeastern United States' relatively mild weather would tell you, winter is here and the holidays are swiftly blowing towards us. The many stresses of the season include college finals, the encroachment of no-longer-so-distant relatives on our homes, and the strangely loaded task of gift giving. While we at The Comics Beat cannot save your grades or your pantries, we can make it a little bit easier for you to find the perfect gift for the geek in your life. It's The Comics Beat Holiday Shopping Guide 2015!

Comixology’s annual tradition of 12 Days of Free Comicsis underway again, kicking off with free downloads of Marvel’s Secret Wars #1 Every day until Sunday 12/20, a new free comic goes live at Noon EST, with the download ending at 11:59 AM EST. You can even give these downloads as gifts, if you’re family likes […]

Looking for some nerd themed bling fro gifts? King Ice offers this nice Thor’s helemet pendent, along with a lot of other hip hop swag and other items with crossover appeal, like this  Black Octopus Wearing Sunglasses Ring. 

King Ice sent the Beat a golden Thor pendent as a review item a while ago and it’s a solid, heavy piece, which doesn’t look tacky. Despite not wearing gold in general, The BEat wore it to several function and it drew many compliments.

By Matthew Jent

If you are a human and alive, you know someone who loved Guardians of the Galaxy this year. Odds are high you have a Guardians fan somewhere on your holiday shopping list, too. Whether they’re long-time comics fans or they’re new to space opera, here’s some gift ideas for cosmic Marvel fans of any level.

The Basics

Guardians of the Galaxy 3D Blu-Ray + Blu-Ray + Digital copy. The film, just as you saw it in theaters. There’s two discs, but not a lot of bells and whistles — concept art, commentary by director James Gunn, deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and all the other stuff you might look up on YouTube one day but never actually watch on your blu-ray. But still — Chris Pratt!

Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1. A real compact disc of the fake mix tape from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. All of the songs you might have listened to secretly/ironically before they were featured in the year’s biggest hit movie. If the person you are shopping for can find an operational cd player, they will love this mix. If they live in the actual present, it exists as a digital download.

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Complete Collection, vol. 1 by Abnett, Lanning, & friends, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers by Bendis, McNiven & Pichelli. Oh, hey! Comics! There isn’t really a collection that the movie is based on, but these are the most recognizable to a Guardians fan who knows the team from the movie. The Abnett/Lanning Complete Collection collects issues 1-12 of the 2008 relaunch that introduced the new team to the Marvel Universe, bringing Star-Lord, Rocket Racoon, and Drax to the fold. The Bendis-penned Cosmic Avengers collection was released this summer and collects the Marvel Now! relaunch and also features Iron Man as a member of the team. There’s a relatively large amount of GotG collections out there, but these are two versions that look closest to the team on the movie screen.

Intermediate Studies

Infinity Gauntlet Omnibus. Not a Guardians title, but this is the cosmic Marvel event by which all others are compared. Thanos, infinity gems, Avengers, Drax, Silver Sufer, Jim Starlin, George Perez — this one’s got it all, true believer. The omnibus is the motherlode collection, collecting the complete Infinity Gauntlet 1-6, the prequel series Thanos Quest, a good dozen Silver Surfer tie-in issues, and an assortment of other crossover titles. You can also find more economical collections of the Infinity Gauntlet series itself, as well the not-quite-a-sequel collection, Infinity Gauntlet: The Aftermath.

http://marveltoynews.com/ has a LOT more Marvel toy gift ideas.

Funco POP! Groot or Rocket Racoon. Star-Lord and Gamora and Drax are nice and all, but obviously it’s Groot and Rocket that you’d want to put on your desk at work. There’s an obviously preferable dancing Groot bobblehead available for pre-order, but if you need something under the tree for Christmas morning, all you have to do is decide between tree or raccoon.

Lego Milano Spaceship Rescue. The only thing I like more than building Ikea furniture is building Lego spaceships. Maybe I like the sound and feel of plastic pieces snapping together? Maybe I just like to follow directions? Either way, the blue & gold spaceship design is neat, and there are 5 minifigures in the box, including Gamora. You’ll have to look to other sets for your Lego Groot/Rocket fix, but if you gift only one Lego Guardians set this year — this is the one.

