Holiday Gift Guide: The Best Geeky Comics to Buy in 2025
From Avengers to X-Men and beyond, these comic book issues will spice up the holidays.
This article is part of the Collector’s Digest Holiday Edition powered by: 
If the average person shops for approximately eight people during the holidays, then chances are at least one of them is a nerd. And while there are all different flavors of nerd, every one of them has an appreciation for the classics. But the classics, in nerddom, are often hard to find. It’s hard to get your hands on something that went out of print 60 years ago. Hell, it can be hard to find something that’s been through three printings in the last 60 days.
That’s where we come in. We scoured the internet for some of the best collectible comics you can grab for the nerds in your life. They’re all on the secondary market. Some of them are pricey, some of them are shockingly, even distressingly cheap (I’m looking at you, first appearance of Ultron). But all of them will look great on your loved one’s wall, and will be a story point in their collections.
X-Men #1 (1963)
You don’t really need an explanation here, do you? This is the first issue of X-Men, a key issue in the series that is likely the first big MCU movie post-Secret Wars, the book that launched Marvel’s most popular characters for 30 years. It’s Stan and Jack in their prime, and while it wasn’t their greatest or most groundbreaking work, it’s still a huge hit and a key part of your collection. A 3.5 isn’t the best grade, but for a 60-year-old book, that’s fine. If you’ve got 10-large lying around and someone in your life who is a collector or a comic person, this is a great gift.
Amazing Spider-Man #16
The appeal of the early Marvel comics universe was “the world outside your window,” and this was one of the earliest examples of how tied together the Marvel characters would be, with Amazing Spider-Man #16 serving as the first Spidey/Daredevil crossover. Ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, Secret Wars, and Daredevil: Born Again season 2, this is probably a steal at $675. This is a great addition to your collection.
Buy Amazing Spider-Man #16 Here
Absolute Wonder Woman #1
DC’s Absolute line has been… absolutely stellar. Kelly Thompson has been hitting home runs for a few years now, but this is hands down her best work. Teaming with Hayden Sherman to reimagine a Wonder Woman born and raised in a universe corrupted at its origin by Darkseid, Thompson boils Diana down to her core essence – the most purely good character in the DC Multiverse, who uses her twist origin as a foundation to reexamine everything about her and her world. The book is stellar, gorgeous to look at, and a certain red-hot collectible. This is the closest thing to a DC version of Ultimate Spider-Man #1, so $90 for a 9.8 first printing of issue 1 is going to accumulate a ton of value in the future. It’s must-have for collectors, Wonder Woman fans, or DC fans in general.
Buy Absolute Wonder Woman #1 Here
Avengers vs. Aliens #1
Here’s the thing. This book is spectacular. All-star writer Jonathan Hickman gets to play with characters he’s loved and written for decades in a no-stakes intra-company crossover. Esad Ribić gets to draw big, bombastic sci-fi battles. We get a secret Prometheus comic, something everyone should love. The comic was excellent, highly recommended. But also: the way the corporate world works right now, it’s only a matter of time before Alien and Marvel aren’t the same company, and when that happens, these crossover books disappear, making their value sure to skyrocket as soon as it happens. A highly graded copy of issue 1 is going to get very expensive when that happens, so this is a good book to get in on the ground floor of.
Buy Avengers vs. Aliens #1 Here
Avengers #54 (1968)
This number can’t be right. Ultron, one of the greatest Marvel villains of all time, debuts in Avengers #54. Sure it’s only a brief, unnamed appearance, but this guy is still a big deal, so seeing this issue going for less than a fast food lunch feels like a steal. This is a great gift for anyone who likes anything Marvel related – it’s a piece of history and shockingly affordable.
Daredevil #1 (1964)
This is pretty self explanatory: Matt Murdock is a big deal and this is his first appearance as a hero. Bill Everett’s art is great, and while a couple of the foundational character traits we love in Daredevil aren’t here yet (the Catholic guilt comes much later), most everything else is. This is a classic, especially for fans of the Daredevil shows. The price seems a little on the inexpensive side, too – a copy graded 3.0 sold recently for $2100, so I’d have guessed a 5.0 would be closer to $4,000.
