- Paperback: 496 pages
- Publisher: Titan Books Ltd (27 Jun 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1845769570
- ISBN-13: 978-1845769574
- Product Dimensions: 27.2 x 21.6 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 319,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Gotham City is plagued with crime and corruption in places high and low, but one man has taken a stand against evil of all forms: the dark avenger known as Batman.Now, in this up-to-the-minute, essential reference guide, former DC Comics Editor Robert Greenberger details the complete history of the Dark Knight, including his origins, comprehensive biographies of every character and key location in the Batman universe from Apokolips to Zatanna, the Justice League of America, and much more, fully illustrated with black-and-white images and two sixteen-page colour sections.The first Batman encyclopedia for over thirty years, this is an essential reference guide and sourcebook for the World's Greatest Detective, and a must-have for Bat-fans!
About the Author
Robert "Bob" Greenberger is a former Editor at DC Comics who worked on many Bat-related titles, and an acknowledged expert on the Dark Knight. In addition to his editorial career, he has written several Star Trek novels, short stories, and comics.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd expected this to be a cheesy text-only (in huge type) Dark Knight cash-in guide with precious little information and stock images. I was delighted to discover, then, that is was in-depth, well-written guide to the Dark Knight Detective's comics career. I only received it yesterday and have hardly put it down since. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What can you say about this book,apart from AMAZING!It covers everthing in the Bat World from A-Z.
I've been a fan since the sixties, after afew hours of reading,I was amazed at how much I didn't know about some of the characters!
This is definately a book for all Bat Fans,388 pages of great pictures and information.
If I was bright enough for MasterMind,this would be my research material for the specialist subject round!
Robert Greenberger,has hit the mark with this epic work!
If you are Bats about The Batman,get yourself a copy,I highly recommend it.
I've been a fan since the sixties, after afew hours of reading,I was amazed at how much I didn't know about some of the characters!
This is definately a book for all Bat Fans,388 pages of great pictures and information.
If I was bright enough for MasterMind,this would be my research material for the specialist subject round!
Robert Greenberger,has hit the mark with this epic work!
If you are Bats about The Batman,get yourself a copy,I highly recommend it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
15 reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
A triumph...
17 Jun 2008
Format:Paperback
Wow!
I've been looking forward to this book since I first heard about it (October 2007??) and have had it on pre-order since.
It didn't disappoint. Not one bit.
The book is much in the same style as the Michael Fleisher Encyclopedia of the 1970s (recently reissued).
It has hundreds of entries on a myriad of Batman characters, places and gadgets, ranging from the the very famous to the extremely obscure.
And when I say obscure, I mean it. I also mean that in a positive way.
As a Batman fan of 30 years, I'm extremely interested in him and his supporting characters.
I'm therefore thrilled that this book isn't purely dedicated to well-known characters like Alfred, The Joker and Gordon. It also has entries on such oddball characters as The Eraser, Hydro and The Bouncer.
Some of the characters listed in the book only appeared once or twice, and often not as the main villain of the story (there are entries for various henchmen and gangsters).
In comparison to the Fleisher book, there is less detail, sometimes quite considerably.
However, I think this is a good thing. Mr Greenburger has covered a lot more comics, over a greater number of years than Mr Fleisher. To be able to go into minute detail (as Fleisher did) for the number of comics that represented here would mean several volumes would need to be released (and probably several more years).
In addition to this, sometimes I felt the original encyclopedia to be overly descriptive in parts, sometimes quoting lengthy text portions from the comics. This doesn't happen in this new book. Don't get me wrong, I love the Fleisher book for this, and treasure it as the devoted work that it is. I just feel that this wasn't needed in this case and I'm glad Mr Greenberger decided to go with listing more entries rather than adding more text per entry.
If I had to list areas where improvements could be made, I would have loved to see some maps, diagrams and tables showing things such as a detailed Batcave plan, major Batmobiles, family tree of the Waynes, listings of such things as Gotham City mayors, bat-equipment etc.
Also, full colour illustrations would have been nice, but I understand that would have bumped the price up considerably.
