The Golden Age of DC Comics

i was born in 1940, at an early age I started reading these comic books .. We were immigrants from wartime germany living in tsingtao-china. The Maines came in 1945 and set up headquartes next to our home - they broght with them these comics and crates of Coca-Cola. My good english is thanks to these magazines. Superman, Batman and Robin, Hawkman,, Greenarrow etc. were like family to me. My dad threw away all my huge collection of these friends on our way by ship to Palestine in 1948. I still vividly remember them as he threw them out of our cabin's porthole. Floating up and down in thew wake of the ship...Yet, I doubt he would have acted otherwise had he only known the future worth of these copies..The book brought back these memories, the action, the excitement and what's more - the stories of the figures behind.Excellent book, first-class printing. Recommend to all senior youngsters of my age

This has become my showcase book in my vast collection of Comics history. The paper is of high quality the colors are spectacular.The text is colloquial and easy to read and very informative. I have a number of hard cover comic history books and this is the best I have ever owned, i will expect the same quality when I order the silver age DC. I removed the beautiful golden dust jacket so as not to have it frayed or folded or marred. I only put it back on the book when I am displaying it.

I didn't buy the 75 years book, though I had thought about it. My interest, being a bit of a pre boomer, was the golden and sliver age material, the things I bought or sought when I was a kid, and I figured the 75 year book would be dealing with a lot of the more recent entires which I have little interest in. Thus this first volume deals with the first half, the golden age, and the next one will be focusing on the silver age and that will pretty well do it for me. I'm pleased with the book as it brings back a lot of memories, as I expect the second one to do as well. There is a good deal of concentration on Batman and Superman in this volume, and I enjoyed that, as those two characters really put DC comics on the map, as far as I was concerned. Looking forward to the next volume.

This is a beautiful book. Great illustrations and gorgeous cover. Purchased as a gift for our son and it was the highlight of his day!Also came packaged very well. Entire edition was carefully bubble wrapped. Arrived in pristine condition with no tears or creases to any part of book.

if you have the nerve to say anything about Marvel - seriously, don't be a jerk.DC FOR LIFE and this book is pretty awesome. No word of a lie I'm biased but seriously - buy this book and have your mind bbbbblloown.

Being a lifelong fan of vintage comic books, I couldn't put this lovely book down. It has tons of rare comic book covers meticulously reproduced, with other rare artwork as well. A real gem. Just get it!

First, a few words about the previous Paul Levitz book, "75 Years of DC Comics." Those of us who have purchased it know that it is a humongous book that you need a forklift to pick up. In its 12 x 16" size and almost 20 pounds, a solid coffee table was needed to support it. The book, as the title suggested, covered the entire history of DC Comics...and was very expensive.Now, Taschen Publishing has issued a smaller book based on the previous unwieldy book. As a matter of fact, they are releasing five separate volumes, each pulling material from the 75 Years book, and each highlighting a distinctive historical age in comic books. The first release is this one, devoted to - as the title suggests - The Golden Age of DC Comics, an era ending in 1955, when the Silver age was born.The first thing you will notice when you compare the 75 Years book to this more recent one is the 75 Years book looks like that muscular bully next to the skinny kid in those old Charles Atlas ads that ran in comics. That's not to say that the new book isn't a respectable size in its own right. It measures 9" x 12" and what intrigued me was the fact that it is listed as 400+ pages devoted to just the Golden Age of DC comics. The original 75 years book covered the origins and Golden age of DC in 239 pages... so, the thought of an additional 200 pages to a DC fan was sheer heaven. Prior to ordering this more recent book, I had read interviews that Levitz gave where he said the difference would be more illustrations than before.Like many of you, I wondered if it would be worth a double dip. I decided to take a chance and purchased it. I have just completed a side-by-side comparison that took several hours. I hope that the following review will help you decide.The $60 price tag on the Golden Age of DC Comics is heftier than it should be. However, Amazon's price of approximately $35 is just about right. It's a really good-looking book on its own and it fits nicely on your lap while you are reading it. It is filled with illustrations from DC comics of the time period and, in that sense, it fulfills its purpose to someone who hasn't purchased the 75 Years of DC Comics book. But, for those who have, I want to point out what has changed...and where it is better, the same, and worse.When you open the Golden Age book, the first section you come across is an interview with artist Joe Kubert. This is a nice new addition that runs seven pages. What follows it is a reworking of the 75 Years book. And I do mean a reworking! I thought it would be relatively easy to do a side-by-side comparison because at first glance it does look like the 75 Years in layout. However, it only takes a few pages into the new book to realize that it does not follow page by page. For the new volume -- and I say new only in terms of publication date -- they have moved illustrations all over the place. Through all that, difficult as it was, I still did a comparison of the two books to see how many new pictures have been added. Doing so, the first thing I noticed is that there hasn't been actually approximately 200 new pages of illustrations added... but, rather, it is more a case of re-using pictures from the first book but oftentimes enlarging them to fit a full page. In certain cases, this works because some of the items were postage-stamp sized pictures in the first book, and now can be seen in much bigger and clearer detail. However, there are some that were large in the first book that it now been shrunk down. Some of the ones that were enlarged I have to question why? One splash page of a Batman story which was just one of several illustrations on a page in the 75 Years book has now been increased to cover two full pages in the Golden Age book. Why?A comparison by the way of the front and back covers of the 75 Years book shows they have been alternated for the Golden age book. Where Superman was on the front cover and Batman on the back is now reversed for the Golden age book.One thing I did notice right away from glancing at the text in the opening chapter of the Golden age book is that several paragraphs have been eliminated from the 75 Years. Other text has been trimmed or slightly revised. So, too, a number of illustrations from 75 Years have been cut down to show a panel or two, as opposed to several panels of a comic page in the original book. It is true that the new book sometimes will expand a little bit on panels, but more often than not we are seeing less in the new book than the original. Also gone are the fold out timetables and the glossy gold-colored pages saying "Golden Age of Comics".(A quick note: both books take time out to salute major talents in the comic book field of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Please know, I hold masters like Will Eisner and Jack Cole in the highest regards, but the pages here illustrate the Spirit and Plastic Man, respectively, neither of which were produced by DC comics in the 1940s. Yes, they work with these characters now, but I truly feel that these books should be representative of the actual time period for DC comics. I feel the same way about the inclusion of EC comics in both volumes. In my opinion, they just don't belong.)Now let's look at what has been added to the Golden Age book. From my account, there are approximately 120 new illustrations. Not 120 pages of new illustrations... just 120 additional pictures. Do these make it worthwhile for of someone who has the 75 Years book to buy the Golden Age? If the panels, covers, and photos were a significant addition, I would've said yes. But, for the most part, these are run-of-the-mill that add nothing. The best was in the original.I do think that possibly with all five of the new volumes sitting on your shelf, it will make a very nice history. And much easier to manage than the original 75 Years. If you have no intention of picking up the 75 Years of DC Comics book, then, yes!, please go ahead and purchase the Golden age book and the ones that will follow. BUT if you have the 75 Years, with its sheer size and quite a few illustrations that don't make it into the newer book...and more text...you're probably better off keeping the 75 Years edition and passing on the five volumes will follow. I don't see reasons of any significance to own both.So, in summary:PROS:1. Reduced size and weight of new book makes it much easier to pick up and read.2. About 120 additional illustrations.3. Some pictures that were small in first book are larger now.4. Cheaper to buy if you want only one or two volumes.5. New Joe Kubert interview.CONS:1. Missing and reduced text.2. Not 200+ pages of additional material; just same material rearranged and spread out over smaller-diminensioned book.3. Some of the illustrations that have been increased in size are good but for the most weren't necessary.4. Due to decreased page dimensions, some multi-panel illustrations have been reduced to one or two panels.5. The approximately 120 additional illustrations are of less interest and add nothing.6. Glossy pages denoting chapter beginnings have been eliminated and now use regular material.7. Eliminated foldout time table pages.7. As a set, the five volumes together will be more expensive than the 75 Years book.So, to answer the question: should I double dip? The answer is no.I love DC comics, and I have done so since I was about eight years old back in 1963 when I first discovered Superman, Batman, and the other four-color wonders. Whatever way you decide to go on this, whether it be the original 75 Years book, or the individual five volumes, you are in for a very wonderful history of the best comic book company ever.

