Here's a good deal for fans of the Caped Crusader. The massive, deeply researched book Batman: The Definitive History of the Dark Knight in Comics, Film, and Beyond is 52% off at Amazon. The MSRP on this thing is $75. But it's on sale now, with an additional discount that brings it down to $35.69 at checkout. There's no telling how long the deal will last, so grab it if you want it.
Batman: The Definitive History, if I may abridge the title, is a 400-page full-color doorstopper of a book that that traces the history of Bruce Wayne's alter ego from his debut in Detective Comics in 1939 all the way to the present.
Written by Cartoon Art Museum curator Andrew Farago and media reporter Gina McIntyre, this hefty tome (it weighs seven pounds) dives into pretty much everything you'd want to know about Batman through the years.
It includes interviews with people like Frank Miller, Grant Morrison, Tim Burton, Mark Hamill, and Christopher Nolan. It illuminates behind-the-scenes stories surrounding major moments from the comics. It goes into the live-action Batman TV show from the 1960s, as well as Batman: The Animated Series, the Nolan films, and even the Arkham video games.
In addition to its credentialed authors, the book features a forward by Michael Keaton, an introduction by Kevin Conroy, and a preface by longtime Batman editor Dennis O'Neil.
Also included in the book are previously unpublished photographs from Batman film sets, animation cels, and comic book art, plus a 40-page film treatment from Bob Kane.
Basically, it's a whole lot of information about Batman over the 80 years he's been a pop cultural icon. And it's displayed beautifully in a full-color, gorgeously illustrated book. It would make a great present for the Batman fan in your life, even if that fan happens to be you.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.