I came across a book called Super Graphic by Tim Leong while I was browsing the Overdrive website a while back. It sounded interesting, so I checked it out. I was not disappointed.
In a nutshell, Leong uses data he compiled from various comics, comic books, graphic novels, and manga to make fun charts. Let me tell you more about this awesome book.
The Graphics
Super Graphic is well-designed. The eBook version, while functional, doesn’t hold a candle to the physical version’s thick matte pages. The charts pop, their bright colors set off by neutral (and occasionally light blue, red, or green) backgrounds.
Page layouts alternate between one-, two-, and three-page spreads. The number of pages a chart receives, however, doesn’t necessarily reflect its complexity. A one-page chart can be a simple punchline to a joke, such as the “Gotham City Police Department Utility Bill” pie chart, or it may contain multiple charts built around a single theme or series.
Similarly, the amount of text varies from chart to chart. The title, a brief sentence, or a short paragraph are usually enough to describe the purpose of most charts. The more complex charts often have small chunks of text scattered throughout the page to explain various data points, but the text never overpowers the graphics.
You probably won’t recognize every chart type in Super Graphic. I sure didn’t. Don’t worry—Leong includes a chart about the types of charts he uses (“What’s in This Book?”), which can help you identify the uncommon ones.
Many “charts” aren’t charts in the traditional sense at all. Some graphics are based on other familiar charts and items. Case in point: “Changes in Costume Color” and “The Periodic Table of The Metal Men” are remixes of the color spectrum diagram and the periodic table respectively, while “The Schedule of a Manga Artist” looks like a block schedule.
Although the data art charts are the most fun, the meta charts, which give more info about the author and the book itself, are the most creative. Besides the aforementioned chart about charts, you get gems like the bar graph in the index that tracks the letter with the most entries and an Acknowledgments page in chart form.
All-in-all, you can learn a lot about charts through Super Graphic if that’s your aim.
The Super (Heroes)
In addition to being an unintentional design textbook, Super Graphic also provides a terrific overview of every kind of comic book you can think of.
There are several starter charts, sometimes dubbed “primers,” which teach newbies the basics of a popular series. For example, “A Fantastic Four Primer” shows how the protagonists are related to each other and how their powers and physical traits compare.
Other primers are more advanced: “A Watchmen Primer” and “Who’s Who in Sin City” dive deeper into character backgrounds and the plot. For these cases, the page sports a “Spoiler Alert” label that mimics a dog-eared page to warn readers.
As a longtime anime fan, I appreciated the handful of manga-related charts. Aside from one chart dedicated to Death Note, most of the charts are general primers. For instance, “What is Manga?” is a two-page spread that shares numerous historical tidbits and stats about manga. Turns out I had severely underestimated how popular One Piece is.
And that’s the best part of Super Graphic: so many charts make you think, “Huh, I didn’t know that.” Not only did “Archer Appeal” satisfy my curiosity about Oliver and Hawkeye’s different arrows, but “Spy vs Spy” introduced me to Gray Spy for the first time. The various family trees, from “Venom’s Family Web” to “Scrooge McDuck’s Family Tree,” are also eye-openers.
Super Graphic‘s most relevant graphic is “The History of Comic Book Movies.” This three-page foldout is comprised of several moving parts:
- A large bar graph that tracks the major comic book movies and their profits (1966-2012)
- A slightly smaller bar graph, reflected beneath the main one, that shows each movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score
- A drifting trio of charts—two bar graphs and a pie chart—that summarize how well the parent companies (Marvel, DC, etc.) did.
There are more innovative and beautiful charts in the book, but this one is particularly relevant to readers. The difference between “good” and “profitable” movies is an oft-discussed topic in my house. It’s nice to see hard numbers about how some of our favorite movies performed and are perceived by others.
Conclusion
Super Graphic is a fantastic book. I’m seriously in awe of Leong’s wonderful charts. I can only image how much research and work went into them. Come for the data viz, stay for the comic book trivia. Or vice versa. It’s an excellent reference book either way.
BTW, definitely check out Leong’s equally awesome Star Wars Super Graphic book. It’s just like this book but it focuses solely on the Star Wars franchise. Good stuff!