DC Comics Encyclopedia All-New Edition: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe

I owned the DC encyclopedia edition before this one as well as the 2014 Marvel Encyclopedia. I used to think both were pretty good, although the DC one was less appealing at the time as I found the formatting and numerous blemishes sloppy. The actual information in that edition wasn't very good either, nor was the artistry and colors. Then I got this encyclopedia as I got rid of the DC one before it. Holy shmokes! This one blew not only the 2012 model out of the park, but also the Marvel Encyclopedia! Now listen, I'm more a DC fan at heart but I like Marvel too, but even with all of my biases removed, this encyclopedia is simply the best. The entries clearly come from passionate writers and every paragraph manages to fit an impressive amount of information. Compared to the Marvel encyclopedia, which hardly ever delves into the character's origin stories and seems to be happy with an abundance of typos and confusing/boring exposition, this book is not only concise but engaging. The artwork is masterful and fresh, and there are no blurry or poorly pasted images anywhere; they all truly come from the best of artists. While the Marvel Encyclopedia had better art than the DC one before, it still had its fill of blurry drawings and outdated designs. But this encyclopedia does away with all of that! So not only are the paragraphs filled with meaningful and well-written info, the art is top-notch too. The only criticism I have is that on some pages that contain dark ink, such as the Batman entry, the ink must be too sensitive because my fingerprint becomes visible if touching some of those page's dark ink. However this only effected four pages that I have seen and is a minor nuisance; the text cannot be smudged whatsoever. Also, this book covers everything from pre-flashpoint to rebirth, so it takes the best of all three "Eras" which is good if you were someone who disliked any of them. Overall, great product and is absolutely worth it (and unlike the Marvel Encyclopedia, the binding is actually very well done and the book itself thinner).

Very nice and thick hardback with cover(lighter for reference in photos). This was for my 20 year old son who was very pleased with the book. It has so many pages that it can be enjoyed for a long time by either looking at and reading detail filled page or just by using as a reference when a character detail is needed. The images are clear and colored comic book photos and drawings that are interesting to browse or to refer to study the details. The information contains debut dates, current version info, real names, base, height, weight, eyes, hair, powers/abilities, allies, enemies and affiliation statistics for each character, their description, some debut facts that they headline as on the record, and many other details regarding the character. Of course some characters have multiple pages of information while some share a page. This would be a great gift for new DC comic enthusiasts as well as those who could almost write the book themselves. I am probably just the average type of fan who knows only what has been out in mainstream media and I could spend hours looking at the beautiful images and reading it. I just love printed books overall but even more so when I can learn something!

Comic history is very fluid and none are more so than DC Comics. With all the origin changes and world changing events its hard to keep up to date with it all in a printed medium. So the timing of this encyclopedia is curious. With the Rebirth event debuting only weeks later they come out with this latest reference guide. The On The Record sections are great to give you a heads up to upcoming changes. Although its limited due to Rebirth having just lauched. So no big Superboy aka Jon Kent spread. No Watchmen or Superwoman. So if your a fan of Rebirth. You aren't going to find much here. This is definitely a book for the casual reader and DC fan alike.

At first I didn’t think I’d like the organization of alphabetical order. I wanted the order of how everything shows up in the comic books but after the unorganization of a few other books I ordered, I actually like the alphabetical order a bit more. I did notice something wrong with the content though. Under Robin, the only Robin really shown is Damien Wayne. Nightwing has his own section but I didn’t find the other robins anywhere.—- while writing this I took a look at the index and did eventually find some stuff about Jason Todd and Tim Drake. I expected more about them but I’m glad I did find them in the book because Robin is one of my favorites. There’s so much information about each character, the creator must have gone through a lot to create this book. My review probably doesn’t show it but I really love this book and it was definite worth it!!!! I’m such a nerd for this kind of stuff!!!!

This was a Christmas gift for my 11 year old son and he was thrilled! It is a rather hefty book but that doesn't stop him from taking it with him everywhere! He says that it has everything he wants/needs to know about all things DC so he is one happy camper! We are very happy with this purchase at a great price!

AMAZING!!!! so much info on the major players, the minor players, and even a "roll-call" in the back for the characters you might not remember. Makes following the time line a bit easier. Great book.

