That’s fair enough. I just took a look at the ’80s Legacy handbook and, though that is absolutely my era, I didn’t know who half the characters were. It focuses on obscure characters to the exclusion of characters who belong in there. Dazzler, for example. Alpha Flight, for another. Meanwhile, characters from one obscure graphic novel get a full-page write-up. The joy of these kinds of projects is in giving the obscure characters their due, but there are plenty of characters who really only need a paragraph and a single image to cover them.

I was also struck once again by how text-heavy the whole thing is. It’s just a wall of text. And unfortunately, the focus is on a crazy in-depth history, with only a paragraph given over to powers/abilities. There’s too much detail in some sections, not enough details in others.

I should point out, I’m not saying I could do better… it’s a remarkably tough job. And I’m well aware that y’all have to deal with Marvel editorial restrictions, and to say I’m not in synch with Marvel editorial these days is kind of like saying that Venom kinda dislikes Spider-Man. So that’s definitely a big part of the disconnect, just wanting different things out of it.

I’m just saying that for my purposes, nobody has gotten it better than the OHOTMU Deluxe. I suspect that the missing ingredient is probably Mark Gruenwald, who had both an encyclopedic knowledge, a fan’s love *and* was a talented writer and editor as well.

The current series is comprehensive, just not in the way you wish it to be. Readers who have been following the current incarnation of the OHOTMU since its debut in 2004 have better appreciation for this year’s A-Z format because it doesn’t repeat the characters from 04-05. If you take the 04-06 series together as a whole, they are far, far more comprehensive than any prior incarnation of the OHOTMU (including the Master Edition).

As for trades, ERB tech spcs and new art…I agree, and these are things we’d like to see too.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of the original OHOTMU. And the Deluxe Edition (which is what I think you mean when you say “original?”). And Update ‘89. I even like the Master Edition. Even if they didn’t bear my name, I’d still be proud to have the 04-06 next to the other editions on my desk, ’cause the Deluxe Edition won’t explain to me who Death’s Head is, how Spider-Man’s powers changed, or who the Hobgoblin ultimately turned out to be.

MH

It’s weird, given DC’s constant revamping of their continuity, you’d expect them to have more trouble keeping the various versions of characters and histories straight. But there were no weird switch-ups like this that I recall in the DC Encyclopedia, while the Marvel Encyclopedia is filled with them.

I also have to wonder, given that DeFalco was former EIC and Brevoort is a current Executive Editor, if this weak attention to detail is a big part of Marvel’s character and history inconsistency these days.

Either they screwed up, or Marvel changed their minds again about Lockjaw’s origin.

Anyway, I’m sad to say this isn’t the first negative review I’ve seen of the Marvel Encyclopedia. Oh well, maybe they can add more characters and fix the mistakes in later editions.

I haven’t checked out the monthly A-Z handbooks, but they’re being done in the same format the 2004 X-Men handbook, the Marvel Knights handbook and the others were, right? I didn’t think the format for those were bad, but I checked out one of the Essential trades of the original OHOTMU recently and man, was it amazing.

“And it’s not being traded”

You know, I thought I read somewhere that Marvel was planning to collect some of the monthly handbooks into trades. Is that on the agenda, Marvel Handbook gang?

Speaking of omissions, Randy’s omission of the current Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe– which has been in publication steadily since 2004– is unusual. Are we not your cup of tea, Randy?

Well… that’s what we call a polite omission. But since you asked…

Nope, the current stuff is not my cup of tea. The A-Z format is a good idea now, but unfortunately it’s not comprehensive, skipping over the stuff already covered. And it’s not being traded, so if you’re a kid who really wants to know about the Fantastic Four (as opposed to maybe Molecule Man or whatever Four villain/ally is being covered in the current A-Z), you’re shit out of luck.

Then there are the art selections, which generally suffer from the same problems as the Marvel Encyclopedia (including weird things like having other artists add feet or hands that don’t match the rest of the illustration) and the design, which is way too text-heavy, leaves out the great action art selection of the original OHOTMU. I also really miss the Eliot R. Brown tech specs, which were some of the coolest things about the original OHOTMU, even though I understand that Quesada is not a fan. It’s a tough job, maybe an impossible one, so I can’t bring myself to be too hard on the guys doing it, but it’s not up to snuff with the previous versions. Like the Encyclopedia, it’s passable, but it’s not great.

That’s why I specifically refer to the original Official Handbook. The current Handbooks are the Marvel Universe in name only, and I don’t consider them the same book. I doubt you’d find too many fans of the original who do.

Nick– Beta Ray Bill has gone by Beta Ray Thor in the past (around ‘90), but it’s a seldom-used alias.

Beta Ray Thor is *technically* correct, but it’s still just wrong. If you know what I mean.

You mean since last month’s issue?

Speaking of omissions, Randy’s omission of the current Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe– which has been in publication steadily since 2004– is unusual. Are we not your cup of tea, Randy?

Nick– Beta Ray Bill has gone by Beta Ray Thor in the past (around ‘90), but it’s a seldom-used alias.

MH

I’m a completist at heart, and though I own this book and like it, it’s got some problems. I was puzzled by the many characters that were missing. I know it’s not possible to put every single one in but when you’re including Justin Hammer, Golden Archer, Bloodstorm & Skids while missing people like the Runaways, Sleepwalker, the Deaththrows, Master-Man, The Owl, Jigsaw, Epoch, Jack O’Lantern, The Fixer, Pyro, Hate-Monger, Two-Gun Kid and the Crusader, one has to wonder what exactly happened?

Also, I’m not quite sure why Patriot of the Young Avengers deserves his own entry but none of the others get one besides the team entry. It’s a bit wonky, I tell you.

I agree with Randy that the art choices were a bit *strange* too. I’d have rather seen classic takes on characters instead of Age of Apocalyspe Magneto or the art from the Marvel Masterpiece card set for Havok. There are much better representations for these characters. And I personally take it as a cheap shot to call Beta Ray Bill, Beta Ray Thor. Even if the name is correct, which I hope it isn’t, it’s not the name I remember him as.