Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com/
and the Official Site for All-New Handbook Bibliography
Please visit the Unofficial Appendix Site too, compiled by many of the Official Handbook writers and friends.
Also worth a visit:
The OHOTMU Forums at ComiX-Fan
The Marvel Handbooks site where you can see covers and full credits for all the current Handbooks to date

Welcome to the Official online F.A.Q. page for the Official Handbooks of the Marvel Universe. Here we hope to answer some of the more common queries we and Marvel have received regarding the current incarnations of the OHOTMU, as well as providing some errata and other details.

1. You've made a mistake / missed something out / there's a typo / etc. How do I contact you to tell you about it?
2. Errata
3. What does OHOTMU stand for?
4. What Handbooks have been released in the current series?
5. What Handbooks are going to be released next?
6. Have there been other editions of the OHOTMU before this one?
7. What profiles have been covered in the current series, and where can I find them?
8. How do you go about writing each entry?
9. Which characters are going to be covered in forthcoming books?
10. Why haven't you covered (fill-in-the-blank), who is my favorite character / a really important character?
11. Are there any characters who are out-of-bounds for the Handbooks?
12. Why don't you number characters like the old Handbooks used to?
13. Why do you number alternate Earths?
14. Who are the writers of the current OHOTMU?
15. Who wrote which entry?
16. How do I become a Handbook writer?
17. Is it true you are "just a bunch of fan writers"?

You've made a mistake / missed something out / there's a typo / etc. How do I contact you to tell you about it?

You can either write to us care of Marvel at:

Marvel Handbooks, c/o
Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
417 Fifth Avenue, 10th Floor,
NY, NY 10016

or else e-mail us at: <A HREF="http://www.comicboards.com/php/mailto.php?board=taskmaster">  DragynWulf</A>
    Please mention which character you are submitting, which issue the character is in and a brief explanation in the subject area. For example "Spider-Man 2004: Spider-Man's relatives", "Book of the Dead: Thor's battle with Surtur" or "Women of Marvel 2005: Scarlet Witch's powers". This will help group each e-mail together for a specific error with a character.

    Please note that while the various writers have other e-mail addresses, either personal or for their own websites, using these other e-mail addresses to bring up Handbook stuff is likely to mean you will have a long wait before you get a reply, if you get one at all.

Errata
or Oops!

In spite of everyone's best efforts, sometimes mistakes do still slip through. Often we spot these mistakes ourselves once a book comes out (and then we kick ourselves), other times someone points it out. We will give credit for spotting mistakes, when we are contacted directly or through Marvel, and when we know the identity of the eagle-eyed reader; however credit will only be given to the first person to bring the mistake to our attention. In addition, we also list below clarifications for things which are not necessarily mistakes, but which are regularly and erroneously thought be mistakes by some readers.

General Power Grids Though sometimes helpful in defining a character's abilities, power grids are not an exact science. Any specific instances of confusion will be listed specifically in this section of the site, but in general it's worth noting that

• Strength - the grid levels cover a wide range: level 4 for instance is anyone who can lift more than 800 lbs but not more than 25 tons. This doesn't mean everyone with Strength level 4 is equally strong, just that they fall within that wide range.
• Speed - this gauges ability to travel from one place to another in a given time. As such people who can teleport and thus move from one point to another instantaneously can have what appears to be a disproportionately high speed, especially if they can teleport interstellar or interdimensional distances. So when Clea, for example, is listed with a Speed of 7, it does not mean she can run faster than Quicksilver.
• Fighting Ability - things get tricky when getting to the top levels of fighting ability as defined by the grids. 5, 6, and 7 all pertain to "Masters" of fighting, but "Master" is a somewhat vague definition. Punisher is a Master of various styles of martial arts in as much as he is a black belt in many of them, and could easily outfight the average person in hand-to-hand combat. He is also an expert with guns, knives, and other combat weapons. As such he is graded 7, Master of All Forms of Combat. Iron Fist is a Master of various martial art styles to an uncanny degree, but has no expertise with guns or similar weapons; as such, he is graded 6, Master of Several Forms of Combat. His expertise in martial arts is far superior than that of the Punisher, though both are still counted as Masters; the Punisher gets a higher grade not because he is the better fighter (which of them would win in a fight would depend on the circumstances and weapons they had available to them), but because he has a wider range of fighting skills.

X-Men '04 Handbook

Bishop The image of Bishop is reversed from the way round it should be, resulting in his M tattoo being over his right eye.
Gateway is listed as Bishop's great-grandfather despite some comics stating just "grandfather". X-Men writer Chris Claremont has subsequently clarified that Gateway is indeed Bishop's great-grandfather.

Havok Defenders should be listed under Havok's former Group Affiliations

Nightcrawler: Nightcrawler's powers section omitted to mention his ability to stick to walls. Similarly his ability to bend light around himself and thus become invisible in deep shadow, caused by the ever-present portal to the dimension he teleports through, was inaccurately put down as merely being "covered in dark fur" which makes him hard to spot.
Nightcrawler's Group Affiliations should include Neyaphim.

Professor X His degree is in psychology, not psychiatry.

Wolverine Wolverine's eye color was incorrectly listed as black in the X-Men Handbook. This was listed correctly as blue in the Wolverine Handbook.
In the X-Men Handbook, John Howlett Sr is incorrectly listed as Wolverine's grandfather, John Howlett Jr is incorrectly listed as his father and Daniel Howlett is incorrectly listed as his brother. His grandfather was not named, his father was John Sr and his brother is John Jr. This was listed correctly in the Wolverine Handbook.
Amongst Wolverine's listed relatives is a son, Erista, his child from a liaison with a Savage Land native in Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure. Though some people have raised this believing it to be an error, noting that although a child was depicted bouncing on the knee of the Savage Land woman at the end of the story, there was no official confirmation within the story that the child was Wolverine's, nor has the child been named or it's gender given in a comic subsequent to this (though circumstantial evidence from Uncanny X-Men #353 does imply Wolverine has a son, who may or may not be this child). However, as stated in one of the sections above, the confirmation of name and gender fall into the category of providing new information. This information has been reiterated in both the Wolverine Handbook and Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury; it has editorial approval.

Various Bishop, Gambit, Rogue,Sage and Storm are incorrectly listed as being former members of the X-Treme Sanctions Executive. They are, in fact, still members as that is the sub-group of X-Men under which they currently operate.

Spider-Man '04

Green Goblin Group Affiliations: Hellfire Club Outer Circle

Hobgoblin While researching the Great Game, Roderick Kingsley renounced his US citizenship. He's currently a citizen of Belize, not USA.

Hulk Handbook:

Maestro Maestro's profile notes that he is stronger than the Hulk, though his power grid grades him slightly lower. This is because the Maestro, when first seen, in good health, and during most of his history, was stronger than the Hulk. However the power grid reflects him as he was last seen, shortly after reforming from being vaporized; when last seen he was nowhere near that powerful. Unfortunately the grids can't explain those differences. As to what power level he might be at when next he surfaces, only the writer who uses him knows.

U-Foes There first appearance was in 1980, not 1988, as noted in the bibliography.

Avengers '04 Handbook: Ant-Man Though the paragraph of information mentioning it was written, somehow Ant-Man's ability to shrink, a fairly major part of his powers, failed to make it to the final printed page. This was corrected in time for his Book of the Dead appearance, but for the record: "He carries a supply of Pym Particles in his belt, allowing him to shrink in size and grow back to his normal height, an effect he can extend to other people and objects."

Captain America His weight is incorrectly listed as 220lbs. It should be 240lbs. Reference OFFICIAL HANDBOOK '83 and OFFICIAL HANDBOOK DELUXE EDITION. Also the Red skull is in a clone body of Captain America and is correctly listed as 240lbs in Golden Age 2004.

Gyrich As of the time of this entry, Gyrich was the team's liaison to the United Nations and the world's governments, not merely the team's NSC liaison (his original position). Also, the NSC is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the NSA in this entry.

Hawkeye According to the latest revision of Hawkeye's origin, Barney didn't angrily abandon Clint because of Clint's refusal to be the Swordsman's accomplice, but left Clint for entirely different reasons and on relatively amicable terms.

Quicksilver / Scarlet Witch Red Lucy Keough, a famed pirate ancestor of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver), is not listed in relatives

Thor The last paragraph in Thor's Avengers 2004 entry was printed twice.

Vision Though the entry states he a sense of true brotherhood with Simon Williams after the Grim Reaper trial in fact it didn't really seem to take root until the events of Vision & Scarlet Witch vol.II #2.

The entry also states that after he regained his human emotions, the Vision was reluctant to resume his relationship with Wanda. It would be more accurate to say that after his human emotions resurfaced, Vision actually tried to reconcile with Wanda but was rejected by her. He later feigned indifference to her (having decided she was better off without him) and pursued romances with several other women, notably Mantis, while Wanda dated Simon. The Vision-Wanda romance never really resumed before Vision's recent demise, contrary to the profile's final comment.

Wasp Her entry says she was angry with Hank after he transformed her into a more insect like form. In point of fact, Wasp was actually weirdly upbeat about her Crossing-era mutation, and didn't turn on Hank until later, when she learned he'd been monitoring her without her knowledge since the transformation. Their romance didn't really resume before Onslaught (though they did share a declaration of love when they thought they were dying during that battle), but they did resume their romance after they returned from the Franklinverse.

Yellowjacket No mention was made of Hank's ability to shrink and grow materials other than himself--an ability somewhat limited since he left his Doctor Pym phase, but something he can still do with special preparation.

Avengers Roster The "probationary member" line in the Moira Brandon entry is an accidental paste-in. As was correctly stated she became an honorary member as of a story in Avengers West Coast II#100, though it's worth noting that this story falls chronologically just before WCA I# 1.
Additionally

• Swordsman joined in AVENGERS #20 (1965), not 19.
• Hellcat's probationary status starts in AVENGERS #141 (as Patsy) or 144 (as Hellcat), not 148.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy: "Starhawk/Stakar and Ogord" should be "Starhawk/Stakar and Aleta Ogord" or "Starhawk and Aleta". Also, the accompanying picture isn't the Guardians of the Galaxy at all--it's the Galactic Guardians.
• Two-Gun was born Matthew Liebowicz but changed his name to Matthew J. Hawk, the name used in most of his appearances.
• Moon Knight joins the Avengers in WEST COAST AVENGERS vol.II # 33 (1988), not WCA #21.
• AVENGERS #286 (1987) is probably a more accurate starting point for Marrina's honorary membership.
• Spider-Man should be slotted between Sersi and Stingray in the Avengers roster, as it is meant to be in joining order.
• Crystal seems to be a probationary member as of AVENGERS #336 before full status in #343.
• The "probationary member" line in the Moira entry is a typo. She is an honorary member as of the AWC #100 story, which falls chronologically just before WCA vol.I # 1 (1984).

Bibliography

• Evidence suggests that Captain Britain joined the Avengers in vol.III #81, not #82 as listed.
• Jack of Hearts actually first appears in DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG-FU #22.
• Wendell Vaughn first appears in CAPTAIN AMERICA #217 as Marvel Boy, though he soon switches to Marvel Man.
• Tigra's first appearances lack dates: THE CAT #1 was published in 1972, GIANT-SIZE CREATURES #1 in 1974.

Daredevil

Black Widow Her nickname of Black Pearl, given to her by one of her old trainers, Brushkin (cf. Champions #7) was omitted.

Wolverine

Alpha Flight  Originally, at the time this Handbook was written, we considered Wyre an associate of the team, rather than a member. However, under further consideration done for the Alpha Flight entry for the Teams Handbook, we decided that Wyre's recruitment by Shaman, combined with his involvement with the main team, qualified him as an official member. Thus he should have been listed as a member in this Handbook too.

Deadpool There have been conflicting stories which suggest Deadpool is really either Wade Wilson or a guy called Jack, and those stories each make out that Deadpool was mistaken to think he was actually the other person. The Handbook writers tried to weigh up the evidence for each identity, as well as asking for an official ruling on the subject from our editors at Marvel: the decision went with him being Jack, and Wade being the fake identity. The first thirty odd issues of his series built up to the revelation of him being Jack, with explanations why that was the case, versus a four issue arc which contradicted this with little by way of evidence to back up this rebuttal. So he's Jack, not Wade.

Matsu'o Tsurayaba  While his name has been spelt both with (in X-Men #23 for instance) and without the apostrophe, both spellings can be considered equally correct (or equally wrong) as either is simply an Anglicization of the Japanese ideograms which would be the true spelling of his name.

Sabretooth His Group Affiliations should have included "formerly X-Men", as he was a member of the impromptu Phalanx Covenant incarnation.

Book of the Dead:

Ancient One The profile states that Doctor Strange became the Sorcerer Supreme while the Ancient One was still alive; this is what an earlier volume of OHOTMU claims, but the original story in Marvel Premiere contradicts it. Not strictly speaking a mistake of this series so much as a perpetuation of an error from an earlier series, nonetheless the correct information is that Doctor Strange did not become Sorcerer Supreme until after the Ancient One's death.

