Historical text from Comixfan:

Andy E. Nystrom

May 17, 2010, 03:30 pm

Coming from Marvel in August...

OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE A TO Z UPDATE #3
Written by JEFF CHRISTIANSEN, MIKE O’SULLIVAN, MICHAEL HOSKIN, MADISON CARTER, MARKUS RAYMOND, ROB LONDON, SEAN McQUAID, KEVIN GARCIA, STUART VANDAL, CHRIS BIGGS, JACOB ROUGEMONT & RONALD BYRD
Cover by KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY

The OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE continues its 2010 campaign to catalogue the multiverse! This offering of ALL-NEW encyclopedia-style profiles features an impressive collection of aliens (Shatterax, Aakon, Rigellians)! Groups (ARMOR, Secret Warriors, MI13)! Mutants (Alchemy, Graymalkin, Murmur)! The heroes we love (Butterball, Val de Fontaine, Johnny Guitar), and the baddies we love to hate (Condor, Arthur Nagan, Lascivious)! Featuring ORIGINAL ART for dozens of characters!

64 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99




Roger Ott

May 17, 2010, 04:23 pm


Sounds wonderful!

I really enjoy the expanded entries for alien races, so getting two in this issue will make my day!

And I see Red Hulk on the cover. Does that mean there'll be an identity reveal coming soon?




slevin87

May 17, 2010, 04:48 pm


I recognize the following characters on the cover:
Lectronn
Omega (Michael Pointer)
Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady?)
Vanisher
Ariel (Coconut Grove)
Feral
Brain Drain
King Arthur Pendragon
Blindfold
Yondu
Nomad (Rikki Barnes)
Orb (Shannon or his unidentified successor)
Red Hulk

Not sure about the furry guy, or the heavily-armed African American (though the latter looks really familiar).




slevin87

May 17, 2010, 04:51 pm


Also, since the Arthur Nagan Gorilla-Man's being covered here, hopefully Jerrold Morgan/Shrunken Bones (although he's never been called the latter in-story) will receive a profile soon, so each of the four Headmen will have had one.



Phoenixx9

May 17, 2010, 05:05 pm

Roger Ott wrote:

Sounds wonderful!

And I see Red Hulk on the cover. Does that mean there'll be an identity reveal coming soon?

@Cyrog: Rulk's and She-Rulk's identities have already been revealed. Thus, hopefully a handbook entry is forthcoming for both.

@slevin87: I know Ruby received an entry, but I don't believe Chondu ever did. He needs an entry, hopefully in his powerful form: horned head, lamprey arms, bat wings, taloned feet.

I love this series and can't wait for this issue! It will be great to see Yondu and Blindfold's entries!




slevin87

May 17, 2010, 05:06 pm

Phoenixx9 wrote:

@slevin87: I know Ruby received an entry, but I don't believe Chondu ever did. He needs an entry, hopefully in his powerful form: horned head, lamprey arms, bat wings, taloned feet.

Actually, he did, in the Mystic Arcana Handbook.




Phoenixx9

May 17, 2010, 05:22 pm

Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks!

My store never carried the Mystic Arcana, so I missed that issue. Drats!




Eduardo M.

May 17, 2010, 05:47 pm


aaawwwwwww...... Johnny Guitar is being called a hero. Somewhere in the comic book afterlife he's going "Hell yeah"

Hopefully Dr Sax gets an entry too. Maybe they'll get a combo entry like Styx and Stone.




Andy E. Nystrom

May 17, 2010, 06:17 pm

Phoenixx9 wrote:

Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks!

My store never carried the Mystic Arcana, so I missed that issue. Drats!

The entry was also carried over into hardcover volume two, with only a minor change (caption added).




Phoenixx9

May 17, 2010, 06:29 pm


Thanks, Andy! (My LCBS didn't start carrying the HC until Volume 3.)

With Rulk, Gorilla Man, Yondu, Blindfold and Brain Drain being covered, that's 5 more off my list!




sucellos11

May 17, 2010, 06:41 pm


Yay, Feral, Orb, King Arthur, Omega and Red Hulk!

So, anyone knows who's the furry guy and the heavily armed guy on the cover?




Eduardo M.

May 17, 2010, 07:26 pm

Phoenixx9 wrote:

@Cyrog: Rulk's and She-Rulk's identities have already been revealed. Thus, hopefully a handbook entry is forthcoming for both.

Given who they turned out to be I wonder if they'll get full blown entries or just one-page updates focusing on their Rulk and She-Rulk careers. probably the latter




JusticeGH

May 17, 2010, 07:58 pm

sucellos11 wrote:

Yay, Feral, Orb, King Arthur, Omega and Red Hulk!

So, anyone knows who's the furry guy and the heavily armed guy on the cover?

The heavily armed guy is Moon Knight for Bushman.




Madison Carter

May 17, 2010, 09:40 pm

sucellos11 wrote:

So, anyone knows who's the furry guy on the cover?

I'll give you a hint: He's part of a quartet of superhumans who work out of the Baxter Building. His partners are a fire-spewing hothead, a character who's mind is like a computer and one who disappears whenever trouble starts.




slevin87

May 17, 2010, 09:46 pm

Madison Carter wrote:

I'll give you a hint: He's part of a quartet of superhumans who work out of the Baxter Building. His partners are a fire-spewing hothead, a character who's mind is like a computer and one who disappears whenever trouble starts.

Ah, Gorgilla, then. Cool.




Andy E. Nystrom

May 17, 2010, 10:50 pm

Madison Carter wrote:

I'll give you a hint: He's part of a quartet of superhumans who work out of the Baxter Building. His partners are a fire-spewing hothead, a character who's mind is like a computer and one who disappears whenever trouble starts.

So he's furry now? What a revolting development!




Blue_Shield

May 18, 2010, 01:30 am


I'm very excited about this issue. The selection of characters on the cover is great. Any chance of finding out who is doing the new art for this issue?




Sidney Osinga

May 18, 2010, 02:20 am


Yay, Ariel is being covered. Hopefully, we'll see an entry for her partner Chance sometime soon.




Roger Ott

May 18, 2010, 09:35 am

sucellos11 wrote:

King Arthur

From looking at the cover, I thought for a brief moment that the Burger King was getting an entry! :rofl:




bigvis497

May 18, 2010, 10:01 am

Roger Ott wrote:

From looking at the cover, I thought for a brief moment that the Burger King was getting an entry! :rofl:  

LOL, same. Not too long ago on this board there was a discussion of who hasn't been profiled yet that could warrant more than two pages since most characters that are left are fairly minor, and Arthur's name came up. Arthurian Marvel continuity has a lot of grey areas, I'm very much looking forward to this profile!




ToddCam

May 18, 2010, 11:22 am


Wait, who's the eyeball guy on the motorcycle?




Andy E. Nystrom

May 18, 2010, 11:26 am

ToddCam wrote:

Wait, who's the eyeball guy on the motorcycle?

Orb, a Ghost Rider (Blaze) foe




bigvis497

May 18, 2010, 11:32 am

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

Orb, a Ghost Rider (Blaze) foe

Is he the same guy who was in Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine that just came out?




William Keogh

May 18, 2010, 11:41 am

Roger Ott wrote:

And I see Red Hulk on the cover. Does that mean there'll be an identity reveal coming soon?

Don't click on this if you don't want to know, but last weeks' Hulk releases revealed Ted Hulk is Thunderbolt Ross and Red She-Hulk is Betty Ross.




Madison Carter

May 18, 2010, 02:21 pm

bigvis497 wrote:

Is he the same guy who was in Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine that just came out?

There are two Orbs - the original and his successor. The one in ASM/W is the successor. The one in Update #3...well, you'll have to wait and see.




Andy E. Nystrom

May 18, 2010, 02:46 pm

Madison Carter wrote:

There are two Orbs - the original and his successor. The one in ASM/W is the successor. The one in Update #3...well, you'll have to wait and see.

Ah. So then you're turning a blind eye to requests regarding the specific person.




slevin87

May 18, 2010, 02:47 pm

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

Ah. So then you're turning a blind eye to requests regarding the specific person.

Groan.




Roger Ott

May 18, 2010, 03:55 pm

Andy E. Nystrom wrote:

Ah. So then you're turning a blind eye to requests regarding the specific person.

Let me guess, you're here all week, right?  :Biggrin:




Rayeye

May 18, 2010, 05:28 pm


THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!! I hoped for so long, but now finally Feral and Murmur are covered! You make my day! :dance:

I'm also glad Alchemy, Vanisher, MI-13, the Secret Warriors and Omega (Michael Pointer) got their own entries as well!




Andy E. Nystrom

May 18, 2010, 06:46 pm

slevin87 wrote:

Groan.

Whenever I notice a pun (in this case "wait and see") I feel I have to top it on principle.




sucellos11

Aug 17, 2010, 12:52 pm


Hm, this issue comes out tomorrow. Very nice!  