There have been a LOT of changes in the DC Universe. Too many, in fact. It seems everything has been changed, and not always for the better. There are a few glaring omissions, and a few of the entries lack critical background information. As a PRODUCT, the book is lovely and well-printed, with great color and very good paper. Some of the ARTWORK is poor, but you can't have everything...

I liked the details of the characters but with good detail came some pretty graphic storylines. If this book were a movie. I would say it is pg-13. There is talk of slitting throats and other murderous descriptions. If I knew the content I probably would not have bought it for my 8 year old. We really liked the Spider-Man encyclopedia by dk company but the dc comics was maybe for older kids.

I just got this and was really impressed with it as soon as I picked it up. This is a HUGE book both in content and actual size. It is not going to fit my bookshelf with my other comic related materials. It measures 12 1/32" tall x 10 1/4" wide x 1 1/2" thick. It will take quite a while to get through all the info in this book. I skimmed through it and it seems to be exceptionally comprehensive. The artwork is great, wish there was more of it. I added a pic of this book side by side with the Batman encyclopedia for reference.

Nice book to suppress your obsessive compulsive disorder. I could read it like a book, enough information to give a proper introduction to each character. Some characters like the major ones have 1-2 pages while minor characters have a half page or a simple panel. If you have the Marvel version then you know what to expect in terms of size and the quantity of information. Cheers!

I owned the DC encyclopedia edition before this one as well as the 2014 Marvel Encyclopedia. I used to think both were pretty good, although the DC one was less appealing at the time as I found the formatting and numerous blemishes sloppy. The actual information in that edition wasn't very good either, nor was the artistry and colors. Then I got this encyclopedia as I got rid of the DC one before it. Holy shmokes! This one blew not only the 2012 model out of the park, but also the Marvel Encyclopedia! Now listen, I'm more a DC fan at heart but I like Marvel too, but even with all of my biases removed, this encyclopedia is simply the best. The entries clearly come from passionate writers and every paragraph manages to fit an impressive amount of information. Compared to the Marvel encyclopedia, which hardly ever delves into the character's origin stories and seems to be happy with an abundance of typos and confusing/boring exposition, this book is not only concise but engaging. The artwork is masterful and fresh, and there are no blurry or poorly pasted images anywhere; they all truly come from the best of artists. While the Marvel Encyclopedia had better art than the DC one before, it still had its fill of blurry drawings and outdated designs. But this encyclopedia does away with all of that! So not only are the paragraphs filled with meaningful and well-written info, the art is top-notch too. The only criticism I have is that on some pages that contain dark ink, such as the Batman entry, the ink must be too sensitive because my fingerprint becomes visible if touching some of those page's dark ink. However this only effected four pages that I have seen and is a minor nuisance; the text cannot be smudged whatsoever. Also, this book covers everything from pre-flashpoint to rebirth, so it takes the best of all three "Eras" which is good if you were someone who disliked any of them. Overall, great product and is absolutely worth it (and unlike the Marvel Encyclopedia, the binding is actually very well done and the book itself thinner).

Very nice and thick hardback with cover(lighter for reference in photos). This was for my 20 year old son who was very pleased with the book. It has so many pages that it can be enjoyed for a long time by either looking at and reading detail filled page or just by using as a reference when a character detail is needed. The images are clear and colored comic book photos and drawings that are interesting to browse or to refer to study the details. The information contains debut dates, current version info, real names, base, height, weight, eyes, hair, powers/abilities, allies, enemies and affiliation statistics for each character, their description, some debut facts that they headline as on the record, and many other details regarding the character. Of course some characters have multiple pages of information while some share a page. This would be a great gift for new DC comic enthusiasts as well as those who could almost write the book themselves. I am probably just the average type of fan who knows only what has been out in mainstream media and I could spend hours looking at the beautiful images and reading it. I just love printed books overall but even more so when I can learn something!

Comic history is very fluid and none are more so than DC Comics. With all the origin changes and world changing events its hard to keep up to date with it all in a printed medium. So the timing of this encyclopedia is curious. With the Rebirth event debuting only weeks later they come out with this latest reference guide. The On The Record sections are great to give you a heads up to upcoming changes. Although its limited due to Rebirth having just lauched. So no big Superboy aka Jon Kent spread. No Watchmen or Superwoman. So if your a fan of Rebirth. You aren't going to find much here. This is definitely a book for the casual reader and DC fan alike.