A Doctorate in Galactic Guardians.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino, Vol. 1. Your mileage will vary, but these are the Guardians I remember. Tomorrow’s Avengers includes the team’s earliest 1960s & 70s appearances, back when the Badoon had taken over the Earth. Valentino, Vol. 1 collects issues 1-7 of the 1990s series by Jim Valentino, chronicling the team’s search for Captain America’s lost shield. It has a time travel, a lady with fire-hair, and a peek into the Marvel Universe of a thousand years from now. I can’t really separate the contents of these books from the nostalgia-filter I see them through, but the Valentino series was from the last wave of Marvel books before the great migration to Image. Yondu aside, there’s not much to link them to the movie — but if you’re buying for someone who likes cosmic superhero adventure stories, you can’t go wrong.

Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy and Rocket Racoon and Groot: The Complete Collection. The title of the movie is Guardians of the Galaxy, but the characters onscreen are a consortium of 1970s/80s characters created and fleshed out by folks like Steve Englehart, Bill Mantlo, and Jim Starlin. These volumes collect some of the wonderfully weird space adventures that inspired the characters in the movie. Star-Lord is introduced in a Claremont/Byrne adventure from the 1970s, and Rocket Racoon and Groot collects everything from a Jack Kirby Groot story to Bill Mantlo’s 1980s Rocket Racoon mini to some modern era Annihilators titles.

Warlock: The Complete Collection. This is the business. Thanos is Jim Starlin’s most recognizable cosmic creations, but it’s Adam Warlock — created by Lee & Kirby in the pages of the Fantastic Four – who brings out Starlin’s best work. I can’t say it has the Guardians sense of humor, but this complete collection of 1970s Warlock stories has cosmic grandeur, moral complexity, and a real sense of the weird.

And One More Thing…

Know someone who loved that post-credits tag? Take them from the end of reality t’ the middle of nowhere. Happy Holidays!

The Venture Brothers cartoon show/religion has been off the airwaves for a long time, with the last new episode airing on July 21, 2013. But the long drought is about to end, with an hourlong premiere for season six on January 19th, 2015 at midnight ET/PT. The Beat ran into co-creator Jackson Publick on one of his very, very rare forays out of his studio at New York Comic-Con, and he confirmed that he and Doc Hammer had been slaving away for the last two years.

And now the wait is over.

And just to tide you over those last few perilous weeks, Adult Swim is selling a sert of Venture Brother sheets.

Venture Brothers SHEETS. In 300-thread count comfort.

Tragically they are only available in QUEEN SIZE, which for NYC apartment dwellers who huddle entire families into tiny twin-sized bunk beds is a sad sad thing. Maybe we can just buy a set and make a dress out of them. The sheets go for a merer $50.

Whether you dream about Brock Samson, Molotov Cocktease or just seeing a new episode of the Venture Brothers, these sheets are sure to swaddle you to slumber.

UPDATE: Although the FAQ confirms that these sheets are 300 thread count, it is not known if they are 100% cotton or the dreaded “percale” polyester blend. The Beat only sleeps in 100% pure cotton, so this is troubling.

It’s gifting time, and the Beat team is showcasing some suitable gifts for everyone in your family.

Among those are theseTOON Books gift sets which are now 33% off. Toon Books, the line of comics for young readers edited by Francoise Mouly, offers a whole rage of books at different reading levels—the set shown above, Level 2, is for beginning readers, but other sets target pre-readers and middle grade level kids. The new Toon Graphics line is for all ages. The books are all comics so they instill comics reading at an impressionable age. Best of all, the stories and art are by some of the best in the business: Jeff Smith, Eleanor Davis, Rutu Modan, Jeffrey Hayes, Liniers, R. Kikuo Johnson, Lorenzo Mattotti, Jay Lynch and many more.

You really can’t go wrong with any of these books as a gift for a young reader (or even just a comics art fan) of your acquaintance. Among those books suitable for the latter, we’d suggest Frank Viola’s gorgeous A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse and of course the Gaiman/MattottiHansel and Gretel, which is a suitable gift for just about anyone.

While Dave Sim is the best known participant in the Cerebus experience, he had a collaboratorL gerhard, who drew backgrounds in a richly detailed manner. Gerhard (he uses one name) he been making a comeback of sorts—although he has been doing illustrations right along—with convention appearances and prints, and how he’s selling some of them online. And they are pretty amazing, like the above, which recreates the cover of the High Society collection.

And a couple more. Prices are in the $50-70 range (I guess that’s Canadian.) Anyway, lots more in the link!

The NY Times resident comic guy George Gene Gustines has prepared a graphic novel list as part of the Times 2014 Holiday Gift Guide. It’s a nice list that is presented in some kind of gif format that makes my Flash player go nuts, but cheers on trying something new. Beside the books mentioned in the title, other books suggesting include Letter 44, Afterlife with Archie, In Real Life, The Bunker and Shoplifter.

