The Essential Superman Encyclopedia [Paperback]

Robert Greenberger (Author), Martin Pasko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2010

NO X-RAY VISION? NO PROBLEM! LOOK WITHIN THE GUIDE THAT REVEALS ALL ABOUT THE WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HERO!
 
His incredible powers are legendary, his famous red-and-blue costume is unmistakable, and the S-shield emblazoned across his chest is iconic. Born Kal-El on the doomed planet Krypton, rocketed to Earth, and raised by the kindly Kents, he was destined to battle evil as Superman, the Man of Steel. Here’s your guide to absolutely everything about the high-flying hero who’s been thrilling comics fans for more than seventy years—an amazing A-to-Z compendium that spans the spectrum of all things Superman, including
 
• Superman’s debut in the now legendary Action Comics #1
• biographies of all the classic Superman characters: Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Jor-El and Lara, Jonathan and Martha Kent, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and the supporting ladies in Superman/Clark Kent’s life—including Supergirl, Lana Lang, and Lori Lemaris; plus Superboy, Krypto the Super-Dog, and the Man of Steel’s many diabolical archenemies, from Brainiac and Doomsday to Darkseid, Bizarro, and the mischievous Mr. Mxyzptlk
• Superman’s membership in the Justice League of America alongside the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash; his early adventures as Superboy; his numerous incarnations across the multiverse of worlds; and the stunning “Death of Superman” storyline that rocked the comics world
 • classic black-and-white comic book artwork throughout, two sixteen-page full-color sections, and an original cover painting by DC fan favorite Ryan Sook
 
Co-written by Robert Greenberger, author of The Essential Batman Encyclopedia, and veteran Superman comics and TV scripter Martin Pasko, with an Introduction by award-winning Superman scribe Geoff Johns, this fact-packed vault of a volume will be the go-to guide to the celebrated Man of Tomorrow for ages to come.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Greenberger is the creator of Comics Scene, the first national magazine covering comic books, comic strips, and animation. He has worked for DC Comics and Gist Communications, and he served as director of publishing operations for Marvel Comics. Greenberger is the author of numerous novels, including adventures set in the Star Trek universe, and is the news editor for the trendsetting online popular culture site ComicMix. He lives with his wife, Deb, in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (August 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034550108X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345501080
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 1.3 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Science Fiction & Fantasy
  • #33 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Literature

More About the Author

A writer, editor, and project manager, Robert Greenberger has been working in publishing since 1980. A lifelong fan of comics and science fiction, he watched dreams become reality when he first joined Starlog Press in 1980. There, he created Comics Scene which he edited during its initial run. In 1984, he moved to DC Comics where he worked as an editor or administrator until 2000, earning plaudits for his work on the Star Trek comic book. After a brief sojourn to the Internet, he returned to comics in 2001, this time working as an executive at Marvel Comics. This turned out to be a stormy, frustrating year and in 2002 he returned to DC as a senior editor in their growing collected editions department. In 2006, he left DC and found himself having the time of his life as Managing Editor at Weekly World News unitl its clueless management shuttered the paper.

Since then he has been a freelance writer, working on media tie-in properties, original fiction, non-fiction for your young adults and adults, and whatever else has come his way.

Currently, he writes a weekly op-ed column for the Fairfield Patch and a semi-monthly column for Westfield Comics. He makes his home in Connecticut where he is a Fairfield representative to the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency. For more, check out his website: www.bobgreenberger.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hot Off The Daily Planet Presses!, September 1, 2010

By 

John C. Hyde "WJCK5" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Essential Superman Encyclopedia (Paperback)

Before I say anything else, yes, this is an amazing book, and yes, you will want to buy it.

With regard to The Essential Batman Encyclopedia and how this book compares, the first thing I noticed is how much more massive TESE is compared to its Bat-counterpart. This absolutely dwarfs the Batman book. It has 120 more pages, and is vastly more detailed. The important entries in the Superman volume are longer and much more in depth than in the TEBE. For example: TEBE's entry for The Joker is 5 pages long. TESE's entry for Lex Luthor is 9 pages. TEBE's entry for Gotham City is 4 pages (including a full page illustration), the entry for Metropolis in this book is *12* pages. So you are talking about a much more impressive volume here. The only area I would give TEBE the nod in is in the artwork, especially the color sections. The art is much better in the Batman Encyclopedia.

The entries for all of the major characters and events in Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman's life are here in extraordinary detail. As I mentioned earlier, the entry for Metropolis is astounding. With sections covering its history, events, culture, etc. There are similarly detailed entries for Krypton, Lois, Lex, Jimmy, Daily Planet, Fortress of Solitude, anything you can think of. It really does feel like you are in Metropolis reading this book.

The artwork chosen is decent. There are 70 years of panels to select from, and there appears to be a nice variety. There are selections in the book I thought were bad. For example, the gorgeous classic cover of Superman #233, with Supes breaking the Kryptonite chains, is juxtaposed with a newer version of him in the same pose. But the new Kryptonite-breaking piece looks like crap, and is larger than the original. Why did it even need to be there when you already had the cover for #233? The two 16-page color sections leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes it seems like they make their selections by pulling them out of a hat. I would have liked to see John Byrne dominate this book like Jim Lee did for TEBE, but that's just fantasy talk.

Finally, I have to mention the omissions. When a horrible newer character like Gorgeous Gilly gets an entry and a panel of artwork, I can't help myself from wondering why other, more established characters were left out. Where's Booster Gold? I know for a fact Booster and Supes had significant interactions. They even had a crossover back in the day. Gold was based in Metropolis, his comic referenced Superman constantly. Booster Gold played a large part in the Death of Superman / Funeral For a Friend / Reign of the Supermen Saga. He was important enough to appear in the BBC Superman radio dramas and of course Justice League, Batman: The Brave & The Bold, and even had a cameo at the Superman Museum in the Legion of Superheroes cartoon. That is a glaring omission, one that I'm pretty annoyed by because Booster is one of the top DC heroes out there. Other omissions include: Dr. Fate, Kilowog, and the Green Lantern Corps, among others.

I'm giving The Essential Superman Encyclopedia 4 and a half Stars. I can't give it 5 Stars in good faith with all of the omissions. But most people will consider this a 5 Star book. This is a fabulous book. Fans of comics will adore this. And if you own the 2008 Batman volume, you need this.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Its ALMOST super!, October 17, 2010

By 

Spideymann66 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Superman Encyclopedia (Paperback)

I finally broke down and bought this after hemming and hawing for a good month and I'm glad I did! I could spend large chunks of the day getting lost in it....BUT there are some errors on the years indicated for certain issues....had to knock a star off for that, but don't let that stop you from getting this! Some of the reprinted covers take me back and some things I just plum forgot remind me of why I love the mythos os Superman!

3.0 out of 5 stars Super Encyclopedia, April 26, 2011

By 

scifijoe - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Essential Superman Encyclopedia (Paperback)

every thing you want to know about superman is here. i have the old one but this just blows it alway.
the art work is good and the color plates are very good.