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Title: Superman, the Complete History: The Life and Times of the Man of Steel by Les Daniels, Chip Kidd ISBN: 0-8118-2162-5 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (16 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Good overview of Superman's history
Comment: This is a great book for anyone who is interested in reading about the history of The Man Of Steel in all of his media incarnations (it's a few years old, so misses out on any info on the tv series Smallville). Well written and illustrated, it's a must-have for any fan of Superman.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must Have for Superman Fans!!
Comment: This book has everything you would ever need or want on the life and creation of the Man of Steel. It covers not only his start in the comics but also his radio days and television shows, not to mention movies. It's a very interesting read just to see how he has changed over the years.
Rating: 2
Summary: Hardly the True Story of Superman
Comment: There is no doubt the comic book industry owes a great debt to Superman, or rather, to Siegel and Shuster who created him, but in his book, Les Daniels frequently looks for ways to minimize, rather than credit, their contribution. DC Comics made millions of dollars on the movies, TV Shows, cartoons, and other merchanising over the decades, while Siegel and Shuster shared in hardly any of it. The most shocking thing now is, this book, written with the cooperation of DC - rather than apologize to the two men, or even express any kind of gratitude, it actually takes stabs at Sigel and Shuster. Rather than simply state the facts regarding to Superman's history, Daniels frequently assails the characters of the two men, claims they took most of their ideas from other places, assigns poor motives to both men, even mentions extra-marital affairs they may or may not have had. The book is supposed to be about Superman, who cares about any of that? Of course Daniels would never turn a critical eye towards DC, who seem to have hired him, it's surprising they still seem to be bitter about two men that made them so much money for the last sixty years. There is no doubt, DC has been the best comic book company when it comes to promoting their characters, but they have also been very lucky in the courts. Not only did they force Superman's creators to relinquish all rights to the character, their lawsuits also managed to force Captain Marvel, a character more popular than Superman at the time, out of business. They claimed they were too much alike, but anyone who knows comics could see their differences. Later, DC took over Captain Marvel and actually began publishing him themselves (!). This story is only touched on briefly here. I give the book two stars because the illustrations are good, but the text deserves one, if even that. Everyone is entitled their opinion, but, in a book like this, people don't want to hear about it, they expect a decent read about the character of Superman. The true history of Superman is really not told here, it actually involves greedy businessmen sitting back and counting their money, while the creators that were the ones to make these characters, end up dying peniless.
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Title: Batman: The Complete History: The Life and Times of the Dark Knight by Les Daniels, Chip Kidd ISBN: 0811824705 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: December, 1999 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Superman: The Ultimate Guide by Scott Beatty, Roger Stewart, Jeph Loeb ISBN: 0789488531 Publisher: DK Publishing Pub. Date: 01 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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Title: Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross by Alex Ross ISBN: 0375422404 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels, Chip Kidd ISBN: 0811829138 Publisher: Chronicle Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title:Complete Superman Cartoons: Diamond Anniversary Edition ASIN: 6305943389 Publisher: Image Entertainment Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $9.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $9.99 |
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