Creator: Tim Leong
2013
WCBR has not indulged in a survey of infographics for a few years. There is a fudging of definition around what makes an infographic, and we think it comes down to aesthetics: it is not merely a drawing with labels featuring statistics, but something which demonstrates an artisanal, clean approach to conveying information.
This article was originally going to be entitled, “”Five Best Superhero Infographics for 2022”, and we then realised that they all came from the same 2013 source: Tim Leong’s Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe” [available here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452113882/?tag=braipick-20 ]. The copy of this title reads:
The comic book universe is adventurous, mystifying, and filled with heroes, villains, and cosplaying Comic-Con attendees. This book by one of Wired magazine’s art directors traverses the graphic world through a collection of pie charts, bar graphs, timelines, scatter plots, and more. Super Graphic offers readers a unique look at the intricate and sometimes contradictory storylines that weave their way through comic books, and shares advice for navigating the pages of some of the most popular, longest-running, and best-loved comics and graphic novels out there. From a colorful breakdown of the DC Comics reader demographic to a witty Venn diagram of superhero comic tropes and a Chris Ware sadness scale, this book charts the most arbitrary and monumental characters, moments, and equipment of the wide world of comics.
Here are out favourites (for 2022, anyway):
- ‘Wait, there’s more than one Earth?””
2. “And the Eisner Goes To….” – a demonstration of the decline in quality at DC comics during the early 2010s?
4. “A Venn Diagram of Superhero Comic Tropes”. (Even Captain Carrot makes the cut.)
4. “The Four Faces of the Flash”. (We pettily still do not forgive DC Comics for bringing Barry Allen back from the dead.)
