I am a casual DC Comics fan who was much more into comics in my youth. I bought this encyclopedia because I used to enjoy reading "Who's Who," a series in the 80's that featured biographies of DC characters. The cover art on this is striking, done beautifully by Alex Ross. The biographies have all been updated, so it was nice to hear about what my favorite (or obscure) heroes and villians have been up to the last 10-20 years. The entries are generally well-written, though I have found an error here and there. Occasionally, an entry will say deceased, but not mention how or if the character died or not say deceased, but indicate in the entry that the character died. Also, this was produced before the "Infinite Crisis" series, which changed (and in some cases killed) many of the characters in the DC universe. Overall, though, it's a pleasant read for casual fans and a way to pass time here and there. It would make a great gift for children 12 and up, I would say.

Loved this and being I am not a comic guy and only know story lines via cartoons and movies so this filled in the blanks and back stories, orgins and the anamation is great.

At the rate Character Bio's change within the DC Universe its amazing that an Encyclopedia can even be put together at all but since a lot of the writers now a days are referencing characters i might not be familiar with, this Book at least makes it possible to get an idea about who it is or was at one point... its only drawback is because of when it was published a small percent of the information is not canon with todays stories.

Book delivered the powerful punch I was expecting. Bought for my son and he loves it. It is very informative.

This is a great product for any DC fan. The only issue that may be had is a desire for more. Many less well known and darker characters are left out, also seemingly no character within Vertigo are present. Still a great buy.

I got this book as a gift to an avid comic book fan. He says that although there may be a character or two missing, the book was well done and pretty much accurate. For newbie collectors, this is really informative.

It's hard to determine the worth of a book, but don't judge this book by its cover. Why? Well for starters it is a great A to Z resource of DC characters packed in one book. There is not much else around so this book is fine. It does clearly address that the information may be outdated due to current depictions of these characters according to DC Comics. So the book is current up to 2004, but now outdated.

However in doing such a project there are errors that occur. The decision not to include characters altered or who never existed because of the Crisis on Infinite Earths was not the best of intentions, as it causes further confusion by ignoring the past, in particular if decisions by DC Comics are updated.

The layout of major characters in a 2 page spread, secondary characters in one page spread, and third place characters in half page spread, and minor characters in smaller captions were clear enough to read and refer to. However it would have been clearer and better if each caption for some characters who shared the same name were separate instead of labeled as I, II or III in the same caption. Some were, which was easy to read and clear, and yet some were in the same boxed caption which was hard to read. That part was annoying.

Now the decision to list a characters first appearance, despite revamps of origins or history were frustrating. Some had their actual first appearance correct, but others did not, and were listed by their revised appearance. Here is a list of the characters who appeared earlier than listed in this book: Angle Man; Circe; Dr. Psycho; Fire (Green Fury); General Zod; Giganta; Global Guardians; Hippolyta; Huntress; Jack O'Lantern; Leviathan (Colossal Boy); MÓnel; Peacemaker; Seraph; Spark; Starboy; Steel II; Steppenwolf; Timber Wolf; Villiany Inc.; Von Gunther, Paula; Zoom. Now if all characters were treated the same, that is the first appearance from their new history, then that would be fine, but this is not the case. For example Steve Trevor, despite the new history is listed as All-Star Comics #8, but Hipployta was listed as Wonder Woman #1 when in fact she too was in the same year and comic as Steve Trevor.

Now some characters were altered because of the Crisis or never existed, so revisions such as Prometheus III were mentioned, but I and II were absent, this is fine as it gives a reader knowledge there were other versions before hand. The rank in number implies there were previous versions. As a result there are notable errors such as Cheetah II (Deborah Domaine) who was omitted, so Cheetah II in this book should be III, III should be IV to avoid confusion. Silver Swan I (Helen) was erased, but in this book I should be II and II should be III. Otherwise who is Mirror Master II? Only Mirror Master I and III are mentioned in this book.

Characters such as Lump were not even titled properly, so you had to read the listing to work out who has been given a 'blank' entry.

Where is Etta Candy, Batwoman and Bat-Girl, Hawkgirl I, Queen Bee Zazzala, Red Tornado I (Ma Hunkel), Star Sapphire (the Secret Society version), Time Trapper, White Magician? Surely these characters are just as important, if not more so than some other minor characters listed.

Also the idea of not mentioning the Crisis is fine, if that were the case, but why show a back flash of Gaucho (page 123) with a pre-crisis Wonder Woman when they never met in current continuity? Pictures of the silver age JLA stating Black Canary was a founding member when it is clearly Wonder Woman in the pictures is just plain confusing.

