Customer Reviews

Marvel Encyclopedia Volume 1 HC

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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The spine identifies this as "volume one" of what is supposed to be a comprehensive, total reference resource to Marvel comics. It's not even close. Instead of the first three or four letters of the alphabet, like a true encyclopedia, it's subdivided by COMIC. Then, in the X-men entry, it's subdivided into Hero/Villain.

That could be overlooked if there was anything of value within the book, but there isn't. Most of the entries are copied almost word-for-word (mistakes included) from the Marvel website. To make matters worse, there is no cross-referencing between entries - but the hypertext links in blue from the website are STILL THERE - and some entries are so misfiled (Scarlet Witch, for example) that you might find her with a treasure map.

The information contained in each entry lacks any real depth. Magneto's entry (one of the longest, almost three pages) is more artwork than text, and what little is embellished from the website mostly just repeats the same basic facts over and over. The book even ignores the recent "Origins" story for Wolverine - an effort to get people to buy another expensive hardcover, I suppose.

The artwork comes either directly from the comics, or is Alex Ross' work reprinted. It doesn't really add anything to something that was advertised as an information resource.

Volume One of an encyclopedia should have included entries on every Marvel character, organization, and major plotline in the letters A-E, in alphabetical order, with references to other characters, organizations, and events. It should have cited every fact with a comic reference. Then, it would have been worth the money.

As it stands, this book is a [money] advertisement.

Final Grade: F

If I could have flipped through this before purchasing, I would have put it back on the shelf and spent my money on something else. Alas, it was covered with shrink-wrap, and the comic store conveniently didn't have a store copy for browsing. "If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas." Oh, well...

I'm not a stereotypical "fanboy" of comics. I have read them since the early '70s, collected them since the early eighties, and I have a fair collection of special older comics (all of Byrne's X-Men, Miller's Daredevil, etc.). I just love comics (DC and Marvel), and this book is a total disappointment.

If you are looking to waltz down memory lane, and be treated to artwork from Jack Kirby, John Romita, Sr., Steve Ditko, Frank Miller, John Byrne, you're looking at the wrong book. The focus here is on the current crop artists and their versions of the heroes many of us have come to love over the years. Newer characters are also depicted. If, however, a character you may remember from the past doesn't play a large part in the current Marvel Universe, you will not find them in this book (e.g. Moon Knight, Black Knight, Sunfire, Banshee, Polaris, etc.).

Basically, this book sucks pretty badly. There is practically no "history" to be found in the book. There is more artwork to adorn the pages than there are words. AND to top it all off, the lazy slobs at Marvel already have the profiles of these characters thrown up on their busy website.

Diehard comic fans like myself will feel terribly short-changed at this shallow piece of junk. I've come to expect that when the word "encyclopedia" is used, the work should be pretty exhaustive - for example, the Baseball Encylcopedia, The World Book Encylcpedia, etc. Of course, to be fair, this huge coaster/paperweight/doorstop is labled Vol. 1. This implies that there should at least be a Vol. 2, right? Maybe readers should give Marvel the benefit of the doubt and assume that this was intended to be a very brief overview of the current Marvel Universe, with no depth and practically ZERO historical treatment. NOT!!!!

Save your money and read the profiles on the website if you really care to learn more about the current major players in Marvel's Universe. Works like this really frustrate me. Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, and the other honchos at Marvel that oversee creative content should hang their heads in shame. Or, maybe I should hang my head in shame for falling for their "over-promise, under-deliver" marketing strategy. I've learned my lesson. I won't buy a Vol. 2 (if one is ever published) until I can flip through it at a store and judge it myself to see if it is worth the chunk of change Marvel wants for it. This rates ZERO stars.

I have to begin this review by stating how much I loved the Handbook to the Marvel Universe line of comic books from the 80's and 90's. For those of you who don't know, The Handbook, over several volumes and updates, gave background information on almost all of Marvel's characters. It gave detailed, specific information that would be any fanboy's dream. So needless to say, I was excited to hear that this book was coming out. I imagined that as a [$$] hardcover, it would be as comprehensive, if not more comprehensive that the Handbook line.

Imagine my surprise when I opened this book.

I think the first thing that threw me was the title. The Marvel Encyclopedia. To me an encyclopedia is a book that you go to find information on a topic that you do not know much about. The Handbook title would be more appropriate. Because this volume doesn't tell you anything that you don't know or couldn't find out by reading the latest issues. And the slant is on the modern characters, characters who are currently appearing in the books. For instance, Avengers entries are for members of the current team in the book. No past members who has had an impact on shaping the team. No Mantis, no Swordsman, and no Moondragon.

