When it comes to the holiday gift-giving season, comic book readers are notoriously difficult to shop for. I mean, most of us are down at the shop buying our favorite stuff every single week, so when the time comes for people who like us to get us something we want, well, a lot of times we already have it. That’s why we’re stepping in with a public service, bringing you comics-related items sure to make the season brighter, whether you’re browsing for a gift or just looking for something to drop hints about so that you don’t get stuck with a random assortment of back issues again.

As much as we deck trees out with colored lights and sing cheery songs, it's always important to remember that Winter is a terrifying season of death. And what better way to remember that than with fifty examples of one person dying, over and over, in different ways? I mean, that sounds dark, but it's not so bad when you consider that it's Mario on Yves Bourgelas's "Cause of Death" poster!

Cause of Death poster by Yves Borgeleas
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ITEM: "Cause of Death" Poster

CLASSIFICATION: Hilariously morbid art

If you're anything like me, then you've probably spent more time with Mario over the years than you have with members of your own family. This means -- among other things, like "call your mom, she misses you" -- that you've also seen Mario die something like a billion times, in all manner of interesting (and occasionally frustrating) ways -- especially if you were playing back when the games were slightly less forgiving.

The weird thing is that all this death is also tied in with some fond memories, which is where Yves Bourgelas comes in: In a 20"x36" poster, he's immortalized fifty different ways that Mario has met a grim fate on his mission to restore the monarchy. There's a version of the poster that's online if you want to check it out, but for the print version, Bourgelas has added in "five secret BONUS DEATHS," which is probably my favorite out of context phrase that I'll be throwing around for the next few days. If you've got someone on your list with bare walls and a love of classic video games, it's a pretty solid choice -- just don't skimp on the frame.

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