In any case, due to the events of the Infinite Crisis of 2006, some of these entries are now void, as some silver age history has been restored. So in the end it was best not to avoid the "actual" historical listings of characters. By listing properly their actual first appearances, despite current changes would avoid any confusion. This way, even with revisions in current comic books, the encyclopedia would then be accurate enough.

In summary it would be great if they did an updated edition with a brand new cover and just stick to the historical basics and not base the Crisis as a starting point. List actual appearances as they were made, otherwise a reader who picks up a copy of say Wonder Woman Archives would note that Giganta appeared first in 1943 and not in 1998. If there are revisions in the entries themselves then that is fine as long as the historical appearances are accurate. Why then is Seraph listed as first appearing in 1982 when he appeared the same year as Ice-Maiden in 1977 who was credited correctly? It seems the author of this book was biased for some reason.

Again it is not a bad book, but only because there is no other encyclopedia with DC Characters such as this. Not bad, a little inaccurate, but not too bad.

I'm always looking for the best price. So while looking at the magazine ABC Distributing, I found this book and The Marvel Encyclopeda for only $16.95. So why would Amazon sell these book for a higher price? Even with tax and shipping the cost was under $40.00 for both. Always shop around before buying from Amazon.

It being the only DC encyclopedia that I know of in existance you cant go wrong lots and lots of bios but some are amiss and in some instances it could be more discriptive but great for any fan either way

A must have for any comic book/superhero fan. Along with the Marvel Encyclopedia gives you details & a over-view of characters & plot lines. Very good read.

I SAW THIS BOOK FOR A FRIEND AND I KNOW THAT HE WOULD LOVE IT BECAUSE HE IS A HUGE SUPERMAN AND HER COLLECTS COMIC BOOKS

this is a great book with full color and character explanations. you can't go wrong with this as a present. i would recommend this for comic collectors or children.

We purchased this book for our son because he is very interested in comic book heroes and villains. He also received the Marvel Comics Encyclopedia and compares the two books and universes. Both are complete with every hero and villain created. Now he is using both books to create his own characters. He is 8 years old, and these books are great for his imagination and creativity.

It's a must-have companion for those just starting into the huge, convoluted DC universe. Unfortunately, it's already somewhat outdated. i.e. superboy is now dead, etc.

A big, beautiful pictoral of the DC Universe. Half the price of the list at the bookstore in the mall. Great!!

Yet another that if I could've given 10 stars, I would! Again, without going into detail, I have to say, again, that not only was I satisfied and thrilled by this book, but I would have to say that it is, along with "The Marvel Encyclopedia", possibly the greatest book every put together (including the King James Bible)!

It covers the whole of the DC Universe from their very beginning and treats the superhero/super-villain entries (complete with beautiful artwork) as though they were as real as any of us who grew up reading about them (and continue to read about them) felt they always were!

This book is also a must and is also worth every penny and then some!

I've seen this book in a book store, and have chance to see it. The pictures are not good quality, and looks very old. The Hardcover is the best picture in whole book.

i bought this book for my son, who writes for a magazine that deals with comics,games, movies, so this book was perfect for him and his interests.

A lot of superheroes that you have totally forgot about. Plus multiple histories for heroes that have been reborn or changed over time. An A+ for any comic book fan. A real great way to teach your kids about the comics or to have a significant other learn about the charactors of the movies.

This book is an awesome resource for any one looking into characters in the DC Universe. The book covers nearly every character the company has published, and is a good source of info for the most obscure of characters. The book is fairly up to date. At the time of publishing, it had a character's death announced before it even happened in the comics!! This book is the new Who's Who of the DCU.

OK - admittedly I am not as familiar with the DC universe as the Marvel Universe, but when I saw this book for the mid $20 price point I decided to grab it since I was interested in the history of the DC universe as well. I am very happy I did. This is a great book that seems to be fairly complete given my knowledgebase (admittedly limited) and seems to have all types of interesting information. I can not attest to each characters accuracy, but I can say that just having and reading through this I found it fascinating at the creative minds that thought up these characters originally. Aspiring movie writers should get this and get some ideas of characters - and do the same with the Marvel one. All-in-all both this one and te Marvel books are great as a referencial read, just as a reference book, or just to look through onece in a blue moon.

