Customer Reviews

The Essential Batman Encyclopedia

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 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!

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.

This is indeed a great book. As a batfan you'll definitely need to make this purchase because this is by far the best book of its kind. All of the positive things said by other reviewers are true.

My problem is in finding out the Wonder Woman Encyclopedia is 100 pages longer than Batman's. 488 pages to 388. That means Batman's is about 250 pages short. Because Batman is the greatest superhero of all time, with BY FAR the highest number of different villains, allies, and supporting cast. There is no way the Wonder Woman book could be longer than the Caped Crusader's. It's too ridiculous to even fathom. Just ask yourself, how many Wonder Woman supporting cast members can you name? I'm a hardcore comics fan and I can only name a few. Meanwhile, my grandmother could name half a dozen Batman characters off the top of her head. Yet Wonder Woman is entitled to a 100-pages longer encyclopedia than Batman?

Now, on the eve of the release of the final chapter in this particular trilogy, The Essential Superman Encyclopedia, I come to find out the Superman volume ALSO checks in at 100 pages longer. It seems as though Robert Greenberger realized he was outdone by Phil Jimenez and now he's attempting to fix it by making the Superman book a more appropriate length. But what does that do for Batman, and the people who bought his encyclopedia? It leaves them out in the cold, with a stunted volume that contains far too many omissions. There are so many omissions, I assumed there were space constraints. But now that I know there were no such constraints, I can't help but feel that this book is incomplete.


Still a great volume. I'm certainly hanging on to my copy. But it stings to know they're doing these books on a grander scale now, and we'll have to settle for this scaled-back version... until the Updated and Expanded edition comes out, of course.

I was somewhat disappointed by this volume. The author does link the various DC incarnations of the denizens of Gotham, but it's still somewhat confusing. Maybe that's because the DC Universe is confusing.
Perhaps separating the incarnations a bit more would've been beneficial. The volume certainly is comprehensive. I would have opted for drawings of the various incarnations of the major Batman characters, rather than the various color montage plates. This volume and The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes: Batman by Fleisher (newly republished in 2007)complement each other. The dedicated Batman aficionado should have both.

I bought this as a birthday gift for my husband, who is an enormous Batman fan. He was beyond thrilled with the book, it has a wealth of information about the world of Bruce Wayne and Batman. My husband has spent hours poring through the book, and has learnt so much.
A highly recommended book for any Batman fan!!

Obviously, most people who will care about an item like this already know most everything said within it. That being said, it is still a great buy for batman fans, or people getting introduced to the character. Thinner than I expected, but with more than enough information, even on unimportant characters. Illustrations included from the series' comics in the past are a nice touch, and add a good bit of eye candy considering that Jim Lee's art is featured heavily.

A great book for any Batman fan, but especially great for someone just getting into the comic book world. Detailed explainations, color and black and white pictures really make this enjoyable to read. This encyclopedia gives you information from multiple Earths, not just one. So everyone's take on the dark knight is acknowledged. I really love this book.

This is a fairly exhaustive list of all characters in the immediate and directly connected universe, excluding movies and tv shows.
Don't let the cover fool you. While the middle has a selection of some of the best pieces or artwork, the majority of the book is like a text-manual, an actual encyclopedia of characters, places, and devices.
That was just what I was looking for, but I don't think most kids under 10 would dig it.

This book is an essential for the serious Batman reader. It explores everything in this pop icon's comics mythos up until the disappearance of Bruce Wayne. Due note however that it does not cover Batman's big screen or small screen incarnations, simply the comic book lore. This encyclopedia can also help you if you find yourself getting lost with all the Grant Morrison current revampment of the character's past (i.e., you will be able to sort throught the source material he's borrowed from). I highly recommend this book!!!