I'll reveal the answers on the 20th if no one's gottne them by then. Okay to guess at some of them even if you don't know all of them.

Most of your answers are correct. Greedy Aakon, choosing a double A name so they could be first (narrowly edging out A'askvarii). . The Death in the Marvel Universe article mostly forcssed on the abstract being but also looked at dying, astral forms, and the like. Not surprising you got some of the modern handbook questions correct.

#5 is very close but not quite there.

Loki wrote:

Not just the Scourge victims, but anyone without a clearly depicted death from the comics got new art depicting it?
 

Yes, that was it. Quite a few of the new drawings were in fact Scourge victims, but that was due to clarity and not them being Scourge victims. Titania was in the shower, thus naked, so it's not surprising she wasn't depicted at first with the Comics Code. Blue Streak was probably a matter of zooming out at the end of the story, so we saw the truck he was in instead with sound effect. Likely with the Bar with No Name massacre it was a matter of showing minimal panels so show there was no time to react. But anyone whose death needed clarity got new art. Viper (Stryke/Dixon) for example, probably because his overcoat covered most of his costume in the original panel.

Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (2/16/2020 11:49 am)

zuckyd1 wrote:

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

8.Which animal type got its own entry in Hardcover #14, a brand new listing?
10. Which handbook was the first to show art from Spidey Super Stories?
11. In which handbook can you find a profile for Richard Rory?
13. What was the Whizzer (of Squadron Supreme)'s real name originally revealed to be in the first handbook series?
14. Which villain team first got a full profile in the paperbacks connected to the Deluxe Edition?

8. Cockroaches?
10. Spiderverse handbook?
11. Defenders: Strange Heroes?
13. Stanley Stewart?
14. Headmen?

8 and 11 are correct. 14 is correct after a fashion: It's the answer I was looking for but I forgot that they had also also had an entry on the original series, so i was goikng to rewrite the question as "Which team had an entry in the first series, skipped the Deluxe Edition, but then had an entry in the Delxue trades, complete with quarter page sub-entries?" But you got the right answer anyway.

10. No, it was before that.
13. No, that's the name that eventually stuck (in the Squadron Supeme series) but not the name originally given to him.

I'll reveal any remaining answers this evening.

New questions (sorry, stumped by teh two questions from Loki):
1. What is wrong with the Enforcer entry in the first series?
2. Which character in the original series had both a full (not Appendix) entry in the first 12 issues and then again in the 2-issue Book of the Dead and the Inactive?
3. Who was the first Inactive character from the first series to appear under their real name in the Deluxe edition?
4. How many pages total was the Alien Races section in the Deluxe Edition?
5. What was the most notable art change in Update '89 from previous versions?
6. What was the third handbook devoted to the Ultimate universe called?
7. What was the only "Files" type book to have the bulk of its entries converted to Handbook profiles for the Hardcovers?
8. Who received a new profile in the Hardcovers to fill a half page space in the latter K?
9. Due to a printing error, which Handbook had some copies pretty correctly, some copies printed in the wrong order with all pages intact, and some copies with the pages in the order order with some pages missing and others duplicated?
10. Which Pet Avenger appeared in the Secret Wars handbook?
11. Which licensed character never got an Official Handbook profile but did get a Gamer's handbook profile?
​12. Which country received an entry in hardcover #14 instead of Marvel Atlas?
13. Who had two separate entries in the Spider-Man: Back in Black Handbook under different names?
14. Which Handbook was the first to profile John Kowalski?
15. How many volumes did the trades connected to the Deluxe Edition run (the colour ones, not the Essential volumes)?
 
Bonus: In which volume of the Encyclopedia series that preceded the 2004 Handbooks did one of the writers declare that he couldn't write as well as someone from Wizard?

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

New questions (sorry, stumped by the two questions from Loki):
6. What was the third handbook devoted to the Ultimate universe called?
7. What was the only "Files" type book to have the bulk of its entries converted to Handbook profiles for the Hardcovers?
​12. Which country received an entry in hardcover #14 instead of Marvel Atlas?
14. Which Handbook was the first to profile John Kowalski?

As the head writer for the UItimate handbooks, and writer of said country entry and Kowalski, I'm recusing myself from these questions as I would have an unfair advantage.

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

15.

10 I think.

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

Bonus: In which volume of the Encyclopedia series that preceded the 2004 Handbooks did one of the writers declare that he couldn't write as well as someone from Wizard?

Hulk "Encyclopedia"? And yes, it does need "air quotes" round the latter word, as it was in no way an Encyclopedia.

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

#15 and Bonus are correct. I'm missing the first volume and hope to find it someday, but I saw that Wizard bit in a preview promoting the Hulk book and it's dissuaded me from buying it even though I've seen it on sale really cheap (can't recall exact price but less than $10 Can).. I don't know if previewing that bit helped or hurt the sales overall, but it certainly killed one sale.

Yeah, if they are offering you less than $10 to take it off their hands, then they aren't paying enough to make it worth your while.