Eduardo M.

Aug 17, 2010, 06:32 pm

sucellos11 wrote:

Hm, this issue comes out tomorrow. Very nice!  

I'm probably going to have to wait to pick it up but this time I'm calling my LCS and making DAMM SURE that if they got it in that they save me a copy.

I will not be denied my Handbooky goodness. (Picture me sounding like Gollum when I say that.)




sucellos11

Aug 18, 2010, 09:29 am

Eduardo M. wrote:

I will not be denied my Handbooky goodness. (Picture me sounding like Gollum when I say that.)

:worthy: :yeah:




sucellos11

Aug 18, 2010, 01:41 pm


Whoops, my mistake up there. I'm sorry.

So has anyone got access to more awesome handbook goodness, aka Update #3?




William Keogh

Aug 18, 2010, 02:24 pm


Fixed!




Angelicknight

Aug 18, 2010, 02:29 pm


Those cover in this issue.

Aakon (race) - 1
Ahura - 1
Alchemy - Half
American Samurai - Half
Ant-Man (O'Grady) - 2
Ariel (Coconut Grove) - 1
ARMOR - 1
Basilisk (Elks) - 1
Behemoth (Haller) - 1
Blindfold - Half
Brain Drain - 1
Bushman - 1
Butterball (Schaub) - 1
Caregiver - Half
Condor (Avians/Bird People) - 1
Conquistadores (La Hacienda) - 1
Lucas Cross - Listed on the back cover but not in the comic
Val de Fontaine - 2
Big Ben Donovan - 1
Enclave (scientists) - 3
Enmity - Half
Feral (Callasantos) - 1
Fomalhauti (race) - 1
Gorgilla - 1
Jonas Graymalkin - Half
Griffin (Franklin) - 2
el Guapo - Half
Hive (Halphans) - Half
Johnny Guitar - 1
Lascivious - 1
Lectronn - Half
MI13 - 2
Murmur (Truffaut) - Half
Arthur Nagan - 2
Nomad (Barnes) - 2
Omega (Pointer) - 1
Orb (Shannon) - 1
Orb (Zadkiel agent) - Half
King Arthur Pendragon - 2
Tamara Rahn - 2
Orson Randall - 1
Raptor (Earth-928) - 1
Red Hulk - 1
Revelation (Renslayer) - 1
Rigellians (race) - 2
Secret Warriors - 1
Shatterax - 1
Skybolt (Stewart) - Half
Vic Slaughter - 1
Starlight - 3
Monark Starslayer - 1
Tarantula (Alvarez) - 1
Threkker - 1
Vanisher - 2
X-Nation (2099 AD, Earth-928) - 1
Yondu - 3




ToddCam

Aug 18, 2010, 02:41 pm


I believe Raptor is Earth-982.




Angelicknight

Aug 18, 2010, 02:56 pm

ToddCam wrote:

I believe Raptor is Earth-982.

Your correct its listed as 982 in profile and 928 on the back cover.




Phoenixx9

Aug 18, 2010, 03:35 pm

Eduardo M. wrote:

 
I'm probably going to have to wait to pick it up but this time I'm calling my LCS and making DAMM SURE that if they got it in that they save me a copy.

I will not be denied my Handbooky goodness. (Picture me sounding like Gollum when I say that.)

:aaargh: Drat!! Rats!! Bollocks!! Dagnabbit!! I was cheated! I was denied my Handbooky Goodness today!  :Bawl:

:Rant: This, despite the fact that I checked last Wednesday with the dirty Big Burly Guy at the DCBS. I even saw the order on the computer form having it listed! [In the voice of Gladiator: "Hear me human. By order of the Imperial Shi'ar, I command you to order this mortal book for the Galactic Phoenixx9. Failure will not be tolerated!"] Supposedly, there was a screw-up at the warehouse.

Thanks, Angelicknight, for the listing! Yah for Tamara Rahn! And Yondu! And Ahura, Ariel, Blindfold, Brain Drain, Val de Fontaine, Feral, Lascivious, Arthur Nagan, Griffin, Rulk, Orb and Starlight. Wow! That's another 14 (at least) off my lists! Stuart Vandal wasn't kidding when he wrote that many of the characters on my list will be cleared by year's end! Wow.

Supposedly, my copy should be available next Wednesday. :hope: This may be the best Update yet, even though I really liked #1 and 2. I really can't wait to get my hands on this!




