Holiday Gift Guide 2022: Perfect Marvel Books for Grown-Up Readers

Calling all Marvel fans and the people who love them! Here’s our recommendation roundup on the best books for grown-up readers this holiday season.

Courtesy of the Marvel.com editorial team, here’s a selection of prose books, graphic novels, specialty collectors’ books, and even a cookbook! Stock up, curl up, and enjoy (or gift) these great reads.

THE UNCANNY X-MEN TRADING CARDS

In 1992, Marvel Entertainment commissioned Jim Lee, the young superstar penciller behind X-MEN (1991) #1, to create all of the art for a new set of 105 trading cards—a set that would go on to become one of the most celebrated in Marvel history and the gold standard for non-sports trading-card artwork and design. The Uncanny X-Men Trading Cards: The Complete Series collects, for the first time, the front and back of each collectible card in the set—including Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Magneto, and Deadpool—along with select scans of Lee’s original and digitally remastered art. It also includes interviews, conducted by writer and set editor Bob Budiansky, with the Marvel staff who helped assemble, design, and create these iconic trading cards.

FORTNITE X MARVEL: ZERO WAR PREMIERE HARDCOVER

The perfect gift for an adult gamer and Marvel fan!

The Marvel Universe collides with video game phenomenon Fortnite in this collection of crossover comic series FORTNITE X MARVEL: ZERO WAR (2022) #1-5. The inhabitants of the ultimate battleground, the Island, are locked in a never-ending war—and only one thing has the potential to turn the tide: a crystallized fragment of the Zero Point that was cast into the Marvel Universe! Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Shuri team up with several Fortnite fighters to hunt down the elusive Zero Shard. But as the search extends from Wakanda to the Savage Land and beyond, can they find it in time to avert catastrophe? Heroes from both realities enlist in the struggle against the Imagined Order!

SISTERS OF SORCERY: A MARVEL UNTOLD NOVEL

Enter the Dark Dimension to defeat a supernatural tyrant with four extraordinary sorceresses in this exhilarating mystical adventure from prose novel series Marvel Untold!

Deep in the Dark Dimension, the tyrant Umar the Unrelenting craves the Power Cosmic to expand her realm into new dimensions. When she kidnaps the cosmic being Ardina to make a grim battery of her powers, she draws the attention of Clea, her estranged daughter and mighty user of the mystic arts. Clea knows her mother will stop at nothing to conquer the whole of the Splinter Realms, imperiling all of reality. To defeat her, Clea must ally herself with three powerful sorceresses, each with their own unique powers, traverse dimensions, and free Ardina and the entire Archipelago of Anguish and Redemption before Umar consumes it all.

SOUND OF LIGHT: A MARVEL SCHOOL OF X NOVEL

Dazzler, rock ‘n’ roll, and the children of Cyclops and Magneto launch into space and beyond in this electrifying trans-dimensional adventure from Marvel’s School of X!

When rock star Dazzler walked out on S.H.I.E.L.D., she hoped she’d seen the last of the clandestine organization. But when a rogue agent drops in after a sold-out gig, she must decide whether to work with them again or stick to her solo career. The agent links Mutant Growth Hormone—a dangerous biochemical that wildly enhances mutant powers with the disappearance of Magneto and Cyclops. Reluctantly, Dazzler takes the case and unfolds a mystery greater than she anticipated. In need of a new team, she recruits the extraordinary mutants Emma Frost, Polaris, and Rachel Grey on a mission to foil a plot to remove mutantkind forever, which blasts them from Earth into a whole new dimension.

PROTECTORS OF WAKANDA: A HISTORY AND TRAINING MANUAL OF THE DORA MILAJE

Historically, the Dora Milaje are Wakanda's elite, all-female guards for the Black Panther. In the modern era, the "Adored Ones" are one of the most formidable fighting forces in the world, willing to sacrifice everything to protect Wakanda and its people. With Protectors of Wakanda: A History and Training Manual for the Dora Milaje, you can learn what it takes to become a member of this cadre of strong fierce women. Written by Karama Horne, Protectors of Wakanda reveals not only the history and foundation of the unit, but collects the strategy, weapons, and combat training as well as the code of honor and nuances of service required to protect the Black Panther and the nation of Wakanda.

MARVEL MAZES

Explore exciting locations and scenes with your favorite comics characters in this interactive, all-ages book of mighty Marvel mazes. Accomplish missions and locate key objects along the way while discovering the mysteries of Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Wakanda, Asgard, and Doctor Doom’s Castle. Follow the Guardians of the Galaxy to Knowhere, help the Avengers fight the Skrulls aboard their flagship, face fearsome Sentinels with the X-Men in the “Days of Future Past” timeline, and more! Brought to life by expert maze creator Sean C. Jackson, each full-color maze is a playful visual delight for Marvel fans everywhere.

MARVEL BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA ATLAS

Enter the world of Wakanda like never before and see key locations from Black Panther comics, such as Birnin Zana, the Golden City, the Great Mound and the Necropolis. Detailed maps and captivating imagery reveal everything from the breathtaking waterfalls and jungles to technologically advanced laboratories, royal palaces, and the meteorite site that became the nation's secret source of Vibranium. Read key insights about the importance of these locations for T'Challa, Shuri, the Dora Milaje, the Avengers, and beyond. With detailed maps, including key battlegrounds and timelines, this collection of intricate artworks and authoritative essays, produced in full collaboration with Marvel, is a book to treasure.

[RELATED: Your Definitive Guide to Wakanda: The Marvel Black Panther Wakanda Atlas Is Available Now]

MARVEL'S BLACK PANTHER: THE OFFICIAL WAKANDA COOKBOOK

Create meals fit for a king with this cookbook featuring over seventy delicious recipes from Wakanda and the African continent. Whether you’re welcoming Wakandan envoys, or simply hosting a watch party with friends, the 70+ African cuisine-inspired recipes in Marvel's Black Panther: The Official Wakanda Cookbook make it a must-have volume for any kitchen!

MAGIC OF MARVEL ORACLE DECK

Experience the magic of Marvel like never before in this unique take on the traditional oracle deck. This set features pop culture favorites from the Incredible Hulk to Loki, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and more in gorgeous original illustrations based on classic oracle iconography. The included guidebook explains each card’s meaning and offers simple instructions for easy readings. Packaged in a sturdy, decorative gift box, this charming oracle deck is the perfect gift for the Marvel fan or oracle enthusiast.

MARVEL'S SPIDER-MAN: SCRIPT TO PAGE

The Marvel Script to Page series is an official behind-the-scenes look at the craft of writing comic books, featuring exclusive scripts and commentary from top Marvel creators and editors!

It’s been 60 years since the spectacular Spider-Man first swung into action, and the web-slinging Super Hero is now a household name. Meet Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Doctor Octopus and many, many more iconic characters in selected scripts from contemporary comics creators, as well as exclusive editorial commentary.

MARVEL'S ORIGINAL SIN PROSE NOVEL

In this novelization of the epic storyline by Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato Jr., truths will come tumbling into the light and the original sins of our heroes will be exposed for all to see.

Uatu the Watcher, a mysterious being who observes mankind from the Moon, is dead. Nick Fury leads a cosmos-spanning investigation into the murder, forging unlikely alliances and sending Marvel’s mightiest heroes to the farthest corners of the universe. To uncover the truth, Doctor Strange and the Punisher must cross deadly dimensions, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Moon Knight and the Winter Soldier head into deep space, and Emma Frost, Ant-Man and Black Panther journey to the center of the Earth. All the while, Unseen forces gather, and just when the Avengers think they’ve cornered their murderer, everything explodes—unleashing the Marvel Universe’s greatest secrets and rocking the heroes to their core!

DEADPOOL: SAMURAI MANGA, VOL. 1

A new full-length manga novel from VIZ Media! Deadpool lands in Tokyo with a bang! What could possibly go wrong when Iron Man invites Deadpool to join the Avengers' new Samurai Squad? After all, Deadpool is just in it for the money…and the trip to Japan. This is fine, right?

Looking for more? Find all of Marvel's 2022 Gift Guides here!

Want to stay on top of everything in the Marvel Universe? Follow Marvel on social media—Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram—and keep watching Marvel.com for more news!