At first I didn’t think I’d like the organization of alphabetical order. I wanted the order of how everything shows up in the comic books but after the unorganization of a few other books I ordered, I actually like the alphabetical order a bit more. I did notice something wrong with the content though. Under Robin, the only Robin really shown is Damien Wayne. Nightwing has his own section but I didn’t find the other robins anywhere.—- while writing this I took a look at the index and did eventually find some stuff about Jason Todd and Tim Drake. I expected more about them but I’m glad I did find them in the book because Robin is one of my favorites. There’s so much information about each character, the creator must have gone through a lot to create this book. My review probably doesn’t show it but I really love this book and it was definite worth it!!!! I’m such a nerd for this kind of stuff!!!!

This was a Christmas gift for my 11 year old son and he was thrilled! It is a rather hefty book but that doesn't stop him from taking it with him everywhere! He says that it has everything he wants/needs to know about all things DC so he is one happy camper! We are very happy with this purchase at a great price!

AMAZING!!!! so much info on the major players, the minor players, and even a "roll-call" in the back for the characters you might not remember. Makes following the time line a bit easier. Great book.

There have been a LOT of changes in the DC Universe. Too many, in fact. It seems everything has been changed, and not always for the better. There are a few glaring omissions, and a few of the entries lack critical background information. As a PRODUCT, the book is lovely and well-printed, with great color and very good paper. Some of the ARTWORK is poor, but you can't have everything...

I liked the details of the characters but with good detail came some pretty graphic storylines. If this book were a movie. I would say it is pg-13. There is talk of slitting throats and other murderous descriptions. If I knew the content I probably would not have bought it for my 8 year old. We really liked the Spider-Man encyclopedia by dk company but the dc comics was maybe for older kids.

I just got this and was really impressed with it as soon as I picked it up. This is a HUGE book both in content and actual size. It is not going to fit my bookshelf with my other comic related materials. It measures 12 1/32" tall x 10 1/4" wide x 1 1/2" thick. It will take quite a while to get through all the info in this book. I skimmed through it and it seems to be exceptionally comprehensive. The artwork is great, wish there was more of it. I added a pic of this book side by side with the Batman encyclopedia for reference.

Nice book to suppress your obsessive compulsive disorder. I could read it like a book, enough information to give a proper introduction to each character. Some characters like the major ones have 1-2 pages while minor characters have a half page or a simple panel. If you have the Marvel version then you know what to expect in terms of size and the quantity of information. Cheers!

Me and my son love this book! It’s awesome and has details on soo many characters in the DC universe (hero and villains). The popular hero’s/villains of course have much more information but all characters in the “universe” has ample information. Great buy and worth it!!

Best DC encyclopedia of all time that's out there right now! It's like Marvel's latest encyclopedia too which I thought was neat! I'm a DC fanatic expert but still had to get this! Also a Marvel fan expert too and I recommend getting their encyclopedia too! Outstanding DC encyclopedia! Thank you so much DC!

My 9 year old son hasn't put this down since he got it. So much information, and as a bonus he's learning how to use an encyclopedia, something kids no longer seem to know how to do. Images are great, and the book is huge! If you have a superhero/villain lover this would be the perfect gift!

This is a great book to have laying around... Even if you are not a comic book fan! The attention to detail is fantastic, and it will test your knowledge of characters in the DC universe. Whether you decide to thumb through the pages while killing time, or you want to read it cover to cover, this book will definitely entertain you with eye candy while serving you massive amounts of information about beloved characters!

So I have the original DC comics encyclopedia. I decided to get this because of all the updates and it was definitely sweet. My one HUGE flaw is that the author chooses ONLY one character for like Batgirl, Robin, Green Arrow, Flash. I like how the old encyclopedia listed all the names of each person who became that hero/villain. Example: Robin only features Damain Wayne, so if you didn't know anything about robin you have to try and find all the other Robin names to learn about them. Also the facts are cool, but super super short compred to facts from the old encyclopedia.

