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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. Download high resolution version (200x977, 64 KB)Covers: 1) The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z, Vol. ... Marvel Comics NYSE: MVL, (AKA Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Characters, Inc. ...

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). 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The second volume was published from 1985 until 1988. It was known as 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 many websites that have profiles of Marvel Characters use images and text from these comicbooks. 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• 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 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 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 their abilities in more elaborate detail, breaking each character's physical powers down into several categories, though unlike the previous volumes it presented little to no information on the back-story of the characters. Each character was given a full body mug shot showing the character from the front, side, and back. 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

A fourth version of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe began publication in 2004 and ran twenty issues, through the end of 2005. This volume was different than its predecessors in that it was not an attempt to describe the entire history, characters, and locations of the fictional Marvel Universe. This edition instead focused on the specific environment, histories, and characters that made up the fictional context of various popular characters or themes. Instead of being released in numbered issues, various superhero characters, superhero teams, or themes got their own Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (such as Daredevil and the Avengers). 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... :For people who perform risky stunts as a profession, see stunt performer. ... The Avengers are a Marvel Comics superhero team, comprised of many of the Marvel Universes most popular and powerful heroes and the Marvel Comics counterpart to DC Comics Justice League of America. ...

A new edition of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is solicited to begin publication in January of 2006, again returning to the A-Z format of the original series.

External Links

• Marvel Database Project