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1/23/2020 11:35 am  #1


Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Yep, we're back!

EMPYRE HANDBOOK #1
VARIOUS (W) • VARIOUS (A) • Cover by RON LIM
Multiple races across the universe are pulled into a major conflict when EMPYRE hits! The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe helps keep the participants straight with updates of the major players in this star-spanning war: The Avengers! The Fantastic Four! Captain Marvel (Danvers)! The Skrulls! The Kree! Hulkling! Plus: All-new profiles of Kree members Bel-Dann, Captain Glory (Gla-Ree) and Tanalth, Skrull member Raksor, and the Cotati Swordsman! Also featuring the mysterious, never-before profiled Blue Area of Earth’s Moon!
48 pages/ONE–SHOT/ Rated T+ …$4.99

 

 

1/23/2020 11:54 am  #2


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

First Handbook for the New Handbook forum a good day !

 

1/23/2020 12:43 pm  #3


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Glad we're getting a new Handbook again! Actually technically the Blue Area has been covered before but only very briefly: it was in the Appendix in first series #2. Glad that this Handbook will cover older characters etc. and not just new ones.

I've pinned this topic for now so it doesn't get lost in the adding of older threads.

Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (1/23/2020 12:46 pm)


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1/23/2020 11:23 pm  #4


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Yes!  A new Handbook!  What month is this due to come out?  April 2020?

I've been wanting to see an entry on the Blue Area of the Moon for a long time.  And Bel-Dan has long been one of my "one day I'll find come up with an Imaginary Handbook that's appropriate for him to appear in" subjects.

Any chance of another Handbook before the end of the year? Say, on the X-Men corner of the MU?  (Or any corner, really,)
 

 

1/24/2020 3:06 am  #5


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

skippcomet wrote:

Yes!  A new Handbook!  What month is this due to come out?  April 2020?

Yes, April.

skippcomet wrote:

Any chance of another Handbook before the end of the year? Say, on the X-Men corner of the MU?  (Or any corner, really,)
 

That's one we can't answer, sorry. There is always a chance, but saying that is not me hinting that yes there is, just that literally there is always a chance. We only usually get a few months notice (we knew about this book last month) and once we do know we're obviously not meant to say anything until solicits come out. So if there was another one coming, we'd not be allowed to say, and so we're conversely not really in a good position to say if there isn't one because then you could tell if there was one coming by us suddenly changing from "no" to "can neither confirm nor deny."

What I can say is, as a purely personal answer but I know the feeling is shared by the other writers, we'd be happy to work on more handbooks as and when Marvel wants them. Hopefully sales will be good enough to help on that front.

     Thread Starter
 

1/24/2020 9:19 am  #6


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

I hope the entry on the blue area of the moon will explain that some of the golden age stories that take place somewhere on the moon were actually in the blue area.  :-)

 

1/24/2020 3:11 pm  #7


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Yes, finally another new Handbook!

Still hoping for the old format (I didn't like the format in the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe and Spider-Geddon Handbook), but I assume it will the new format.
 

 

1/25/2020 3:19 am  #8


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Rayeye wrote:

Yes, finally another new Handbook!

Still hoping for the old format (I didn't like the format in the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe and Spider-Geddon Handbook), but I assume it will the new format.
 

Sorry to disappoint, but yes, we'll be using the newer format.

     Thread Starter
 

1/25/2020 12:55 pm  #9


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Loki wrote:

Rayeye wrote:

Yes, finally another new Handbook!

Still hoping for the old format (I didn't like the format in the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe and Spider-Geddon Handbook), but I assume it will the new format.
 

Sorry to disappoint, but yes, we'll be using the newer format.

No worries, it's just that I still have to get used to it.
 

 

1/30/2020 1:02 am  #10


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

I am so happy when a new Handbook arrives!!! Thank You for the good new.

 

2/04/2020 6:42 am  #11


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Hopefully some of these will make it in.
Captain Kree (Mel-Varr)
Chewie the Cat - Captain Marvel's pet Flerken)
M'lanz (Sleeper)
Mari-Ell/Marie Danvers
Meet the Skrulls
Nightmask (Mar-Sohn)
Planet Terry
Starbrand (Va-Sohn)
Starstealth
Tamara Tam
Tel-Kar (Sleeper)
Warshot - Shi'ar Death Commandos

I think M'lanz is on the cover but if it is her she's colored blue not green.

