by Don MacPherson

OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE: X-MEN 2004 Neutral (3/10) Marvel Comics Writer: Eric J. Moreels Artists: John Cassaday, Alan Davis, Salvador Larroca, Carlos Pacheco, Ron Garney, Sean Chen, Randy Green & Aaron Lopresti Editors: Mike Marts & Jeff Youngquist Price: $3.99 US/$5.75 CAN When I was a teen, Marvel released its second Official Handbook series, and as someone who was just discovering Marvel's characters for the first time, I loved it. It was a treat to get to know these characters, especially the particularly obscure ones. I would imagine that every issue offered something new and wondrous for all readers. One can't say the same about this latest incarnation of Marvel's profile books. Only the most familiar of the X-Men are spotlighted here. Sure, it'll be of interest to new readers and serves as a good primer for those just venturing into the world of Marvel's mutants through the "X-Men Reload" event. And it's kind of nice to see an online columnist's name attached to the book. Ultimately, though, this book fails to capture the magic and sense of wonder that its 1980s counterparts did. This book offers profiles of 17 of the most prominent of the X-Men in the various X-titles, basically the main lineups from Astonishing, Uncanny and adjectiveless X-Men. There are character histories, power breakdowns and even a graph that rates each character's skills. This latter element gives me pause. I've never really understood this driving need to quantify these fictional characters so specifically. It seems to take away some of the imagination. I'm also at a loss to imagine why Marvel rated this as a PSR book. Parental Supervision Recommended? Why? Isn't it reasonable to assume that there's an audience for this book among newer, younger readers? Another disappointing aspect is the fact that there's little in the way of new art to be found. The figures for the Astonishing lineup, for example, all seem to be derived from the same pinup, and the Alan Davis art appears to be plucked from this week's issue of Uncanny X-Men. Comic books are meant to be a visual medium, but save for the depiction of the X-Mansion, there's little about this book that's visually engaging. What this book does have going for it is that there's really something to read here. Moreels (of ComiX-Fan) provides detailed character histories here, so much so that the reader can really sink his teeth into it. The writer has captured the same level of detail that I so enjoyed in the 1980s Handbooks. It's also rather heartening to see that Marvel contracted a die-hard fan to sum up these characters and to spotlight what makes them special. Email Don MacPherson with your comments about this review.