He was not the first super hero, but the Man of Steel would become the prototype for all super heroes thereafter. Superman's story, and those of Batman, Wonder Woman, and hundreds of other DC Comics characters, are all told in The Golden Age of DC Comics . The single most comprehensive book on the subject, this volume traces the company's first decades, from its pulp origins up to the comic book burnings of the McCarthy ’50s in more than 400 pages bursting with comics, art, comics, photographs, and more comics. Also included is an exclusive interview with legendary artist Joe Kubert! About the series: TASCHEN's series on DC Comics explores the origins of comics’ most enduring legends and the behind-the-scenes stories of the men and women who created them, era by era. Expanded from the Eisner Award–winning XL book, 75 Years of DC Comics, this new series hits the shelf at a reader-friendly size with essays updated by author Paul Levitz and more than 1,000 new images across five volumes. Thousands of covers and interiors, original illustrations, photographs, film stills, and collectibles have been reproduced to bring the story lines, the characters, and their creators to vibrant life, making this an invaluable reference for comics fans.DC Comics characters and all related elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics. (s13)

    Schulz and his art, providing an unprecedented look at the work of the most brilliant and beloved cartoonist of the twentieth century. Here is the whole gang–Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, and all the others from the original Peanuts strips.More than five hundred comic strips are reproduced, as well as such rare or never-before-seen items as a sketchbook from Schulz's army days in the early 1940s; his very first printed strip, Just Keep Laughing; his private scrapbook of pre-Peanuts Li'l Folks strips; developmental sketches for the first versions of Charlie Brown and the other Peanuts characters; a sketchbook from 1963; and many more materials gathered from the Schulz archives in Santa Rosa, California.The art has been stunningly photographed by Geoff Spear in full color, capturing the subtle textures of paper, ink, and line. The strips–which were shot only from the original art or vintage newsprint–reveal how, from the 1950s through 2000, Schulz's style and the Peanuts world evolved. The book features an introduction by Jean Schulz and has been designed and edited by renowned graphic artist Chip Kidd, who also provides an informed and appreciative commentary. This celebration of the genius of the most revered cartoonist of our time is a must for anyone who has ever come under the spell of Peanuts.From the Hardcover edition.

    Critically acclaimed and best-selling author Greg Rucka and master storyteller Mike Perkins team up for a tale of conspiracy, intrigue and murder that pushes even Lois to her limits.

    Here, for the first time, is the chronological account of the adventures of both the characters and the company that created them. The" DC Chronicle Year by Year" traces DC's fascinating story: the company's beginnings as National Allied Publications in the 1934, and its subsequent change to Detective Comics, Inc. in 1937. The book details all the major DC publishing landmarks and more, displayed clearly, month by month. Highlighting the debuts of Superman and Batman, the geniuses that invented them, and the real-life events-like the Vietnam War, the atom bomb, the Space Race- that shaped the atmosphere of the times, "DC Chronicle Year by Year" follows the characters' foray into the real world through TV series and blockbuster movies. Features original cover art by well-known DC artist Ryan Sook and a foreword by Paul Levitz, who was president of DC Comics from 2002 - 2009. TM & (c) DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

    In this fully illustrated memoir, author Michael Uslan recalls his journey from early childhood fandom through to the decades he spent on a caped crusade of his own: to bring Batman to the silver screen as the dark, serious character he was at heart. Uslan s story traces his path from the wilds of New Jersey to the limelight of Hollywood, following his work as Executive Producer on every Batman film from Tim Burton s 1989 re-envisioning to 2012 s The Dark Knight Rises. Through it all, he helped to create one of the most successful pop culture franchises of all time.

    is a Superman story that doesn't feature Superman at all. Rather, this unique graphic novel explores what the icon of Superman means to the world. Told from the perspective of an author who has written tales about Superman, this book explores the overwhelming effect that the Man of Steel has had on society. A compelling narrative told in a variety of experimental styles, It's a Bird... weaves two interlocking stories: one that ultimately explores our own mortality and another that dissects the symbolic and cultural elements which make up Superman's mythicimportance.