Going from memory.
1 Real name proved to be wrong.
9 Deluxe Edition
11 Solarman
12 Netherlands 

Last edited by Lonewolf36 (2/21/2020 11:41 am)

Lonewolf36 wrote:

12 Netherlands 

Having worked on the Atlases and being half-Dutch myself, I pushed to include that new entry in the last hardcover since the Netherlands didn't make the cut in the original Atlas run. Being the last of the run, and having some pages to play with, there was a general feeling that we wanted to try and cover as wide a spread of entry types as possible with the new entries, and to include some who might never otherwise get an entry. 

2. Yes, Drac had an unfortunate encounter with the Montesi formula between #3 and #13.
3. Yes, Ghost Rider in the Book of the Dead and the Inactive, Blaze in Deluxe.
For #5 I'll have to take another look for that last part, but yes, that's the answer I was looking for.
6. Correct
7. New Avengers: Most Wanted Files had Files in the name and had Files qualities, but there was another book that was a lot more removed from Handbook format.
The last three are correct, so 7 right out of 8 answers is really good.

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

7. What was the only "Files" type book to have the bulk of its entries converted to Handbook profiles for the Hardcovers?

Encyclopedia Mythologica?

Here's the ones that no one got (though one is being bumped):
4. How many pages total was the Alien Races section in the Deluxe Edition?
32 1/2. The trick was to remember that half the book was devoted to the aliens, so 64 divided by 2. I forgot about the two on the inside cover so i would have accepted anything in the 32-33 range

7. What was the only "Files" type book to have the bulk of its entries converted to Handbook profiles for the Hardcovers?
Annihilation: Nova Corps Files. The odd bit of history text got carried over, but most of the stats were incompatible with the Handbooks

9. Due to a printing error, which Handbook had some copies pretty correctly, some copies printed in the wrong order with all pages intact, and some copies with the pages in the order order with some pages missing and others duplicated?
X-Men: Earth's Mutant Heroes. The first time I tried to purchase I got the one with the duplicate/missing pages, the second time I got the version with just the pages in the wrong order. I later had a chance to get the right version, but since I now had all the entries anyway, I decided not to pay for a third copy. Eduardo suggested I had ticked off Loki. I think he meant the god, but ticking off the Handbook mwriter may have also produced that outcome.

13. Who had two separate entries in the Spider-Man: Back in Black Handbook under different names?
I screwed this one up so will bump this into the next round with the right question to play fair.

Speaking of which: Round three! I'll throw in an extra question to make up for the repeat question.
1. Who had two separate entries in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day under different names?
2. Which issue's cover of the first series was used as the cover for the Essential volume for the first series?
3. The Appendix in first series #3 accidentally assigned a hero's name to two villains (the same correct code name is used by both villains), What is the hero's name used in error and what is the correct shared villain's name?
4. What was the first time in the Deluxe Edition that two characters with the same code name had back to back entries?
5. What is interesting about the art for the J. Jonah Jameson and John Jameson entries in the Deluxe Edition?
6. Aside from Update '89 itself, Essenital OHOTMU Update '89 also included a few whiches from which Handbook series?
7. What colour was used for the background of both OHOTMU: Spider-Man 2004 and 2005?
8. Why was Mr. Zodiac's entry in Marvel Legacy: 1970s a first for the handbooks?
9. Which character announced (and originally on the cover) for one of the OHOTMU Updates was pulled very shortly before the book went to the presses?
10. What was the first flip book in the Guidebook series?
11. Under which alias was James Barnes listed under in the hardcover series?
12. What was the first Handbook (not counting Guidebooks) to be in the current Handbook format?
13. The Santa Claus entry in the hardcovers was a revised version of an entry that first appeared where?
14. What was the Appendix  in Thor: Asgard's Avenger devoted to?
15. When did Scarlet Scarab most recently get an entry in the Official Handbooks?
16. What organized crime group got an entry in Mighty Avengers: Most Wanted?
 

zuckyd1 wrote:

6. The Deluxe series trade collections
9. Red Ronin?
10. Incredible Hulk/Iron Man 2
12. All-New All Different handbook?
13. Marvel Holiday Special (2006?)
14. Asgardians
15. original series?

All those are correct. For Scarlet Scarab I was careful to quality Official Handbook as he did make it into one of the Gamer Handbooks. While Essential Update '89 didn't include every entry that had any changes. it did cover new to Deluxe material plus any entry deemed significantly changed. For example, Beast reverted to his original look shortly after Deluxe #2 came out, but that was deemed too big a surprise to reveal prematurely; however,by the time the trades came out it was okay to show that look.

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

Any more takers for this round? Answers on Thursday as usual.

Feels a bit like cheating since I wrote the entry in question, but:
8) It was the first character who had appeared only in a Big Little Book.

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

Obviously #8 is correct. I think he's still the only such character. It was a fun choice. While you obviously need characters like Spider-Man, Wolverine etc for sales, most people already know the basics of the character even before they read the profile. With the likes of Mr. Zodiac most readers are actually learning a little something about the Marvel Universe.  I know I read some Big Little Books as a kid but don't recall if that was one of them.

Yep. We liked to try and cover at least a few of the more obscure and esoteric characters out there, to try and break new ground.