All of this leads me to believe that this was intended as a means to promote the Marvel books currently on the market. If the book was exclusively marketed to non-comics readers for this purpose, fine. But this item was promoted heavily to the fan press too. But I would not recommend this book for the hardcore Marvel fan to buy. The book is not worth the price. For more bang for your buck, go for the DK guides to the various DC and Marvel characters. You can get two books for the price of this one and much more information on the topics covered.

I was all excited that they were bringing back the Marvel Universe/DC Who's Who idea. But they haven't done anything of the kind.

It's not very well written and is very badly organized, but thosde are hardly the biggest problems.

The *many* omissions are thrown into even higher relief by several rather dubious inclusions. In fact, there's so little here (240 pages and it has less information than any two issues of either edition of the Marvel Universe series) that it's pointless to look at the omissions, just at what little inclusions there are. I don't know who this is aimed at; it's not informative enough for comic fans, it's too [$] and both too informative and not informative enough for non-fans.

Equally problematic is that for a number of characters, the write-ups are all about recent-vintage redesigns that in several cases aren't even a part of Marvel Comics continuity, and in all cases have yet to prove they have the legs to warrant inclusion at the expense of longer-lasting, classic versions of the characters.

And the sections on Ultimate Marvel and The Call Of Duty are just freaking *ads* for those comics. ... P>... Some of this art is good, some of it really isn't, and again they've elected to forget the classic versions of these characters in favor of retreads that may not last another year.

Forget it. ...

When I heard MARVEL was about to release an updated, hardcover representation of its very popular "Official Handbooks", I couldn't wait! The previewed cover featuring Alex Ross promised a very innovative and wonderfully produced page-turner...to my disappointment, the book just doesn't deliver. The layout is dull, the information is tright and unentertaining -- the backstory and origins of these heroes is what made them icons. Instead of the vague and patronizing "power ratings" more attention should have been given to an interesting layout that supports the artwork submitted by some of the most prominant artists in the industry. I wouldn't have even cared that most of it is stock footage if the pages were cool to look at. I won't even try to mention the poorly researched "Essential Reading" section -- which is just an amature attempt at getting the core audience to purchase re-hashed MARVEL Trade Paperbacks... I used to look forward to these types of tomes, not only for the art but the extraordinary attention to detail - the diagrams, the backstory - this just isn't it... I realize that MARVEL has labeled this Vol. 1...I hope they show as much affection for their heroes as audiences have over the years the second time around.

The First Marvel Encyclopedia is awesome book. Great artwork stuff and drawings with full information about the most popular marvel superheroes and villains. It's a real honor to have this book. Starting from cover art by Alex Ross the whole book is real treasure. Every Marvel fan should have this book!!!

Although the book was a thorough accumulation of Marvel characters, the pictures were in black and white, and the level of artistic talent was limited. The inexpensive printing shows and I was completely dissatisfied with the flimsy pages and grainy print.

Everyone already knows what Captain American, Hulk, and Wolverine have done in the comics. I thought this book would be an (almost) complete encyclopedia of marvel characters. Due to its small size I just figured it would provide brief descriptions of each character. It doesn't even cover all of the first x-men. And yes, everything was just cut-and-pasted from the marvel website.

Don't judge a book by its attractive cover!

The book looks great, the problems start when you search for information on a caracter and you only find the ones you already know. I understand that Marvel dedicate more space to it's icons, but it's illogycal to exclude 80% of your caracters, even if they are well know outside the comic comunity (Apocalyps, Mr. Sinester, Hobgoblin, Tigra, Machineman, Valder, Mr Hyde, Omegar Red, Lady Deathstrike, etc).
Almost every art piece has already been publish, and the ones who haven't are not very good (Quicksilver and Scarlet Wish).
The information is scarce to say the least, and the recomended reading is almost limited to recent issues.
Sometimes the power level of the caracters dosen't make any sense. (according to the guide Jubilee has more energy than Gambit).
If you have never read a Marvel Comic this might be your cup of tea, otherwise don't buy it.

I have to wonder whether some of the other reviewers read the same book I did. No, not everyone knows what Captain American, Hulk, and Wolverine have done in the comics. No, the entries weren't "just cut-and-pasted from the Marvel Web site". And I had to laugh at the obviously clueless person that said "many of the people writing Marvel now know less about the characters than a lot of us older fans"! This is an excellent, well-researched, visually-attractive, informative, and up-to-date guide to the Marvel Comics universe that will appeal to both new and long-time readers. Granted, it's nowhere near as in-depth as Marvel's older Encyclopedias, but it was never meant to be. Marvel are promising future editions and updates of the new Encyclopedia, so If you like Marvel's comics, movies, or TV shows, and want to know more about the characters, then get in on the ground floor with this great book!