    Sleek and sexy, the greatest cat burglar of all time sank her claws into the Caped Crusader back in 1940 and hasn't let go since. Part homage, part how-to, this handsome treatise divulges Catwoman's stellar techniques at everything from scaling walls to tickling a gentleman's fancy without mercy. With a brief history of her many incarnations over the years, loads of terrific vintage illustrations, sections on fashion and romance, and personal tips on getting ahead, this spunky vinyl-covered volume (oooh! purple PVC!) will attract both new fans of the slinky girl kitty and time-tested aficionados. It's the purr-fect ode to The Feline Felon, The Mistress of Malevolence, The Princess of Plunder . . . a.k.a. Catwoman.

    Selling in the millions each year for the past six decades, comic books have figured prominently in the childhoods of most Americans alive today. In Comic Book Nation, Bradford W. Wright offers an engaging, illuminating, and often provocative history of the comic book industry within the context of twentieth-century American society.From Batman's Depression-era battles against corrupt local politicians and Captain America's one-man war against Nazi Germany to Iron Man's Cold War exploits in Vietnam and Spider-Man's confrontations with student protestors and drug use in the early 1970s, comic books have continually reflected the national mood, as Wright's imaginative reading of thousands of titles from the 1930s to the 1980s makes clear. In every genre—superhero, war, romance, crime, and horror comic books—Wright finds that writers and illustrators used the medium to address a variety of serious issues, including racism, economic injustice, fascism, the threat of nuclear war, drug abuse, and teenage alienation. At the same time, xenophobic wartime series proved that comic books could be as reactionary as any medium.Wright's lively study also focuses on the role comic books played in transforming children and adolescents into consumers; the industry's ingenious efforts to market their products to legions of young but savvy fans; the efforts of parents, politicians, religious organizations, civic groups, and child psychologists like Dr. Fredric Wertham (whose 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent, a salacious exposé of the medium's violence and sexual content, led to U.S. Senate hearings) to link juvenile delinquency to comic books and impose censorship on the industry; and the changing economics of comic book publishing over the course of the century. For the paperback edition, Wright has written a new postscript that details industry developments in the late 1990s and the response of comic artists to the tragedy of 9/11. Comic Book Nation is at once a serious study of popular culture and an entertaining look at an enduring American art form.

    The phrase "super hero" had yet to be coined when ACTION COMICS #1 hit newsstands in 1938, but once Superman entered the scene, effortlessly lifting a car above his head on that first iconic cover, the character paved the way for each of the hundreds (if not thousands) of super-powered heroes written since. SUPERMAN: A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS gathers a range of stories featuring the first and greatest super hero, highlighting the many roles the Man of Steel has played over the decades. In these celebrated stories, Superman is in turns the Herculean champion, the lonely alien survivor, the super-powered Boy Scout and the soul-searching leader. Over the course of seventy-five years, watch as the character grows from a simple strongman to the beloved international symbol he is today!This Volume Collects:("Superman, Champion of the Oppressed") / ("War in San Monte") -- ACTION COMICS #1-2 (1938) Writer: Jerry Siegel, Artist: Joe Shuster"How Superman Would End the War" -- Look Magazine (1940) Writer: Jerry Siegel, Artist: Joe Shuster"Man or Superman?" -- SUPERMAN #17 (1942) Writer: Jerry Siegel, Penciller: Joe Shuster, Inker: Joe Sikela"The Origin of Superman" -- SUPERMAN #53 (1948) Writer: Bill Finger, Penciller: Wayne Boring, Inker: Stan Kaye"The Mightiest Team in the World" -- SUPERMAN #76 (1952) Writer: Edmond Hamilton, Penciller: Curt Swan, Inker: John Fishchetti"The Super-Duel in Space" -- ACTION COMICS #242 (1958) Writer: Otto Binder, Artist: Al Plastino "The Girl From Superman's Past" -- SUPERMAN #129 (1959) Writer: Bill Finger, Penciller: Wayne Boring, Inker: Stan Kaye"Superman's Return to Krypton" -- SUPERMAN #141 (1960) Writer: Jerry Siegel, Penciller: Wayne Boring, Inker: Stan Kaye"The Death of Superman" -- SUPERMAN #149 (1961) Writer: Jerry Siegel, Penciller: Curt Swan, Inker: George Klein"Must There Be a Superman?" -- SUPERMAN #247 (1972) Writer: Eliot S. Maggin, Penciller: Curt Swan, Inker: Murphy Anderson "Rebirth" -- ACTION COMICS #544 (1983) Writer: Marv Wolfman, Artist: Gil Kane"The Living Legends of Superman" (excerpt) -- SUPERMAN #400 (1985) Writer: Elliot S. Maggin, Artist: Frank Miller"For the Man Who Has Everything" -- SUPERMAN ANNUAL #11 (1985)Writer: Alan Moore, Artist: Dave Gibbons"The Name Game" -- SUPERMAN #11 (1987)  Writer/Penciller: John Byrne, Inker: Karl Kesel"Doomsday" -- SUPERMAN #75 (1993)  Writer/Penciller: Dan Jurgens, Inker: Brett Breeding"What's So Funny About Truth Justice and the American Way?" -- ACTION COMICS #775 (2001)  Writer: Joe Kelly, Pencillers: Doug Mahnke, Lee BermejoInkers: Tom Nguyen, Dexter Vines, Jim Royal, Jose Marzan, Jr., Wade Von Grawbadger, Wayne Faucher"Question of Confidence" -- Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross (2003)  Writer: Chip Kidd, Artist: Alex Ross"The Incident" -- ACTION COMICS #900 (2011)  Writer: David S. Goyer, Artist: Miguel Sepulveda"The Boy Who Stole Superman's Cape" -- ACTION COMICS #0 (2012)   Writer: Grant Morrison, Artist: Ben Oliver

