Rating:  -
A labor of love. I don't know just how many thousands of characters appeared in DC comic books during their golden era of the 1930's to 50's. But about a thousand of them are here. The coverage varies from a double page spread for major characters like Superman and Batman, down to a single page on each major character and each supporting character has a panel or entry.
Having said that, this is a profusely illustrated book: heros, sidekicks, villains - all are here. Well, not all, only about a thousand. The illustrations include work by the cream of DC's greatest ever artists.
If you're new to the hobby, this will be a treat. If you're an old hand, it's like visiting old friends.
Rating:  -
This was a attempt to explain who is (or was) a part of
DC's latest time line but it will make fans crave to see
the untold back stories.
For example, Kathy Kane, is now presented as circus performer
who helped Batman and Robin in crime figthing. Yet, this
Kathy Kane was NOT The Batwoman. It seems out of place that
the grim version of Batman we have been given would allow a
mere woman to assist him. Sadly, Kathy was still killed
by the League of Assassins.. but why? By whom? This is an
example of a character, whose story is told in this book, needs
to be fleshed out in flashbacks.
The 1959 version of Supergirl is pretty much brushed off and has
anyone noticed DC's relish in killing off female characters
in the last 3 decades or so. The males come back from the
dead but the ladies...????? I was amazed to read how many
heroines were tagged "deceased" in this book.
Rating: -
Let's get real, here. To do an all-comprehensive encyclopedia of DC's entire character roster and their histories would be almost impossible. There's no way all that information could fit into one book. Having said that, I think DC bit off more than they could chew. Only the big characters, such as Superman and Batman, get double-page spreads. All the smaller characters get maybe two or three paragraphs at best. I really can't call this a reference book. I applaud the authors for their effort, just don't put too much expectations on this book.
Rating: -
If you are a DC comics fan, or just a superhero fan in general, this book is for you. These creators have covered everyone from the modern-day big guns to the golden age greats, and tossed in any number of obscure characters from the '70s, '80s, '90s and beyond. If you look really really really hard, you can find some omissions, like Erik Larsen-designed Superman/Suicide Squad baddie Shrapnel, but you won't find any major omissions, and you will be astounded by the number of smaller characters who are represented. I know I was. The art is also beautiful, as work by a variety of legendary artists from a variety of eras is to be found here, and somehow they've picked perfectly for 90% of the characters in here. There are pinups drawn from both eras of DC Who's Who as well as art taken from comics dating from the Golden Age through just the last couple of months. The characters who get larger entries, which includes a lot of them, even get some well-chosen panels showing them in action. Throw in a great index and some clear love behind the project, and you've got an amazing reference book for diehard fans and a joyous look at the DC Universe for newbies.
Oh, and don't worry too much about the spoilers other reviews have mentioned. There are maybe two, and they're *everywhere* on the Internet anyway, and won't be relevant in a month or two after they've come to pass. This book will remain useful for much, much longer than that.
Rating: -
In the encyclopedia which is excellent otherwise there are several spoilers for future events for characters that HAVEN'T been published yet!
It is disappointing that D.C. didnt have better editorial review processes on the proofreading staff to prevent just this such event.
The biggest example of this occurrence is that a character who hasnt been killed in the current comics is revealed to die soon. Such a spoiler is soemthing that should never have made it onto the published page.
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