The Marvel Encyclopedia: A Definitive Guide to the Characters of the Marvel Universe

i think some of these reviews shouldnt be on this page. these reviews apply to the first edition that had serious flaws. this is the updated and expanded version that was released oct 2009. these reviews are from the book that was released in 2006. they actually have the same reviews listed under the older version that was flawed. when i brought this book, there were no reviews for it yet. i purchased this book the second day it was released in oct 2009. i think amazon does this book a disservice by applying the same reviews to this book. it misleads people into thinking it has major flaws. if you look at the titles it clearly says "updated and expanded version". maybe amazon used the review to imply it is a hot commodity(and it is), but by having the same outdated reviews for a book that was revised in 2009 seems a little self defeating and manipulative at the same time. being as though the reviews by some of the people are complaints about the older version. even with the flaws, if you read the reviews below, you will see that many people also enjoyed the book. the only complaints came from hardcore geeky fans(no disrespect). most were somewhat minor, like the info for a few characters being off. but the artwork and lay-out is beautiful. and these complaints are fixed in this version, and thats why the complaints dont apply. i think everyone will enjoy this book. as an artist who enjoys creating my own comic book characters and superheroes, the action poses are a tremendous reference for my characters. that was the main reason i bought this massive book. page after page of action poses and fight scenes. im not a hardcore collector at all! i enjoy comics but i dont live and die by them. i used to flip through comics to get reference poses and inspiration and this book gives me more references and inspiration and insight than any book i ever came across. if you want a good book thats informative i would suggest this book. by the way, i am turning into that geeky guy now. reading this encyclopedia has given me info on characters i never knew existed and exposed me to a world of supereroes that goes back 5 decades or more. i didnt realize some of my favorite and most familiar characters from childhood were around for so long. i guess i had no concept of time when it came to the characters from marvel. all in all, you cant be dissapointed in this book. even someone whos not a fan will enjoy the material in this book. hope this review helped

NOTE: This review is for the NEW and UPDATED Marvel Encyclopedia. When I wrote this review, the new version's reviews were separate from the previous version. Since then, Amazon has combined the reviews, and this is a shame, because the updated version corrects most if not all of the problems found in the previous version. /END NOTE I received this book on it's release day, as I was very excited about it, and wanted it as quickly as possible. I was not disappointed! The book is 400 pages on high quality, glossy print, with brilliant artwork, and color that pops off the page. The book is meant as a reference, and includes basically every Marvel character ever created with a short bio for some, and up to 4 pages for the Marvel superstars like Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine. I have the DC Encyclopedia as well, and it's great too, but the text is so small. The Marvel 2009 (Updated & Expanded) Encyclopedia improves this greatly with a font that's at least 2 sizes bigger for all entries, and many lead-in paragraphs include even larger fonts. This was a huge relief to my older eyes. The encyclopedia includes more than just A to Z entries for heroes and villains, it also has entries for Marvel events, such as the Civil War. Non-American Marvel characters are included as well, including UK hero Captain Britain, and Alpha Flight, a Canadian team. Extremely thorough, giant glossy pages, incredible artwork, and excellent layout (with a highly readable font) make this a masterwork, and a must-have for any Marvel fan. Amazon's price makes it a no-brainer. The only drawback? Get your arms ready, this thing weighs 5.5 pounds!

Growing up I was a huge X-men nerd. My wife and I decided to decorate with a comic theme in a bar/game room we were building instead of sports or wine like everyone else we know were doing. After putting up numerous comic cover replica posters aroudn the room, I stumbled upon this Marvel Encyclopedia. Read a few reviews and HAD to have it. This book is great and detailed about every character I could think of. Some get a 5 or 6 page spread like Spider Man and most of the Avengers. The only thing that could be negative with this book are things like, The Avengers 2 villain (Thanos) is very unknown and doesn't have much of a back story. He only has a small snippet of information on 1/4 of a page. This is fine now, but after A2 becomes a hit Thanos will surely rise greatly in popularity. Oh, also I brought this book to work with me and was asked "How much did you pay for a book like that? around $80-100 I bet." Nope, says $40 on the inside cover and got it for $20 on Amazon with free Prime shipping.

