There are months where I simply cannot keep up with all the great books that Titan Books puts out. I’m quite fond of their two Sherlock Holmes book series that provide me with a number of new tales each year, and they put out some of the best oversized hardbacks for geeks on a wide range of subjects. They’re also responsible for my absolute favorite Firefly resource. This month, Titan dropped three new titles on my doorstep, all sharing a very recognizable origin.
Arrow: Oliver Queen’s Dossier (compiled by Nick Aires)
I go back and forth with Arrow… the previous season wasn’t my favorite, but of course I’m back for the new season and ready to watch Oliver and team put some new baddies behind bars and do battle with the new season Big Bad. Fans of the show are sure to enjoy this new book release from Titan Books that consists of hundreds of press clippings, business cards, receipts, police reports, schematics, notes, and much more. In many instances, fans will get some better details of documents glimpsed in the show as well as weapons, uniforms, and floor plans.
The 160-page full-color book is a really well-done resource book for the show. Broken into three sections–Investigations, Equipment, and Allies–you’ll enjoy reliving the first three seasons of the show as you examine Oliver’s dossier. I’m particularly fond of the Equipment section that has details of Arrow’s bows and arrow variants, but cosplayers out there looking for more detailed photos and imagery will find the entire book a solid resource.
The Art and Making of The Flash (by Abbie Bernstein)
So, Flashpoint was the starting point of Season 3, and now we fans are going to get to see how Barry’s tinkering with time plays out… and my best guess is there will be some serious repercussions from his actions. But let’s not forget about the great first two seasons of the show! If you’re as big a fan as I am, you’ll want to dig into The Art and Making of The Flash that is a comprehensive review of the first two seasons–villains, allies, locales, technology–it’s all in here. Even Earth-2.
There’s a lot of great discussion in this book with those involved in making the show look so good. Costumers, artists, stunt coordinators, and actors provide so much good stuff about the secrets of the show. There’s even a great 3-page foreword written by Greg Berlanti, the co-creator and executive producer of four of the CW shows–The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and now Supergirl–that provides background on how The Flash came to be, including the casting of many of the show’s actors and actresses.
Want to know how Flash’s costume was developed? Need details on the special effects used when the Flash runs and fights at high speed? Want some secrets about the bad guys that might have gone unnoticed in the fast-paced show? It’s all in here, plus much more. And just as Oliver Queen’s dossier book (mentioned above) provided great photos and details for cosplayers, this book is also going to be a huge hit with Flash cosplay fans. So many great closeup photos of costumes, weapons, and tech! Enjoy the 160-page full-color resource as we all wait to see where Season 3 takes Barry and friends…
Batman: Facts and Stats from the Classic TV Show (designed by Rian Hughes, Text by Y.Y. Flurch)
I grew up watching the classic ’60s Batman in reruns on TV–I loved the KAPOW! fights, the Holy-This and Holy-That! from Robin, and the villains. Just loved the villains. Batman and Robin were great as the good guys, but for me… it was wondering just which villain was going to be placing the Dynamic Duo in a certain-death scenario and then having to wait a day to find out how the cliffhanger ended. Of course, we all knew Batman and Robin were going to escape, but it didn’t matter… the music, the colors, the fight scenes. It was all just pure fun.
Titan’s just released a new book that pulls together all these wonderful facts and stats about the show in an 80-page hardback that perfectly captures the style of the show with its colorful and oversized fonts, the speech bubbles, and photos from the show. Did you know there were over 400 different Holy- statements made during the show’s entire 120-episode run? Did you know that when the show premiered on January 12, 1966, it had 49% of the audience share that night? Did you know that Joker and Penguin tied with 19 appearances each, and Catwoman came in 2nd place with 16 TV appearances and a movie (but with 3 different actresses)? You’ll find these details and many more in this obvious labor-of-love-book.
