This article was taken from the September 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Whether it's decades of continuity from superhero publishers Marvel and DC or the 100-plus issues of apocalypse found in The Walking Dead, the knowledge required to read a comic book can intimidate some. But a new hero is here to help. Tim Leong's book, *Super Graphic:
A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe* (Chronicle, 1 September), uses infographics to present the history and minutiae of the medium.
Leong -- formerly a designer at US Wired -- describes the book as a passion project. "I love infographics and comic books," he says. "The intent is that anyone can pick this up and, no matter what they know about comics, there's going to be something in there for you. If I can explain the DC multiverse to someone who's never heard of [it], then I know that I've done my job."
Leong started with his own comics knowledge (he cites the handbooks of the Marvel Universe and trading cards as key sources). The design process was just as haphazard as magazine making: "I'd design a rough version of the layout and then see if there was anything funny about it. Or, if it was about a subject that was just so insane that injecting some humour was requisite." Above all, Super Graphic is a love letter to the medium, one that fans of all stripes should enjoy. "I didn't want this to just be a superhero book, an indie book, a manga book," says Leong. "It's OK to like all these things and mix them together. I've tried to embrace them equally."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
