DK Publishing recently provided the Superman Super Site with a review copy of "DC Comics: Ultimate Character Guide."

The guide is no where near as thorough as "The DC Comics Encyclopedia" but does provide a basic and to the point synopsis of all the major characters in the DC Universe and is perfect for young readers who are just beginning their journey into the realm of DC Comics.

With the recent DC Universe overhaul known as the "New 52" which took place in September, many prior DC character guides will now be canonically incorrect. Such a circumstance created a need for a guide to the DC Universe not linked to specific issues or story lines and that is exactly what the "DC Comics: Ultimate Character Guide" does.

In addition to adequate descriptions of well-known DC characters, the character guide also features a nice selection of artwork. Gone are references to specific story arcs, replaced by general facts and overviews which provides new readers with the knowledge to be up-to-date on the inhabitants of the DC Universe.

Close examination of each page of the "DC Comics: Ultimate Character Guide" reveals artwork by such giants of the comic book industry as Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, George Perez, Jim Aparo, and Brian Bolland. The last page also features a full listing of all the artists included in the book.

All-in-all, "DC Comics: Ultimate Character Guide" is a great find at an affortable price and is definitely a far cry better than the similar "Marvel: Ultimate Character Guide" which was released in 2010 which omitted major number of characters and featured duplicate entries for some who took on more than one alias.

This is a defintitely a great book that you will want to add to your DC Comics collection and is nice to just thumb through now and then. For those who are of the more hardcore crowd, you will want to pick up the "DC Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded Edition."

Overall, "DC Comics: Ultimate Character Guide" is a decent and competent guide to reference DC characters and I highly recommend it.