Written by Mike Fichera; Ronald Byrd; Al Sjoerdsma; Stuart Vandal; Anthony Flamini; Michael Hoskin; Jeff Christiansen; Sean McQuaid; Madison Carter; & Eliot R. Brown.
Art by (See Below).
Cover Art by Aaron Lopresti; Chris Sotomayor; Pond Scum; & Tom Smith.
SUMMARY:
Released by Marvel Comics for 2007, this 50-page issue (counting the inside covers) consists of these character profiles (with their artists):
- Cardiac (Ron Lim & Mark Bagley)
- Conundrum (Luke Ross)
- The Daily Bugle (No Artist Listed)
- Delilah (Mark Bagley)
- The Enforcers (Steve Ditko)
- Grim Hunter (Tom Lyle)
- Grizzly (Staz Johnson, Luke Ross, & Ross Andru)
- Jimmy-6 (John Romita Jr.)
- Kraven the Hunter (John Romita Sr., Mike Zeck, Nick Dragotta, & Eliot R. Brown)
- Jason Macendale (Sal Buscema, Ron Frenz, Steve Ditko, Mark Texeira, & Larry Alexander)
- Magma (Marc Silvestri & Herb Trimpe)
- Molten Man (Dan Jurgens, Ross Andru, & Erik Larsen)
- Richard & Mary Parker (John Romita Sr.)
- Randy Robertson (Ale Garza & John Romita Sr.)
- Shadrac (John Byrne, Joe Bennett, & Scott Hanna)
- S.H.O.C. (John Romita, Jr.)
- Silvermane (Karl Kesel, John Romita Jr., Jim Mooney, John Romita Sr., & Staz Johnson)
- Slyde (Ron Frenz & Sean Chen)
- Alistaire Smythe (Erik Larsen, Mark Bagley, & Mary Wilshire)
- Solo (Ron Randall)
- Spider-Man (Angel Medina, Steve McNiven, Mike Wieringo, Scot Eaton, Eliot R. Brown, & Ron Frenz)
- Gwen Stacy Clones (Liam Sharpe, Tom Lyle, Mark Bagley, & Yancet Labat)
- Styx & Stone (Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, & Jeff Johnson)
- Symbiotes (Dave Hoover, Kyle Hotz, Ron Frenz, Todd McFarlane, Patrick Zircher, Mark Bagley, Darick Robertson, Ron Randall, Greg Luzniak, & Skottie Young)
- Alan Kupperberg (Walrus)
- White Dragon (Greg LaRoque & Ross Andru)
- Debra Whitman (Ed Hannigan & Bob Hall)
- Will O’ The Wisp (Angel Medina & John Romita Jr.)
- Coldheart (Tom Lyle & Steven McNiven)
- Commanda (Terry Dodson)
- Drom (Don Perlin & Jim Mooney)
- Empathoid (Sal Buscema)
- Blackie Gaxton (Steve Ditko)
- Headsman (Pat Olliffe)
- Hobgoblin: 2211 A.D. (Mike Wieringo)
- Iguana (Jim Mooney)
- El Muerto (Roger Cruz)
- Mysterio {Francis Klum} (Todd Nauxck & Terry Dodson)
- Ben Parker: Earth-6078 (Mike Wieringo)
- Spidercide (Ron Lim, Mark Bagley, & Sal Buscema)
- Spider-Man: 22 11 A.D. (Mike Wieringo)
- Supercharger (Gil Kane)
- Tendril (Darick Robertson)
- Tracer (Mike Wieringo)
- Videoman (Nick Dragotta)
- Vulture {Clifton Shallot} (Ross Andru)
REVIEW:
Marvel’s consistently solid production values for these handbooks again live up to expectations. However, aside from an obligatory Spider-Man profile, none of these characters are relevant to the Back in Black arc itself. Since current profiles on Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Aunt May, the Kingpin, etc. were available in other handbooks, Marvel evidently opted for a seemingly random hodge-podge from the Spider-Man mythos to fill up this handbook’s page count.
In that sense, despite some good reading, this handbook is a bait-and-switch due to its deliberately misleading title.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
In addition to the credits, the inside front cover offers a reference guide to find other Spider-related profiles. The back inside cover has a half-page profile on head writer Michael Fichera. The other half-page is a glossary continuing from the All-New Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe A to Z Update # 1.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars