DK recently released DC Cinematic Universe: A Celebration of DC at the Movies by Nick Jones and Stephen Wiacek, offering insights into the action-packed thrills of DC at the movies in one spectacular book – and it’s quite a treat.
The release comes just as, separately, Hachette extended the Hachette DC Heroes & Villains Collection, which Nick has been working for half a decade now, by another 20 volumes.
“Win and I basically wrote half the book each,” Nick tells downthetubes, the book now also available in the United Sates. “He covered most of the movies and TV shows up to the end of the 1990s, and I covered most of the films and shows from the 2000s onwards (with a few exceptions, as there have obviously been rather more DC movies in the last 20 years).
“From my perspective, I was especially thrilled to get to write about Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, as they’re among my favourite films (I’m a huge admirer of Nolan’s work), but it was also great getting to write about the likes of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman, Joker, The Batman etc., all films I have a lot of time for.”
From the trailblazing 1940s movie serials that first put Batman and Superman on the silver screen to the Caped Crusader’s swinging 1960s escapades and the iconic 1970s Superman, to the state-of-the-art 21st century reinventions of the Dark Knight, the Man of Steel, and Wonder Woman, DC Cinematic Universe: A Celebration of DC at the Movies provides an indispensable guided tour of DC cinema history.
See how DC’s characters, locations, costumes, and weapons have been adapted from page to screen and evolved over the decades. Witness some of the world’s finest actors, such as Academy-Award winners Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Christian Bale, Nicole Kidman, Joaquin Phoenix, Viola Davis, and others transform into the Super Heroes, Super-Villains, and supporting cast for their times.
Plus, go behind the scenes and discover little known facts while poring over stunning movie stills, character and set designs, and storyboards. All this, alongside engaging text that provides insights into DC’s rich cinematic legacy, makes this the book that every DC film fan has been waiting for.
Hachette’s DC Heroes & Villains Collection Extended
Nick has been the editor of, and lead writer for, the DC Heroes & Villains Collection for a number of years, a fortnightly DC Comics graphic novel partwork. Launched at the beginning of 2021 and building into 100 hardback volumes, he writes the introductions and a fair number of the bonus features. Now, the partwork has been extended by another 20 volumes.
The collection brings together the best of the modern DC Universe, from 1980, when Marv Woman and George Pérez’s New Teen Titans revolutionised DC, to the Rebirth relaunch of 2016, incorporating everything from big blockbuster events like Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis to more obscure delights like Batman: Nocturna and the Night-Thief and DC Comics Presents: Cosmic Encounters, with plenty of previously uncollected comics and bespoke volumesunique to the collection.
With the first 100 volumes of the DC Heroes & Villains Collection, the aim was to give readers a grounding in the modern DC Universe, from the advent of New Teen Titans in 1980 to the Rebirth relaunch of 2016.
Now, with this 20-volume extension, we get to go even broader and deeper, adding some of the best stories of the Bronze Age, Modern Age and recent years. First out of the blocks will be Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Derington’s mind-bending thriller Batman: Universe, followed by Joshua Williamson, Jason Fabok and co.’s blockbuster throwdown Justice League vs. Suicide Squad.
After that, Joker: The Series collects the entirety of Denny O’Neil and co.’s 1970s Joker run, including the ‘lost’ 10th issue and O’Neil and Adams’ classic Joker-starring Batman #251. Plus, Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast brings together the first half of Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo’s acclaimed 1980s Batman run for the first time.
Looking further ahead, fans can expect stories starring Batman, the Joker, the Justice Society and the Justice League by James Tynion IV, Guillem March, Bernie Wrightson, James Robinson, Tom King, Bilquis Evely, Tom Taylor, Scott Snyder, Steve Englehart and many more.
Plus, if that wasn’t enough, you’ll receive a bumper-sized issue 111 with Batman: Under the Red Hood, at a staggering 400 pages long!
• DC Cinematic Universe is available now from all good bookshops | ISBN: 978-0241650035 | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• Check out the DC Heroes & Villains Collection here
Nick Jones is a writer and editor based in Lewes, East Sussex. His books as author or co-author include DC Cinematic Universe, Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide, DC Comics Cover Art, Marvel Arms and Armour, Marvel Universe: Map by Map, DC Comics Encyclopaedia, and The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange, and he has contributed essays to a variety of other titles, including The Art of Classic Sci-Fi Movies, Their Safe Haven: Hungarian Artists in Britain from the 1930s, and Murder in the Closet. Starting out in the 1990s as a music journalist, Nick wrote for dance music magazine Mixmag and edited its weekly spin-off, Mixmag Update (later 7 Magazine).
In 2000 he moved into sci-fi and genre publishing, editing TV and movie tie-in titles, including Star Trek Magazine and X-Men 2 and Hulk Magazines, and comics/toys collecting magazine Memorabilia, before taking charge of the graphic novels department at Titan Books, where he edited Dan Dare, James Bond, Modesty Blaise, Wallace & Gromit, and DC Comics graphic novels. Since then, Nick has edited numerous books, including Comic Book Design, Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History, 500 Essential Cult Movies/Books, The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga, Alan Moore: Storyteller, The Art of Neil Gaiman, The Art of Movie Storyboards, A Brief History of Manga, Electri_City: The Dusseldorf School of Electronic Music, Long Shadows: The Life & Times of Matt Johnson and The The, I Am Damo Suzuki, and Listening to the Music the Machines Make. He has written for the Marvel Fact Files and Justice League, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Widow, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi Collector’s Editions; and is the editor of – and lead writer for – Hachette’s DC Heroes & Villains Collection, and blogs at Existential Ennui.
DC Cinematic Universe: A Celebration of DC at the Movies © & ™ DC
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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