Last edited by Lonewolf36 (3/27/2020 10:13 am)

 

2/05/2020 6:06 pm  #12


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

The Skrull at bottom right looks like Super-Skrull. Wonder if he's getting an update. I'm guessing that any profiles are related to the event, which probably rules out Skippi, but I hope General Zedrao makes it in.


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2/06/2020 9:45 am  #13


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

I am so excited to hear about this book!

Is this the first book since the 2011 HC ones?

Last edited by Phoenixx9 (2/06/2020 9:45 am)

 

2/06/2020 10:33 am  #14


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Phoenixx9 wrote:

I am so excited to hear about this book!

Is this the first book since the 2011 HC ones?

Not quite - we had softcover updates for the first few HCs, before low sales saw that come to a premature end, then Avengers Rollcall in 2012, Secret Wars Official Guide in 2015, All-New All-Different Marvel Universe in 2016, and Spider-Gedden Handbook in 2019. Plus the Guidebooks for the various movies and SHIELD TV show.

     Thread Starter
 

3/23/2020 6:04 pm  #15


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

I've been trying to avoid references to the virus because I think we need the distraction, but unless the books are already at Diamond, which seems unlikely, this will likely be delayed until things die down with the virus. https://www.cbr.com/coronavirus-diamond-halts-all-new-comic-shipments/


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3/24/2020 12:28 am  #16


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

I've been trying to avoid references to the virus because I think we need the distraction, but unless the books are already at Diamond, which seems unlikely, this will likely be delayed until things die down with the virus. https://www.cbr.com/coronavirus-diamond-halts-all-new-comic-shipments/

We're still working on proofchecking it, so it's definitely not gone to print yet, and therefore not at Diamond. 

     Thread Starter
 

3/24/2020 5:41 am  #17


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Loki wrote:

We're still working on proofchecking it, so it's definitely not gone to print yet, and therefore not at Diamond. 

Disappointing in one sense but it might be better for the long term health of the Handbooks. You don't want a Handbook tied to an event to be released months prior to most of the event beyond maybe a few early chapters. Better to have it released with most of the other related books when people who aren't necessarily Handbook fans are more likely to snag them. Here's hoping the world gets back to relative normal sooner than later.


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3/25/2020 11:34 am  #18


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

I am not familiar with the "newer format" mentioned above in a post.  What is the main difference?  Does the Handbook still define powers, give lifting strength such as 85 tons, etc, and give height and weight statistics?

 

3/25/2020 12:47 pm  #19


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Phoenixx9 wrote:

I am not familiar with the "newer format" mentioned above in a post.  What is the main difference?  Does the Handbook still define powers, give lifting strength such as 85 tons, etc, and give height and weight statistics?

All the stats are still there. The two big differences are larger print (thus reducing the amount of space available for History, etc., and what might have been a 1/2 pager because a full pager) and the layout is a lot different. Here's are some sample pages from Amazon From Spider-Geddon. Don't worry about the last of stats for Master Weaver. Real Name, etc is often on a later page in the current format. https://www.amazon.in/Spider-Geddon-Handbook-1-Various-ebook/dp/B07H9LLL6B#reader_B07H9LLL6B


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3/25/2020 2:51 pm  #20


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Phoenixx9 wrote:

I am not familiar with the "newer format" mentioned above in a post.  What is the main difference?  Does the Handbook still define powers, give lifting strength such as 85 tons, etc, and give height and weight statistics?

Larger size print for the text, larger/more space devoted to art/action scenes.  Entries now start right way with the history section.  The larger size text and art space take up more room on the page, so the page count for an entry in the newer format is now larger than it was in the previous format.  My guess is that an entry in the new format takes up twice the page space as it would have taken in the old format, but that's just a guess based on the fact that, in the new format, there have been no half-page entries.  Minimum-sized entry in the new format thus far has been at least one page.  The more complex or developed subjects of entries so far have received more pages.

The more controversial changes, at least as far as I can tell from WWtW forum participants, have been what is done with the rest of the entries' information.  Biographical data (Real name, aliases, place of birth, etc.), first appearance, physical stats (height, weight, hair & eye color), powers & abilities & weapons & etc., and what used to be the "main image" (the large, clear image of the subject of the entry in their most current or recent costume/appearance) are now all squeezed together in one section after the history, with the main image now greatly reduced in size to what was approximately the size of a half-page entry's main image in the old format, and this is true regardless of who the subject is, whether it's an entry on a new character like Singularity or Lash of the Inhumans or a more established character getting an update, like Dr. Strange in the ANAD MU Handbook or Peter Parker-616/Spider-Man in the Spider-Geddon Handbook.