A second error is the statement that in 1939 it was "unclear" if the Ancient One and Mordo knew that Stephen Strange was destined to succeed the Ancient One as Sorcerer Supreme; it turns out that the original story in Doctor Strange Vol. 3 states quite clearly that they did. Though not as bad as outright saying that they didn't know, but they definitely did know, it was not "unclear."

Cypher: His height is incorrectly listed as 6'9". It should be 5'9".
His Group Affiliations should include "X-Men (New Mutant Graduate incarnation)".

Magik (Illyana Rasputin)  Her Group Affiliations should include "X-Men (New Mutant Graduate incarnation)".

Moira MacTaggart Under Known Aliases it reads "Last name frequently misspelled MacTaggart" when it should have read "Last name frequently misspelled MacTaggert". MacTaggart is the correct spelling, not MacTaggert, and the correct spelling was used throughout the rest of the entry. The incorrectly spelt alias was a typo which came in after the draft was sent for formatting, and which we could not see to catch on the old grainy PDF documents we proofed. We have since moved to a far superior PDF format that should allow us to see everything.

Omega the Unknown lost one of his "n"s to become Omega the Unkown in the title above his entry.

Golden Age

Citizen V / V-Battalion (also Women of Marvel Vantage) These entries described Vantage of the Thunderbolts as being the grand-daughter of Paulette Brazee, lover of the wartime Citizen V. This is based on information supplied in Captain America/Citizen V Annual 1998, where it is revealed that after the death of Citizen V, Paulette Brazee found a new love, and married him. Then in Thunderbolts I#42, we learn that Riordan's grandfather was a member of the post-WW II V-Battalion who died in action, that her father was Jimmy Riordan, and that Dallas was given the mantle of Citizen V by V-Battalion head Roger Aubrey, who describes it as her "grandfather's inheritance". All of this leads to the conclusion based on available information that Dallas' grandmother was Brazee. There was nothing definite printed to contradict it. Though Fabian Nicieza, Thunderbolts writer, has since stated when asked that he intended it to be read otherwise, the Handbooks went with the information available to them at that time. However, given the author's strong statements, should this be referenced in future handbooks, Vantage will not be listed as being the grand-daughter of Paulette Brazee.

Women of Marvel

Dazzler Is a college graduate, not just a high-school one.

Millie the Model A few of her relatives were missed out. A fuller listing would be:
Known Relatives: George Henry P. Collins (father), Nancy (mother), Michael Spencer (brother), Evelyn (aunt), Misty (niece), Lily (cousin), Flo (cousin), Dee-Dee (cousin), Cornpone (cousin), Tulip (cousin), Lilybelle (cousin), Snobbia "Snobly" Goldmine (cousin), Sam Suave (cousin-in-law), Henry Bunky (cousin-in-law), Pongi (foster child)

Mystique Her weight is listed as 120lbs (variable). However Mystique cannot change her weight when she shapeshifts, she merely rearranges it. As such, her weight is no more variable than any person; she gains and loses it through eating, dieting and exercising. The correct entry should simply read "Weight: 120lbs".

Spider-Girl  Spider-Girl's eye color should be blue. Both brown and blue have been seen, but blue has been the predominant color.

Marvel Knights

Nick Fury The image of Nick is reversed, resulting in his eyepatch being on the wrong eye and his name badge being the wrong way round.

• Thanks to Stacy J. Ricco for pointing this out

Not a mistake in the text of his entry, but a mistake related to Nick nonetheless. Two fans on the Gold/Silver/Bronze Message Board provided one of our writers with pieces of information which (after confirming the information was correct) were used in the Nick Fury entry. However we failed to thank them in the Handbook, so "Rip Jagger" and "Man With No Face", wherever and whoever you are, thank you very much.

Madrox His Group Affiliations should include "X-Men (Muir Island incarnation)".

Punisher (1) A tour with the marines is 13 months, not 12 like in the army.
(2) Frank Castle has a middle name, and it starts with G.

Age of Apocalypse

Abyss His entry lists him as sharing a common mother, Mystique, with Nightcrawler. In fact, they share a common father, Azazel.

Beak  His place of birth is given as Cheverly, Maryland. Though the character's first appearance in the 616 reality does mention Beak being treated poorly in Rotterdam in the Netherlands after his powers emerged, which led some to conclude he was Dutch, it does not in fact state he was born there. The most obvious biographical difference between the two Beak's is that AoA Beak was not separated from his parents, and either returned from the Netherlands with them or never went there in the first place. The information given in the AoA Handbook, written by an editor who has worked on both the X-Men and Exiles titles, is new information, not wrong information.  

Beak (Exiles)  One of his children is named Tito.

• Thanks to Robbert Graner for highlighting this omission

Colossus/Mikhail Their parents, unnamed in their entries, are Nikolai (father) and Alexandra Natalya (mother)

Dazzler Her real name is spelt Alison Blaire, not Allison Blair or Alison Blair. Her mother's name was Barbara, and she had a grandmother Bella.

Jean Grey Her parents were John (father) and Elaine (mother). She has (or had) an older sister, Sara.

Charles Lensherr He had a half-sister, Anya, deceased.

Magneto Erik Lensherr is an alias Magneto has used, not his real name (It is unclear whether the spelling is truly different from its Earth-616 spelling, Lehnsherr). He has another daughter, Anya, who is deceased. His first wife, Magda, is only presumed deceased (as correctly stated in Quicksilver's biography)

Quicksilver He had an older sister, Anya, who is deceased.

Rogue Her real name is Anna Marie, not Rogue, making her Anna Marie Lensherr (though that surname was an alias Magneto adopted, so the legal status of that surname is somewhat uncertain).

Spider-Man '05 Handbook:

Frederick Foswell His first appearance was missed out. It is Amazing Spider-Man I #10.

Kaine Kaine's entry mentions Detective Jack Raven - however the character's correct name is Jacob. While Jack is an accepted abbreviation of Jacob, the character didn't use that abbreviation; since all the drafts of this profile did use the correct full name, we can only presume that the error snuck in in typesetting.

Stacy Twins Harold "Normie" Osborn(newphew), Elizabeth "Liz" Allan Osborn(sister-in-law) and Mark Raxton(brother-in-law) should be listed under relatives.

Teams

Big Hero Six The information about the origin of the team's Sunpyre (as opposed to the deceased Sunpyre who was a cousin of Sunfire) as an extra-dimensional being brought to Earth-616 through Honey Lemon's Power Purse, which has not yet been shown in another comic, was supplied by the character's creator, Scott Lobdell, and is new information.

Brotherhood "Silver Sabre" should, of course, be Super Sabre.
Freedom Force went to retrieve Reinhold Kurtzmann, not Harvey Kurtzman.
Toad was not part of the Brotherhood during the adventure with Alpha the Ultimate Mutant.

• Thanks to Lia Brown for these Brotherhood corrections.

Excalibur Cerise and Widget should be listed amongst former members.

Imperial Guard Binder, Chakar, Kwill and Voltor should have been listed as members (they actually were in the final draft, but somehow vanished between there and the printers)

• Thanks to Robbert Graner for highlighting this omission

New Mutants There were several individuals who associated with the New Mutants without it being clearly defined at the time whether they were allies or team members. When these individuals were presented to the editors and a ruling sought as to who was and wasn't a member of the New Mutants, the decision was that any Xavier's student at that time was either an X-Man or a New Mutant; this definition made both Artie Maddicks and Leech members of the New Mutants. This definition left Bird-Brain, one of their associates off the team list when the Handbook went to print. However, subsequent checking shows that the OHotMU Update '89 lists him as a member, so his omission in the Teams profile is a mistake.
Copycat is somewhat of a gray area - she was with the New Mutants in their final days, but only while posing as someone else. Copycat herself wouldn't be considered a member or ally by anyone. Her founder status in their successors, X-Force, got her listed in that team as a member (albeit with qualifiers), but she wasn't a member of the New Mutants.

Runaways Bruiser's real name is, of course, Molly Hayes and not Molly Chase as listed in the entry.

Thunderbolts Teams 2005 refers to the Ogre as a mutant. Though he was a member of Factor Three, a mutant supremacy group, the Ogre is not a mutant, something he mentions in his debut appearance in X-Men #28. Factor Three recruited him because his non-mutant abilities could not be copied by the X-Man Mimic.

X-Men The writer was asked by editorial to provide as complete a roster for the team as possible. The prime definition to be considered a member of the team was that they had been recruited by an active team member (generally one of the X-Men leaders). This meant including a number of individuals with only a brief association to the X-Men team, such as the "Muir Island X-Men"; however space restraints meant all the differing categories of X-Men were put in one listing, which has caused confusion amongst some readers. To clarify things, the profile's writer has provided a broken-down list showing who belonged to what group and (for the shorter lived incarnations of the team) where those sub-groups appeared.

Former Members: Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Cable (Nathan Summers), Cannonball (Sam Guthrie), Chamber (Jono Starsmore), Changeling (Kevin Sidney), Dark Beast (Henry McCoy - member by long-term impersonation, real identity never sanctioned as a member), Dazzler (Alison Blaire), Forge, Joseph, Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), Juggernaut (Cain Marko), Lifeguard (Heather Cameron), Longshot, Maggott (Japheth), Magneto (Magnus), Marrow (Sarah), Marvel Girl/Phoenix (Jean Grey-Summers), Mimic (Calvin Rankin), Moonstar (Dani Moonstar), Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier), Phoenix Force, Professor X (Charles Xavier), Revanche (Kwannon), Cecilia Reyes, Sage (Tessa), Slipstream (Davis Cameron), Stacy X (Miranda Leevald), Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida), Thunderbird (John Proudstar), Thunderbird (Neal Shaara), Wolverine imposter (member by long-term impersonation, real identity never sanctioned as a member), Xorn (Kuan-Yin Xorn), Xorn (Shen Xorn)

Street Team X-Men (New X-Men #149-150, 2004): Beak (Barnell Bohusk), Cyclops, Dust (Sooraya Qadir), E.V.A., Fantomex, Forearm, Irina, Longneck, Stepford Cuckoos (Phoebe, Celeste & Mindee)

Forearm (not the same one as belongs to the Mutant Liberation Front) and Longneck of the "Street Team" X-Men were not named in that story, but rather than list them as "unnamed member with long neck, etc" Mike Marts approved naming them.

Genoshan Interim X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #392-393/X-Men #112-113, 2001): Joanna Cargill, Dazzler, Northstar, Omerta (Paulie Provenzano), Phoenix (Jean), Sunpyre (Leyu Yoshida), Wraith (Hector Rendoza)

Astonishing X-Men (Astonishing X-Men #1-3, 1999): Archangel, Cable, Cyclops, Phoenix (Jean), Wolverine imposter, X-Man (Nate Grey)

Phalanx Covenant X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #316-317/X-Men #36-37, 1994): Banshee, Jubilee, Sabretooth (Victor Creed), White Queen (Emma Frost)

Muir Island X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #254-255, 1989): Banshee, Tom Corsi, Forge, Sharon Friedlander, Legion (David Haller), Madrox the Multiple Man, Moira MacTaggart, Amanda Sefton, Siryn, Alysande Stuart, Sunder

New Mutant Graduate X-Men (Uncanny X-Men Annual #10, 1986): Cannonball, Cypher (Doug Ramsey), Karma (Xi’an Coy Manh), Magik (Illyana Rasputin), Magma (Amara Aquilla), Mirage (Dani Moonstar), Sunspot (Roberto da Costa), Warlock, Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair)

X-Factor Iceman (Bobby Drake) was missed from the membership list.

X-Force Pete Wisdom was missed from the membership list.

X-Men  Both Archangel and Husk are still considered current members of the X-Men, not former. When the profile was written, they appeared to have left to join the new Excalibur in Genosha; however Excalibur #13 stated both remained members (if somewhat inactive / long distance) of the X-Men too.
While they did not appear in Uncanny X-Men #254-255, X-Men Index #5 states that Siryn and Madrox were part of the "Muir Island X-Men", joining them in X-Men Annual #15. Though the "Muir Island" team appeared to disband at the end of Uncanny 255 and the group in the Annual are referred to simply as the "Islanders" (e.g. residents of Muir Island, whose numbers just happen to overlap the "Muir Island X-Men"), the Index is a canonical source and there is nothing in the relevant issues which contradicts what it says; hence, we have to conclude the "Muir Island X-Men" remained active / temporarily reformed, and add Madrox the Multiple Man and Siryn to the list of members.

X-Statix In X-Statix #10 ("The Diaries of Edie Sawyer") we can see on a TV screen three unidentified members of X-Statix (then X-Force). As such, the entry should have listed "three unidentified" in the membership list.

• Thanks to Hervé Cousin for pointing this out.

Fantastic Four
Galactus  Galactus is also credited as consuming the home of the Luphomoids.
Due to the extensive trimming required, the entry appears to indicate that the Phoenix is the force that saved Galan. While the information as stated is not wrong, the conclusion it seems to guide to is not quite accurate. The original entry as written was over twice the allowed length, and had to be heavily trimmed. The intent of the sentence was lost in the trimming process. It would be more accurate to say:
As the previous universe met its end, the Phoenix Force harnessed the positive emotions of everyone in the cosmos to save them from eternal damnation, enabling the sentience of the universe join with Galan and allow him to survive into the next reality.

To clarify further:

Nothing is said about whether the Phoenix force petitioned the sentience of the universe or not. One might infer that, if one chose to. 
1) The universe was being destroyed, and all existence was falling into the hands of demonic forces.
2) The Phoenix Force harnessed the positive emotions to save all existence from this fate
3) The next thing shown is Galan plunging into the the fiery cauldron of the cosmos, and the sentience of the universe spoke to him.

The implications/significance are (at least) twofold:
1) The Phoenix Force existed in a previous incarnation in the reality before the current one.
2) Galan would likely have fallen into the hands of the dark forces and never had the chance to become Galactus if not for the Phoenix Force

• People have argued that the statements about the Phoenix are from an alternate reality. That is one interpretation, certainly, but the official interpretation is that it is the reality that existed before the current multiverse.

  • Phoenix harnessed all of the positive emotions of everyone in the universe to save all of its inhabitants from eternal damnation, enabling the sentience of the universe join with Galan of Taa and allow him to survive the destruction of the universe, and to ultimately become Galactus in that Universe. So, the implication is that the events of that series took place in the universe before the current one.
        During this conflict, the Living Tribunal is seen to be holding the Two Brothers in the palm of his hand, as he goes to consult with his "hooded, spectral ally" (clearly the Spectre). As the old universe is destroyed, the Tribunal releases the Brothers to "assume their pre-destined roles as architects of new realities."
        So, while the Adventures of the X-Men might not be seen as official canon under other circumstances, the book was written by Ralph Macchio, with the assistance of Mike Carlin, indicating that both Marvel and DC were involved in this explanation. Their intentions seem quite clear and there is no information to dispute this.

  • The M'Kraan Crystal is a nexus of realities. Destruction of the crystal destroyed the multiverse, effectively ending all realities and starting a new multiverse. The activities that occur in that issue are the very last in any reality.

  • The M'Kraan Crystal's destruction of the universe manifested itself as a radiation plague that moved from the Milky Way and/or Shi'ar Galaxy outward, closing in on Taa last. Since it can alter reality, it could have created this plague retroactively.

  • The Living Tribunal is also unique in the multiverse, so this is THE Living Tribunal acting, not some counterpart.

  • The Phoenix dies only to be reborn again. It was re-created at the Big Bang. The Phoenix Force saved everyone in the universe from eternal damnation, which made it possible for Galan to still be around to be saved by Eternity/the sentience of the universe. Galan would not have even been remotely aware of the Phoenix Force's involvement, and the Phoenix Force likely would not have recognized Galactus as the former Galan. Plus, some 15 billion years passed, so memories may be a little rusty.

  • There is nothing that actually states it to be an alternate reality, and there is no evidence that suggests that there was not an Earth in the previous universe.

  • This information is not even new. It has a precedent in the Fantastic Four Encyclopedia, and both times the information was approved by Tom Brevoort.

  • Others have commented on the Spectre. I am not an expert on DC, so I can't argue that, but I don't need to. There was "a" Spectre present as representative of the DC Multiverse. Who exactly he was and how he got there is beyond the scope of Marvel Handbooks.

Another area of contention is Galactus being listed as a physical being (one with a real body) rather than an abstract (one without a real body, such as Death or Eternity, who instead manifests physically through the use of M-Bodies. Simply put, Galactus is a physical being:
in Quasar #38, Quasar wonders why Galactus and the Stranger were at a meeting with abstract beings since they were not abstract, but physical beings. The Contemplator (the real one, not the Skrull imposter) answers that he doesn't know why, and they went to find out. Quasar has studied under Eon and has a decent idea of what's going on, though he could have been mistaken. The Contemplator is extensively educated and highly knowledgable, and he certainly gave no response that would indicate disagreement. Anthropomorpho (whose people provide the M-Bodies used by abstracts) later says "Certain powerful entities also enlist our services so they mat be able to put in appearance somewhere without actually attending. We give our newborns the finite beings to practice on before they are allowed to manifest abstract beings." During this discussion, Galactus (and Galactus only) is pictured in the background. Certainly, Galactus is more than purely physical, he is of cosmic importance; however, he is not an abstract being. Mark Gruenwald wrote the above story, and he invented M Bodies. He clearly saw Galactus as a physical being. Tom Brevoort supports this. Never has there been a story that shows Galactus as a soley abstract being using an M-Body every time he wants to take physical form.

Inhumans The Dark Riders were omitted from the list of members. Those members who were Inhumans are Barrage, Foxbat, Gauntlet, Hardrive, Mainframe, Psynapse, Tusk, Underlings.
Alecto (daughter of Gorgon) and Sporr (who appeared in Avengers I #376) were also missed out.

• Thanks to Robbert Graner for highlighting this omission.

Skrulls Tenelle, who appeared in Namor (Vol 1) #18, was omitted from the list of Skrulls.
Zkrodd - from Impossible Man Summer Fun Spectacular
Rocco, who appeared in Avengers Annual #14, was also missed.

• Thanks to Robbert Graner for highlighting this last omission

Bibliography Franklin Richard's future self appeared in X-Factor Annual #5, not #2

• Thanks to Gary M. Miller for bringing this to our attention.

Avengers '05

Avengers The Spidey listing in the "recent recruits" section of the Avengers profile incorrectly cited Avengers #329 as his point of membership. Spidey actually joined in #316.

Count Nefaria The Thunderbird who died on Nefaria's plane was John Proudstar, not James.

• Thanks to Hervé Cousin for highlighting this omission

Spider-Woman (Carpenter)  In Spider-Woman (Julia, that is) #4, we see her mother's maiden name was Wesselman. So in Julia's known relatives it should probably be "Elizabeth Wesselman Cornwall (mother)", instead of just "Elizabeth Cornwall (mother)".

Triathlon  Triathlon's education is listed as unrevealed, but there's a line of dialogue where he mentions hustling pool in college, so he did at least some unspecified college studies (and probably finished high school).

Ultimate Spider-Man and Fantastic Four

Various entries Sue and Johnny Storm's father is named William Storm in a number of spots throughout various profiles, but is Franklin Storm in other areas and in Ultimate FF #19. This mistake arose because the advanced scripts for #19 listed him as William, but the name changed to Franklin before the issue went to print; the correction was not universally made throughout the Handbook. In all cases, his name should be Franklin.