When I opened the bax, the book was not covered with a plastic wrap and the outer paper cover covering the hard volume book had a big cut. Inside the book looks ok, but I feel like I got a used book when I ordered a brand new book.

Modern super-hero culture begins with the Superman and has expanded into multiverses inhabited by the creations of an amazing group of generations of brilliant and imaginative people. This is where it begins.

We both found this a really good basic reference for DC characters. If you want a LOT of detail about a particular characters, buy a book about just them. I think this is a must for DC fans.

Got it as a gift for a friend and he loves it, he says the illustrations are from comics and so far every character is included, he is yet to find any character missing, and the illustrations are really nice.

Awesome! Very happy with this book. Exactly as expected. Brand new. Huge! Very heavy and very detailed. If you are a DC Comics fan or collector this is a no brainer. No complaints.

Sons love it. Now, they can lookup info about every character in the DC Universe and understand who they are reading/watching in their graphic novels/movies. Well worth the money.

Seems good to me. Don't have lot knowledge of DC universe & got interested withthe 2016 "Rebirth " era of comics. This came out right at that time & does mention some of "rebirth"

Holy moly I don't even know where to start with this when I ordered this I was expecting a normal size book when I receive it I realized this thing is massive. I grew up a hardcore Marvel fan and now that I'm an adult I have fallen in love with DC so this is pretty much a research study guide for me.

Had to get this to add to my collection. I love DC and marvel, so this was a no brainer. It’s quite a large book and includes every DC character I could think of and I really like the graphics.

A very complete guide of all the characters of the DC universe, with more than important information to know how the characters emerge and their current status, thus being able to be up to date with the world of their comics

I gave this to my nephew for Christmas. My daughter spied it as I was wrapping it and wouldn't put it down. My nephew was so excited to receive it. It's very complete and fun and the artwork so good!

Greatbios on so many characters. Hours on hours of reading and great artwork. I've always Sid I wanted one of these books. It's a great reference book especially when you want argue with a friend over a characters ability over others. Butnnits a great refresher of things I had forgotten or didn't know. Brings back the child hood of comics I lost.

Beautifully detailed encyclopedia that lists all the latest DC characters. My 9 year old is a huge fan of DC comics. He loved receiving this book. It arrived in excellent condition as well.

He had that special smile when he opened this book. He loved it. So many interesting facts about DC Comics.

My kiddo can’t stop looking through it, so heavy but illustrations and info spectacular! Made his Christmas morning!!

I used to have this type of DC Superhero Encyclopedia when I was a kid. Now that my 5yo son is getting into superheroes, I absolutely love spending time learning about the classic as well as new Superheroes and reading with him. This is what makes this book even more special to me.

The information is unbelievable. The pictures to go along with each superhero are amazing. Very high quality Book for a reasonable price. To anyone who is a DC fan, I highly recommend this product!

I got this as a gift for my son. He loves it! Lots of information about the DC universe.

got this for my secret Santa at work who loves comics. I hope he likes to read cause this book is PACKED with what looks liked everything you would ever need to know about DC comics. Its hard cover quite heavy.

This is a great book. Huge, and full of great needless information for the comic book geek in your life. Very thorough. Bought this for my 10 year old to go with his Marvel Comics encyclopedia. Great price on Amazon.com too.

My other one became outdated and needed to invest in a new one. This one is perfect!

Very informative..I think I'm now an expert on the Marvel universe..

A very very good value for the price. Most of the major heroes and villains have good entries and the DC comics character entries seem to be fairly comprehensive.

Gave this to my nephew who is just getting into comics. I have the older one and after checking this one out I will be getting a new one too! Great tool for understanding the D.C. Comic universe and great artwork.

Has a decent background for most all the DC universe.

Very Informative!! Great info for geeks

Great book glad I got tells a lot

I gave it to my boyfriend and he loved it.

I gave it one star due to the book and the book cover being a little mistreated (ripped). I notice other people having the same problem. The book it’s amazing, hopefully other people do not have this problem.

Excellent coffee table book!

The most perfect guide of all characters of DC universe….

You getba lot of book for the cost. Very large hardcover book with great DC Comic info.

If you are a DC fan then you must own this encyclopedia! Loaded with information from all your favorite (and some not-so-favorite) DC characters and story lines!