Speaking of that gifting time of the year, we’ve just partnered with Tee Public to offer the first ever Comics Beat TeePublic Store. TeePublic is a site that offers shirts designed by independent artists—there are hundreds of designs available but The Beat staff has specially curated a store just for our readers.

AMD there’s a $14 sales on all shirts until tomorrow. So what are you waiting for? Support independent artists, support the Beat and get a snappy t-shirt to wear to your next comic-con.

We’ve talked a lot about the awesomeness of The Nib, the comics section of long-form content site Medium is. Editors Matt Bors and Eleri Mai Harris have made it a showcase for thought provoking comics that old and new cartoonists.

Well, they’re spinning off the site into their first merch: The Nib’s 2015 Calendar of Obscure Holidays—they’re taking pre order for it now.

Well now there is. If at least 250 people come together support our Tilt campaign, The Nib’s Calendar of Obscure Holidays will be coming to life. Each month will feature a completely obscure holiday you know nothing about illustrated by Erika Moen, Rich Stevens, Zach Weinersmith, Gemma Correll, Matt Bors, Jen Sorensen, Brian McFadden, Eleri Harris, Andy Warner, Matt Lubchansky, Liza Donnelly, and Scott Bateman.

Each page will be packed with the dates of obscure holidays, little-known anniversaries, c-list historical events, and bizarre awareness weeks — no practical dates of use whatsoever — all illustrated by the Nib’s editorial team.

The Calendar is $22…can you afford not to know when National Accordion Awareness Month takes place? We think not.

Well, $412 seems absurdly low to us, anyway. 

Renowned horror/fantasy artist Templesmith has been experimenting with hand-painted covers for several books, and this is an original one of a kind oil painting done on a copy of The Walking Dead Volume 1. The painting was varnished, and I don’t know if you can read the book inside, but it seems to me that this is a pretty darned sweet collectible…especially for Halloween.

Also…Christmas is coming.

More Templesmith stuff at the 78Squid retail website.

Welcome back, book lovers. It's that time of year again. No, we're not talking about "Alfred Nobel Day" (which is a real thing that we didn't make up. According to Wikipedia, it's observed every year on December 10th). Today brings us the first installment of the annual Overlook holiday book giveaway. If you missed out on last year's opportunity to win copies of some of our favorite 2011 Overlook

Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan was one of O, The Oprah Magazine’s “10 Titles to Pick Up Now,” $25.

Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks. Have you ever seen something that wasn’t there? Heard someone call your name in an empty house? Sensed someone following you? Then definitely read this book! $27.

Far From The Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon is one of the New York Times Best Books of 2012. It tells the stories of parents coping with severe disabilities in their children and how they come to see these challenges as blessings. A beautiful and inspiring book. $21.

Buy Shoes on Wednesday and Tweet at 4:00 by Mark Di Vincenzo lets you know the best time to do EVERYTHING, $11.

Lullaby by Robert B. Parker is the first book written for the Spenser series by Ace Atkins who was hand-picked to carry on the legacy, $15.

A Fistful of Collars by Spencer Quinn is narrated by a dog, enough said, $16.

The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney is highly recommended by Library Journal and Tana French calls it utterly enthralling, $16.

Phantom by Jo Nesbo is an international bestseller and bound to be a hit with Stieg Larsson fans, $17.

The Buzzard Table by Margaret Maron is the 18th in her critically acclaimed series and she’s a NYTimes bestselling author, $26.

The Playdate by Louise Millar got a starred review in Publishers Weekly where they wrote, “British author Millar’s engrossing debut offers an unsettling, realistic view of friendships, gossip and loneliness,” $15.

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro is “wickedly fun, entertaining, and cleverly engrossing,” $24.

The John Lennon Letters by Hunter Davies for the Beatles lover in your life. A lifetime of letters collected together for the first time, $30.

I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons received a starred review from Booklist, $28.

Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret Battle to Save the World by Evan Thomas. The New York Times said that it brings Eisenhower vividly to life, $30.

Mick Jagger by Philip Norman because if he likes the Beatles, he probably likes the Rolling Stones, $35.

Barak Obama: The Story by David Maraniss because he’s the President of the United States, $32.

CELEBRATE: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends by Pippa Middleton. Because aren’t we all curious about how royalty (or the royal in-laws) entertain?$50.