Electro Dillon's first name is Max, information confirmed in a title page.

Ben Parker As mentioned in Ultimate X-Men, Ben Parker worked in a printing plant, so his occupation should reflect that.

Spider-Man One part of his history is slightly out of order - he first fought Iron Fist after meeting Geldoff.

• Thanks to the various people on the Ultimate Central Forums for the above corrections.

Alternate Universes

Appendix Earth-9930 is listed as first appearing in Avengers Forever#4. In fact that reality can be glimpsed on one of Immortus' viewscreens in Avengers Forever#1.

Horror

Mephisto He fought Dr. Doom for the soul of Doom's mother on Midsummer, not Halloween.

X-Men 2005

Cable John & Elaine Grey are his step-grandparents, not his step-great-grandparents.

Captain Britain Brian may be immune to Betsy's powers, but he is not immune to Jamie's, something he is painfully aware of.

Savage Land We've been asked "what are the citations for that part, the WWII part?". So, in order, here's how that entry broke down:

• "Nazi dictator Adolph Hitler claimed Antarctica in 1940," This is real history; Antarctica really did "belong" to the Nazis during World War II.
• "and a year later, a British destroyer and a Nazi u-boat vanished into the Land, fighting a private war for decades;" This was from a 1970s Ka-Zar story where Ka-Zar discovered British and Nazi soldiers still fighting World War II.
• "the u-boat in question may have attacked the Antarctic expedition of Elton Morrow, who became the superhuman Blue Diamond following such an attack." Since the Blue Diamond did indeed get his powers after being attacked by a u-boat in Antarctica, it seemed worth suggesting the link.
• "Months later, Khor teleported an ship to the Land and enslaved its passengers but was defeated by the extradimensional Vision;" Marvel Mystery Comics #22, the first appearance in a Timely comic book of an Antarctic jungle.
• "two years later, an Antarctic dinosaur, presumably escaped from the Land, was given a human brain and fought Captain America." Captain America Comics #29 features a dinosaur that is specifically said to have been found in Antarctica. Who'd have thought, huh?
• "At some point the Nazis constructed a base within the Land whose goals and fate are unrevealed, but its work may have moved to a nearby island."An abandoned Nazi base was seen in the Savage Land, with no explanation whatsoever, in X-Men: The Hidden Years; since that story would've occurred before the British/Nazi story cited above, there would appear to be no direct connection between the two, since the base was already "charted" and the warring factions would not be "charted" until months/years later. The island that the Nazis, as noted, MAY HAVE moved to would be the island from the recent Shanna the She-Devil miniseries, which featured both dinosaurs and Nazi leftovers; whatever the Nazis were doing in the Savage Land, they may have moved their operations to this island and brought some dinosaurs along for experimental purposes, as guard animals, or, really, just because even Nazis are capable of realizing that it's really cool to have dinosaurs around.
• "Following the war, scientist Montgomery Ford, armed with a laser prototype, found his way to the Land," Also from a 1970s Ka-Zar story, although a different one.
• "and rumors circulated that high-ranking Nazis had fled to Antarctica. Indeed, unverified reports claim when explorer Admiral Richard Byrd launched expeditions to the South Pole in 1947 and 1956, he discovered the Savage Land, perhaps even clashing with Hitler's so-called "Last Battalion," although this claim seems dubious." All real-world allegations, not a word of it made up (well, not by the profile writer, that is), and if it's "believable" in the real world, it's doubly so in the Marvel Universe.
• "Meanwhile, spatial warps occasionally brought ships and planes into the Land, where survivors joined the populace." Stated in the Cyclops miniseries; the tribe of blinded people originated from such a landing.

X-Men Roster - Thunderbird is incorrectly listed as James Proudstar, when it should be John Proudstar.

Xorn > Xorn is listed as having no aliases when it should'be been (Kuan-Yin) Magneto; (Shen) None

Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men

Captain Britain His power grid should list his speed as 5, not 3

Avengers Most Wanted

Tiger Shark Somehow got the physical stats of another character - he should be Height: 6' 1"; Weight: 450 lbs.; Eyes; Grey; Hair: Brown

A-Z 2006

Book One

Acolytes The guy in Rakkus' picture is Seamus Mellencamp

• Thanks to Rayeye for pointing this out.

Alpha It should be noted that while Alpha was affiliated with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, he wasn't actually a member.

Arides BlakGard points out: In Arides' entry, it claims Hala (the Kree homeworld) is in the Andromeda galaxy, but it's been established that the Kree Empire is in the Magellanic Clouds, which are small galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. That is 100% correct. As far as we know, Hala is in the Greater Magellanic Clouds, while the Skrulls are from the Andromeda Galaxy.

Book Six
"The House of M reality is simply a name for the unique state of existence created by the Scarlet Witch. It is indeed an ALTERED reality (specifically, an altered Earth-616)--not an ALTERNATE reality. It is so altered that events that occurred in Earth-616-normal did not affect those in House of M or vice-versa. Reality-58163 is a core continuum designation for the unique altered reality and the events that occurred within that altered reality."

What does OHOTMU stand for?

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, a series of reference guides which have been released over the years describing and chronicling many of the characters, groups, organizations, places and events which have been shown within that fictional universe.

What Handbooks have been released in the current series?

What Handbooks are going to be released next?

With 2006 we've just started a new A-Z run of the Handbook, designed to be a compliment and addition to the 2004/2005 books. There are also a number of specials planned for the year, including Marvel Legacy specials focusing on the 1960s, 70s, etc.

Have there been other editions of the OHOTMU before this one?

Yes, there have been.

• The original series was released between 1982 and 1984, and ran for 15 issues. The first twelve listed characters alphabetically, followed by two issues which covered dead and inactive characters, then a final issue detailing "Weapons, Hardware, and Paraphernalia"
• The Deluxe Edition (OHOTMUDE) which ran for twenty issues between 1985 and 1988; fifteen were devoted to alphabetical listings of active characters, and the last five were given over to this edition's "Book of the Dead". This was then supplemented in 1989 with OHOTMU Update '89, adding an additional eight issues to bring this run to a total of 28 issues.
• A ten issue Trade Paperback collection of the twenty issue Deluxe Edition, with a few old entries replaced by new ones.
• The Master Edition, a 36 issue series of loose leaf pages.