It's been explained by the Handbook staff that the change in the Handbook format was mandated by folks higher up the editorial chain and thus isn't going away anytime soon.  The larger text size is actually easier to read, but since it takes up more physical page space (along with the increase in space devoted to action art as well as various costume changes for a subject, the net result is more page-space per entry, but fewer entries per handbook.  As one of many who enjoyed the fact that the older format allowed for entries on "deeper cuts" of the Marvel Universe (to borrow a phrase from American radio programming) than was allowed during, say, the original and Deluxe editions of the handbook (whose editorial rules set up by Mark Gruenwald emphasized covering the best known, most current, and most regularly/recently-appearing subjects for entries, which is how subjects like Bullseye and Killraven were covered in the original HB but not in the Deluxe), fewer entries per handbook means it's more likely that those entries will go to either more well known or popular characters, or to those who more closely adhere to that Handbook's theme than others.  On the other, OTHER, hand, however, this also increases the odds that a more well known character, who is likely to already have been given Handbook-coverage elsewhere, might receive an update if they need it AND if they feature prominently in a Handbook's central theme or event.

 

3/25/2020 5:43 pm  #21


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Thanks guys!

I appreciate all the info.  I look forward to the Empyre HB, whenever it gets released!

 

3/27/2020 3:11 am  #22


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

skippcomet wrote:

Phoenixx9 wrote:

I am not familiar with the "newer format" mentioned above in a post.  What is the main difference?  Does the Handbook still define powers, give lifting strength such as 85 tons, etc, and give height and weight statistics?

Larger size print for the text, larger/more space devoted to art/action scenes.  Entries now start right way with the history section.  The larger size text and art space take up more room on the page, so the page count for an entry in the newer format is now larger than it was in the previous format.  My guess is that an entry in the new format takes up twice the page space as it would have taken in the old format, but that's just a guess

I can confirm you have it right. 
 

     Thread Starter
 

5/02/2020 5:00 pm  #23


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Revised release dates for some Marvel comics have come out but not this one. Hope Marvel announces the new date soon. I'm betting July or August given the two Empyre release dates known so far (June 24 for #0 Avengers and July 8 for #0 Fantastic Four).

Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (5/02/2020 5:03 pm)


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5/03/2020 3:18 am  #24


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Even with the delay, I'm excited for this new Handbook. It's been far too long. I've missed the more regular releases of Handbooks, themed or otherwise. I'm ordering two copies. I hope this sells well and we get more down the line.


I remain
 

5/03/2020 7:31 am  #25


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

frogoat wrote:

Even with the delay, I'm excited for this new Handbook. It's been far too long. I've missed the more regular releases of Handbooks, themed or otherwise. I'm ordering two copies. I hope this sells well and we get more down the line.

Welcome back, frogoat! I'm hoping it will at least do well enough to encourage new books whenever a new event or movie comes out.


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5/21/2020 8:29 am  #26


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Marvel's comicstore site now lists the release date as July 29. Here's hoping that there aren't any further virus related delays, though of course safety comes before Handbook fun.


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6/17/2020 5:28 pm  #27


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

Maybe due to the closure of the Marvel Digital Comics Webstore, the preview image got wiped out, so I replaced it with a new one.


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7/07/2020 2:49 pm  #28


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

So do we have a set release date for this now? I'm keen to dig into it. I'm hoping we get a nice detailed breakdown of the Skrulls life cycle etc.


I remain
 

7/07/2020 5:01 pm  #29


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

skippcomet wrote:

It's been explained by the Handbook staff that the change in the Handbook format was mandated by folks higher up the editorial chain and thus isn't going away anytime soon.

I'm curious whether this has actually resulted in improved sales.

 

7/07/2020 5:16 pm  #30


Re: Handbook announcement - Empyre Handbook

frogoat wrote:

So do we have a set release date for this now? I'm keen to dig into it. I'm hoping we get a nice detailed breakdown of the Skrulls life cycle etc.

I just did a check and I'm seeing both July 29 and August 5. Since Previews says August 5, that unfortunately seems the most likely of the two dates unfortunately. The glass half full is, at least two Handbooks this year, eventually!


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