Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters, Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe [Hardcover]

Ron Goulart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 2004

A 4–colour, illustrated best–of–the–best of the comic book world – with writers/creators who launched an industry (Jack Kirby, Stan Lee), amazing graphic novels (Preacher, The Watcher), legendary artists (Jim Lee) and characters as wide–ranging as Archie, The Gay Ghost, Batman, Blue Devil and the Fantastic Four.

Never before has there been a single volume of superheroes, graphic novels, strange comic icons, legendary writers and artists of the comic world. Comic Book Encyclopedia is the multiverse of comic legend and lore for every comic–book fan, and for everyone who wants to understand the characters, history, and universal appeal of this world.

Collected into a single volume, this is the best–of–the–best of comics. From the 1930s to today, it includes everything a young, budding comic reader – or an experienced pro – needs to know and/or read.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This entertaining guide is chock-full of trivia. Starting with the early 1900s, it is organized primarily by character or book title; hordes of heroes, villains, and the indefinable stride through its colorful pages. Although the contents lean heavily toward the superhero, the author includes a few independents like the hallucinogenic work of R. Crumb and Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (Knopf, 2000). Characters from children's humor make small appearances as well. Not surprisingly, the entries for the more iconic figures like Superman and Spiderman have significantly more detail than the others. Although comic-book trivia encyclopedias are nothing new, this one stands out because of the excellence of the reproductions of the original art. Just casually flipping through the pages gives a startling and overwhelming sense of how much quality work artists and writers produced over the last 100 years. Goulart also includes some entries about the more influential writers, artists, and styles. These sections include interesting pointers for those looking for new or different material. This book will satisfy all lovers of comic books and comic-book history.–Matthew L. Moffett, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale
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About the Author

Ron Goulart is an award-winning mystery and science fiction writer who is also considered one of the leading experts on comics, both nationally and internationally. He has written numerous comics and published many books on the subject, including Great American Comic Books and Comic Book Culture. He lives in Connecticut with his wife.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: It Books; First Edition edition (October 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060538163
• ISBN-13: 978-0060538163
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #788,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Light on the Content, November 27, 2004

By 

M. B. RENTZLER (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters, Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe (Hardcover)

This is a big showy book with a bright graphic cover but I found the interior coverage of various characters too light for serious research or reading.

This may make a good gift book for someone just getting started but I recommend either The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes
by Gina Misiroglu or The Slings and Arrows Guide to Comic Guide Second Edition for the more serious fan/collector.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining introduction to comics history, October 16, 2004

By 

Elisabeth Carey (Lawrence, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters, Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe (Hardcover)

This is a big, beautiful, richly illustrated book that covers a lot of territory-the history and development of comic books and graphic novels. It attempts to cover the entire field, characters, artists, writers, and give at least a basic understanding of the history. Unfortunately, as it says on the cover, "Nearly 400 BIG pages!", i.e., it's not quite four hundred pages. That's not enough space for in-depth treatment, it's made a bit more cramped by those beautiful illustrations (which, I must say, it would be a shame to lose.). The articles are mostly short, and characters one would have thought important enough for their own entries are reduced to mentions in broader entries. (Bugs Bunny, for instance, is barely mention in the "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies" entry.) This is a good, fun book nevertheless, but possibly a better choice for the reader just getting seriously interested in comics, than for the established fan who already has an in-depth knowledge of the field.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Careful, April 22, 2005

By 

Travieso "Collector" (Republic of Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters, Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe (Hardcover)

If you're getting this book for hardcore reference material I would be careful. I literally had the book 5 minutes and discovered a handful of mistakes.

Ex.

-Jim Lee's entry has the best selling X-Men #1 as being released in 2001 instead of 1991.

-The timeline has Sandman ending in 1997 when it was actually 1996.

If you buy this book get it for light reading. Do not use it for quoting comic fact until you check the validity of what you are using. Like I said.. I noticed these two mistakes after skimming the book for 5 minutes. I am afraid of how much more I will find once I start digging in.