In addition to the above, there have also been a few other guides to aspects of the Marvel universe not considered part of any version of the Official Handbooks above:

• The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe - a single issue released in 1986 covering the world of Conan, which was, at the time, a licensed part of the Marvel Universe.
• The Gamer's Handbook to the Marvel Universe - released by TSR for their licensed Marvel Universe Role-Playing Game, these large format titles used a similar layout to the Official Handbook line of comics with gaming statistics added. Four volumes were released in 1988, followed by a yearly update volume each year from 1989 to 1992, bringing the total count to eight.
• Dorling Kindersley's Ultimate Guide range, which thus far has covered Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk and the Fantastic Four.
• The Marvel Encyclopedia range, larger, hardcover volumes. To date there have been six volumes of this released, all still available from Amazon and other reputable bookshops:
  1. General
  2. X-Men
  3. Hulk
  4. Spider-Man
  5. Marvel Knights
  6. Fantastic Four

What profiles have been covered in the current series, and where can I find them?

For a breakdown of who has been profiled where in all the various and sundry series of Handbooks, there's an excellent and comprehensive list at Comix-Fan. If you just want to check out this series, click on the appropriate letter below.

How do you go about writing each entry?

Once the list of profiles for each book has been chosen, the writers discuss the characters on it, and pick the entries they feel best suited to write. Once each writer has their list, they use a checklist of appearances our head writer, Jeff Christiansen, assembled and maintains, which lists virtually every character in the Marvel universe and where they appeared. From this point we follow similar methods to those established by the writers of the original (and Deluxe) volumes of the Marvel Handbooks (where appropriate and applicable, I will quote original Handbook scribe Mark Gruenwald's words on the subject, because he said it well, and there's no point trying to improve on perfection). The writer goes to the original comics, and reads "through the entry-subject's every appearance in chronological order, making notes of the significant data."

Like the original series (though on a lesser scale) we sometimes "look at the various gaps in the data, be it a never-disclosed real name or an unrecorded episode describing how an entry-subject got from point A to point B where we see it next. We then solicit original material from the writer and / or editor most closely associated with the entry-subject. Writers and/or editors either provide us with the material we request", give us permission to suggest options to fill that gap ourselves "or inform us that they would prefer to keep a bit of information a secret. We are proud to have certain information appear here in the Handbook for the first time anywhere." We also consider cases where there are conflicting historical accounts (inevitable in such an old and large mythos as Marvel's) or gray areas (such as who is actually a member of a team with informal membership requirements and who is just an ally who hangs around), and again, where possible, contact the original writers or original and current editors, to see if a ruling can be made to clarify the situation. Taking the information from these first two steps, an initial profile is assembled - unlike the method used on the Deluxe edition, we do not go to the previous Handbooks until after assembling the initial profile. This is firstly because we do not wish to short-change owners of the original volumes by consciously or unconsciously regurgitating what is simply an updated copy of something they bought many years ago, and secondly because any Handbook entry is a summary of the entry-subject's history, and going to the original comics may bring up relevant aspects of that history missed out from the previous summaries. We do, however, always check previous Handbook volumes where appropriate, as they can be the source of canonical information not given anywhere else; physical dimensions, true identities, names of relatives, and historical background have all been provided for the first (and in some cases only) time in those Handbooks, and must not be missed out if the new profile is to be accurate. Once any such information is added, the draft is then submitted to the writer group for comments and proof checking. Profiles will generally go through multiple drafts, with us repeating the initial steps of re-checking the original comics and querying the people who wrote and edited the character as often as required.

When we have finished our drafts, the profiles are all sent to our editor Jeff Youngquist, who likewise checks through all the profiles for mistakes and unclear information: in many cases, other editors relevant to given sections of the Marvel universe (such as Mike Marts for X-Men related entries) or writers closely associated with given entry-subjects will also check profiles; in all cases, continuity supremo Tom Brevoort scrutinizes our work, correcting anything he feels we have got wrong. Only then, once all these people have checked and double checked the work, does it gain the official Marvel seal of approval, and get sent to be put into Handbook format ready for the printers.

Which characters are going to be covered in forthcoming books?

I'm afraid we are not allowed to tell people who is in forthcoming books ahead of their release. That's the job of the people who write the press releases for Marvel, and we can't step on their toes.

Why haven't you covered (fill-in-the-blank), who is my favorite character / a really important character?

Marvel estimates it has nearly 5,000 "properties" (e.g. characters); over at the unofficial Marvel Appendix site, which many of the Handbook writers are involved with, we've already covered got more entries than that, and we haven't even listed any of the "big names". So far, we've produced some 380 entries over 13 Handbooks, and it doesn't take a Math genius to realize that's only just scratched the surface of what's there. The current format is for themed books, and in some cases, a given character hasn't been covered yet simply because an appropriate theme hasn't come round yet (Speedball, to take a random example, wouldn't fit any of the themes so far); in most other cases, it's because we simply haven't had enough Handbooks to get round to them yet. Groups such as the X-Men or Avengers (for example) have lengthy membership lists and hordes of enemies, and a single Handbook can't contain them all. Even if we were to only give every character within a single page entry, which we don't want to do because it would short-shift many characters, we still couldn't fit them all in a single volume. The Handbooks is a series, not a string of individual and unconnected books, and if you view it this way, the omission of a character from a given volume isn't quite so devastating. Sometimes, when deciding who makes the cut for a given book, we will have two equally worthy candidates vying for a place, and our decision can get swayed by which one is more likely to fit the remit of a subsequent book; if one of the characters could fit into a later book and another couldn't, then the character with more options will get held back. A good example of this was the Rhino; considered for the Spider-Man Handbook 2004, he was dropped to make more space for other Spidey villains, and included in the Hulk Handbook instead.

We've covered just over 420 entries in 15 Handbooks; the most comprehensive of the older Handbooks, the Deluxe Edition, covered just under 900, but it had a 20 volume run plus 8 update volumes to reach this total. Give us some time.

Are there any characters who are out-of-bounds for the Handbooks?

Sadly, yes. Licensed characters for whom Marvel no longer own the license are the main ones; you won't be seeing Rom the Spaceknight, the Micronauts (at least, the ones based on the toys), Conan, Fu Manchu, Red Sonja, Godzilla, the Shogun Warriors, the Human Fly, etc, any time soon. Creator-owned characters are also off limits, so no Groo, Coyote, or Alien Legion, I'm afraid. And obviously we can't do profiles for characters from other companies who have interacted with Marvel characters in various mini-series or one-shot crossovers - in other words, don't hold your breath for the Official Marvel Handbook of the Justice League of America. As reference volumes, we are usually okay to mention most of the above in chronicling the history of Marvel characters who they might have interacted with; we just can't do individual entries for them. There are also some characters who were part of a licensed properties' comic who belong to Marvel Comics - Starshine and Hybrid from Rom, Bug from the Micronauts, Dr.Demonicus from Godzilla, for example - and who we conceivably could cover one day.

