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Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition, Vol. 3
How many rooms in the X-Mansion? What makes web-shooters work? Find out as Spider-Man and the X-Men join forces to highlight the third volume of this Guide to the Greats! Featuring full profiles on Rogue, Shadowcat, Storm, the White Queen, Wolverine and more! The Scarlet Witch, the Silver Surfer and so many more in glorious color! The secrets of S.H.I.E.L.D.! The schematics of the Sentinels! The story of Subterranea and the wonders of Wakanda! details on more than a hundred alien races! Collects Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition (3 of 3)
496 pages, Paperback
First published July 19, 2006
3 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Mark Gruenwald
917 books44 followersGruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine, Omniverse, which explored the concept of continuity. Before being hired by Marvel, he wrote text articles for DC Comics official fanzine, The Amazing World of DC Comics. Articles by Gruenwald include "The Martian Chronicles" (a history of the Martian Manhunter) in issue #13 and several articles on the history of the Justice League in issue #14.
In 1978 he was hired by Marvel Comics, where he remained for the rest of his career. Hired initially as an assistant editor in January 1978, Gruenwald was promoted to full editorship by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter in 1982, putting Gruenwald in charge of The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider Woman, and What If. During this period, he shared an office with writer/editor Denny O'Neil, whom Gruenwald considered a mentor.
In 1982, Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo co-wrote Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions, the first limited seriespublished by Marvel Comics. As a writer, Gruenwald is best known for creating the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and his ten-year stint as the writer of Captain America during which he contributed several notable characters such as Crossbones, Diamondback and U.S. Agent. He made a deliberate effort to create villains who would be specific to Captain America, as opposed to generic foes who could as easily have been introduced in another comic.
His 60-issue run on Quasar realized Gruenwald's ambition to write his own kind of superhero. However, he considered his magnum opus to be the mid-1980s 12-issue miniseries Squadron Supreme, which told the story of an alternate universe where a group of well-intended superheroes decide that they would be best suited to run the planet
In 1978 he was hired by Marvel Comics, where he remained for the rest of his career. Hired initially as an assistant editor in January 1978, Gruenwald was promoted to full editorship by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter in 1982, putting Gruenwald in charge of The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider Woman, and What If. During this period, he shared an office with writer/editor Denny O'Neil, whom Gruenwald considered a mentor.
In 1982, Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo co-wrote Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions, the first limited seriespublished by Marvel Comics. As a writer, Gruenwald is best known for creating the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and his ten-year stint as the writer of Captain America during which he contributed several notable characters such as Crossbones, Diamondback and U.S. Agent. He made a deliberate effort to create villains who would be specific to Captain America, as opposed to generic foes who could as easily have been introduced in another comic.
His 60-issue run on Quasar realized Gruenwald's ambition to write his own kind of superhero. However, he considered his magnum opus to be the mid-1980s 12-issue miniseries Squadron Supreme, which told the story of an alternate universe where a group of well-intended superheroes decide that they would be best suited to run the planet
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 23, 2010
2.5 stars. These are pretty good reference books for Marvel character backgrounds and histories. Could be done better but they are certainly superior to the version put out by DC.
April 14, 2024
Mostly dead (as of 1986/87) characters in this one. I think a few of them even stayed dead. A lot did not. My reviews for the previous volumes pretty much hold. Marvel Comics (and DC, for that matter) are a weird mix of too much and too little, of amazing creativity and hack commercialism, of simplistic characters and painfully convoluted relationships. It's a mess.
The first ten or so years of Marvel movies actually went a long way to making a lot of stuff make some kind of rational sense. The last few years have started to make watching the movies feel like reading the comics. And there's a reason I don't normally read the mainline comics.
The first ten or so years of Marvel movies actually went a long way to making a lot of stuff make some kind of rational sense. The last few years have started to make watching the movies feel like reading the comics. And there's a reason I don't normally read the mainline comics.
April 17, 2013
Encyclopedia Superheroiana, pars tertia
Da es nur der letzte Band einer dreiteiligen, identisch aufgemachten Reihe ist, gilt alles, was ich für den ersten Teil gesagt habe, auch für diesen dritten Band:
Wer schon immer mal wissen musste, wieviele Tonnen das "Ding" im Vergleich zum "Silver Surfer" heben kann, oder wie eigentlich die Geschichte des "Crimson Dynamo" war, oder einfach alles mögliche über diesen oder jeden Nebenhelden oder -bösewicht lesen will - der ist hier richtig. In einer Zeit, in der an Wikipedia noch nicht zu denken war, wurden hier die fiktionalen Eigenheiten von praktisch jedem Charakter des Marvel-Universums ausführlichst geschildert, mit Illustrationen von diversen Künstlern.
Lesen am Stück kann man das nicht, man liest ja auch nicht den Brockhaus. Zum Nachschlagen findet man die Informationen wohl heute auch im Netz; daher ist dies ein Kuriosum für Fans, und bei den Fans hauptsächlich für die Komplettisten.
Und man kann die Freundin damit beeindrucken, wie extremnerdig man ist, indem man diesen Band aus dem Regal zieht und über seinen Lieblingshelden diskutiert.
Da es nur der letzte Band einer dreiteiligen, identisch aufgemachten Reihe ist, gilt alles, was ich für den ersten Teil gesagt habe, auch für diesen dritten Band:
Wer schon immer mal wissen musste, wieviele Tonnen das "Ding" im Vergleich zum "Silver Surfer" heben kann, oder wie eigentlich die Geschichte des "Crimson Dynamo" war, oder einfach alles mögliche über diesen oder jeden Nebenhelden oder -bösewicht lesen will - der ist hier richtig. In einer Zeit, in der an Wikipedia noch nicht zu denken war, wurden hier die fiktionalen Eigenheiten von praktisch jedem Charakter des Marvel-Universums ausführlichst geschildert, mit Illustrationen von diversen Künstlern.
Lesen am Stück kann man das nicht, man liest ja auch nicht den Brockhaus. Zum Nachschlagen findet man die Informationen wohl heute auch im Netz; daher ist dies ein Kuriosum für Fans, und bei den Fans hauptsächlich für die Komplettisten.
Und man kann die Freundin damit beeindrucken, wie extremnerdig man ist, indem man diesen Band aus dem Regal zieht und über seinen Lieblingshelden diskutiert.
June 22, 2015
By now the info in these is hopefully outdated, but lots of fun to flip through and see how the characters and marvel history has changed.
Cool to see everyone in their classic outfits drawn by some great artists.
Cool to see everyone in their classic outfits drawn by some great artists.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews