Modern mythology leaps into the popular culture from the pages of comic books and now propels the astounding growth of the graphic novel. Aimed at the genesis, The Superhero Book is the ultimate A-to-Z compendium of everyone's favourite over-achievers in the pitched battle between good and evil. With 300 entries examining over 1,000 high-powered icons and their place in the popular firmament, this is the first comprehensive profile of superheroes across all media, following their path from comic-book stardom to radio, television, movies, and novels. It's good to be super-great. With over 150 full-colour illustrations (including dozens of classic comic covers), this book covers the best-loved and most historically significant superheroes -- mainstream and counterculture, famous and forgotten, best and worst. Each significant era of the superhero is explored -- the Golden Age (1938-1954), the Silver Age (1956-1969), the Bronze Age (1970-1979), and the Modern Age (1980-present) -- providing the reader with unique perspective of the hero over the twentieth century and beyond. Readers will delight in the mountain of trivia, never-before revealed facts and finds, and insider information, written with insight and enthusiasm by a devoted team of comic-book, film, and pop-culture experts.