Why don't you number characters like the old Handbooks used to?

In the past Handbooks would distinguish between characters of similar name by numbering them (Captain America I; Captain America II; etc). However numbering is an inefficient way of tracking characters who share the same name. Is Betty Ross "Golden Girl I" because she appeared in the real world several decades before Gwen Sabuki "Golden Girl II"? Or, since Gwen was active during WWII and Betty wasn't active until after the war, should the numbers be the other way around? Many people call Adrian Toomes "Vulture I" to distinguish him from Blackie Drago "Vulture II" and Clifton Shallot "Vulture III"...except there were at least two costumed criminals called the Vulture who pre-date Toomes and are simply less well-known than he is (and even more Vultures if you count Robert E. Howard related stories such as Conan). The trouble with the numbering is that

1. it's easy to get wrong, because you overlook some obscure prior character with the same name (the Vulture)
2. it's easy to get wrong because some writer creates a retcon characters who now pre-dates everyone else on the list (the 1700s Captain America, the Gwen Sabuki Golden Girl, etc);
3. different people figure their numbering different ways (Golden Girl being the perfect example of this);
4. it doesn't actually supply any info to people who didn't realise there was more than one person of that name until they saw the numbering.

That's why the Handbooks now put the real name (or other clarifier if the real name is unknown or likewise identical) in parentheses after the names of characters where this kind of confusion could arise. It is longer, but makes more sense in the long run.

Why do you number Earths?

Initially Alan Moore started it. In a Captain Britain strip written by Moore, the hero was involved in traveling to a number of alternate Earths, and encountered beings so used to dimension travel that they had numbered each reality the way we number highways. In Daredevils #7, p.8, commentators at the trial of Saturnyne speculated as to which alternate Earth Captain Britain originated from, listing a variety of numbered realities, before his home reality was identified on p.9 by the defendant as as being Earth-616, thereby providing the designator for the mainstream Marvel Earth, which has since been used in titles such as Excalibur, 1602, Exiles and others. Numerous theories as to why Mr.Moore chose that specific number have proliferated across the net since then, ascribing various hidden meanings to it; however we recently asked his daughter Leah Moore and her partner John Reppion if they could ask Alan and solve the mystery once and for all, which they graciously did. The response: 616 "was just a random number of no significance chosen because people always seemed to be talking about "earth 2" or "earth 4" but never any higher numbers."

Earth-616 is the shortest and most concise way we have of saying "mainstream Marvel Earth/reality/universe", and we continue to use this designation in the Handbooks when we need to distinguish characters from that Earth from any extradimensional counterparts. To say "our Earth" would be wrong; last time we checked, our NYC wasn't home to a range of superhero teams. To say "Marvel universe" is inexact; the future timelines of Spider-Girl, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Killraven, etc, are all Marvel universes.

Additionally, we give Earth designators for characters from other realities. While some timelines could be briefly distinguished using the names of the series or imprint they originated from (Earth X, Earth MC2, Earth Mutant X), many more cannot. The meaning of Earth DoFP (Days of Future Past) is no less confusing to a comics newcomer than Earth-811 is. There are two distinct Earth 2099A.D.s. More importantly, some alternate timeline characters have multiple distinct versions running around; Killraven for example (his original series, the version seen in Avengers Forever, the version from his 2004 mini-series, and possibly the one who traveled to Earth X), or Hyperion (the Squadron Supreme version, the Supreme Power version, the evil Exiles version, the Earth-616 version and the older version who traveled to Earth X). By providing a designator number with any such character, a reader can compare mentions of Killraven or Hyperion in different Handbook entries, and know that if the designator matches, it is the same Killraven / Hyperion.

Who are the writers of the current OHOTMU?

The head writer for the Handbooks has been Jeff Christiansen, who also founded the unofficial Appendix the Marvel Universe site a few years back. The other writers to date have been:

Chris Biggs, Heather Buchanan, Ronald Byrd, Jonathan Couper-Smartt, Wale Ekunsumi, Eric Engelhard, Mike Fichera, Anthony Flamini, Jason Godin, Richard Green, Michael Hoskin, Bill Lentz, Sean McQuaid, Eric J. Moreels, Mark O'English, Mike Raicht, Barry Reese, Jacob Rougemont, Gabriel Shechter, Al Sjoerdsma, Bryan Thiessen, Stuart Vandal, Kerry Wilkinson.

In addition, editor Tom Brevoort writes all the power grids, though in more recent volumes we have been allowed to suggest values.

Who wrote which entry?

Before listing who wrote what, it's worth noting that in most cases (from the Spider-Man Handbook on, excluding the Age of Apocalypse Handbook), after the primary writer has worked on a profile, the rest of us (especially Jeff, the head writer, and Sean McQuaid, our streamlining expert) descend like locusts to dissect and nitpick it, and that's before our esteemed editors check over it; so very few entries reach the public that aren't a group effort. Plus, during the writing process, a writer will often query any continuity issues a given character may have, coming to the group, to the editors or contacting the comics writer who handled the character to get their opinion. So an individuals' contribution to the overall project, or the credit they are due for the number of entries written, can't and shouldn't be measured by a count of how many profiles they have next to their name.

With that said, for those who still wish to know who wrote what, here's the list (clarifiers in rounded brackets distinguish characters with similar names, those with squared brackets denote which Handbook characters appeared in when more than one Handbook is valid):

How do I become a Handbook writer?

We're really the wrong people to answer that question. You need to contact Marvel direct - their submissions guidelines are available at

http://www.marvel.com/company/subs.htm

Is it true you are "just a bunch of fan writers"?

Every person working on the Handbooks is a fan. However, please don't take that as a negative judgment on either how much Marvel cares about the Handbooks, or on the quality of our work for same. Remember - Chris Claremont was and is a fan; John Byrne likewise; Peter David too. Walt and Louise Simonson - fans. Jim Starlin - fan. Neil Gaiman - fan. Alan Moore - fan. Mark Gruenwald - fan. Joe Quesada - fan. In fact, probably without exception, any artist or writer who started working in comics since the 1960s was and is a fan. Unless you are very successful, there are better paid jobs, and ones with more public prestige; most people working in the industry (on the creative side at least) started doing so because they are fans. And while we don't count ourselves on the same level as the comic luminaries I've listed, my point is that being a "fan" does not mean the work somehow automatically loses validity; instead please judge the Handbooks on the quality or otherwise of our work. Som