Line #2 ComicBook/OfficialHandbookOfTheMarvelUniverse


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/officialhandbook.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:This is just one of many handbooks.]]
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4	Several series from Creator/MarvelComics describing its characters in encyclopedia format. The project was instigated by PromotedFanboy and popular writer and editor Creator/MarkGruenwald; another prominent OHOTMU creator is diagram artist Eliot R. Brown. The first OHOTMU-style pages came as back-ups in the three-issue miniseries ''Comicbook/ContestOfChampions1982'' (also written by Gruenwald) and proved popular enough for Marvel to go with a full-sized series containing nothing but encyclopedic entries.
5	* The original ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' (abbreviated to OHOTMU) started coming out in 1982 (cover dates January 1983 to April 1984), about two years before the similar ''Who's Who'' at Creator/DCComics, describing characters in alphabetical order over 15 issues. The series tried to be as scientifically accurate as possible, which may cause unintentional amusement as entries repeatedly explained away the same violations of physics (typically ShapeshifterBaggage, [[SquareCubeLaw Square/Cube Law]], or some RequiredSecondaryPowers). It also made {{Continuity Snarl}}s very obvious when a character's history was laid out all at once.
6	** Collected in a single black and white ''Essential'' (January 2006)
7	* ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Deluxe Edition'' (abbreviated to OHOTMUDE), cover dates December 1985-February 1988; 20 issues at 64 pages each without ads. The last five issues were the ''Book of the Dead'', devoted to dead characters. [[BackFromTheDead Certain traits]] of comic books made this a somewhat unwise decision. A 1989 update ran for eight more issues. This is often considered the best of the early series, though the first OHOTMU did include the occasional entry not found in the Deluxe Edition. Marvel also released one for the licensed series ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian''.
8	** Collected two issues to a volume shortly after the time of its release, in color.
9	** Collected in three black and white ''Essentials'', plus another ''Essential'' for the update, in 2006.
10	* ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Master Edition''. Released in 1990-1993, this was 36 issues in looseleaf format. It is generally considered inferior because the format greatly reduced the amount of text that could be used for many entries.
11	** Collected in three black and white ''Essentials'' in 2008.
12	* ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe''. In 2004-2005, Marvel began releasing handbooks with various themes, such as Comicbook/SpiderMan or UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. This was followed by an alphabetical series made up mostly of other characters, and several updates. See Marvel's [[http://www.marvel.com/universe/OHOTMU OHOTMU web page here]].
13	** Collected with more updates as ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' Premiere Hardcovers in 2008-2009.
14	** ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers 2004''
15	** ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Daredevil 2004''
16	** ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Hulk 2004''
17	** ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2004''
18	** ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Wolverine 2004''
19	** ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead 2004''
20	** ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age Marvel 2004''
21	** ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Marvel Knights 2005''
22	** ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: The Women of Marvel 2005''
23	* Even with the collected hardcovers, there are still OHOTMU A-Z updates coming out quarterly.
24	* Associated titles include the Marvel Atlas two-part series and character or team-specific handbooks, usually one a month, such as the [[Comicbook/IronMan Iron Manuals Mk. 2 and Mk. 3]], [[ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} Deadpool: Rank and Foul]], and Encyclopedia Mythologica (mainly covering characters introduced in Comicbook/TheMightyThor and Comicbook/TheIncredibleHercules.
25	* A side project, ''The Official Index to the Marvel Universe'', goes issue-by-issue through the various titles. Two versions were published in the 70s and 80s, and a new version has been published since 2009. These are initially published with each issue covering multiple titles. For instance, the original set of modern indices were for ''[[ComicBook/SpiderMan Amazing Spider-Man]]'', ''ComicBook/IronMan'' and ''Uncanny ComicBook/XMen''. These are later collected in digest-sized editions.
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27	Compare with Creator/{{DC Comics}}' equivalents, ''Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' and ''Secret Files and Origins''.
28	!Tropes related to the OHOTMU:
29	* AllThereInTheManual: Many facts and contradictions from the comics were explained in the series.
30	* ArmedWithCanon: Some of the explanations of events within the comics have been... controversial. For example, The Comicbook/ManThing's "touch that burns anything that knows fear" was explained as an acid touch, rather than a supernatural ability.
31	** ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s claws were shown as bionic implants. Later stories ignored this and had them be natural.
32	** The [[DenserAndWackier wackier stories]] in ComicBook/SheHulk (for example, the one where She-Hulk escapes [[ComicBook/HowardTheDuck Doctor Bong]]'s [[TrappedInTVLand Bongvision]][[TradeSnark ™]] by [[BreakingTheFourthWall ripping through the comic's pages]]) were explained as having occurred, just [[UnreliableNarrator not quite the way the comics showed]].
33	*** Similarly, despite Joe Quesada's word otherwise, events and characters from ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}'' have been incorporated into the Handbooks.
34	** A recent entry basically confirmed the events of the ''ComicBook/JLAAvengers'' crossover as being canonical to the Franchise/MarvelUniverse (without mentioning DC's characters.)
35	* DoorStopper: The collected versions.
36	** The Essential version of the OHOTMU Deluxe Edition required ''three'' Essential volumes, which are 500 pages apiece.
37	** The new version is collected in ''fourteen'' hardcovers. The first five have been republished as softcovers with even more profiles.
38	* FanService: Of the nerd type, though some of the illustrations could also be considered quite attractive.
39	** [[TechnologyPorn For fans of engineering]], the inner workings of technological devices from Hawkeye's [[TrickArrow Trick Arrows]] to Wolverine's claws to the [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avenger's Quinjet]] and more were given detailed schematics.
40	* PowerLevels: Originally, the OHOTMU measured the strength of characters by how much weight they could lift or press (the maximum was 100 tons.) This was later replaced with bar-type tables.
41	** ComicBook/SquirrelGirl has [[ParodySue maximum level in all stats]], but this is an [[RunningGag in-joke]]; she has never shown such levels of power in the comics. Most of her victories against powerful villains have been [[InformedAbility off-panel]], and the on-panel ones tend toward [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks silly]] [[AffectionateParody contrivances]] rather than PowerLevels.
42	* ShownTheirWork: To an ''insane'' degree. Some of the newer entries are for characters with one appearance. The indices go even further, writing down ''every speaking character'' in the issue and cross-referencing them.

Context ComicBook / OfficialHandbookOfTheMarvelUniverse