Newbie Heaven

O.K., I know my Valiant Comics. I sort of know Marvel. I certainly recognize DC's Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash. But when it comes to topics like "Rebirth", or the less than iconic DC lines, well, most of what I know I picked up from watching "Big Bang Theory".

This book is nicely organized as an entry point for either total newbs or for people who want to expand their horizons a bit. I would expect that real completists already have exhaustive checklists.

We start with what DC calls the "25 Essential Graphic Novels", (books like "The Dark Knight Returns"), and then move on to the basics for each iconic character. From there we have chapters on "Page to Screen", Vertigo, Young Animal, MAD, and DC Superhero Girls. There are also checklists and suggested reading orders.

I was happy to see that lines like "Watchmen" and "Sandman" got their fair share of attention, as well as lesser known titles, like "Fables", and even some questionable titles like "Gotham Academy". And of course there are shout outs to creations like Nightwing, Hellblazer, Harley Quinn and Suicide Squad.

So, it's free, it's interesting, and it's very well thought out. While DC clearly believes that every single thing they have ever published is an immortal classic, there is certainly a lot of quality work here to admire and think about. Even for the very casual browser this is a nice find.