While the DC Comics Encyclopedia can be very useful in tracking down obscure old characters currently appearing in DC's "52" event (it has entries for Devilance the Pursuer, Beefeater and The Inferior Five, for example), it's not really an "encyclopedia" in the truest sense of the term. If you wanted to look up information, for example, on important DC Universe locales you might find a paragraph or two on Opal City and a page on Metropolis, but ultimately anything besides just characters finds itself limited to a two-page spread (Teams, Vehicles, etc). The result is that this book is not so much the encyclopedia I was hoping for as it is an updated (as of 2002) version of DC's landmark 1980s series "Who's Who." It's a useful resource, make no mistake, but ultimately not someplace you can go to find out about S.T.A.R. Labs or get a chart of cabinet positions during the Luthor Administration. For those things, you need the Internet.

The book is better than I had expected. Completely satisfied

Good information and very nice to see descriptions of some of the lesser knowns. Helps clear up some things about continuity, but summaries seem brief for the main characters.

I am a marvel fan. I like DC, but I am not a die hard fan. DC is fantasy. Marvel less fantasy.(At least after that 90's weirdness.)I love Batman and Superman, but the rest of the DC Universe is out three. In the Justice League cartoon, Doomsday was just an alien who wanted a fight. According to this Encyclopedia, he was created on Krypton (Which makes his body able to kill Superman) and was sent into space in a suit he could not escape from. He lands on Earth and spends hundreds of years trying to break free. He finallly does and digs his way to surface. Instead of celebrating, he kills Superman. Wow! Get this book if you like things like this. Personally, DC leaves a bad taste and I can only take so much at one time.

I enjoyed the book. Yes, there are some characters missing. However, I don't think you can include EVERYTHING. Some things just fall through the cracks. Overall and for the most part, this is a very good text for the DC Universe. And with the way the comic universe changes, you can't put everything in a one volume text. This book came out before Infinite Crisis. Look what that did to the DC Universe.

What a wealth of information! The book covers over 1000 characters, teams, locations, and vehicles. Based solely on how much is covered in the book; this is an absolute must have for any comic book fan - Marvel, DC, or otherwise.

Every entry has a picture, even the obscure ones. Now, this isn't to say every-single DC character is in there, but for a company that's been around since what, the 30's, I think it's ok. Every major character is covered from 2004 and before (sorry no 52 coverage).

It's fun to sit back and watch DC T.V shows like Teen Titans and look up the character in the encyclopedia, just to see what their comic book versions looked like, or to see what their real story was.

At the $25 price this is hard to turn down. Based on the size of the book alone (352 12 inch by 10 inch pages) I think it's worth it. But when you throw in the fact that it's a hardcover and that Alex Ross did the beautiful cover art, you've got yourself a bargain. Also, if you go to Borders, Books-A-Million, or Barns & Noble in-person be prepared to spend $50.

Great book, The format takes a little getting used to but it includes everybody big and small. Worth buying!

This is a full-color rendition of classic comics in the 20th century. These comics include :
- Air Wave I
- The All-Star Squadron
- The Perisphere 1939 World's Fair
- Beast Boy who emulates animals
- Busmaster who replicates reptilian abilities
- Captain Marvel who is the world's mightiest boy
- The Wizard Sorcerer amongst many others

This work is a curiosity for comic enthusiasts everywhere.

Very comprehensive guide to the DC universe. I use it every time I read a title or watch a Justice League Cartoon.

The DC Comics Encyclopedia is one of those books that in the past would've been issued by the publisher as a monthly comic issue detailing all the heroes and villains (major and minor) of the DC Universe. As much as I would've been ok with that type of format, I rather enjoy having everything collected, collated and put together under one hardcover edition.

This source book is only as up-to-date as of 2004. It won't include the Infinite Crisis and 52 story-arcs, but the encyclopedia pretty much includes every character from the Golden Age of DC Comics during the late 30's through 50's, through the Silver Age right after then up to the Modern Age of the now. Even the most minor character, such as Major Damage gets a full bio entry and explanations of abilities and weaknesses. Of course, the book makes large sections set aside for the major characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, etc...). From their entire history from the characters inception all the way to specific bio's for characters who have inhabited the mantle of a certain hero (Flash and Green Lantern being the two major examples).

The artwork included in the encyclopedia are lifted from issues from througout a certain character's history. You get artwork from that character's Golden Age look all the way to its modern incarnation. I can't really find any flaw in this sourcebook. It's succeeded in conveying the information it's suppose to give its reader. Here's to hoping they follow-up with a supplemental hardback detailing changes and additions since 2004.

I do not have this book, but it is ironically in the reference section of my local library.

The sections on the heroes and villains are good and explanatory. Along with good text descriptions, various pictures abound in this book. The book covers both major and minor characters in the DC universe.

