The crown jewel in any comics fan's library   In 1935, DC Comics founder Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson published New Fun No. 1, the first comic book with all-new, original material--at a time when comic books were mere repositories for the castoffs of the newspaper strips. What was initially considered to be disposable media for children was well on its way to becoming the mythology of our time--the 20th century's answer to Atlas or Zorro. More than 40,000 comic books later, in honor of the publisher's 75th anniversary, TASCHEN has produced the single most comprehensive book on DC Comics, in an XL edition even Superman might have trouble lifting. More than 2,000 images--covers and interiors, original illustrations, photographs, film stills, and collectibles--are reproduced using the latest technology to bring the story lines, the characters, and their creators to vibrant life as they've never been seen before. Telling the tales behind the tomes is 38-year DC veteran Paul Levitz, whose in-depth essays trace the company's history, from its pulp origins through to the future of digital publishing.   Year-by-year timelines that fold out to nearly four feet and biographies of the legends who built DC make this an invaluable reference for any comic book fan. Winner of the 2011 Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Comics-Related Book of the Year!