Tim Leong

I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher (Chronicle Books) for promotional purposes.

This was a super fun read!

I’m a huge fan of Marvel so I knew I had to read this one.

The book consists entirely of infographics exploring various facets of the Marvel Comics Universe. Some were very helpful (like the Marvel map of Manhattan, family trees, and speed rankings of various characters) and others were so funny (like the the picture of Black Widow’s emblem that states her show more sense of urgency, either “Russian” or “Takin’ her time”).

The infographics themselves were vibrant, creative, and easy to read/follow. The author did an amazing job organizing and condensing the info into the graphics.

The only thing the book was missing was an introduction and/or conclusion. I would have liked to know the background of how the book came to be and the research behind it. Based on the content of the infographics, it was very evident that a lot of research was done. The book includes many characters, not just the most famous ones. It’s clear a Marvel expert created this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this informative, yet amusing look into the Marvel Comics Universe. If you love Marvel comics, I highly recommend reading this book! It also makes the perfect gift for any Marvel fan. show less

I received this book for free as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program.

This is a great book. And I'm a huge Star Wars nerd, which is why I think it's a great book. Hear me out, this one is really well done. First, it is simply well made. Nicely laid out, heavy paper with a satin finish, and a fine attention to detail that warms my OCD heart.

Of course, it is also full of Star Wars trivia. Like what is the speed of various ships in MGLT (megalights per hour).

Or all the times show more someone said "I have a bad feeling about this...."

Perhaps the single best graphic in the book is this, a chart of all the books, movies, TV shows, videogames, and comic books that are considered part of Disney's new canon. Everything else got swept into the Legends category by Disney, although some fan favorites have been brought back.

This book is a great buy for any Star Wars fan, or even just a lover of nicely done graphics. I even learned a few things about the characters who have been introduced into the new storyline. Well worth your time and money. show less

Intermittently interesting, but suffering from a multiple personality disorder. Some of the charts were helpful and interesting explications of some aspect of superherodom (e.g. the time elapsing between a major character's death and their eventual resurrection) while other charts were just plain silly (I can barely remember the silly ones, but they'd be a picture of, say, Captain America's shield, with a legend claiming the white parts are the amount of time spent attacking, the red parts show more are the amount of time spent defending, and the blue part the amount of time spent resting. Not helpful, not true, and someone who makes charts should know humans are good at seeing difference in length but not area!)

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! show less

I really liked the Super Graphic guide to the comic universe, but did not enjoy this quite as much. It could be that while I have seen all the movies I am not a hard-core Star Wars fan. It is a beautiful book and many of the graphics are both visually appealing and interesting for their analysis, many are also a bit esoteric for the casual fan.