Reddit reviews The DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition

DOWNVOTE ME BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!

I NEED THIS!! There's a used on for 25.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND THANKS FOR THE CONTEST!

EDIT:: AS OF MY CONTEST YESTERDAY I BELIEVE I'm THE RAoA DOWNVOTE KING!!

I don't really think so. The whole point of Cortex Plus, especially Marvel Heroic, was they fixed the balance so that a lone secret agent without any powers (Black Widow) really COULD become a match for a super hero like Wolverine or Cyclops or Spiderman.

Because the game wasn't based on amount of power so much as amount of narrative control. So it's very easy to play a group of secret agents, just normal well trained people, who could take on thugs and maybe a super hero or two.

But FATE is a good system, I'm not saying to use Marvel Heroic. I'm just saying that the Marvel books had a large list of heroes and characters from all over. They have SHIELD and HYDRA, they have everyone from New Warriors (which is still sort of low level) to even Great Lakes Avengers (Squirrel Girl!). The Annihilation books cove cosmic stuff and the Civil War covered a lot of lesser known, weaker characters. But it's your opinion, if you don't want to touch the already completed work Margaret Weis did good justice on before they lost the license, that's your choice.

For other material to draw from, I bought both the Marvel and DC Encyclopedias from DK. Cortex Plus and FATE are both extremely easy to generate stats for. So these books add all the flavor and atmosphere I need in supers game.

But if you are really just want conspiracy level action I suggest a few non super hero works. The Blacklist on NBC is a phenomenal show about agents, double agents, politics, and conspiracy. Which is what the Winter Soldier film was and how the AoS show has changed. As well, I just watched the Raid 2 and it's fucking amazing. You can just switch out a couple of the characters in that movie with super villains and it would fit so well to marvel. Lastly, there is all the other Whedon productions like Doll House and Buffy which can all read very similar, as well as shows like La Femme Nikita and Alias. Anything that has investigators who cannot reveal their identity and are trying to deal with super villains or terrorist plots. So anything from True Detective to Believe or The Following or Crisis all are ample ground for stories.

In fact, I work in television and I am forced to watch about 30 hours a week of crime shows with agents doing investigations. Outside of work I watch a few shows that I actually like. I read a lot too. So all I can suggest is to pull from everywhere that seems right. Anything about someone breaking the law, even if they think it's righteous, and the agencies that are trying to protect the public.

Mine is honestly on my coffee table right now, for what that's worth, always attracts attention when people come over, it's easy to flip to a random page and get sucked in by the character art and highlights.

There is a version that was created covering most events up to Flashpoint, very similar in quality, though a small step behind this book in terms of paper quality and level of detail.
https://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Encyclopedia-Updated-Expanded/dp/0756641195

Batman Encyclopedia (NOT a list of stories):
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Batman-Encyclopedia-Robert-Greenberger/dp/0345501063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422692616&sr=8-1&keywords=batman+encyclopedia&pebp=1422692629398&peasin=345501063

Another Batman Encyclopedia:
http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Comic-Book-Heroes-Original/dp/1401213553/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1422692616&sr=8-5&keywords=batman+encyclopedia

The DC Encyclopedia:
http://www.amazon.com/DC-Comics-Encyclopedia-Updated-Expanded/dp/0756641195/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1422692616&sr=8-7&keywords=batman+encyclopedia


Batman: The World of the Dark Knight (has overview entire run, plus story synopsis for some stories)
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-World-Knight-Daniel-Wallace/dp/0756692490/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1422692616&sr=8-3&keywords=batman+encyclopedia

I don't particularly recommend any of these books, but you kept saying that word encyclopedia so, well, those three may interest you.