Wednesday Review - 5/18/2005.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Teams 2005

I have to admit, I'm a total sucker for these kinds of comics. As a comic geek, I love learning new things about the intricate make up of these gigantic shared world efforts known as comic book universes.

This series from Marvel has proven to be just what the doctor ordered for both die-hard geeks and newbies. For die-hard geeks like myself, theses volumes contain new information and hard to find facts about the subject matter. For example, in this volume, I had not even heard of half the teams profiled, and I've been a "Marvel zombie" since I was a child.

For the newbie, these handbooks contain a succinct and simply explained intro into the background of major teams and themes. The comics novice who feels lost can learn a lot - and without having to read a lot of back issues can be quickly brought up to speed.

Everyone wins. Die hard fans get the info they crave, and novices have an easy way to enter the comic realm that's under 5 bucks.

(However, the entry on Power Pack does not mention their obvious Mormon heritage, leaving me a little disappointed.)