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Publication Date: February 17, 2010 Publisher: DC Comics Author: · Mark Waid, Scott Beatty and Len Wein Grade: A

So you say you'd like to get into DC Comics, but you just don't know where to start? Well, DC Comics has put together a terrific package for the uninitiated as well as for the longtime fan. It's called DC Universe: Origins and it's really a terrific book for getting the basics on over 70 different DC Comics characters, both heroes and villains.

This is a collection of the two-page origin stories that ran in the back of DC's weeklies, 52 and Countdown. Also included in the package are some that have been specially created for their web site (all of these are also located on DC's web site), as well as new additions that were seen in the pages of the Justice League mini-series, Cry For Justice.

All of the stories within are written by either Mark Waid, Scott Beatty or Len Wein and all of them do a great job of giving you the basics that you'd need to get a little familiarity with this rich universe. At the very end of each two-pager, there's an encapsulated listing of powers and weapons. But more importantly for a new reader, there's also a listing of essential stories.

Of course, the big guns are here, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Their greatest enemies are here like Lex Luthor and the Joker. But this goes even further with other members of the Justice League, and some of their respective enemies. And even further still, with such characters as Adam Strange, the Metal Men and Congorilla. The spectrum across the DC Universe is pretty wide and this book does it's best to give you a little taste.

The artwork is spectacular. First you have a Justice League group shot featuring the original seven members of the Justice League, painted by master artist Alex Ross. But that's just the start! Inside you'll be treated to some real nice work from guys like Brian Bolland, Kevin Nowlan, Adam Hughes, Dan Jurgens, George Perez, Bruce Timm, Walter Simonson, Ivan Reis, Ryan Sook, Howard Chaykin, Gary Frank and many, many more. So even if you do know a lot about the DC Universe, this is still a fine reference work and a beautiful collection that any DC fan (or prospective fan) should have.

Now I do have just one little quibble: both Aquaman and the Flash are cover featured here, but unfortunately, there's no entry for either within these pages. Now, there's certainly a good reason for this, as at the time these were originally being prepared both characters had been in flux and are only now returning to the DC Universe proper (well, the Flash is now here, but Aquaman is soon to come). They're both featured in some of the other stories around here, which is better than nothing, though.

DC has announced that they'll soon be publishing a new Who's Who series, and as a longtime DC Comics fan, I'm certainly looking forward to that. The Who's Who volumes featured a character pin-up and then typeset text outlining the respective origins and powers. Those were great books and, as I said, I'm certainly looking forward to them. But there's something that I like even more about the way things are presented in DC Universe: Origins, and that's using the full use of the comic format to present these in and using that format for some things that the traditional Who's Who format just wouldn't allow. For instance, you couldn't do the backwardly presented piece on Bizarro that's really nicely done here. And the way the Joker is presented is just spectacular -- using a playing card motif, Mark Waid and Brian Bolland suggest a couple of different ways that the Clown Prince of Crime could've gotten his start. This gives you some background, but it also preserves the mystery with the character. Considering the way that comic characters get re-vamped again and again now, doing something like this doesn't necessarily lock you in to what a harder reference volume like Who's Who will do, and it's much more entertaining in it's presentation.

This is one terrific volume; it's really priced reasonably and you just get a ton of good stuff inside. Kudos to DC Comics for such a nice package and, yes, this is very highly recommended.