The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

</table> The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is a comicbook published by Marvel Comics that attempts to loosely define the characters, places, and events that make up the Marvel fictional comicbook world. Although Marvel comics are fanciful works of fiction aimed at adolescent audiences, the company attempts to have some type of continuity and logical consistancy in its stories. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in its various revisions is a reflection of this.

The first volume was published from 1982 until 1984 and was 15 issues long and was simply titled, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A - Z. Writers were not satisfied with its accuracy or of the number of characters it included. To keep up with the evolution and changes of the characters and to better define the Marvel Universe, new editions would be published in the future. The last three issues covered deceased characters and weaponry and armor (issue 15).

The second volume was published from 1985 until 1988. It was known as the The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition and was 20 issues long. It included far more characters and even a 5 book long compendium of deceased characters. This was the most widely purchased volume of the handbook and most websites that have profiles of Marvel Characters use the images and text of these comicbooks.

• At roughly the same time Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe was being published two minor versions of the Marvel Universe were also produced: The Transformers Universe and The G.I.Joe Order of Battle. Both were published in 1986 and were only 4 issues long. They featured profiles written originally for the toy lines of the same name which were elaborated upon by comic book writers (the original profiles included with many of these toys happened to be written by the same comic book writers anyway).

• A companion volume to the "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition" called the "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update 89" was published in 1989. There were eight issues of this book and many characters already listed in the Deluxe Edition were again represented, however with revisions.

The third volume of the Marvel Universe was known as the The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition and was published from 1990 until 1993. This volume was 36 issues long and included the largest number of characters and defined the extent and nature of thier abilities in more elaborate detail, breaking each character's physical powers down into several categories. Each character was given a full body mug shot showing the character from the front, side, and back. Far more work went into accuracy of the Master Edition than any previous volume. Unfortunately, it was not widely distributed and was too expensive for many readers at the time. Many avid Marvel fans are not even aware the edition exists.

The newest version of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe started being published in 2004 and is still being published in 2005. This volume is different than its predecessors in that it is not an attempt to describe the entire history, characters, and locations of the fictional Marvel Universe. The new edition instead focuses on the specific envirenment, histories, and characters that make up the fictional context of various popular characters or superhero teams. Instead of being released in numbered issues various superhero characters and superhero teams get thier own Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (such as Daredevil and the Avengers).

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