It's difficult to know quite what to say about something like The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Wolverine 2004.  Since it's a reference work, the usual standards don't really apply.  It's more a question of "Will you find this interesting and/or useful?" and "Is it in a convenient form?"

The current format of the Official Handbook has proved a bit awkward.  I can certainly understand why Marvel would want to do themed issues rather than a full-scale A to Z - that would inevitably commit them to a lengthy run, if they were going to produce something reasonably comprehensive, with the attendant risk of being lumbered for over a year with a low-selling product if it didn't take off.  And the book has been a bit of an erratic seller - I dread to think what the numbers are going to be like for the upcoming Golden Age issue.

But by choosing a theme for every issue, the editors are faced with a problem - for most Marvel Universe characters, one issue is either nowhere near enough, or far too much.  That came across quite clearly with the X-Men issue, which couldn't even fit in all of the X-Men, and the Hulk issue, which resorted to dusting off 1980s villains in an attempt to fill space.

With Wolverine, we get a similarly strange selection.  There's an admirably comprehensive biography of Wolverine (even if Eric Moreels still bizarrely insists on including a name for Wolverine's son which seems to have no basis in anything that's ever seen print, something which makes me hesitate before placing weight on any of the other research in here).  Still, a 10-page profile of Wolverine is likely to contain information new to most readers, and it's vastly expanded from the version which appeared in the X-Men issue.

Having done Wolverine himself, of course, the editors then find themselves with the problem that his book has few recurring villains these days, and no supporting cast.  So we get a strange and scattershot selection to fill out the book.  An entry for Adamantium seems perfectly reasonable, as do entries for Mariko Yashida, Weapon X and Madripoor, which were part of the mythos for a lengthy period.  Some Tieri villains are listed, as are some bad guys who haven't been seen in many years - Roughouse and Bloodscream?  And while the Deadpool profile makes a welcome job of disentangling his chaotic back story, I haven't a clue what it's doing here - the characters have barely met.

A decent effort given the limitations of the format, but those limitations are proving a real hindrance to producing a completely satisfying product.

Rating: B

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