It all depends on what the 14-year-old boy is into. Does he like sports, reading, airplanes, space ships, or what? My oldest son was into the super hero comic books. He's 33 now and his Green Lanterns are worth a pretty penny. My youngest son couldn't care less. If this boy asked for a comic book, he's into comic books. The following list are the most popular and at 14 I don't think he will care if it's Marvel or DC

Spider-Man
Batman
The X-Men
The JLA (Justice League of America)
The Fantastic Four
Invincible
Captain America
Green Lantern
Powers

Western
Jonah Hex

Horror
The Waking Dead
Hellboy
Land of the Dead

Fantasy
Conan
Red Sonja

Sci-Fi
Y The Last Man
Star Wars

Other
Fables
GI Joe

Thanks! That's a great list to get me going. I'll try to mix it up with a few different genres and hopefully I will hit on something he likes.

Katie-

This is actually a surprisingly difficult question to answer. If he's into DC or Marvel likely he's *not* into the other. And if he's into *either* then likely he's not into many or any of the indy publishers. :-/

I wonder, as lame as it sounds, if a gift certificate to a local comic store would work?

Katie: When my two boys were 14, they had no clue who the publisher was for their precious comics; they didn't find out exactly what a publisher was until after I became a publisher. I''m pretty positive 14 year old boys don't know the difference between a DC or Marvel comic, my boys looked at the cover instead.

They were talking about gift certificates on The View yesterday and the general jest was that it gives the receiver the idea that you don't care or don't make the time to shop for them. It's like you're telling them to "buy your own gift. Just thought I'd share.

Marilyn, as a former boy (now man, not sex-change patient) I can assure you that EVERY person with the *slightest* interest in comics knows the difference between DC (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc) and Marvel (Spiderman, The Hulk, the Fantastic Four).

Heck, you can take any 14 year old boy out of a comic shop, give him a list of the 25 most popular titles put out by each publisher and they'd score 100% on a test asking to identify the publisher. 100%. Guaranteed.

Peter: My son has all of these, dating back to the late 70s. He has one Superman, circa 1960 that costs 5 cents. He also has the Superman Wedding Book, the white one. Question to a comic book lover: are they worth anything? He has nearly 100, no kidding.

100 comics or 100 of the Wedding Book issue? Either way, The wedding issue -- depending on condition -- could sell for anywhere from $1 to $5.

The other comics are likely not worth more than $1 each. There may be the occasional one worth $5 or $20 here and there, but the really valuable ones are the ones from the late 30s to the mid-60s -- when major characters like Batman to Spiderman were debuting.

So... is he rich? No. Is it worth trying to sell these? Maybe. It's a hassle -- it depends on how much you value your time.

Thanks to both of you for your help! The gift certificate might be a good idea, except for two things: 1) I don't think the Salvation Army (who are running our giving tree program) allow gift cards unless they are specifically asked for and 2) I don't know where the kid lives and our metro area is fairly expansive so if I get a gc from my local store (about 5 blocks away) it may be a 15 or 20 mile trip for him. I think I'll have to go with the original suggestion and get a mix of styles and genres. And kids trade comic books, right? So even if not everything fits his taste, he might be able to trade with friends?

Thanks Peter. But, I don't think he's ready to part with them yet. He has a lot from the 60s; some of them are my hand-me-downs and they're in sequence. That's where his Wonder Woman collection comes in. Just one wedding book.

Katie: Go with your gut! :)

I don't know that kids really trade comic books anywhere but the movies. ;-)

That said, if you get a mix of DC and Marvel he may get exposed to a title or hero he's written off before but now interests him. And he could well be interested in both. For example, I was a DC kid through and through, but I'd say 20% of my comics were Marvel regardless.