Perfect gift for a DC fan. Wish the packaging was better, but still looks good.

Has alot of information in it very good pictures

A must have for any DC fan. MY boys love this one and spend literal hours pouring over this book.

My son loved the book

A must for a DC Fan

Beautiful Presentation

Love it. Great condition

I have been waiting for this! I have the one for Marvel, now I have them both. Great centerpieces for a man-cave center table. Art is crisp and clean. Worth every cent.

I love how it was as advertised

Very informative

Very good product!!

They were good.

Love this book!

Very good

great¡¡¡

Every superhero fan needs this

Cool

After watching Justice League, my son wanted to learn more about DC characters. This book was perfect for him. Bright detailed images and well-written backstories and summaries. He loves it.

Beautiful illustrations

Books are fantastic. Good detail. Well worth the money.

My son loved this book for Christmas. I even enjoy looking through it myself. Great for any DC fan

Bought this as a Valentine’s Day gift for my husband. He loves it. It is super cool and has a bunch of the newer characters in it already. The artwork is really nice and the information it gives is pretty interesting. Now I just have to buy the Marvel Encyclopedia.

Came fast and great packaging. Husband loves this to add to his collection.

Book arrived in perfect condition! My son loves it!

good

Really cool coffee table book, got the Marvel one as well, very happy with both.

This is a great compilation of all the DC characters. I have both the Marvel and DC Encyclopedias. I think DC is the best out of the two. It has more information and better visuals in my opinion.

Quality product for comic book lovers

Covers the DC comics

Clearly contains everything i was expecting! A truly encyclopedia for every DC Fan!

Huge book full of information and worth the money.

Birthday gift for my boyfriend. Came quickly and he loved it. He nerds out over it all the time and always wants to show it off and tell people I got it for him. It's good for the expert as well as the novice.

The paper cover was torn and 9 pages were bent on the bottom corner of the pages , the book was to be a gift to my son he loves these books i was disappointed

Everything you need to know about DC.

Gift

The DC Fans out there.

Loved this book! Bought it for a friend bit my son loved it so much we decided to let him keep it! Pictures are perfect and design is flawless

Aweosme collection

Good past time for reading and those who avid DC comic readers

Really in depth!

This book is so awesome! I bought it as a surprise for my husband, and he is a huge DC Comics fan, so he loves it.

Bought as a gift. Looks well made.

Amazing book, graphics are amazing. Great addition to our library

Very satisfied.

This book is up to date and includes characters that aren't as publicized. A great read for any comic book fan.

Perfect

Bought as a gift for my 8 year old son, he loves it.

Excellent reference book...love the animation and explanation of all the characters.

This is a must for any D.C. Fan. Illustrations are vibrant and it's just a fun book to look at. Price is good for the size of the book. I recommend purchasing this.

Very nice, quality, substantial hardback book! I will be proud to have this on my bookshelf.

Muy recomendable

Really good, informative book

I bought this as a gift for my niece. She now loves everything DC-related because of it.

Love this one! Even though it's a gift for someone else, i' also get to enjoy the pantheon of superheroes that's expanded well beyond the ones i knew as a kid.

This was a gift for my nephew and he loved it!!! He carries the book with him (although the book is heavy and big)... we all love to read about some comic characters!

This encyclopedia has everything you need to. Learn all about the wonderful heroes, and villains of the Dc universe. On top of that it is up to date with the Rebirth stories. Awesome!

Bought it for my girlfriend and she loves it. There is so much information and so many unheard of characters.

I really enjoy the book!! It has all the information about the characters that I truly adore and love.

A good way to get to know the DC comic book universe.

I knew it was going to be amazing but I didn't expect new artwork. I bought this for my nephew since his knowledge of the DC Universe is very limited. Might have to get a 2nd one for myself.

Very pleased with this edition.

My grandson loved this!!!! Excellent quality. Fast arrival

Good book. Although not child appropriate. I'll have to either return it or keep it for a few years.

Got as a gift the quality is impressive

Great read for the lids

Has everything about everyone in DC get this book

This book is amazing the art work is stunning.

Love it...

Its good and a love it but just at 1st glance i cant find pages on Kyle Rayner or Tim Drake. Theres probably more missing but i havent had time to look through thoroughly

So much info, love it!!!

