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It's possible that the public perception of Batman has been tainted by the blockbuster films by Joel Schumacher, accused of betraying the character's rich, long history. So, it is immensely gratifying to see a detailed chronicle of this popular culture giant who has successfully infiltrated and conquered a variety of media beyond his beginnings as a dark counterpart to Superman way back in 1939.Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Batman is that, for such a dark and angst-ridden character, his continuing ability at re-invention for new generations while never sacrificing the core appeal remains a significant strength. Comics historian Daniels has provided an excellent commentary of Batman from his genesis via various inspirations (DaVinci, Film Noir) to his current status as popular culture icon. Crucially, the author never forgets that, despite his multi-media presence, it emanated from the comic books. Filled with fascinating trivia, Daniels makes sure to highlight some of the lesser-known aspects of the Batman-Mythos, particularly Bill Finger, responsible for many of Batman's long-standing elements. Had it not been for Finger, Batman's costume might have ended up bright red!
In the visuals department, Daniels' text is spectacularly complemented. Chip Kidd once again weaves his design magic to produce pages that are brimming with atmosphere and photographer Geoff Spear makes various Bat-memorabilia leap off the page. Don't believe the films, Batman is as strong as ever--and this is the proof. --Danny Graydon
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There can't be many people who haven't heard of Wonder Woman, arguably the first female superhero and one of the "big three" (the others being Batman and Superman). She was created by Dr William Moulton Marston--who also invented the lie detector--as an antidote to masculine comic book adventures that are drenched in violent testosterone-fuelled imagery and portray women as helpless weaklings who have to rely on the men to untie them from the train tracks in the nick of time. Wonder Woman was certainly no weakling; dressed in stars and stripes, armed with bullet-deflecting bracelets and a magical lasso and flying around in an invisible jet, she had no qualms about saving her boyfriend Steve Trevor from certain doom in each issue while dealing a swift blow to the odd Nazi soldier as well. However, most people who aren't die-hard comic fans will only have memories of the camp and kitschy 1970s TV show starring the leggy and beautiful Lynda Carter (who also contributes the book's Forward). As compelling and faithful as this small screen adaption was, there is so much more to the WW mythology as Les Daniels admirably proves in this gorgeous hardback volume. It features lots of covers and extracted scenes from the comic books from her earliest appearance to her latest 1990s image changes and plenty of photographs of the plethora of WW merchandise created over the years. And for those of you old enough to remember the TV show who want to refresh your memories of the infamous theme song, the lyrics are also here in all their star-spangled glory. This is a wonderful nostalgic journey through the life and times of the first lady of Superheroes and a real appreciation of WW's staying power and campy cult status. Beautifully packaged, absorbingly written and wonderfully illustrated, this is a must-have for comic fans. --Jonathan Weir
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