Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent?: And Other Amazing Comic Book Trivia!

by Brian Cronin

Outrageous, fascinating and bizarre facts from every corner of the comic book universeWhat comic book artist was the recipient of an on-stage thank you from Paul McCartney and an on-air apology from Johnny Carson? What superhero got his powers by being bitten by a mongoose? What popular NPR host was forever immortalized as a "bad boyfriend" in a notable comic book? In Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? , author Brian Cronin will answer those questions and more by revealing the most obscure, wacky and surprising facts about comics—from the characters and creators, to the TV shows, movies and merch. Cronin has teamed up with some of the top comic book writers and artists of today to present 100 trivia lists, ·        Nine Celebrities That Guest-Starred in Comic Books…without Their Permission ·        Seven Bands That Got Their Names from Comics ·        Ten Crazy Items Found on Batman’s Utility Belt ·        Five Comic Book Inventions That Eventually Became Real ·        Five Stupidest Superhero Origins ·        And much, much more! From Batman to Spiderman, Aquaman to the X-Men, each list in Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? will entertain and inform whether you’re a hardcore geek or a casual fan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Comics, Humor, Reference, Graphic Novels, Trivia

262 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2012

About the author

Brian Cronin is an internationally known illustrator whose work has appeared in the The New Yorker, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and many other publications. He won the Society of Illustrators’ Founders Award for his first book, The Lost House and a New York Times Best Illustrated Award for The Lost Picnic.

Brian lives with Doreen Cronin in Brooklyn, New York, and the two have previously collaborated on the picture book Lawrence & Sophia.

Reviews

[Thomas Van Boening · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is so much great trivia in here, I was astonished! Some of this great comic book related information made me crack up laughing.

A fun read. Anyone who has read comics, or enjoyed other comic-book related media, this is a good quick read.

[Tiamatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a fun little book with a bunch of comic-related lists, including a lot of lists from great comic book creators. The title question isn't really answered, but there's still plenty of trivia throughout it. It's worth reading if you're a fan of comic books.

[Alvin Dantes · Rating 4 out of 5]

kind of fun. mostly fluff. easy read

[Christy Stewart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save yourself $10 and read these facts on Buzzfeed

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not read comics growing up and really have read many traditional superhero comics still to this day. I did, however, really enjoy the 1960s Batman TV series, especially the movie, as a kid. Therefore, the title of this book was a little irresistible to me. I found the book to be mildly entertaining but not especially revelatory in any way.

[Trevor Seigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty fun way to pass some time (I read it in a day), as is often the case with books of this nature some lists are better than others. But I really enjoyed this and would recommend it even to the comics fan who lost his passion for it years ago but still like the occasional superhero movie (like your humble reviewer, perhaps).

[John Diebold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun trivia

[John Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprised mostly of list of different comics related things. Lots of interesting facts and opinions from different comics creators. Very quick read but very fun.

[Fangirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading these kind of trivia books.
They make for easy reading when time is short, or when I am in between books.
This one was fun!

[Mark Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable comic book miscellany.

[Myron M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as an e-book, which mean I couldn't see the illustrations at all. Not bad otherwise. His comics urban legends book was better.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you happened to be looking for a philosophical treatise on why a fictitious crime fighter with a deathwish carries outrageously impractical protective equipment, you came to the wrong damn place, kimosabe.

The trivia wasn't all that amazing, the writing wasn't inspired, the research didn't involve any original stories (not so's I could tell, anyways), and the use of photos was unprofessional.

You know what might have been fun? Lists with a little bite to them. Lists like 10 Disgusting Hookups Between Neil Gaiman and Comicon Attendees (complete with photos), or 50 Great Chicks Turned Off by Comics (could have been 500, but why push it...and don't forget the photos of those hotties!), or even 20 Worst Comic Ripoffs (multicover, foil cover, die-cut cover, holographic cover, bagged collectors editions, certificates of authenticity...the list could conceivably be endless!).

Look, this book was lame. Still, I found it mildly enjoyable to revisit some of these trivia stories about comic silliness and comic creator hijinx, and I think any hardcore comic fan will enjoy something here. However, this is not a book worth its retail price. Pick it up used for a buck somewhere someday or see if you can get it from a library and skip the buyer's remorse.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Book of Lists-type collection covering topics such as Ten Strange Items in the Utility Belt, Six Weird Powers of Superman, Five Weird 1950s comic-book ads and Six Heroes Wolverine Has Stabbed, plus lists of Greatest Comics Artists/Characters/etc. compiled by polls or noted creators. Like most books of this sort, fluffy fun, though with a few striking pieces. Greg Pak’s discussion of how J. Jonah Jameson’s right-hand man Robbie Robertson being black impressed him as a kid is memorable, for instance.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a book I read as a sort of survey to my comic book research, when I was trying to break into comics. I started it about a year ago, but finally finished it up. Genuinely fun, good trivia and hosted by a bunch of writers and artists of the comic book world. Proven fact that reciting lists from this book makes you 14x cooler, like when you can drop the "Who else has wielded Thor's hammer?" list to people fresh out of Avengers: Age of Ultron. (Captain America, Wonder Woman, Superman - movie canon: Vision)

Also, did you know Bruce Jenner wanted to play a film role of Superman?

[John Lamberth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun nuggets of comic book trivia. It's got something for almost everybody. Deep history for the hardcore fan; fun stuff for the casual fan.
Sometimes it had me question whether an entry was really worth my time, but I also ended up with a list of comics I'd like to track down and read. It might not have been QUITE as interesting as I hoped, but I'm a pretty picky long time comic junkie, so I set the bar pretty high.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was OK. I'm not generally a fan of trivia books, but I do like comic books, so I wasn't sure if I should read it. While it did have plenty of pointless lists (like why does Batman carry shark repellent), it also had a lot of interesting back story on comic books and creators, so it was a worthwhile read.

[Trey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a few interesting tidbits, and introduced me to a few comics I should be checking out. However, I was not a fan of the all-list structure. At some point, you just want to read a few paragraphs.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun one. Lots of little facts, trivia, and top 5/10 lists. (And Batman doesn't carry shark repellent....Robin tossed it down from the Batcopter)

[Brandt Mylott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun quick read. Packed with neat trivia in easy to digest list form. I would have liked to see more illustrations. Nerds only need apply!

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do enjoy collections of trivial information, but this books of lists is unfortunately fairly dull...and not a patch on Cronin's previous book, Was Superman A Spy?.

[Gregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read. Not sure I'd reccomend it other than as a fluff piece with lots of facts

[Ian]

Fun book. Mostly skimmed it, reading parts that I could relate to (I am not a comic book connoisseur).

[Dan Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of random, little-known facts about the comic book industry!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun trivia book. I definitely recommend it to any fellow comic book fans!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and fun look at comic books through the ages. It's just a book of lists and trivia but well worth the limited amount of time it takes to read.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book, I'm glad I own a copy!

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not deep stuff, sure, but entertaining enough that I picked it up to flip through it and not only ended up reading the whole thing but also got some good comics recommendations.

[Ternelljade · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part I enjoyed it, but there were some lists where technically an item might not really count, but was included anyway. I didn't understand the reasoning or lack thereof behind that.

[Jace · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting but I don't think I would read it again