Awesome encyclopedia for newcomers to DC comics or fanatics like me! Great background on each of your favorite superheroes and villains! Great buy an absolute must have!

Well written extensive reference material for the DC Universe.

Being a comics fan, this encyclopedia is very helpful for both fans and newcomers alike. Nicely illustrated and worth the price.

As a comic Book fan this is a full details and information about all the characters from DC and now I can teach my friends a few things and story of any characters

i have gotten all the other books and i love all of them and will buy the next one they bring out as well :)

I got this for my nephew. He loves it, he brings it with him everywhere. Great book! Plus the book arrived right on time.

Liked the product was disappointed in shipping. The book slip cover was torn in half. Amazon you have been failing a lot lately.

Use it frequently when teaching my son the alphabet. Great book!

I am not a huge DC fan, but I like having something to refer to when watching various movies.

Love it.

Very heavy book My nephew who is 13 loved it. He got it for Christmas and still walks around with it. Received it quickly

Great organization and info on the hero's.

Love this! I get an updated one whenever one comes available

The book is exactly as described, the only reason I gave it 3 stars is due to the book jacket being torn.

It’s a great Book for overall knowledge of the DC Universe. I bought it for my Wife who is getting into my Comic Hobby. So she loves it.

Great book and great condition! Not disappointed in any way!

Love it

This book is a lot of fun and very informative. It is a very good book for starter DC comic book fans or just fans in general

All the superheroes in the book with their story and grest drawings.

Was a Christmas present. Very detailed and great illustrations

Excellent quality

Awesome Book and delivered right on time!

My 11 year old son got this for Christmas and he loves It! He reads it nightly!

Great book and great quality

I got this book for my 8 year old nephew for Christmas. He LOVED it and so did everyone else in the family. It really is a beautiful book!

Nice book for any fan

Must have for comic book collectors!

Lindo

My son really enjoyed this

This book is really cool and has characters you may not of know about or forgot about

My son loves this book.

Product as shown.

Great design and entails much useful information about the dc characters and societies.

Literally the happiest geek in the world right now, it's perfect!

My brother received a marvel encyclopedia for his bday so I gave him this for Christmas. He loved it.

This came packed nice. A book for someone for good reading material, Catching up on the history.

Book arrived in adequate shipping box undamaged. Good price on book.

Excellent book, great purchase!!

Husband loved it!

Thanks so much. My daughter loves it. Perfect

It is definitely a book that every DC fan or who wants to know more about his characters should buy.

i AM A HUGE FAN OF THESE ENCYCLOPEDIAS!

Was a gift but, he seemed to enjoy it

Son in law loves it

So far so good. The book is a wealth of knowledge.

Lots of knowledge in one place

Love the fact that Val-Zod Superman in this book.

Love how big the book is and it explains almost literally every dc super hero and villain.

The CD Comics Encyclopedia was purchased as a birthday present. My husband loved it.

My nephew loved it!

My DC Comics enthusiast grandson loves it.

Christmas gift I hear he loves it.

It fooled me into thinking it was new.

Omg awesome. I know my son will enjoy this!

Outstanding reference guide to characters in the DC Universe!

Great gift for the comic book lover in your life. I got my fiance the DC and Marvel one. He loves both.

I purchased this book for my son as a birthday present. He is very happy with it!

This is beyond great! Hours of good reading and of course somethings you want to debate from reading the comics for years

good book lots of imformation

Awesome book, literally has anyone you can think of and appropriate amount of information on big name hero’s!

Bought it for my boyfriend as a bday gift he loved it!

Top right corner pages were slightly damaged when received.

This was a gift for my son. He has done a lot of work in the this field.

This book is awesome and very informative with every DC character profiled.

very good book and heavy, it will take my whole life to finish.

This was a gift for my ex husband and he absolutely loves it. I swear he looks at it at least once a week.

Book came with a torn book cover

It was a present for my boyfriend. From what he says he really enjoys it.

This is nice but where is Static Shock!?!?

great

Worth it! My son loves it!

Great product! Loved it.

I love it!!!!! Mint condition!!

This was one mod my son’s favorite Christmas gifts.