It’s a great time for comic-book fans: New York Comic Con starts Thursday, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is a hit for ABC, the CW’s “Arrow” starts its second season later this month and the monster hit “The Walking Dead” kicks off its fourth season on Oct. 13.
In addition, one of the biggest video games of the year — “Arkham Origins,” starring Batman — launches Oct. 25, and the latest Marvel blockbuster, “Thor: The Dark World,” hits theaters next month. Comics and graphic-novel sales are brisk.
Oh, and there are plenty of books about comics. Two of the best are out now from prestige publisher Taschen, which is continuing its celebration of DC Comics, home of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
Three years ago, Taschen published a massive, suitcase-size tribute to DC’s 75th anniversary — complete with carrying case and handle. Three years later, they’ve again tapped Paul Levitz, the former head of DC, to bring the comics company’s rich history to the fore by breaking up the massive tome into five smaller, easier-to-use editions with new interviews and hundreds of new pictures.
Out now are “The Golden Age of DC Comics,” which covers the ’30s to the mid-’50s, and “The Silver Age of DC Comics,” which is an overview of the transformative period from 1956 into the early 1970s. Three forthcoming editions, set for 2014, will cover the Bronze Age (through the mid-’80s); the Dark Age (into the new millennium); and today’s Modern Age of digitally infused comics culture.
“DC published somewhere over 40,000 comics,” Levitz told The Post. “I can’t even begin to calculate how many images that is. Probably something like 8 million? If you do the math, it gets scary really fast. So there’s so much to choose from.”
The books are absolutely gorgeous and a treat for any fan who wants to peruse the fascinating and often revealing history of DC and its stable of characters. The accompanying pictures are images newly published in the two latest volumes.
Batman-Columbia:
Long before Christian Bale — and even Michael Keaton and Adam West — Batman was on the big screen in two 1940s serials. In 1949, the Caped Crusader was played by Robert Lowery.
Superman ring:
Even early on, Superman was all about the merchandising. This 1940 fan-club ring is one of only about a dozen known to still exist.
Mad #4:
Decades before Funny Or Die or The Onion, Mad Magazine was the source for all your caustic, pop- culture-skewering satire. Harvey Kurtzman’s cover from 1953 still cracks us up.
Wonder Woman:
Batman producer William Dozier toyed with a campy Wonder Woman pilot in 1967, before Lynda Carter donned her satin tights in the ’70s.
Teen Titans #18:
The legendary Nick Cardy’s cover from 1968 is typical of the Silver Age — dynamic and colorful with a title worked into the image itself.
All-American Men of War #89:
Roy Lichtenstein’s famous 1963 work “Whaam!” was directly “inspired” (read: stolen) from Irv Novick’s more dynamic image from 1962. Novick was Lichtenstein’s commanding officer in the Army. Guess Roy had the last laugh.
Girls Romances #32:
Lichtenstein didn’t just rip off war images. Romance books were all the rage in the mid-’50s while superhero comics waned. This comic is from 1955.
I Love Lucy:
Even Lucy got into the act! In 1957’s “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Meets Superman,” the titular “heroine” teamed up with George Reeves’ Superman.
Batman #222:
Batman meets the Beatles! No! No! No! This Neal Adams 1970 cover is the best part of this oddball tale in which the Dynamic Duo try to solve the Paul McCartney — er, “Saul Cartwright” — death hoax.
Batman:
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na — Batman! A negative from the famous animated title sequence of the greatest TV show in the history of mankind.