Admittedly, the book is before Identity Crisis and other major DC comic events, but covers 1930's Golden Age up to early 2000's Zero Hour.

A great book for those with the intense desire or money.

Using the encyclopedia format to look at the myriad characters created over the course of DC Comics history is a clever and fun idea. Illustrated with art from a variety of time periods and treating the characters as if they actually existed, the authors have created a book that is valuable for any fan of comics. Little known characters, events that might have been missed, and some fairly obscure references combine with the well-known mainstays of the DC Universe (Superman, Batman, et.al.) to make for a fairly comprehensive history. Sure, there are a number of errors in listing heroes and villains, illustrations not showing the character being discussed, and even details about the characters that will not satisfy the fan looking for perfection, but for the fan who just wants a concise way of looking at the characters of a company that has been around since the 1930's, this is an enjoyable read.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a re-imagining of the old "Who's Who" concept that DC ran in the '80s. That said, this is probably as brilliant and well-executed a collection as you're ever going to find.

There are errors, and there are a few omissions, but overall the effect is astounding. The major characters are given their just due, while even folks who appeared in one-off series long ago get a mention. The biographies are solid and make for compelling reading, and just seeing how rich the history of DC is is enough to give any fan an appreciative pause.

In short, this is simply an incredible book. Highest recommendations, and one that you'll treasure for a long time to come.

You have Swamp Thing, you have the Sandman, you have Death, you even mention John as one of the great team ups (with the Swamp Thing) but Constantine doesnt have an entry of his own? Come on!

In reality the DC Comics Encyclopedia is a great resource, I recently recieved it as a gift and I love it. The only reason it does not get 5 stars is that it has a few strange omissions and here and there the information seems lacking. Overall its a great effort and a worth addition to your library, be it as a reference guide to the DCU or simply as a coffee table book with a fantastic Alex Ross cover.

Recommended. :)

This is a must read for all comics book readers and anyone who wants to illustrate manga/comics. It's a complete A to Z of characters, and much more.

I bought this book, after I glanced at it quickly, thinking I would really enjoy it. After buying it and then sitting down with it, I quickly realized how much DC Comics history was quickly skipped over or ignored all together. Many, many events, locales, and characters are completely dismissed and golden age (1938-1958) events, etc., are pretty much rejected in place of more updated revamped characters. Not really what I was looking for in the way of a DC Comics Encyclopedia. It's full of color and nice artwork friends, but lacks in the substance category.

Do yourselves a favor...purchase some DC Archives and really enjoy the history for yourself.

If you're into comics you deserve this "document" on DC characters.
I recommend it!

I really didn't know what to expect when I bought this book. It was just something to help me figure out who some of the characters were in the DC universe. What I found was a history of EVERY character DC has ever created! There were some really obscure characters in there dating back to the 1940s that I had never even heard of.

If you're into DC comics, it's well worth the price. I know I've had hours of fun reading the different entries on not only the characters I knew but many I didn't.

This is true meaning of an encyclopedia because this book has every person you either knew are never heard of in the book. I have the Marvel Encyclopedia and they are good book but it they don't compare to this one. I would recommend this book to anyone of likes or loves comics.

Very in depth. Great pictures. Great descriptions of characters and their histories. High quality hard cover book. Perfect for DC comic book fans of all ages.

This is a very good book. If you are familiar with the Star Wars Visual Guides then you will love this book! Its unbelievable how many characters there are in this one. Though there may be heroes and heroines missing but only the hard-core and older fans of the DC Universe will notice. There is a small photo of John Constantine. The book does however have a large section of Swamp Thing! There are huge sections of Superman and Batman and most of their villains are present in great detail and write ups. For instance, Superman's villains like Doomsday, Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Sinestro, The Eradicator, and Darkseid all have good sections. Batman's villains like the Joker, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Bane, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Man-Bat, Killer Croc, Black Mask, and Ra's Al Ghul all have great sections as well! Also big sections of Wonder Woman, Aqua Man, the Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkman and the rest of the JLA. Many other shots of other groups as well! Great pictures of Powergirl, Supergirl, Batgirl, The Birds of Prey (Oracle, Black Canary, and the Huntress) have decent pictures and sections. People such as Alfred, Robin, Nightwing and other have good sections. Many simians such as Gorilla Grodd have good sections. There is a huge index at the end of the book to quickly find who you're looking for! The cover art by Alex Ross is unbeatable! The heroes and villains look like real human beings! I really dig the pictures of Supergirl, Batgirl, The Black Canary, and Catwoman! The book has so many, really neat pictures from the DC Universe all in color. If you are looking for a book that has most of DC's characters and information about them such as real names and what issue and year they first appeared in and more then I strongly recommend this book!

