ROBERT GREENBERGER

The ultimate guide to the man behind the mask . . . and the mythology behind the man. Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible. . . . I shall become a bat! So declared millionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne, orphaned as a boy by a murderous thug and driven as a man to battle the scourge of crime by becoming Batman. Batman swooped into popular culture in 1939and for nearly seventy years has thrilled audiences in countless comics, live-action and animated television programs, and seven feature films. Prowling the darkened rooftops of Gotham City, roaring through the teeming streets in the sleek, high-powered Batmobile, and leaping into action when the iconic Bat-Signal pierces the night sky, the Caped Crusader is a larger-than-life legend. And now, for the first time in more than thirty years, everything there is to know about Batmanfrom the beginning to the present, and from A to Zis collected in one comprehensive new sourcebook. More than 500 pages of entries and illustrations include: fascinating details and the complete background on Batmans origins biographies of every major character in the Batman universeincluding his closest allies, from Robin the Boy Wonder and faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth to Commissioner Gordon; and his countless enemies, from the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and the Riddler to Scarecrow, Two-Face, Ras al Ghul and Poison Ivy classic black-and-white comic book artwork throughout two sixteen-page full-color artworkinserts Even an all-access pass to the Batcave couldnt rival former DC Comics editor and Batman scholar extraordinaire Robert Greenbergers exhaustive ultimate archive. The Essential Batman Encyclopedia is a must for every Batman fans bookshelf. BATMAN, the DC Logo, and all related names, characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics 2008. All rights reserved.

A frantic mother comes to 221B Baker Street, begging Sherlock Holmes to find her son. A naval officer posted to HMS Dido, he was part of the Naval Brigade that joined the Natal Field Force to fight the Boers. But he did not return with his men, and is being denounced as a deserter.Can Holmes and Watson uncover the truth, a truth that threatens the very fabric of the British Empire?