Thor #155 & #157 (1968)
MANGOG, a monster created from the HATRED OF ONE BILLION BEINGS! If that doesn’t tickle your Jack Kirby fancy then nothing will. These are a pair of classic Kirby comics, the King showing the inventiveness, creativity, and breadth of knowledge that make his work such a delight to read. While the main villain of these issues,Mangog, isn’t a heavy hitter in terms of cultural impact, it plays a pretty big role in Jason Aaron’s amazing recent-ish run. Besides that it’s mostly just a giant stone Kirby head who shows up in the background every once in a while. But man, this is prime King Kirby stuff. Even if they’re not that collectible (and that’s a very relative measure for two comics drawn by Jack from 1968), they’re still great to own.
Silver Surfer #1 (1968)
We’re probably past any multimedia-related collectability peak on the first issue of Stan Lee and John Buscema’s Silver Surfer, but the fact remains that this is an inordinately important comic in Marvel’s history. This is where a lot of the psychedelia that would come to define Marvel cosmic in the ‘70s launched. It’s also a classic in its own right: Buscema was a brilliant chameleon of an artist here, moving smoothly between Kirby Krackle in Norrin Radd’s origin to clean, brisk Herb Trimpe lines in the present day action sequences. If you’ve got a Marvel cosmic fan or a Silver Age history buff in your life and $2000 handy, grab this for them now.
Captain Marvel Adventures #39 (1944)
Golden Age Captain Marvel is a trip. Not because of the depth of the stories or anything, though they were mostly pretty good, if very of their time. But C. C. Beck’s art is so interesting. His figures are tight, quick and uncomplicated. His action is clear, and his storytelling moves. Honestly, reading it feels a little like reading a Tintin book. Which is why if you have someone who likes adventure comics (or hell, even those Illustrated Classics that used to be all the rage), this is a GREAT gift for them. Also, if you’re from Pittsburgh, this issue might interest you, as it relates to who actually owns the entire city.
Buy Captain Marvel Adventures #39 Here
CGC 5.0 Fantastic Four #9 (1962)
It’s sealed, so you’re probably not going to read this issue, but if you do manage to grab this, I’d also recommend a quick Marvel Universe subscription for a month or two so you can see with your own two eyes Stan and Jack making Namor into a scummy movie producer. It’s so funny. It’s an early Marvel book, a Fantastic Four book, and a Namor book, so it’s going to hold its value very well, but this issue is a joy to read too, so it’s worth it from a few angles.
Buy CGC 5.0 Fantastic Four #9 Here
CGC 5.5 Amazing Spider-Man #18 (1964)
If you’re not counting the Steve Ditko artwork, there isn’t a ton in Amazing Spider-Man #18 to argue for its collectibility other than “it’s old.” Unless you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Ned Leeds Hobgoblin fan, and I’m pretty sure all four of you have a copy of his first appearance already. That said, it IS Ditko, and it IS a first appearance of someone who’s in the movies (in a dramatically different form), and it’s also in really good shape for a book that’s 60 years old.
Buy CGC 5.5 Amazing Spider-Man #18 Here
Original Star Trek Painting by Gray Morrow
It’s not a comic book, but it’s art and it’s gorgeous so we can be excited about it. This painting was originally intended to be part of a Star Trek convention program. Morrow drew the TOS comic for DC in the ‘80s, as well co-creating Man Thing at Marvel, drawing a number of Classics Illustrated books and a bunch of sci-fi paperback covers over decades and generally being everywhere for like, 40 years. This painting is amazing – crisp, clear, evocative, the kind of thing I want in my office just off to the side of my Zoom background.
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Jim Dandy has always been a comic geek, but it wasn't until recently that he started gaining a variety of other interests and skills through his…