Essential OHOTMU Deluxe Edition Vol.1 Review
Content
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe - Deluxe Edition #1-7
480 pages
$16.99
Writers
Mark Gruenwald
Peter Sanderson
Artists
Various
Overall Review
The concept of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is a fairly simple one to grasp. The brainchild of Jim Shooter and the late great Mark Gruenwald, this series catalogued alphabetically most of Marvel's characters, teams, organizations, places and weapons. Each item had an illustrated entry dedicated to it reporting its caracteristics, origin and history. The end result is almost 500 pages of some of the most wonderful resources material you'll ever find regarding the Marvel Universe.
Now, I won't lie to you. I haven't read this book from cover to cover. Unlike your typical Essential, OHOTMU Vol.1 is more of an encyclopedia and it is meant to be read as such, picking it up once in a while to answer some question or to learn more about the MU. Ever wondered how Cyclops' visor worked? Always wanted to learn more about the Atlanteans? Just open the book, find the entry of the item and there you have it! Sure the info is dated, but it is perfect for any Essential reader since it covers pretty much everything published so far in that format.
If I haven't read every single entry yet, I did read each of Mr. Gruenwald's text-pieces which can be found at the beginning and end of each issue. They give us a behind-the-scene look at the making of such a project and show the incredible amount of work those guys put into it. Without these texts, the book would've still been useful as reference material, but would've been a lot less entertaining and fun to read.
As far as the production quality goes, Essential OHOTMU Vol.1 is just great. First of all, it boast a brand new trade dress, one without the usual black "Essential" stripe on the left side of the front cover. This makes the wraparound, recolored cover look amazing. Inside, everything is crystal clear and the book is very easy to read despite the somewhat small font type used. With such a text heavy volume, it was absolutely necessary that the guys at Marvel did a good job on reproduction. Once again, they did not disappoint.
Overall, I'd say the Essential OHOTMU series is a worthy investment for any hardcore Marvel fan. It's a handy reference when exploring the silver and bronze ages of Marvel history and makes a great companion for any Essential fan wanting to learn more about the characters and events he reads about. Otherwise, it may not be worth it to get the whole series since most of the info is already easily and freely available on the net.
Grade : B
Now, I won't lie to you. I haven't read this book from cover to cover. Unlike your typical Essential, OHOTMU Vol.1 is more of an encyclopedia and it is meant to be read as such, picking it up once in a while to answer some question or to learn more about the MU. Ever wondered how Cyclops' visor worked? Always wanted to learn more about the Atlanteans? Just open the book, find the entry of the item and there you have it! Sure the info is dated, but it is perfect for any Essential reader since it covers pretty much everything published so far in that format.
If I haven't read every single entry yet, I did read each of Mr. Gruenwald's text-pieces which can be found at the beginning and end of each issue. They give us a behind-the-scene look at the making of such a project and show the incredible amount of work those guys put into it. Without these texts, the book would've still been useful as reference material, but would've been a lot less entertaining and fun to read.
As far as the production quality goes, Essential OHOTMU Vol.1 is just great. First of all, it boast a brand new trade dress, one without the usual black "Essential" stripe on the left side of the front cover. This makes the wraparound, recolored cover look amazing. Inside, everything is crystal clear and the book is very easy to read despite the somewhat small font type used. With such a text heavy volume, it was absolutely necessary that the guys at Marvel did a good job on reproduction. Once again, they did not disappoint.
Overall, I'd say the Essential OHOTMU series is a worthy investment for any hardcore Marvel fan. It's a handy reference when exploring the silver and bronze ages of Marvel history and makes a great companion for any Essential fan wanting to learn more about the characters and events he reads about. Otherwise, it may not be worth it to get the whole series since most of the info is already easily and freely available on the net.
Grade : B
source : www.comicbookdb.com
posted by David Blais at 10:27 AM
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