Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters, Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe

by Ron Goulart

A 4–colour, illustrated best–of–the–best of the comic book world – with writers/creators who launched an industry (Jack Kirby, Stan Lee), amazing graphic novels ( Preacher, The Watcher ), legendary artists (Jim Lee) and characters as wide–ranging as Archie, The Gay Ghost, Batman, Blue Devil and the Fantastic Four. Never before has there been a single volume of superheroes, graphic novels, strange comic icons, legendary writers and artists of the comic world. Comic Book Encyclopedia is the multiverse of comic legend and lore for every comic–book fan, and for everyone who wants to understand the characters, history, and universal appeal of this world. Collected into a single volume, this is the best–of–the–best of comics. From the 1930s to today, it includes everything a young, budding comic reader – or an experienced pro – needs to know and/or read.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction

378 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Pseudonyms: Howard Lee; Frank S Shawn; Kenneth Robeson; Con Steffanson; Josephine Kains; Joseph Silva; William Shatner.
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.

In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a large, very well-produced over-view of the graphic field and the history of modern comics. It has many color reproductions of covers and pages of comics both famous and somewhat obscure. It has a bigger-than-life comics feel to it, both in Goulart's enthusiasm for his subject, and in the visual design and layout. It's great for either leafing through randomly, or researching a particular comic. Lots of fun!

[Malika-Liki · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's a very interesting read, quite complete, stil mosty american comics with a few mentions to european or japanese comics,

[Lis Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a big, beautiful, richly illustrated book that covers a lot of territory—the history and development of comic books and graphic novels. It attempts to cover the entire field, characters, artists, writers, and give at least a basic understanding of the history. Unfortunately, as it says on the cover, "Nearly 400 BIG pages!", i.e., it's not quite four hundred pages. That's not enough space for in-depth treatment; it's made a bit more cramped by those beautiful illustrations (which, I must say, it would be a shame to lose.). The articles are mostly short, and characters one would have thought important enough for their own entries are reduced to mentions in broader entries. (Bugs Bunny, for instance, is barely mention in the "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies" entry.) This is a good, fun book nevertheless, but possibly a better choice for the reader just getting seriously interested in comics, than for the established fan who already has an in-depth knowledge of the field.