Cowsill Matthew K., Alan, Irvine, Alex, Wallace, Daniel, McAven

This is a good encyclopedia of DC comics year by year, illustrated all the way through.

It starts in the 1930s and continues to the summer of 2014.

It is very heavy on Superman and Batman (of course) followed by Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern. It's interesting following the story lines through all the years and all the universes, going through the shake-ups and the reinvented origins of the superheroes, not to mention their deaths and resurrections and imposters. As it is written by DC, they definitely "toot their own horn" so to speak, but that's to be expected. They do admit when a character or series didn't make it or weren't popular with fans. They do talk about the ups and downs of the comics world through the 20th century into today.

Of most interest to me were the minor characters of the DC universe and the Vertigo comics line. Yes, I wish they would have spent more time on those comics but Vertigo has it's own encyclopedia which I am reading. I did like the blurbs on the bottom of the pages telling about the current events of the real world as these comics were being written. Also, the writers and artists of each comic that was featured were mentioned and that was appreciated.

I was surprised by the many typos in this book. Not the kind of book I figure would have that many mistakes. Also, the original encyclopedia must have come out a few years ago. In a series from 2006, they would say "scheduled for a 5 year run". Not sure if it made it that far. You could tell that the later chapters were added as they happened without any editing of the previous year's pages. Still, that's a minor quibble and this book had me fascinated for days.

It's a heavy tome! Hard to fit on my lap to read. I kept it on a pillow but it still made my arms and legs go numb. I tried reading it on a table, but that got old pretty quick.

Recommended for DC comics fans and those trying to figure out why there is more than one Green Lantern, more than one Green Arrow, more than one Flash. . . .… (mer)