    On November 18, 1992, news of  Superman's death shocked the world as the legendary  Man of steel was killed defending Metropolis from  the monster called Doomsday.Here at last is the  dramatic story behind the best-selling comic book  of all time: the fates of Clark Kent, Lois Lane,  Ma and Pa Kent, the Justice League, and the reign  of the four super-beings who mysteriously appeared  after Superman's funeral, each claiming to be the  real Last Son of Krypton. And finally, here is  the complete incredible story of Superman's  triumphant retum! In this thrilling novel, Roger Stern, a  veteran writer of Action  Comics, chronicles the most amazing comeback in comic  book history--told with more gripping detail and  background than ever before.

    This book by one of Wired magazine's art directors traverses the graphic world through a collection of pie charts, bar graphs, timelines, scatter plots, and more. Super Graphic offers readers a unique look at the intricate and sometimes contradictory storylines that weave their way through comic books, and shares advice for navigating the pages of some of the most popular, longest-running, and best-loved comics and graphic novels out there. From a colorful breakdown of the DC Comics reader demographic to a witty Venn diagram of superhero comic tropes and a Chris Ware sadness scale, this book charts the most arbitrary and monumental characters, moments, and equipment of the wide world of comics.

    Hot on the heels of their acclaimed graphic novel SUPERMAN: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, superstars Geoff Johns and Gary Frank reunite to present an explosive story that spells out the definitive origin of Superman for the 21st century! Chronicling Clark Kent's journey from the cornfields of Smallville to the skyscrapers of Metropolis, you'll witness a whole new look at the beginnings of Lex Luthor, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Lois Lane, Metallo, Jimmy Olsen, the Parasite and more of your favorite characters from the Superman family! It's a look at the mythic past of the Man of Steel with an eye toward the future!

    An action packed and introspective journey, BATMAN & SUPERMAN: WORLD"S FINEST chronicles the first ten years of the tumultuous alliance between the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight.

    From there, Shade and Kathy journey into America's collective unconscious to find the evil known only as The American Scream.These are the classic Vertigo stories written by Peter Milligan, so if you've been digging the acclaimed writer's work on Greek Street and Hellblazer, be sure to pick up this new printing of Milligan's earlier work!Collecting: Shade, the Changing Man 1-6

    Created in the early 1950s when Shuster was down on his luck after suing his publisher, DC Comics, over the copyright for Superman, he illustrated these images for an obscure series of magazines called Nights of Horror, published under the counter until they were banned by the U.S. Senate. Juvenile deliquency, Dr. Fredric Wertham, and the Brooklyn Thrill Killers gang all figure into this sensational story.The discovery of this artwork reveals the 'secret identity' of this revered comics creator, and is sure to generate controversy and change the perception of the way we look at Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Jimmy Olsen forever. The book includes reproductions of these images, and an essay that provides a detailed account of the scandal and the murder trial that resulted from the publication of this racy material."Jeepers, Mr. Kent!" - USA Today "Eye-opening……a compelling feat of literary sleuthing." - Publishers Weekly"A shocking expose" - National Enquirer"Startling. . . this fascinating collection adds a new dimension to a hidden history.” - Miami Herald"Secret Identity is an incredible find of historic significance to comics art…. - Library Journal