Just a couple of weeks ago, I was offered an advance review copy of DC Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle, and jumped at the chance.
I already own The DC Vault, which has a heavy focus on the history but from a pop culture angle. I loved it craved something more comics-oriented.
The minute I saw the slipcover of this book, I was hooked.
The slipcover case to DC Comics Year by Year
Summary:
It’s exactly what it says it is, a visual history of all 75 years of DC comics from its founding in 1935. Included are the cover of New Fun, the first comic produced by the company, and all watershed events, such as Superman’s first appearance in 1938, the first comic in which he’s the title character, Batman’s first appearance in Detective Comics–from which the company later drew its name–and the beginning of the Silver Age with the appearance of the new Flash, Barry Allen.
There is a tremendous amount of geeky details, especially about the more obscure characters. Slam Bradley, most recently a supporting character in Catwoman, is shown as originally presented in 1937. Yes, the character is older than Batman or Superman. There are entries for the nearly forgotten Western heroes, the first appearance of Sgt. Rock in 1959 (I somehow thought he was a Golden Age character), and Jack Kirby’s leap from Marvel to DC.
What Parents Will Like About It:
The feature that caused my eyes to pop out of my head are the two-page full-color spreads interspersed throughout the book. The first is from one of the pre-Superman comics about a Galactic Patrol, there’s the one of Slam Bradley, the reproduction of a cover of All-American Western Comics featuring the western Johnny Thunder, and the original call-in notice asking readers to decide if the new Robin, Jason Todd, will live or die. A narrow majority voted in Jason’s death. (Though he has recently come back to life…)
The one that struck me the most is the original Bill Finger/Bob Kane origin for Batman. It’s so short and yet so perfect and sad. “Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot…” This is the next best thing to owning that issue.
What Kids Will Like About It:
I sat down with my youngest son to go through the whole book. He particularly wanted to find the characters that have appeared on Batman: The Brave and The Bold. We went over the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and I showed him the cover to the classic “Flash of Two Worlds,” issue which brought the Golden Age and Silver Age characters together. I was able to show him The Doom Patrol, the Metal Men, and the Phantom Stranger.
Best Panel:
Hands down, it’s the full-color Batman origin, despite competition from Adam Hughes’ wonderful two pages of Wonder Woman.
Extras:
There are two full-size inserts by artist Ryan Sook. The first is a color print of DC’s Trinity, Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. The second is an uncolored black and white portrait of Batman. The artwork on the slipcase and the book itself are also by Sook. The book cover has the three main characters in full color with black and white illustrations of many other characters. It’s fun to play “identify this hero” with your kids.
The book is pricey, at $50, but a quick look of Amazon showed that they were discounting it to $31.50. It would make a great gift for any collector.