ToddCam

Aug 18, 2010, 04:06 pm


A quick skimming of the Nomad entry says that there is slight evidence that Nomad is the same Rikki Barnes from the original Heroes Reborn Counter-Earth. Is it limited to her recognizing Toro, and the poor grammar-filled mini bios from Young Allies #1?




Eduardo M.

Aug 18, 2010, 04:30 pm

Phoenixx9 wrote:

 
:aaargh: Drat!! Rats!! Bollocks!! Dagnabbit!! I was cheated! I was denied my Handbooky Goodness today! :Bawl:

:Rant: This, despite the fact that I checked last Wednesday with the dirty Big Burly Guy at the DCBS. I even saw the order on the computer form having it listed! [In the voice of Gladiator: "Hear me human. By order of the Imperial Shi'ar, I command you to order this mortal book for the Galactic Phoenixx9. Failure will not be tolerated!"] Supposedly, there was a screw-up at the warehouse.

Thanks, Angelicknight, for the listing! Yah for Tamara Rahn! And Yondu! And Ahura, Ariel, Blindfold, Brain Drain, Val de Fontaine, Feral, Lascivious, Arthur Nagan, Griffin, Rulk, Orb and Starlight. Wow! That's another 14 (at least) off my lists! Stuart Vandal wasn't kidding when he wrote that many of the characters on my list will be cleared by year's end! Wow.

Supposedly, my copy should be available next Wednesday. :hope: This may be the best Update yet, even though I really liked #1 and 2. I really can't wait to get my hands on this!

I had something similar happen to me with the Phoenix Handbooik.

HOWEVER!! I did call in to my LCS and was told both #3 and the Phoenix handbook were waiting for me. I may not be able to indulge in handbooky goodness today, (reverts back to Gollum voice) but soon. soon I will have handbooky goodness. yes. Handbooky goodness will be mine.




bigvis497

Aug 18, 2010, 04:49 pm


Once again, a great variety of characters all around. Red Hulk is just one page for the Red Hulk history instead of repeating all the Thunderbolt Ross history, which I'm completely fine with.

I've noticed some patterns in the recent handbooks, we've been getting a few half pagers on many of the Donyell Taylor New Warriors and quite a few minor X-Men. There's been alien races in every one too IIRC.

I would love to see some more Milligan/Allred X-Force characters profiled as that was one of the books that got me back into comics during Marvel's creative resurgence at the beginning of the decade. el Guapo in this volume is a welcome addition.

And all the Gus Vasquez art looks great. I imagine it's getting harder and harder to find decent profile shots for characters as you progress further and further into the series. We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel when the "major" characters in the issue are considered Val de Fontaine, Yondu & The Vanisher! I'm all for it though, I'll buy every handbook produced until the bottom of the barrel is scraped clean!




Rayeye

Aug 18, 2010, 06:47 pm


Finally X-Nation! :excited: Thank you, although I haven't got my copy I am already happy!




Phoenixx9

Aug 18, 2010, 07:00 pm


@ Eduardo M.: I am glad your books are in stock. Trust me, nothing worse than not getting your OHOTMU fix! I think you will really enjoy The Phoenix Force Handbook. Hopefully my Handbooky Goodness with Update #3 is coming soon as well. At least I didn't have any problems with the PF HB, I would have really gone off!!

@BigVis497: Yes, I agree Gus Vasquez' artwork is great; I can't wait to see his work on this book. LOL about the major characters. Val, Yondu and Vanisher want to be major characters, they really do. [img]file:///C:\Users\Andy\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif[/img]. If you ask them, they will tell you they are just as major as anyone else. LOL. And, I agree, there is gooey handbooky goodness at the bottom of every barrel of characters!




Rayeye

Sep 7, 2010, 09:31 am


I read this one and enjoyed it again very much!
I especially liked the profiles of MI13 and X-Nation. Gus Vasquez's art is again great.

One question: why wasn't Death's Head (Minion) listed among the members of MI13? He was seen together with Dark Angel, Digitek and Tangerine in Captain Britain & MI13 #15.




Roger Ott

Sep 7, 2010, 10:25 am


Forgot to post after I got this last week!

Another great issue with lots of never before profiled characters and generous updates to some old favorites. I love that the alien race updates are getting more frequent, too. The King Arthur profile was a great read, and I see some formerly deceased characters have made comebacks that I wasn't aware of (Basilisk, Lascivious/Titania).

The Gus Vazquez art continues to impress with an oustanding 35 out of 55 entries having artwork by him. Keep him at the drawing boards!




