Of all the iconic American creations of the 1930s—the cheeseburger, the New Deal, the Zippo lighter, and the Empire State Building, to name just a few—among the most enduring is the comic book. In 1935, New Fun No. 1 was published, the first comic book to contain entirely new, original material. (Previous ones had merely reprinted newspaper strips.) Three years later, Superman leapt off the newsstands—and, in a single bound, an industry was born.

Today, the Man of Steel and his super friends are mightier than ever. In the lavish 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking (Taschen), comics writer and former DC president Paul Levitz celebrates the company's anniversary with gorgeous Pop artwork and insider dish on the creation of the modern superhero genre. Included in the whopping 720 pages are kinetic Depressionera covers and panels from DC's early years as a pulp publisher, foldout time lines that mark historic milestones and world events that influenced comics (everything from the Manhattan Project to Dior's "New Look"), and profiles of the artists and writers behind Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and other costumed crusaders.

Levitz also looks to DC's future with digital media—Look! Up in the sky! It's an iPad!—and the continued expansion of its brands far beyond the printed page: clothing, TV, video games, apps, and, of course, movies. New Superman and Batman films are in the Hollywood pipeline, and the company is pinning its latest hope for a tent-pole franchise on Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds as the emerald space cop, out in June 2011.