The DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition Hardcover – September 29, 2008

Love the book recommend to any kind of book fan

I never thought for one moment that I will be interested in the world of DC or Marvel until recently. My son is using these books to educate me. We have worked through the alphabetic list in the book and are now at S where all the Super Heroes enter the arena. As we page through this beautifully illustrated book, my 10 year old lectures me on the different heroes, how they fit together in certain stories, who is the father/mother/brother/sister of who and how to tell a villain from a hero. I am so happy I bought these books. They are a treat for anybody who enjoys comics. Each listed character comes with his/her own character guide: a detailed info sheet explaining all about the character and it is also a quick reference guide. What I really would like to do is make boxes for each of his six books, because these are going to become family heirlooms. They are hard cover, quite heavy and big, or as my son pointed out: a solid foundation to sound knowledge of the world of DC!

DC Comics Encyclopedia can be opened to any page to find out about the DC Universe. Every page is covered with information and images. There are the well documented heroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman to the lesser known to those that are not comic enthusiasts such as Huntress, and Doctor Fate.The biographies of the DC characters is particularly intriguing. For example, the DC Comics Encyclopedia biography on Robin describes how there were three different individuals that held that title. Each Robin's attributes and fate are shared with the reader.The writing is a bit small. This purchase was made for my son, a ten year old, whom is interested in comics. He often shares information from the book He returns to learn more about a particular comic character. There are characters within the book that are both frightening looking for younger readers such as The Creeper, and the female character are voluptuous as well.This is a great book for the comic enthusiast.

Honestly, the Flash (my favorite superhero) is not on the cover, so I cannot give this a 5 star. My own biased. Other than not having the Flash, the cover is REALLY blue. I mean, all of the characters almost look tinged in blue. I can look past it, but I was hoping it would look a little nicer. I even think the back cover would make a good front cover if they switched some superheros around to make the "greats" be on the front. The pages are beautifully done. It is easy to find your way around the book if you want a particular hero, and every hero is included it seems. I won't lie, I don't know every hero ever created, but that's why I bought this. It is great for a coffee table book, and at a great price! Keep in mind, it is not the size of a regular book. It is an encyclopedia after all, and although not terribly thick, it is wide. A great purchase I believe.

This was purchased for my 12 year old daughter as a birthday gift. She had previously checked out the book from the library and enjoyed the completeness in covering super heroes. It has led to many spirited discussions between her and her siblings. As a birthday gift, it was a definite win. Not only did she enjoy the book, it led to a number of positive family interactions.We debated between this and the Batman Handbook. We ended up buying them both, and it was definitely the right decison for us. This is more informational in nature, whereas the Batman Handbook doesn't just concentrate on Batman, it is more light hearted and fun.

I originally had the DC Encyclopedia without the expanded updates and I have to say I like the updated information the larger book provides, what I think they did, however, war remove some of the character (doing a side by side comparison) to make room for the newer characters and/or thier discriptions. Overall it is a great book, I do think the next expantion should be just a separate, smaller book with the new material in it like the Watchmen world and the new "Before Watchmen" series they've started as well as the revamp for the NEW 52, (which I a very much enjoying for those who wonder), thanks for reading folk, have a nice day!

My 8 yr old son is a Super Hero Junkie. He has been obsessed with super heroes since he was about 2 yrs old. This Dictionary is AMAZING!! It has superheroes that even my son has not heard of, and they are all listed in alphabetical order. It is a great resource for anyone who would like to learn about more superheroes, their powers and their histories. It is a huge hardcover book, very durable. My son loves it so much, he reads it every night and sleeps with it. It is well worth the investment.

This book is awesome. I bought it for my son as an "end of the school year" present and it was a huge hit. He really liked the graphics and all of the information in it. This book will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about every DC hero, villain, whatever. They do a great job at organizing all the information so kids of all ages can read it and love it. This is like an encyclopedia of the characters- there are not comics in it.