Rayeye

Sep 7, 2010, 10:34 am


I was also wondering if Monark Starstalker's reality (Reality-7642) shouldn't actualy be Reality-7643, since marvunapp.com listed "Earth-Crossover" as Reality-7642 (see: http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/e...ossoverall.htm) and Monark's reality as 7643.




Stuart V

Sep 7, 2010, 12:53 pm

Rayeye wrote:

I read this one and enjoyed it again very much!
I especially liked the profiles of MI13 and X-Nation. Gus Vasquez's art is again great.

One question: why wasn't Death's Head (Minion) listed among the members of MI13? He was seen together with Dark Angel, Digitek and Tangerine in Captain Britain & MI13 #15.

He's an independent operator on retainer, not an actual member - his working with MI13 was similar to Paladin being hired to capture Moon-Boy for SHIELD, a work for hire job that didn't grant him SHIELD membership. His Heroic Age file will clarify his status a little.




DeadpoolRP

Sep 7, 2010, 01:40 pm

Stuart V wrote:

He's an independent operator on retainer, not an actual member - his working with MI13 was similar to Paladin being hired to capture Moon-Boy for SHIELD, a work for hire job that didn't grant him SHIELD membership. His Heroic Age file will clarify his status a little.

Thanks as always for the info, Mr. Vandal. And way to tease us and get everyone looking forward to upcoming projects, by the way! Looks like all of the non-files fans out there have at least one reason to pick up Heroic Age: Heroes, eh? (Or does he appear in the villains files?)




Rayeye

Sep 7, 2010, 02:21 pm

Stuart V wrote:

He's an independent operator on retainer, not an actual member - his working with MI13 was similar to Paladin being hired to capture Moon-Boy for SHIELD, a work for hire job that didn't grant him SHIELD membership. His Heroic Age file will clarify his status a little.

Thanks, Stuart, for the explanation.
I just re-read the info about you and the other writers of the handbooks within the cover of OHOTMU HC vol. 13 and noticed you're the specialist of Marvel UK comics. Being a fan of most Marvel UK series I was wondering if it was you who writed (contributed to) the Genetix and MI13 profiles, because I really enjoyed both entries.




Stuart V

Sep 7, 2010, 03:23 pm

Rayeye wrote:

Thanks, Stuart, for the explanation.
I just re-read the info about you and the other writers of the handbooks within the cover of OHOTMU HC vol. 13 and noticed you're the specialist of Marvel UK comics. Being a fan of most Marvel UK series I was wondering if it was you who writed (contributed to) the Genetix and MI13 profiles, because I really enjoyed both entries.

I wrote MI13, but not Genetix. Off the top of my head I believe that was our other British contributor, Rich Green, but don't quote me on that.




Eduardo M.

Sep 18, 2010, 02:27 pm


FINALLY managed to pick this up yesterday. Still working my way through it but I like what I see so far. Gus Vasquez is getting better. Nice to see Feral and Murmur get entries. Love the ones on Butterball and Johnny Guitar. Hope Dr Sax gets one soon. Poor guy deserves one.



Sidney Osinga

Sep 23, 2010, 03:05 am


It's been a while since this came out, and I've been slacking on posting my opinions of it. So finally, here they are.

Great issue as always, with an interesting mix of characters. I did notice a lack of mythological characters in this one, while there were plenty in the previous issues. Gus Vazquez was good, although there seemed to be not as much new art as in #2. The picture for X-Nation looks weird to me, since the art is very different from the art in the X-Nation comic. Also, why was there not insert of Wulff's human face? And I am disappointed that Feral only got one page. After reading the entry for the new Orb, I have to saw he's the saddest excuse for a villain I ever heard of.




Rayeye

Nov 24, 2011, 05:52 pm


Since Ariel's alias “She-Who-Speaks-Like-Water-Running-Across-the-Stones” and Multiple Man's alias "He-Whose-Bodies-Are-As-Many-As-The-Leaves-On-A-Tree" (both nicknames given by Moon-Boy) were listed in their profiles, I guess Moon Boy's nickname for Vanisher, “Him-Who-Lacks-Hair-But-Yells-Much-And-Hides-Often”, should been listed in the Vanisher profile.

The same goes for Warlock ("He-Whose-Shape-Changes-Like-A-Fern-In-The-Wind" as well as He-Whose-Form-Changes-Like-A-Fern-In-The Wind"), Sunspot ("Bob-Bee"), Tabitha Smith/Boom-Boom (“She-Who-Is-Like-A-Living-Fire-Mountain”) whose nicknames were also missing in their profiles in the other handbooks.