These all have the same format as Aquaman's Guide to the Oceans. The main text is about the subject being explored, and there are sidebars relating to the superheroes. Other text includes captions for pictures (which are often photographs). The Superman book also has some info boxes with stats. All the books have a glossary and index, and all of them are at DK Readers Level 4, which is for "Proficient Readers". I have the hardcover version of the Aquaman book, and it's easier to read than the softcover versions of the others, because the pages open more easily. If you are giving these to a kid, they probably won't care, so get the softcovers and give them all four. There is a lot of comic book artwork in the pages, and like the Aquaman book the artists are listed on the title page in very tiny print, but specific attributions are not given.
Wonder Woman's Book of Myths (hardcover) by Claire Hibbert: This is a decent beginner's overview to the world of Greek myth. In addition to the Greeks, there are small sections on Egyptian, Hindu, and Native American mythology and religion. I'll note that the Hindu section intrigued me, as it made me realize just how little I actually know about Hinduism. The Native American and Egyptian sections barely even touched the surface. While the focus was on Wonder Woman in the sidebars, many other heroes, including Aquaman and Superman, were mentioned. Unlike Aquaman, whose adventures I'm quite familiar with, I didn't recognize a lot of the references to Wonder Woman's adventures.
Batman's Guide to Crime & Detection (hardcover) by Michael S. Teitelbaum: This one blurred the lines between reality in fiction a bit more than the others, as the author would often go off on a breathless tangent about some nifty Batman thing in the main section, instead of keeping it to the sidebars. This is a good primer on the main forms of police work, with a nice short history of law and police to start out. Except for the odd jumps into Batman's world, it's a solid little book. I guess the most unexpected thing, though, was the appearance of the Whirly-Bat in the section on Police Vehicles. I mean, c'mon, the Whirly-Bat?
Superman's Guide to The Universe (hardcover) by Jackie Gaff: This one struck a sour chord in the first paragraph: "Welcome on board, Earthling, for the trip of a lifetime. Launch yourself into space and fly with me, Superman, on a sensational exploration of the Universe!" Since when did Superman call people of this planet "Earthlings"? Despite that little gaffe, it's a decent little book. The inserts of superheroes and villains is a little more odd in this one than the others, and sometimes doesn't tie into the text at all. For instance, Qwsp is mentioned, but he just pops up on a page about interstellar travel. And did Clark Kent really have a dog named Rusty at some point?
These are all pretty good introductory texts to their various themes. Most of them make you want to read more, which is a goal for this kind of book. If there's any problem with this series, it's a tendency to not clearly establish what's fact and what's fiction. While most children are very good at perceiving the difference, there's a small possibility of some kids actually believing that Batman exists after reading the Batman book. Anyway, four starfish apiece. I think these books do what they set out to, and do it well.
One thing this little series has done is gotten my overactive imagination thinking of realistic or semi-realistic titles that could go along with the themes... Like "Green Lantern's Guide to the Properties of Light", "The Flash's Guide to Motion", "Plastic Man's Guide to Elastics", "Catwoman's Guide to Felines", "Thor's Guide to Norse Mythology", "Martian Manhunter's Guide to Mars", "G'Nort's Guide to Canines", "Captain America's Guide to Patriotism", "Oracle's Guide to the Internet", or "Sandman's Guide to Sleep"...
