RRP £29.99 Lowest New Price £18.69

Running Press Number of pages: 192 Language: English (Original Language) Language: English (Unknown) Language: English (Published)

RRP: £29.99
Packed full of memories.
Review date: 2008-11-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

From the 60's to the 80's I had collected many thousands of American comics, mainly Marvel but I had a pretty decent collection of DC comics, several of which are featured in this superb collection.
It features the history of DC comics from the 1930's up to the 1990's with heavier emphasis on the earlier formative years. Unlike Marvel which was largely set in familiar surroundings DC based many of its favourite characters in imaginary settings, Batman worked well in Gotham City, Superman in Metropolis and Flash in Central City did not work as well. They also suffered from their being set in different worlds with 2 of their main groups the JLA and JSA set in different universes; a fact that DC recognised and which led to the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline.
Several of my favourites are here including oddballs like The Inferior Five, Doctor Fate, Metal Men and Solomon Grundy.
That said this collection, like the Marvel vault, is full of great freebies posters, cards, reproductions of original art and a Wonder Woman bookmark, all of which should stay in their respective pouches. Being housed in a spiral folder it is best stored flat to minimise any risk of damage.
This is collection that will be appreciated by most comic fans and features work by such greats as Bob Kane, Shuster and Siegel, Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino, George Perez and many others.
Although my interest was mainly Marvel comics I can not help but admire the work Martin Pasko has put into this splendid volume. If it had been me I'd still be "researching" catching up on old Batman, Hawkman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow tales.