Pros: the book came earlier than expected very informative exactly like it looks in the picture got it cheaper than retail price Cons: I don't know if the paper cover on the outside was damaged because of the box and shipment or if the seller left it like that, but that was the only downer. Overall, I liked it. I bought the book for a good friend of mine and he loves it. Also, since I'm a beginner learner in the Marvel world, this book is helping me a lot with the character info. It's very detailed, colorful, the pictures are very well illustrated and it's really interesting. We didn't want to put it down! I would definitely recommend this book to people like me, who want to learn more or people who love comics and just need a refresher.

I bought this for my son for his tenth birthday as he got interested in Comic Book superheroes. Wow. What an impressive amount of information in one book! Yes, it is a somewhat large book, but it has been read and reread so many times since he first opened it. His nine year old sister read it so much as well that we bought her the DC Comics Encyclopedia The DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition for her birthday. Now they know more about comic book superheroes than I do! The pages have great illustrations and loads of information on each of the characters. Some characters have multiple pages of information as well. Highly recommended. Great gift.

This book was purchased for my 9yr old who LOVES anything Marvel. We saw the book at a bookstore for a much higher price, came home and found it for a much lower price on Amazon. The book has very detailed and colorful pictures, but not "comic booky." The book is large and for the marvel fan, this would make a perfect coffee table book to display. My child just loves to look at his, and the first night after recieving his he fell asleep with it. He takes it to school with him everyday to share with his friends and look at during his free reading time. I would have to say this purchase was money well spent.

If your a Marvel fan or let a lone any comic book fan, this is a must have! I was surprised at how many characters there were. This book goes really far back to characters I could remember as a kid that are no longer a hit with the times and the bios everyone had were amazing! I originally bought this for my son but being the Marvel geek that I am I'm sure Ive spent more time reading it while hes at school than anything. My son really enjoyed the comics through the ages sections where they have comic book covers based on what decade they came out. It was fun to point out the cost of each comic book back then and how as a kid we would scrounge all the money we could find just to buy that 25 cent comic book.

Love the book recommend for any comicbook fan

Un libro completo, una vera enciclopedia del mondo Marvel, risponde totalmente alla mia aspettativa. Consigliatissimo! Non ho riscontrato nessun problema.

Una guía preciosa de todos los superhérores de Marvel. Viene en ingles, pero se comprende fácilmente y no es necesario un gran nivel. Es un muy buen libro de referencia para situarte en el enorme mundo Marvel.

Dieses Buch beinhaltet so gut wie jeden wenn nicht alle Marvel Helden und Bösewichte. Auch wichtige Nebencharaktere werden mit aufgelistet. Es gibt Informationen wann der Charakter das erste mal im Comic aufgetreten ist, welche Fähigkeiten er hat, wer sein Freund und Feind ist, wie sein richtiger Name ist, Bilder usw usw. Superinformativ und man wird förmlich von der Menge an Helden und Schurken erschlagen. Damit das ganze übersichtlich bleibt ist alles Alphabetisch geordnet und es gibt zudem noch einen Index. Die Qualität des Buches ist ebenfalls sehr hochwertig und das Buch selber sehr groß und schwer. Wer also Englisch versteht bekommt hier ein super Nachschlagewerk zum Marvel Universum mit vielen tollen Bildern und Informationen.

This is a terrific, lovely book. It is such a solid and beautifully put together thing that it is a joy to own both for its own merit and also as a badge of Marvel fandom. As for its actual use, of course, it has its problems. First, by the very nature of comics, the book dates instantly and indeed such important events such as Nightcrawler and Stature's deaths, Kitty's return to Earth and Psylocke's regained telepathic powers are not mentioned. Also, there is the fact that, no matter how big it is, the book cannot contain all Marvel characters and indeed I cannot find such names as Selene or Kelda. Still, for all that it does have its uses in providing brief, easy-to-access details of the most important characters and, as I say, is a delight to own.

Excelente, melhor impossível, recomendo