Exploring Gotham City

by Matthew K. Manning, Muti (Illustrator)

"Lavishly illustrated by Studio Muti, Exploring Gotham City is the perfect book for readers of all ages who want to investigate the tumultuous city Batman calls home." – Sandbox World

Discover the secrets of Gotham City with this large-scale interactive book, DC Exploring Gotham City.

Explore Gotham City, home of the mysterious crime fighter the Batman! From the depths of the Batcave to Wayne Manor, Arkham Asylum, and beyond, these pages take you on a fully illustrated journey through the crime-riddled city. Inside you'll learn all about Gotham City's shadowy history, encounter infamous villains from The Joker to the Penguin, and find out what the Batman, Robin, and other heroes are doing to stop them.

Genres: Batman, Graphic Novels, Art, Superheroes, Fiction, Dc Comics

48 pages, Hardcover

Published March 16, 2021

About the author

Matthew K. Manning is the author of over eighty books and dozens of comic books. He has written books for Scholastic, Disney Press, Abrams, Amazon, Capstone, DK Publishing, Insight Editions, Andrews/McMeel, and Running Press, dividing his time between writing original chapter book series and coffee table books. His chapter books include the six-book series Xander and the Rainbow-Barfing Unicorns (Capstone), the four-book Drone Academy series (Capstone), Backstories: Batman and Backstories: Batgirl (Scholastic), and Artemis Fowl: How to be a LEPrecon (Disney Press), released in both paperback and on Audible. Many of his books have reached best-seller status on Amazon, including DC Comics: Anatomy of a Metahuman, DC Comics Encyclopedia, and Batman: A Visual History. In addition, Manning specializes in comic books, writing for the titles Beware the Batman, Teen Titans Go!, The Batman Strikes!, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, Justice League Adventures, Scooby-Doo, and Looney Tunes for DC Comics, Marvel Action: Avengers for IDW/Marvel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Amazing Adventures and TMNT: New Animated Adventures for IDW, and the top-selling Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures for DC/IDW, nominated by the Diamond Gem Awards for comic of the year. Manning’s work has received acclaim in Entertainment Weekly, People Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Publisher’s Weekly, and The Washington Times. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife Dorothy and his daughters Lillian and Gwendolyn.

Buy his books and support independent booksellers on Bookshop at https://bookshop.org/shop/matthewkman...

Reviews

[Mia]

A beautifully illustrated book that's exactly what it says: a guide to the home of the infamous caped vigilante Batman- aka Gotham City.

Coming in a hardcover, large format style, this book is a dream, illustration wise.



It's beautifully rendered, and Matthew K. Manning's illustrations capture the art deco aspect of Gotham perfectly.

I'm a hardcore Batman fan, and in terms of learning about the city itself, this guide is fantastic. It talks about the fictional history of Gotham, and also goes into the physical architecture as well.

However, if you're looking for a in-depth look at the batfam and rogues gallery, this ain't it. While it has brief mentions of characters you'd expect (Jim Gordon, Joker, etc) and some you wouldn't (Maxie Zeus, Mad Monk), the focus is on the city itself, which I didn't mind- I loved how all the little details about Gotham City as a physical place made it feel like a character in itself- which is how Batman himself has said he sees his city.

Spanning Wayne Manor to Crime Alley, to Arkham Asylum and Burnside, you'll get a whole bunch of info about Gotham, along with a map of the whole entire City (fanfic writers rejoice!)- but don't expect paragraphs of detail on your favourite resident. In a way it's refreshing for me- DC Guides usually drive me crazy because the bias of information is insane- you'll get 3 whole essays on Dick Grayson, then a footnote on Stephanie Brown (no disrespect to Nightwing, but in no way shape or form can anyone claim that the batkids get equal billing in Batman-adjacent media). Detailed comments and mentions of Gotham's costumed citizens are pretty randomized- you get mentions of No Man's Land, but also the whole Court of Owls ordeal, then even recent events like Jason Todd's takeover of the Iceberg Lounge (as a Jason stan this made me embarrassingly pleased).

I think the illustrations alone though make this a worthwhile read!

[Nightwing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took four days to finish. Good so many good guys and bad guys talked about. Also wow shows how much I don’t know. 🦇 🦉☺️ Better and more thoughtful review later I hope but just finished! Oh and really took from all “universes” for the book.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look into the crazy lore and layout of Gotham City... and I'd still live there.

[Rowan Muir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and an amazing level of detail all about Gotham

[Luis Dion-Dussault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je pensais que ce livre s’adressait aux enfants, comme je l’ai trouvé dans la section jeunesse de ma librairie préf’..

Finalement, pas du tout!

Le concept est simple: on y découvre l’univers de Gotham et ses environs, quartier par quartier!

Les dessins sont simples, mais très jolis. Mais surtout, on y apprend une foule de faits anecdotiques liés aux différents lieux populaires ou plus obscurs de Gotham.

La seule chose qui manque, à mon humble avis, c’est un lien entre chaque anecdote et le récit auquel elle réfère. Il n’y a pas vraiment de façon d’en « savoir plus » lorsqu’on se demande dans quelle BD tel événement s’est déroulé.

À lire pour les superfans et les curieux!

[Clarisse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original book with great illustration.