Amazon.com (ISBN 0810981467, Hardcover)

I don't even like comic books, but I was completely enthralled by this book. The hefty 300 pages of high clay-content, color-saturated pages with over 700 illustrations and detailed text covers the 50-year history of the canonical comic books company which later became one of the industry's greatest innovators. Here there be artists highly skilled at depicting mayhem with clarity and precision, and writers who unerringly touch the (popular) collective unconscious. In addition to being highly praised within the comic book community, this book has also received rave reviews from mainstream magazines such as Newsday and People.