The Golden Age of DC Comics: 365 Days

by Les Daniels, Chip Kidd, Geoff Spear

A lavishly illustrated volume of large-format photography features original comic book artwork that depicts DC Comics's most significant characters and artists, in a tribute that showcases both pop-culture favorites and lesser-known classics, complemented by introductory essays and researched informational text. 100,000 first printing.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Art, History, Superheroes, Anthologies

744 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Les Daniels was one of the earliest historians of comic books and an author of horror novels.

Reviews

[Hal Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent sixteen years hating this book without reading it. and I finally read, it, and fine, it's actually really fun and charming. I thought it was just going to be Chip Kidd clipping panels so they become unreadable (certainly he's guilty of this vice in his books on Schulz and Cole), and, sure, he does that, but these contextless panels would be impossible to understand even if you could read all the words, so it's not so bad. And the whole thing serves as a nice introduction to a weird slice of the Golden Age—the properties DC owned or (Fawcett, Quality) eventually acquired. It's not "just DC", which would make organic sense, or DC + All-American, would would also be fine, but rather an amalgamation of unrelated characters threaded together by the legal trivia that the rights are all held in common. The result is hardly a comprehensive catalogue of all that's worthy from the Golden Age, but it's not bad; it's like half the battle, say. But it's fun, and the art, as you might expect, is often great. Look at a page a day, and it's a year well spent. I gorged, and that worked too.

A question: Why is the Guardian relegated to one skulking background appearance, not even mentioned in the explicatory text (Sept. 26). Look for him in the index in vain!

[Tim Chmielewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had this book for ages and showed it to friends who were into superheros and cartoons. Had a lot of older stuff that is hard to find today.

[Des McCartney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually a very nice book,close ups of comic book characters,covers,etc.Each picture page has a black facing page with a summary on it. Pleasant reading.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great desk calendar for any DC fan you know.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dab of trivia and a dash of artistry. DC acquired individual creations and brought to life superheroes like Alan Scott (1st Green Lantern), Wonderwoman, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Hawkman, Plastic Man; to name a few.
Vin Sullivan, publisher and editor of Detective comics (formerly National Allied Publications) gave an opportunity to Bob Kane. Alas! He created the caped crusader in the form of Batman.
This book bears rereading. If Science is also an art, there will be fearless artists and writers whom are never afraid to innovate or fail, never afraid to admit every bad decisions made; come up with what would be the next world's greatest invention or history.

[Leonard Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an informative and incredibly gorgeous piece of work, and among other things, the best collection of Mac Raboy art I know of. Chip Kidd should be paid to just crank out stuff like this once a year. Which, I guess, he is.

[Coach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great illustrations

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolute pleasure to read and flip through as you discovered the way the comic books used to be.

[Emmanuel Nevers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept. I liked the day-by-day factoids. Very thick book.

[Philip Athans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read this book one page every day for the entire year of 2007. It was fun!