Historical text from Comixfan:

Andy E. Nystrom

Feb 21, 2012, 01:42 pm

Written by VARIOUS
Cover by TOM GRUMMETT
AT LAST! The landmark encyclopedia-style OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE hardcover series finally is reprinted in softcover format! Each volume has corrected any errors in all profiles — and features a new, 16-page “Where Are They Now?” update addendum with text and art! An indispensable resource for all true Marvel fans! VOL. 5 spotlights hundreds of characters beginning with G-J — including the Hand, the Hellfire Club, Heroes for Hire, the High Evolutionary, three Hobgoblins, Ikaris, Immortus, Imperial Guard, the Infinity Gems, the Inhumans, the Initiative, Jack of Hearts and the Jackal!
256 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5834-9

This trades may not be exactly what people who have the hardcovers already are looking for, but at least they're keeping the unbroken Handbook/Index/Files run that started in April 2004 going. Not sure if that will continue the entire rest of the year with the demise of the ongoing Index series, but it's the case for now at least.




Eduardo M.

Feb 21, 2012, 04:07 pm


That Initiative update is going to be something




Rayeye

Apr 29, 2012, 05:45 pm


I wonder if Karnak and Triton will be included in the Imperial Guard entry this time, because in the Inhumans (2000) miniseries they are clearly shown as members of the Imperial Guard.




slevin87

May 1, 2012, 02:33 pm


While I'm disappointed it will be the last TPB, I'm still looking forward to this one. The handbook writers have done a great job on the updates, additions, and corrections, and you've done a phenomenal job period over the last eight years. Take a bow, ladies and gentlemen!




Andy E. Nystrom

May 30, 2012, 08:16 pm


This final Handbook (at least there's still two Index trades to come) has the following updates:

Guardsmen
Henry Gyrich
Cockroach Hamilton
Justin Hammer (cross-reference only)
Hammerhead
The Hand
Hangman
Jonas Harrow
Hate-Monger (Hitler Clone)
Havok
Hawkeye (Bishop)
Molly Hayes
Headsman
Hellbent
Hellcat
Hellcow (cross-reference only)
Helleyes
Hellfire Club
Hellion
Hellions (HC Trainees)
Hellions (Emplate's)
Hellions (King Bedlam's)
Hellstorm
Hepzibah
HERBIE
Hercules (Heracles)
Hercules of the 25th Century
Here Comes Tomorrow
Heroes for Hire (Power Man & Iron Fist)
Heroes for Hire (Misty & Colleen)
High Evolutionary
Maria Hill
Hobgoblin (Kingsley)
Pepper Hogan
Hollow
Hood
Howard the Duck
Howling Commandos (Fury's)
Howling Commandos (SHIELD)
Heather Hudson (Earth-3470)
Hulk
Hulk (2099 AD)
Hulkling
Human Robot
Human Torch (Hammond)
Human Torch (Storm)
Huntara
Huntsman
Hurricane (Kane)
Husk
Hybrid (Marks)
Hybrid (Washington)
Hydra
Hydro-Man
Hyperion (Earth-712)
Hyperion (Earth-4023)
Hypno-Hustler
Iceman
Ikaris
Illuminati
Immortalis
Immortus
Imperial Guard
Impossible Man
In-Betweener
Infinity Gems
Inhumans (includes a revised version of the original series' Genealogy of the House of Agon)
Initiative
Inua
Invaders
Invisible Woman
Iron Fist
Iron Lad
Iron Maiden
Iron Man (Stark)
Iron Monger
Jack Flag
Jack Frost
Jack of Hearts
Jack O'Lantern
Jack the Ripper
Jackal
Appendix (no Earths added, but one updated)




Stuart V

May 31, 2012, 03:01 am

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

 
This final Handbook (at least there's still two Index trades to come) has the following updates:

Inhumans (includes a revised version of the original series' Genealogy of the House of Agon)

It's worth mentioning that the revised family tree is nevertheless incomplete, as it misses out the Unspoken, Dark Riders, etc, all of whom are related to the main Royal Family. It's just that we don't know the exact relationships, because the Royal Family uses "cousin" as a pretty generic term for any of their relatives who isn't a direct sibling, parent or uncle/aunt. If you measured the relationships within the Royal Family purely based on the family tree, Gorgon would not actually be related to Karnak, Triton, Medusa or Crystal - he's only cousin to Black Bolt and Maximus. Likewise married couple Medusa and Black Bolt are not actual cousins (thankfully it isn't that kind of family). However, the familial relationships go beyond what the tree shows - all of them are related but in some cases the link is assumed to be several additional generations back - we're talking second, third, fourth, etc cousins, possibly a number of times removed, much like many royal families in the real world. Prince Charles was Princess Diana's 11th cousin once removed, for example.

And before anyone makes jokes about British Royals inbreeding, it's worth noting that it is Barack Obama is George W. Bush's 10th cousin once removed, and it is estimated that if you picked any two random people anywhere on Earth, they won't be more distantly related than 50th cousins to one another. That's with a world population in the billions. The Inhumans' population is only a few thousand, so everyone is bound to be related. Presumably those identified as members of the Royal Family, even minor members such as the Dark Riders, are a bit more closely related.




Stuart V

Jun 1, 2012, 02:26 pm

Additionally, I should mention that the Hellfire Club update also adds more information regarding the cyborg Castlemere's two allies, often misidentified online as Turner Scholl and Mercedes, as we had the scripts of the issues where Castlemere's allies appeared, which fully named said allies