The black & white illustrations are nice though - lots of variety of artists (although quite Jim Lee heavy (not a bad thing, but I'm more of a Neal Adams fan)) and a good selection too.
There are two colour sections and these are lovely. Really eye-popping and a great choice (gotta love that Brian Bolland Poison Ivy pic - stunning!!).
Overall though, I can't fault this book. It has surpassed my expectations and is exactly what I want in a resource for the Dark Knight.
Truly outstanding and a fine tribute to one of our most enduring icons.
I've been looking forward to this book since I first heard about it (October 2007??) and have had it on pre-order since.
It didn't disappoint. Not one bit.
The book is much in the same style as the Michael Fleisher Encyclopedia of the 1970s (recently reissued).
It has hundreds of entries on a myriad of Batman characters, places and gadgets, ranging from the the very famous to the extremely obscure.
And when I say obscure, I mean it. I also mean that in a positive way.
As a Batman fan of 30 years, I'm extremely interested in him and his supporting characters.
I'm therefore thrilled that this book isn't purely dedicated to well-known characters like Alfred, The Joker and Gordon. It also has entries on such oddball characters as The Eraser, Hydro and The Bouncer.
Some of the characters listed in the book only appeared once or twice, and often not as the main villain of the story (there are entries for various henchmen and gangsters).
In comparison to the Fleisher book, there is less detail, sometimes quite considerably.
However, I think this is a good thing. Mr Greenburger has covered a lot more comics, over a greater number of years than Mr Fleisher. To be able to go into minute detail (as Fleisher did) for the number of comics that represented here would mean several volumes would need to be released (and probably several more years).
In addition to this, sometimes I felt the original encyclopedia to be overly descriptive in parts, sometimes quoting lengthy text portions from the comics. This doesn't happen in this new book. Don't get me wrong, I love the Fleisher book for this, and treasure it as the devoted work that it is. I just feel that this wasn't needed in this case and I'm glad Mr Greenberger decided to go with listing more entries rather than adding more text per entry.
If I had to list areas where improvements could be made, I would have loved to see some maps, diagrams and tables showing things such as a detailed Batcave plan, major Batmobiles, family tree of the Waynes, listings of such things as Gotham City mayors, bat-equipment etc.
Also, full colour illustrations would have been nice, but I understand that would have bumped the price up considerably.
The black & white illustrations are nice though - lots of variety of artists (although quite Jim Lee heavy (not a bad thing, but I'm more of a Neal Adams fan)) and a good selection too.
There are two colour sections and these are lovely. Really eye-popping and a great choice (gotta love that Brian Bolland Poison Ivy pic - stunning!!).
Overall though, I can't fault this book. It has surpassed my expectations and is exactly what I want in a resource for the Dark Knight.
Truly outstanding and a fine tribute to one of our most enduring icons.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Very Happy with Product
12 Jan 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book as a Christmas present for my nephew who is really into Batman. I was very happy with the large size of the book and the quality of photos, etc. My nephew seemed to really enjoy it too. A great purchase and a good price!
10 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Who's who of Batman
12 Jun 2008
Format:Paperback
This encyclopedic style tome is effective as a who's who of Batman related characters and devices, but unfortunately only scratches the surface. The information that is provided for most is far from complete, so depth is wanting. This is understandable when discussing certain characters with prodigious appearances like the Joker, who would be extremely difficult to produce a complete bibliography for, but the few relatively obscure characters that I researched had minimal data on them also. Very little if any mention is made about the creators or the animated universe, and considering how some of these characters came into prominence from the DCAU, this is a glaring weakness. The writing is average at best and has a poor narrative flow; it jumps from present to past and back again. The book's appeal and its' main target audience will be towards the beginning or casual reader. Many long term Batfans may not find this relatively expensive book worth the cost for the uncertain amount of additional info that they may find. Don't get me wrong, there is knowledge to be gleaned here, and obviously much research was put into it, but it's a regrettable shame that the finished product isn't worthy of the aggregated effort, which ideally would have been an exceptional book that would be considered a must have by all fans of this great iconic legend. More than most, it will probably come down to the price as the determining factor on whether or not to purchase it.
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