Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Master Edition Volume 1 [Paperback]

Len Kaminski (Author), Glenn Herdling (Author), Peter Sanderson (Author), Murray Ward (Author), Mark Gruenwald (Editor), Keith Pollard (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

Heroes, villains, gods, demons, sorcerers, scientists, monsters, mobsters, and a talking duck: More than one thousand dynamic dossiers, collected in alphabetical order for the first time across three volumes! From mutants to martial arts, street crime to space opera, espionage to other dimensions, horror to humor, the past to the future, no corner of Marvel is left untouched! Super-team rosters and histories, alien race outlines and so much more! Get to know the Universe now! Collects Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Master Edition #1-36, characters/profiles in alphabetical order.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Marvel; Master ed edition (April 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785127305
• ISBN-13: 978-0785127307
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #418,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A complete paperback compilation of the deluxe edition..., April 20, 2006

By 

Dardanos "DDT" (Manila, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)

...in three installments. I did not have the privilege of owning the original run of the Deluxe Edition of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, but I do have the trade paperback of ten volumes, which unfortunately when read by volume will fall apart on the spine (the 1st 4 volumes were carelessly bound). For the first time I read the entries for such obscure Marvel characters as Cloud, Arnim Zola, Blackout (which has another entry of the Deluxe Edition's Book(s) of the Dead), and for the first time I see the original feature illustrations for Angel, Cyclops, and Hawkeye which were replaced in the trade paperback edition. For a Marvel fan who has lived throughout the seventies and eighties this is the book for u, the era before the so-called "Dark Ages" of comicbook. Here are the Marvel characters who ante-dates the overexposure of the X-Men and the antihero and the big gun types. This is the expansion of the original run of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1983-1984), which explains why most feature illustrations of characters are exactly the same as in the first run. The only handicap of this series was that it failed to materialize its own Appendix, unlike in the first series, which published them on the back of the backcover.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, June 16, 2006

By 

Brian Mills "KingBrian" (Piscataway, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)

I know there are alot of things that could be complained about if you want to get picky, there's bound to be SOMEONE who doesn't have a full entry, or their own entry, and it's true, there ARE a few...but SERIOUSLY! The most comprehensive encyclopedia of the Marvel character universe ever undertaken! No longer is your favorite hero or villian reduced to a maximum of one page, now whatever it takes to flesh out the bio, the more that's in there. Rich, imaginative diagrams and spec sheets of just about everything non-living that has an importance in Marvel. Iron Man's armor, the Avengers Mansion, too many to list. Read the whole first edition in a sit down, I remember my brother buying the original series, simply overwhelming, and a MUST OWN for any more than casual Marvel fan. Just got notified that Edition2 is on it's way, I can't wait!!!

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what you think, December 24, 2011

By 

KingOfFlashlights (Seattle, WA, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Master Edition Volume 1 (Paperback)

When I ordered this, I thought it would be like an omnibus style of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, but it's not. There's no synopsis of each character, just basic stats and issue # reference of appearances.