Theres nothing bad to say about this book .
Anyone into D.C.comics either Expert or Novice should have this book in their collection . It is Alphabetized and very easy to read . Graphic Illustrations are wonderful and alot of people have put much time , effort and research into giving you the most information in the backgrounds of each Villan & Hero .

I Highly Recommend this book and Please get the Hard Cover edition . This is one for the coffee table or Book shelf for a long time.

I hope those that buy this enjoy it as much as I have .

As soon as I've laid my eyes on this encyclopedia, knowing more about it on the Internet, I decided to buy one copy for me. After all, you don't find such a book easily, not even at the best comic shops. This book doesn't intend to be a definitive guide, but a compreensive guide on DC Comics characters. Well, they surely did a very nice job. The illustrations are great and the information on each character is reasonable. Of course a few characters are missing, so what? This shouldn't be a problem. At least it's not a problem for me. Would you care for a piece of advice? Don't miss it. The DC Comics Encyclopedia will turn out to be a marvellous coffe-table book for the entire family.

The complaints of other reviewers who feel that DC did an inadequate job at meeting expectations are, dare I say, utterly ridiculous.

DC has done a more than adequate job at covering over 60 years of comic characters and storylines. DC has firmly stuck to post-Crisis continuity, so any character that did not survive the reboot has been (understandably) eliminated.

As current comic continuity has become a fairly fluid commodity these days, it only makes sense that there is going to be some inaccuracies and missteps. The recent storyline unfolded in "Identity Crisis" is proof of that. No entry/storyline/origin is concrete any longer. As new writers jump on board and leave their marks on characters, details will often shift and change.

That said, the book itself is a fun read, with tons of fantastic color illustrations. There are a few errors here and there - but overall the book is nicely put together. It's been a long time since the days of Who's Who - and DC does a great job in recapturing the fun of reading such entries. Long time comic fans and fledgling fan boys will have a great time sitting down and perusing the entries in this book.

As usual, the Alex Ross cover art is outstanding. In short, you're basically getting a deluxe version of the yearly Secret Files comics.

If you are a reasonable person who can read comics with a grain of salt tucked firmly in your pocket - picking this up is a definite.

Here's the perfect item of choice for that comic book fan who has all the issues: a definitive, color-packed one-volume encyclopedia of over 1,000 of the classic comic characters from DC Comics. This isn't your usual recap of issue covers - plenty of competing titles covering comics in general have these covers prominently displayed; it features never-seen-before artwork by some of the biggest names in comic book illustration, with all the famous heroes and villains under one cover. DC experts and participants have contributed heavily to The DC Comics Encyclopedia, a reference created by the collaborative team of Phil Jimenez, Daniel Wallace, Scott Beatty and which should be considered indispensably definitive.

Some people may gripe over that their favorite character got only a small entry in the book but I was surprised at how complete this book was.

Lets face it, unless DC reprints Who's Who you are not going to get a complete guide to the DC characters, this book is made to represent as many of their characters as they could. I enjoyed the entries about the lesser known characters and being given updates on some of the heros and villians I had followed but lost touch with.

The DC Comics Encylopedia makes a nice gift for any comics fan.

This "encyclopedia" is poorly structured, sloppy and, at times, grossly inaccurate. And there's no entry for "Crisis," DC Comics' biggest event ever, under "C." Furthermore, characters with the same codenames are jumbled under single headers, which is very confusing! The chosen art for this collection is uneven. Overall, this is a sad product sure to disappoint comic-book fans. Also, several important characters were completely ignored. Pathetic.

The poor photo layout aside, the DC COMICS ENCYCLOPEDIA is a beautiful and elaborate guide to the characters that have endeared themselves to comic fans for generations. DC Comics Heroes have had such an influence on pop culture that this tome delivers on the origins of such old legends as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman with detailed backgrounds and colorful art. As well as inspiring looks at new heroes making their own marks in DC History like the new Robin, Supergirl or even Aztek.

A labor of love. I don't know just how many thousands of characters appeared in DC comic books during their golden era of the 1930's to 50's. But about a thousand of them are here. The coverage varies from a double page spread for major characters like Superman and Batman, down to a single page on each major character and each supporting character has a panel or entry.

Having said that, this is a profusely illustrated book: heros, sidekicks, villains - all are here. Well, not all, only about a thousand. The illustrations include work by the cream of DC's greatest ever artists.

If you're new to the hobby, this will be a treat. If you're an old hand, it's like visiting old friends.