DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book [Hardcover]

From my point of view, this new Super Heroes pop-up book has several things going for it. First, I am a big DC Comic fan; have been since a small lad. (I have a very modest but nice collection of "BlackHawk Comics," my favorite, which I have collected over the years). Secondly, I have a lot of little kid in me and delight in pop-up books of any sort. Third, I am fascinated with shiny, colorful and complicated things like clocks, watches, toasters, chess sets and such stuff. I probably have a lot of raccoon in me.

Well folks, if you are like me, then this new offering is bound to delight. It truly is a marvel! I am fascinated with the fact that Matthew Reinhart was able to come up with the engineering dynamics of this thing...I knew he was good, but I did not realize just how good.

When this book is released from its plastic wrapper it expands to just under four inches. (Note here that all measurements I give in this review are approximate). This includes the heavy bound cover and five pages of pop-ups. Now I say five pages, but there are far more three dimensional offerings than just five...more about that later.

I will go through this page by page so the potential buyer knows precisely what they are getting...anyway, I will attempt it.

The first double page, when you open the book is of course...who else, but Superman. His character stands just a bit over one foot tall and the man of steel's left fist reaches out a full seven inches. He literally leaps from the page. This is the main graphic. On each of the two pages there are two other pop-ups; one features the space craft in which the baby Superman is sent to earth in when his home planet is destroyed. The other smaller pop-up is actually two different characters, one of Superman doing battle with the Doomsday monster and the other is our old evil friend Lex Luthor. These smaller pop-ups stand about 2  inches out from the page. Each features a wonderful text.

The second double page features an extremely complicated and detailed Batman answering the call of the Bat Beacon high on a tower on Gotham City. Note that the Bat Signal here, high in the sky, actually lights up! When fully extended this big pop-up leaps approximately 10 inches from the pages. Again, we have two smaller offerings, one on each page. The first of the inside of the Bat Cave and the second is of the Joker. The Joker pops-up to at least 3  inches. Again, all are accompanied by a wonderfully written text.

The next double page spread, my favorite page in the book, is of the Warrior Goddess herself, Wonder Woman! As you open the book she practically leaps into your lap...about 14 inches tall and expands from the page for a distance of at least seven inches. She is clutching and twirling her golden lasso and looks as if she means business. There are three additional pop-up graphics on these pages, the first features the famous Amazon Refuge...yes, "The Island!" The second shows us Wonder Woman in her invisible space craft off on some mission (which is explained in the text). The third features our Warrior Goddess doing battle with Ares...truly a scary sight to behold. Again, all four models are accompanied by an extremely well written description.

Next we have The Green Lanterns of Earth...all five of them in one pop-up. The swoop from the page as if one...over one foot wide, 14 inches tall and five inches right in your face. Good grief! Two other additions, one on each page feature The Flash and the other Aquaman. The colors on all of these pop-ups stay true to the originals and are quite impressive.

As we turn the page, we are encountered with the horrible Darkseid surrounded by eight of his evil minions. Standing over one foot tall, this outrageous beast is over one foot wide and comes off the page at approximately six inches. The two small pop-ups include Gotham's five most wanted in one and Sinestro doing battle with the Green Lantern in another.

The last page is...oh my...the entire Justice League of America doing battle with numerous villains. The name count here is legend: Adam Strange, Amzao, Aquaman, Atom-Smasher, Batman, Batwoman, Bizarro, Black Adam, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Black Manta, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Marvel, Cheetah, Chemo, Clayface, Deadman, Firestorm, The Flash, Giganta, Gorilla Grodd, Green Arrow, TGreen Lantern, Harley Quinn, The Joker, Krypto, Lex Luthor, Man-Bat, Martian Manhunter, Metallo, Metamorpho, Mister Freeze, Mongul, Nightwing, Plastic Man, Red Tornado, Scarecrow, Silver Banshee, Sinestro, Solomon Grundy, Supergirl, Superman, Wonder woman and Zoom. The main pop up features two towers of fighting action interlinked, standing about 14 inches from the page...straight out! Three small pop-ups feature the first mission of the Justice League, the New Generation of the Justice League and yet another of the Justice Leage together.

Despite the complexity of this book (some of the pop-ups have three and four cards from which the figures are cut, it is quite durable. I am not saying that it could stand extreme handling from little fingers, but this book, for what it is, is very well made.

This book will delight the wee ones and it will delight collectors of such work. I will be honest. I had intended to present this work as a gift to you young 5 year old nephew...but there is little to no chance of my doing it now. I am keeping this puppy for myself!

As advertized, this one does have more than 25 3-D impressions and does indeed light-up with the Bat-Signal. The cosmic Justice League of America battle scene is something to behold...to say nothing of Wonder Woman...sigh.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

A bargain at twice the cost, you must buy this book immediately.

Six main pop-ups involving multiple mechanisms lunge outward, forward and upward from the pages. I do believe this is the fattest pop-up book in all the history of pop-up books. These are augmented by 22 additional pop-ups, if I counted them correctly, that fill up the otherwise unused spaces of the main entries. Each minor inset pop-up could easily stand on its own and rate its own separate page. I do love it when those auxiliary pages themselves have auxiliaries that are very easily overlooked on the first pass. Pretty tricky there, Reinhart! This book is truly a tour de force in this fascinating entertaining craft.

I only just now noticed a battery compartment in the back cover with a protective pull tab. I will not tell you what the batteries are for. That would ruin the fun.

I am a bit jealous of the imagination, creativity, and talent expressed here. Even the smaller pop-ups are not insignificant and the éclat on display here gives an aspirant something to aim for.

Thank you, Matthew, for this wonderful book. You are a treasure.

I had seen a video review of this book and was very impressed with the detail and care put into this book. When I got it yesterday in the mail I just couldn't believe how awesome of a piece of work this thing is.

Six main pages, each with additional popups (some with popups within them!). My daughter and I spent about an hour reading through every single panel, covering so many major DC heroes and villains. Of course the DC trilogy are here (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) as well as their respective foes, additional heroes and villains - just SO much detail. There are a pair of "hidden" heroes I remember quite fondly from my love of the JLA animated series as a child.

The popups are just amazing. Full page spreads that explode out at you, each one of them containing additional popups that are very entertaining in their own right. There's a couple of really neat surprises as well with some very clever implementation of the popup "technology". I am simply amazed at the construction of this book.

All that being said, this is not really a book for young kids. Popups this detailed and exquisite obviously come with a need for careful handling. I actually have been reading the book by opening one page and reading it fully, then completely closing it back down and then opening the entire book to the next page. Of course, it's only because I want to treasure this book for many years to come that I take this care. I look forward to reading it with nephews and nieces when they are old enough to appreciate how great this is.

DC fan, popup fan, or just a fan of clever implementation of technology - PICK THIS UP NOW! It's definitely a unique piece and guaranteed to make you smile.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 39 reviews  4.9 out of 5 stars