Holy Pirates, Batman!

A review of DK’s LEGO DC Comics Superheroes Character Encyclopedia

I have mixed feelings about the LEGO books by DK. On the one hand, they are fun to flip through. On the other hand, they are outdated soon after they are released. I have bought two of these books before, LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History and LEGO DC Comics Superheroes: Batman Visual Dictionary. I enjoyed both. But, in order to have an up-to-date reference, I would have to buy the new updated editions should they ever be released. It is a cash grab, for sure. But, they do look nice on my shelf or as a coffee table book. I am also a sucker for freebies, especially of the minifigure variety, and these books tend to come with nice minifigs…

If you ever visit the LEGO sales page here at True North Bricks, you may have noticed that Chapters had a sale on the LEGO DC Comics Superheroes Character Encyclopedia. I love the DC Comics Superheroes line. My budding LEGO city would certainly not be complete without the Justice League to watch over it (especially since my police officers tend to congregate around my LEGO MOC Tim Hortons). So, when I saw the new encyclopedia on sale, I picked one up.

Let us begin with the bad. My main contention with the product is the arrangement of the minifigures. The book has them arranged in chronological order. I would have preferred alphabetical in the true style of an encyclopedia. An alphabetical arrangement would have had all of the Batman minifigs in once place, for example. This would have allowed the reader to compare all of them more easily. Also, since it is a character encyclopedia, a little less emphasis on sets (which were covered in the Batman Visual Dictionary) would have been nice.

Overall however, DK has once again produced a fun product. The layouts are really nice, and the information provided is an enjoyable read. The book covers everything from the original 2006 LEGO Batman sets right up to the recent 1960s Batman, Batman V Superman, and Mighty Micros sets. I especially liked the set gallery at the back of the book showcasing the box art for all of the DC related sets, Comiccon exclusives, and polybags. In my opinion, that section should have been the only part of the book devoted to sets. I also like that each minifigure shown comes with a list of sets that they were included in.

My absolute favorite addition is, of course, the exclusive minifig. This book comes with Pirate Batman. Do I really need a Pirate Batman? No. But, like I said before, I am sucker for freebies, and I love DC Comics. Pirate Batman comes with a cutlass and flail (a.k.a.  a chain mace). The cutlass is the standard LEGO Pirates issue, and the flail is the same one that came with Hawkman in the Darkseid Invasion set (76028).

All in all, if you like LEGO DC Comics Superheroes, or DC Comics in general, then I would say that this book is a nice addition to any collection. Is it a must have? For me, it was. I was looking forward to it ever since I first read it was coming out. It is not organized very well, but it is visually appealing and enjoyable to flip through. Finally, and most importantly, it comes with Pirate Batman.