Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition Omnibus

by Mark Gruenwald

Following the success of the original OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE came the DELUXE EDITION - expanded, augmented and fully updated! Now, the ultimate guide to the mid-1980s Marvel Universe is collected in a single gigantic hardcover for the first time! The OHOTMU DELUXE EDITION featured fact-packed character profiles illustrated by some of the era's biggest names, including John Byrne, Frank Miller, Arthur Adams, Walter Simonson and Bill Sienkiewicz! Immerse yourself in hundreds of in-depth profiles of Marvel's greatest heroes and villains - from Abomination to Zzzax and everyone in between! An array of alien races, equipment schematics and maps, and a rundown of the dearly departed in the Book of the Dead! Collecting OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL DELUXE EDITION #1-20.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

1392 pages, Hardcover

Published March 2, 2021

About the author

Gruenwald 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

Reviews

[Lucy Batson · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the details you wanted to know, and plenty of others that you had no awareness of or need from the state of the Marvel Universe circa 1985.

[Mark Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Second volume of The Official Handbook of The Marvel Universe. Excellent time of Marvel comics and my favorite. Covers so much more than the first volume with great history and images of the characters. A must read for Marvel fans. To me this was the best time to be reading marvel comics. Very thick and heavy volume, not to be held but to lay before you to read. This is the mid 80s and Marcel was going great. Has nice issues about comic characters that had been killed off. Some came back later on as many comic characters rarely stay dead.

[MoonKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading these original comics as they came out, spending hours studying the character history, the schematics of iron man's armor ... good times! Its great to have this in a hardcover!