What do you get for the Tolkien or Marvel fan that has everything?
OK, that’s tough, but if they don’t quite have every single thing, Thunder Bay Press may have the perfect gift — provided your fan pal likes to color and/or crochet.
On the Tolkien side, there’s “Tolkien’s World: A Fantasy Coloring Book” and “A Bestiary of Tolkien: A Coloring Book,” two trade paperbacks featuring line-drawing illustrations of creatures and characters from the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. Both are $14.99.
For coloring fans who like to mount their work afterward, these books could be problematic. The pages aren’t perforated, they’re printed on both sides, and some of the designs continue over two pages. As for whether the colors bleed through, here’s what one reviewer on Amazon.com had to say:
None of my gel pens bled through to the back of the page. My colored pencils all worked well on the surface of the paper especially my soft lead ones (Prismacolor and Derwent.) My water-based markers (Tombows dual end, Stabilo 88, Staedler triplus fineliners and Pentel) did not leak through (though my Stabilo 88 left the slightest of shadows on the backside of the page.) My ultra-fine Sharpies and Copics bled through immediately. I would suggest checking your specific gel pens and markers as I don’t have every type to try. For me, I will probably use various water-based markers, gel pens, and colored pencils for this book and let my alcohol-based markers sit this one out.
Some of the other reviewers took issue with the depiction of the characters and wondered if the artists had read the books (although, to be fair, even if they had, people visualize characters in different ways).
And, the publisher points out:
This work is unofficial and is not authorized by the Tolkien Estate or HarperCollins Publishers.
On the comic-book side, Thunder Bay offers “Marvel: The Amazing 1000 Dot-to-Dot Book,” also $14.99, described as:
Your favorite Marvel superheroes are presented in 20 dot-to-dot puzzles that are amazing enough to display when you’re finished! More sophisticated than the one-dimensional dot-to-dots you knew as a child, these puzzles take about 30 minutes to complete. Expressive line work builds as you join the dots, and each page is easily removed when you’re finished. Who will be revealed next? Get your pencil ready to connect!
As the description says, this much larger-format book had removable pages, many of which fold out, and the designs are based on Marvel artists’ renderings.
If you’re more of the crafty sort, for $24.99, you can have Marvel Universe Crochet, a kit that provides everything you need — yarn, crochet hook, patterns, etc. — to make little versions of 12 Marvel heroes, including Spider-Man, Captain America, Groot, Thor and Black Widow.
Happy shopping!
Images: Courtesy Thunder Bay Press
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