I purchased this as a gift so I cannot evaluate the contents of the book, but the recipient was delighted and effusive in thanks. It shipped quickly.

Cadeau très apprécié. Je n'ai pas lu moi-même ce livre puisque 'il ne m'était pas destiné, mais la personne l'a beaucoup aimé,et le trouve très bien fait avec de belles illustrations.

I started buying DC comics in the Silver Age, which is post 1956, but have always been interested in what went on before. This is a fabulous book, of the highest quality, with superb examples of the comic world from 1935 to 1956. Yes, some of the art work may seem crude by today's standards, but it's fascinating to see the roots of the modern comic world, and to learn about the pioneers in this field. Any serious fan of comics should have a copy of this book - it's an invaluable reference guide to a fascinating period in comic book history.

habs mir für 25€ mit 3€ versandkosten von einem privaten händler hier bestellt, aber ich habe mich schon darauf eingestellt 40€ zu bezahlen, und auch für 40€ ein super buch.an sich ist in dem buch viel klugscheißerwissen, welches man sich als comicfan aneignen sollte und gut in gesprächen mit anderen geeks anwenden kann. selten kommt zwar dieser lange verstrichene zeitraum zum gesprächsthema auf, also empfiehlt es sich auf jeden fall auch die anderen bänder zusätzlich zu kaufen.größtenteils beschreibt das buch mit grandios gedruckten dicken seiten die anfangsthemen von batman und superman, aber auch heutzutage kaum bekannte nebencomics, welche sich nicht unbedingt um superhelden handeln. später kommen noch viele infos zu wonderwoman und plastic man und vielen anderen helden dazu und ganz wichtig: Filmwissen zu dem ganz alten batman film(und nein, ich meine nicht den 1966 batman mit dem anti haifischspray, sondern den ganz alten schwarz-weiß film von 1943). den alten superman film mit george reeves(nicht verwandt mit späterem superman darsteller christopher reeve). ich habe ehrlich gesagt das buch noch nicht ganz durch und habe extra dafür mein ganzes comicregal umgestellt, da es gar nicht in die regalfächer reinpasste(ist recht groß, habs kleiner in erinnerung gehabt, als ich das letztes jahr auf ner comicmesse, dann wegen dem gewicht und der größe doch nicht mitgenommen hab) also klare kaufempfehlung.

Este é um livrão com capa dura, sobre capa dourado metálico, muito bonito. É em inglês, pois é dos Estados Unidos. É ricamente ilustrado, com várias imagens das primeiras histórias em quadrinhos dos personagens da DC que na época era National. Vale muito a pena ter este livro na coleção. Vale lembrar que este livro é o primeiro de uma coleção de três livros. Este conta sobre a era de ouro dos quadrinhos, falando especificamente dos personagens da DC: Batman, Superman, Sociedade da Justiça,etc. Tem muitas curiosidades.

tutto ok