Marvel Encyclopedia New Edition

arvel Encyclopedia: New Edition: a hefty tome that promises to be your comprehensive guide to the Marvel Universe, assuming the Marvel Universe stopped expanding approximately fifteen minutes after this went to print. This is the book equivalent of trying to capture a screenshot of a waterfall: technically accurate for one frozen moment, hopelessly behind by the time you look at it. Let's address that "New Edition" label, which is publishing-speak for "we've updated some stuff since the last time we printed this doorstop." Congrats, they've added characters from movies that came out two years ago and retconned events that have already been retconned again. The ink is barely dry and already half the entries are living in an alternate timeline. The format is classic encyclopedia: alphabetical entries, character bios, power rankings, and enough variant costumes to make you wonder if Marvel characters have access to an interdimensional Forever 21. Each entry tries to summarize decades of convoluted comic history into three paragraphs, which works about as well as explaining the plot of LOST in a tweet. Speaking of convoluted: good luck following anyone's actual storyline. "Died in 1987, resurrected in 1992, was actually a clone, merged with an alternate reality version, became cosmic force, got better, currently runs a coffee shop in Brooklyn." And that's just Aunt May. (Okay, slight exaggeration, but you get the point.) The art is gorgeous full-color spreads of iconic characters looking heroic and brooding in their 47th costume variation. But here's the problem: by the time you're reading about Thor's powers, Thor is currently a frog. Or dead. Or both. The Marvel Universe moves faster than this book's publication schedule can handle, making it feel like reading last year's news. And can we talk about the character selection? Sure, you get your Spider-Men, your Iron Men, your Wolverines (plural, because of course there are multiple). But then there's like half a page dedicated to "Paste Pot Pete" while major storylines from the last five years get a footnote. Priorities, people. The "definitive guide" claim is adorable, suggesting there's anything definitive about a universe where death is a minor inconvenience and continuity is more of a polite suggestion. This encyclopedia is definitive the way a Wikipedia article is definitive—technically accurate until someone edits it five minutes later. Perfect for casual fans who want to understand who all these people in spandex are without committing to reading 60+ years of comic books. Also perfect as a very expensive coaster for your coffee table, where it will sit looking impressive while you just Google characters on your phone like everyone else. Warning: Contents may be outdated before you finish reading the introduction. Multiverse variants sold separately. Bottom line: It's a beautiful reference book that's fighting a losing battle against Marvel's commitment to never letting anything stay simple. At least it's heavy enough to use as a weapon, which feels thematically appropriate.

This is a fantastic book and was a huge hit with my 8 year old son. He LOVES it! He has another character collection book (Marvel the Avengers - The Ultimate Character Guide) that is tiny in comparison. I'm not a Marvel expert by any stretch of the imagination but I can't imagine any characters that aren’t in here. It has everything...heroes, villians, groups of heroes, groups of villians, “ages” (i.e. Age of Ultron). For each character, there is an information box that they call a “Factfile”. In the Factfile, they have the characters “real” name (think Peter Parker for Spiderman), their occupation, the location of their base, height, weight, eye color, powers, allies, foes and when they first appeared in the Marvel Comics (Comic name and year) Here is a tiny sampling of what is in the book: A-Bomb, Abomination, Abraxas, Absalon, Absorbing Man, Abyss, Achilles, Acolytes, Action Pack, Acts of Vengeance, Adam-2, Adversary, Aegis, Aero, Aftershock, Agamemnon, Agency X, Agent Axis, Agents of Atlas, Agent X, Agent Zero, Age of Apocalypse, Age of Ultron, Age of X, Agony, Ahab, AIM, Air-Walker, Ajak, Ajax, Albion, Alephs, Aleta, Liz Allan, Alliance of Evil, All-Winners Squad, Alpha, Alpha Flight, Alpha-Stone, Marlene Alraune, Alter Ego, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, Amazons, American Dream, American Eagle, Amphibian, Anachronauts, Anaconda, Anarchist, Ancient One, Andromeda, A-Next, Angar, Angel, Angela, Dirk Anger...and that is just 1/4 of the A’s! It is crazy! For some of the minor characters, there are multiple characters on one page. There is more space dedicated to the major characters. Spiderman, for example, has 4 pages dedicated to him. One of the pictures attached to this review shows one of the pages as an example. The characters are all in alphabetical order so between that and a very detailed index (there is a picture attached of one page of the index as an example), it is really easy to find specific characters. If you have a question about whether a specific character is in the book, you can comment below and I will look for you. If nothing else, the book would make a great weapon. It is huge! It is 439 pages If this review was helpful at all, please click “yes” below. I purchase loads of things on Amazon and rely very heavily on reviews. I want to start being a good Amazon Citizen and actually write reviews for a change (and I want them to be helpful)! Happy Marvel-ing!

Definitely something I been meaning to have and happy with my purchase

SO MUCH INFO!!! We cannot wait for our grandson to see it! He will love learning about all the characters!

This looks like a great book for Marvel fans . I am giving as a Christmas gift to my son. The pictures are amazing and the colors are so vibrant. I believe he will enjoy it very much.

I bought this one for practicality, to look up lesser known heroes in the Marvel universe. the day i got it, a friend told me he wanted to cosplay as 'doorman'...... and i could not find him in this book. I was able to look up the team he was on by guidance of my friend, only to see a tiny description of what his basic powers were. no feats, no back story, no personality. but whatever, right?it can't go into EVERY character in-depth. but then it kept happening. there were lots of characters i would stumble accross wanting to know more on and they just would not be in this book. and often times looking up the team they belonged to would not show them either, i would typically have the most popular variation of that team. it does a pretty good job of listing facts and story points about popular characters, but i was hoping for something with some more obscure info on my lesser known guys. the book is expansive and well presented. I was just hoping for a little more on the b-listers

Bought this as a gift for my friend’s grandson he loved it! I thought it was pretty cool too!

Awesome art work.Can find anything Marvel in this Book.

Excelente livro. Dentro das expectativas. E a entrega foi muito rápida.

Great thing to buy for a marvel fan

Il libro è davvero molto bello e grande. Arrivato in perfette condizioni ad eccezione della copertina in plastica che aveva un taglio di due centimetri circa in obliquo in basso a sinistra. per quanto piccolo il taglio e facilmente aggiustabile non è giusto ricevere i prodotti rovinati.

Produit conforme

Hallo, Ich muss sagen, ich war freudig überrascht als das Buch bei mir ankam. Ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass dieses Buch so groß und dick ist. Einmal reingeschaut kann man es über Stunden nicht aus der Hand legen, weil es auf jeder Seite etwas Neues zu entdecken gibt. Es ist alles hervorragend gegliedert und jede Figur die ich nachschlagen wollte ließ sich über das Inhaltsverzeichnis sehr leicht finden. Dieses Buch ist ein sehr tolles Nachschlagewerk. Man kann über jede Figur eine Zusammenfassung des Lebens, Fähigkeiten, Größe und Gewicht und vieles mehr lesen. Besonders bekannte Figuren sind auch doppelseitig aufgeführt. Dieses Buch hat ein sehr gutes Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis. Oft werden dünnere Bücher für mehr Geld verkauft. Auch, dass das ganze Buch in Englisch verfasst ist stört den Spaß beim Lesen nicht. Alles in allem bin ich sehr froh, dieses Buch gekauft zu haben.