Jamie’s Great Britain: Over 130 Reasons to Love Our Food. Take a trip to England without leaving your kitchen, $35.

 Cook Fight: 2 Cooks, 12 Challenges, 125 Recipes. An Epic Battle For Kitchen Dominance. It’s written by New York Times food writers, enough said, $30.

Small Plates & Sweet Treats by Aran Goyoaga will make you feel less guilt when indulging during the holidays, $30.

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches by Emeril Lagasse. Bam! Enough said, $25.

The 4-Hour Chef by Timothy Ferriss may help eliminate any cooking-related holiday catastrophes, $35.

Stay tuned for more gift guides for the book lovers in your life.

Looking for a last minute giftable? B&N is selling The Walking Dead Compendium, Volume 1 for $29.99 — half of the regular $59.99 price — but only until 2:59 am December 20th, so don’t dawdle.

At 1088 pages, this collection of the first 48 issues of THE WALKING DEAD have proven a great entry point into the world of Rick Grimes vs the Zombies — even at that price it’s a consistent bestseller.

BTW if you want some kind of idea of how pervasive THE WALKING DEAD has become due to the TV show, during a long subway ride home from a holiday party, The Beat overheard hipsters on the L talking about what kind of guns were the best to kill zombies on the show. Upon getting off the subway, we were regaled with TINTIN posters and a bus with a WALKING DEAD ad on the side. Comics: inescapable.

Although Edna Mode famously cried “No capes!” people can’t seem to get enough of them these days, with capelets and mini capes among the outerwear options for fall and beyond. But if you need capes on all your extremities, these Superman socks with attached capes will get you flying down the street. According to the seller, they are for schoolgirls, but they go up to Women’s size 9, so a variety of ages and sizes can get in on the fetish fun.

Usually, however, it is males who get socks for Christmas since there is little giftable that can be purchased for them. Maybe these are a comedy option for the BIg Bang Theory types in your household?

Shipping time is nigh and deluxe giftables are pouring into our inbox. Here’s one from Skybound at Image, a deluxe, leather bound, slipcased hardcover edition of THE WALKING DEAD – RISE OF THE GOVERNOR novel written by Robert Kirkman and co-writer Jay Bonansinga with spot illos by Charlie Adlard.

“Many have asked me whether I will ever write a prequel about the lives the character lead before,” said Kirkman in a statement. “Well, that’s basically what we’re doing with these novels. And we wanted to offer the fans a special edition before the holidays.”

The book — first in a planned trilogy or prequels based on series characters — explores the origins of the Governor, the most hated villain in the whole series.

The book ships on December 7 and retails for $74.99. A signed limited edition is also available for $124.9.

Dear Holiday Spirit(s):

We’re approaching the end of 2010, a year filled with work, work…and did we mention, more work? Seeing as we’ve all been on our best behavior, please take a look at the wish list we’ve compiled with some of our favorite artists and friends. It’s much BIGGER than last year’s list and excited to share it with you. Please say you’ll bring some of these goodies our way!

Yours Truly,
Grain Edit + Friends

1.  Bang! lamp by bitplay inc.: When you fire a shot at the lamp with the included gun, the light turns off and the lampshade falls to the side, showing that it’s been hit. Super cool!

2. iPad

3. Groove Merchant 20 Year Anniversary shirt designed by Freddy Anzures (Apple/Wax Poetics) for Props.

4. Harris Tweet iPad Case

5. Charcoal water pitcher

1. Mike Leigh’s Naked. A powerful film from one of my favorite directors. I’d actually take any of the films from Iron & Wine’s or Wes Anderson’s top 10 favorite films list.

2. I love the portfolio of Austin-based design Ryan Rhodes. Everything in there is top-notch. This Vans shirt is no exception; it has been calling my name for a long time. “Ethan! Wear me! I’m a medium, too!”

3. I’ve been in the market for a new pair of glasses for some time. It’s a daunting task, searching for specs. After stumbling upon this pair, the NEBB (shown in crystal), I was quite taken with it, along with the rest of Moscot’s catalog.

4. If Christmas had a color, no doubt it would be Pantone 354. If my iPhone had a color, I’m hoping it’s Pantone 354. Now all I need is an iPhone! See these beautiful cases at Engadget.

5. My Polaroid SX-70 has sat quietly and sadly alone these past few years, due to the extinction of Polaroid film. Thanks to the Impossible Project, instant film is back again! I’ll take 3 packs of Color Shade, please!

1.