10 Fascinating Things We Learned About Comic Books From Tim Leong's "Super Graphic"

These infographics go deeper than the Joker down the rabbit hole of lunacy.

Jul 20, 2013
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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Tim Leong knows everything there is to know between the sheets. Of comic books, that is. In his new book, Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe (Chronicle Books), the award-winning art director and designer, who founded and edited the Eisner Award–nominated magazine Comic Foundry, and also served as Design Director for Complex and Director of Digital Design for Wired Magazine, took his lifelong love of comic books and his passion for design and mashed them up into a series of eye-pleasing infographics that make sense of the medium's poorly catalogued history.

Have you ever wondered: How the hell are all the characters of the Marvel universe connected, and which of them has won the most battles? How much money have comic book movies made historically and how they have fared on Rotten Tomatoes? What does the job force look like after all but one man have died in Y: The Last Man? In what order should I read the panels of Japanese manga? Tim answers these and myriad other comic-related questions with bold, colorful charts and graphs that show you without forcing you to strain your eyes on  text. 

In the interest of transparency, Tim is a friend, so even if his book sucked I would suggest that you order copies for the entire family and all your comic-loving friends. Fortunately, Super Graphic and suckiness exist in separate dimensions, far, far away from each other (there would be no overlap in one of Tim's Venn diagrams). Boasting plentiful nuggets, from the charted trajectory of naughty cartoon Calvin's infamous urine stream to a breakdown of all the different kinds of arrows that Green Arrow and Hawkeye shoot, the book demands that every self-respecting comic book head get their hands on a copy. For a small taste of the design, see the additional images above, then check out 10 Fascinating Things We Learned About Comic Books From Tim Leong's Super Graphic.

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Written by Justin Monroe (@40yardsplash)

Scrooge McDuck's Net Worth

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Of the many wealthy comic book characters, the one with the highest net worth, according to Forbes, is Scrooge McDuck. Before he lost everything gambling on a race around the world in 2011, he was valued at over $40 billion.

Punisher's Kill Count

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From 1974-2011, the Punisher has killed 48,502 people in comic books. He is still generally considered a good guy.

Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy

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In Antonio Prohías' popular MAD Magazine cartoon Spy vs. Spy, which was inspired by death threats and accusations of espionage the creator received before fleeing Cuba and Fidel Castro's dictatorship, Black Spy has won 44% of the time, White Spy has won 46%, and 2% were ties. The remaining 8% of showdowns went to the female Gray Spy, whose allure (or the other spies' horniness) has helped her win 100% of the contests she was involved in.

Stan Lee's Author Credits

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Stan Lee, who co-created such iconic characters as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, and the Hulk, had his longest running author credits on...Millie the Model (1945), Kid Colt Outlaw (1949), and The Rawhide Kid (1960)?!?

San Diego Comic-Con Attendance

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In March 1970, when it was a one-day mini-convention called the Golden State Comic-Con, only 145 people showed up for what is now known as San Diego Comic-Con. Since 2005, SDCC had drawn over 100,000 people annually. And that's great, as long as you don't mind cosplay and body odor.

Silver Surfer is a Winner

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According to 1990 Marvel Universe Trading Cards Series, of characters with over 1,000 battles, Silver Surfer had the best winning percentage (almost 85%).

Print Comics >>> Digital Comics

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DC Comics' 2011 poll to find out who its New 52 line was reaching showed that 57% of digital readers also read print comics but only 16% of print readers also read digital comics. So much for the death of print.

Sit This One Out, Charlie Brown

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Of the eight games the Peanuts baseball team won in 1959, Charlie Brown was only playing for two of them. In other words, the kid was a sucker, statistically speaking.

The Walking Dead Deaths

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In Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, zombies are only responsible for 21% of total deaths. The remaining 79% of fatalities result from violence committed by the living against the living. See, zombies aren't so bad after all.

Crustacean Characters

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There have been six characters that take their names from crustaceans. The claws-down coolest, in our opinion, is Jimbo Da Mighty Lobster.

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