It’s never to early to start considering what’s going to hit your Hanukkah or Christmas list. Especially for the Marvel Zombie in your life. And like clockwork, our pals at DK have a brand new title that will look oh so nicely on your shelf alongside all of their other fantastic hardcover Marvel books.
Let’s assemble after the jump and I’ll tell you all about The Avengers Encyclopedia!
Written by DK authors Matt Forbeck, Matthew K. Manning, and Dan Wallace, with Alab Cowsill and Glenn Dakin, The Avengers Encyclopedia is nearly 400 pages of in-depth looks at the history and characters that make up Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Eschewing the usual encylopedic method of straight forward alphabetical entries, this title groups it’s chapters based on power types. In Greatly Gifted, those with superhuman powers such as the Hulk, Quicksilver and Spider-Man are highlighted. Upgraded features science based characters like Iron Man, Hank Pym and The Wasp. Mystic Ways finds magical characters including Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange, while spies and soldiers such as Captain America and Black Widow are part of Never Surrender. More Than Mortal is everyone from aliens to Inhumans, consisting of Thor, Ultron, Thanos and other, and Shoulder To Shoulder runs down teams including the Avengers themselves and S.H.I.E.L.D. Throughout the chapters, various key storylines from throughout Avengers history are also considered, including The Kree-Skrull War, Avengers Disassembled and Original Sin.
Over the last year and a half I’ve been collecting Marvel Fact Files from British company Eagle Moss. Often hard to find, the tear away magazines are published weekly in the U.K., with the goal of eventually forming a definitive Marvel encyclopedia. Collecting is hard, though, which is one big reason why I love this new Avengers Encyclopedia. DK and the authors yet another outstanding job at celebrating the characters and craft of the the Marvel Universe. Key characters aren’t given just one page entries; they’re given multi-paged, elaborate and gorgeous in-depth recaps and analysis. For instance, Hank Pym has six pages on his history, various and names and costumes, and inner demons. The same goes for The Wasp. While other peripheral characters have significantly smaller entries (forgotten One, Martinex, Chthonic and Maximus make up one given page), the layout of The Avengers Encyclopedia is really spot on.
Of course, the Marvel Universe is constantly moving forward, so the authors need to stop somewhere. Most impressively, the final few pages of the book make reference to Secret Wars, the universe destroying storyline that has been Marvel’s focus for the past year. By including the series, which is nearing conclusion, it allows DK a perfect jumping on point for another installment of books, post-Secret Wars.
For Marvel and Avengers fans of both the comics and the film’s, The Avengers Encyclopedia is yet another beautiful title from DK that merits a place on bookshelves.
