The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes
Here's an 'ultimate' encyclopedia that lives up to its billing.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This comprehensive encyclopedia of comic books and super heroes provides a detailed look at both famous and obscure characters and publications from the past eighty years of comics.
Book News
From Adam Strange to Zorro, the second edition of The Superhero Book delivers on its promise to be the Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes. Just plain fun ..., this inexpensive volume delivers the goods with a biff!, bam!, and pow! Recommended.
Booklist
...excellent compendium of comic book superheroes....
Choice
Being a 'super-hero' book rather than a 'comic book' book, it includes plenty of non-comics entries....Happily, it has both a contents page and an index.
Comic Buyer's Guide
There’s plenty of information here which may well inspire hours of diversion.
popmatters.com
This colossal encyclopedia of all things superhero could not have come at a better time. With a slew of comic-book movies each year, kids are more interested than ever in anything to do with these heroes....It is a must-buy for comic readers interested in knowing the early roots and conceptions of comic-book heroes.
School Library Journal
This book is alive with detail, generous with comic book cover reproductions, comprehensive, colorful, accurate, and, most of all, entertaining. It wants to cover as much ground as possible, and cover it right. The impressive thing is, it succeeds.... This encyclopedia is inspiring, and as a reference tool it is going to get a lot of use.
Silver Bullet Comics
It definitely fills a much-needed niche in the growing lore of the genre and will be a welcome addition to the collection of any fan of spectacular superhero sagas. Excelsior!
Stan Lee, inventor of the modern superhero
Following is a handy guide to all the classic superheroes and a few new superhero books. This is the book that I’ve been searching for to answer all those pesky questions and set little minds at ease. It includes detailed information on origin, skills, powers and weaknesses, to name just a few. Loaded with photos and illustrations.
The Childrens Book Review.
Superhuman strength.
Virtual invulnerability. Motivated to defend the world from criminals and madmen. Possessing a secret identity. And they even have fashion sens—they look great in long underwear and cat suits. These are the traits that define the quintessential superhero.The superhero's pop-culture and mass media presence has never been greater, and the need to understand their histories—what makes them tick? their strengths? weaknesses? secret identities and arch-enemies?—and their role in society has never been more powerful. The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes is the comprehensive guide to all those characters whose impossible feats have graced the pages of comic books for the past one hundred years. From the Golden and Silver Ages to the Bronze and Modern Ages, they are all here: The Avengers, Batman and Robin, Captain America, Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, The Incredibles, The Green Lantern, Iron Man, Catwoman, Wolverine, Hellboy, Elektra, Spawn, The Punisher, Teen Titans, the Justice League, the Fantastic Four, and hundreds of others.
The Superhero Book is more than just a walk down memory lane. Through detailed stories, descriptions, and explanations it shows why the idea of battling the forces of evil and injustice never go out of style. It relates how popular heroes of yesteryear were reinvented to meet the demands of the new age. The book follows the changes from the World War II era heroes to today's often darker and brooding anti-heroes, who are paralyzed by angst, self-doubt and disillusionment—reflection of what we are all going through because of the sudden uncertainty and insecurities of our own times.
Unique in bringing together characters from Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, as well as smaller independent houses, The Superhero Book covers the best-loved and historically significant superheroes across all mediums and guises, from comic book, movie, television, and graphic novels. This informative, fun book boasts 180 full-color illustrations, including dozens of classic comic-book covers; it is the ultimate A-to-Z compendium of everyone's favorite superheroes, anti-heroes and their sidekicks, villains, love interests, superpowers, and modus operandi.
About Gina Misiroglu
Gina Misiroglu—also known by her code name, the Taskmistress—has authored or edited more than three dozen books in the popular culture, biography, American history, folklore, and women’s studies genres. She is the editor of the three-volume reference work American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History (2009—winner of the 2010 RUSA Award for Outstanding Reference Source) and the Encyclopedia of Women and American Popular Culture (2012), which explores women’s contributions to film, television, comics, music, fashion, and graphic art. Misiroglu was the co-editor of the first edition of The Superhero Book and its companion title The Supervillain Book, both of which received numerous accolades from the comics and film communities, including a Top Picks selection from SCOOP. She is a frequent speaker at the San Diego Comic Con, where she moderates panels for the Comics Arts Conference, a gathering of scholars who publish in the American studies and popular culture genres.
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
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