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 In 1982 Marvel realized they had so many characters already they could create a series just out of listing and summarizing the histories of the characters. And this was the birth of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. While it's not a constantly updated idea it is one that still pops up here and there today. There were three main versions of this published during the '80s and '90s that most here would remember. And while it was cool to see a good summation of the characters you loved I always loved them for a different reason. They showed me some of the really weird smaller characters that I had never come across at the time. I think my first exposure to a lot of the fringe characters in the Marvel Universe were through these books. I got a nearly full collection of the second series from my older cousin who was cleaning out his comics and I became fascinated with the series buying up the third series and putting them in a binder whenever I could find them. The second and third series are very different from each other. While the second series covered mostly characters that appeared often it also contained sizable character histories to go along with that. The third series was more like an extended set of big trading cards and it covered characters a lot of people have probably never heard of until this day. In this thread I'm going to post a character every day for as long as the thread sustains and we can talk about the character and maybe speculate on whether we'll be seeing them ever pop up or wondering why they were ever created in the first place. I'm going to try to mostly stick to the more unknown and weird characters but will sprinkle others in as well. I'm going to pick them randomly so we could get someone cool or someone really lame. I'll let you all decided in that. I'll be pulling mostly from the third series which has hundreds of characters to chose from. And remember this series was created in the early '90s so a lot of characters will be sporting some of their worst costumes ever, which should be fun. Here are the first pages from the issues that explain the power levels and the glossary. They appear in all the issues over the four years this was published so I guess they're a handy guide to the guide.  
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Feb 10, 2017 23:03
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 20:34 |
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Day 1: Chief Examiner Who? Apparently a character created for a video game and promptly forgotten after a 12 issue mini that was cancelled after 3 issues. I vaguely remember this guy showing up in Quasar. But since I'm one of the only people that probably ever read Quasar I imagine he's a complete unknown to most comic fans.  
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Feb 10, 2017 23:04
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Edge & Christian posted:Man, I always think I read "most" of Gruenwald's Quasar and then I remember it ran for sixty issues and if you look up pretty much literally any alternate universe or comic being from pre-1990 there's a weird footnote on the wiki about what they did in Quasar. From Wundarr to the New Universe to Buried Alien to the Young Gods. I honestly think Quasar is what spawned my love for stuff like that, including Cosmic Marvel. I remember one of the first issues I read was Quasar and Stranger fighting Overmind and it had nothing to do with like anything I'd read in other Marvel stuff at the time. A lot of my comics around that time came from a huge collection my cousin gave me. It had this and old Captain Marvel and Eternals in it among the more mainstream stuff. It was a while before I actually read that older stuff though because being young I read the more familiar stuff first. Quasar was some of the more recent books in the collection and that stuff was my gateway in the those cosmic books. But even I don't really remember Chief Examiner. He looks familiar to me and it has to be from Quasar since that's the only thing he was ever in. But there's so many orb-headed villains out there I could be just be remembering someone else. X-O fucked around with this message at 00:05 on Feb 11, 2017 |
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Feb 11, 2017 00:02
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Wheat Loaf posted:What's with the way the hands on all the character illustrations were posed like that? It's just a way some people do character model sheets. Day 2: Ms. Marvel It's the forgotten Ms. Marvel! Sharon Ventura. Former pro-wrestler turned superhero. Most of my exposure to Sharon, and probably yours if you remember her at all, was when she was "She-Thing" in the Fantastic Four in the '90s. She was last seen in her "She-Thing" form in the last volume of Fantastic Four before Secret Wars. I'm not sure if she's showed up anywhere post Secret Wars but she's very rarely used in any case.  
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Feb 11, 2017 19:48
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Edge & Christian posted:Many very good reasons for not appearing in comics anymore. Yeah, there's a reason she's the forgotten Ms. Marvel. For someone that wasn't around that much she has a crazy history. When Ben was put in jail during the last arc of FF before Secret Wars she was running the place. She was not happy to see him, considering he never even once checked in on her since she'd been in there.
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Feb 11, 2017 21:43
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Edge & Christian posted:And then yes, she turns up as like an evil prison warden or something in James Robinson's F4 story arc, made that no one had come checking up on her in prison, even though by all rights she was actually in some combination of chilling with Wyatt Wingfoot, working for the Initiative, or being kidnapped by Skrulls. No idea how she actually got put in jail, unless like she was abducted by Skrulls in prison offscreen circa 1995 and then when she came back SHIELD went "oh no, we paroled a Skrull, not you, get on back to jail." (2014) I believe she got involved in some shady pro-wrestling poo poo involving drugs because she was having trouble trying to make a buck when nobody wanted anything to do with her after the Skrull stuff. Edge & Christian posted:FInally, she showed up again as a normal looking human lady wrestling at Madison Square Garden in that goofy rear end wrestling issue of Captain America: Sam Wilson a few months ago. Well good, hopefully Secret Wars fixed it so she's got a relatively normal life now.
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Feb 12, 2017 01:49
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Well, we'll get deeper so maybe there is. Probably not this guy if you're familiar with Chief Examiner. Day 3: Quagmire Oof. What a terrible series of design choices. quote:Costume Specifications: Leather and rayon. That's pretty much all that needs to be said.  
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Feb 12, 2017 21:23
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Wow. I didn't even notice that poorly placed chain. So it was worse than I thought.
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Feb 12, 2017 22:21
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Day 4: Captain Ultra Very rarely have so many colors been combined in such an ugly way. This guy got superpowers accidentally when his hypnosis therapy to quit smoking went awry. It also gave him a crippling case of pyrophobia. Yes. That is what happened.  
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Feb 13, 2017 22:05
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Well that's what usually happens when your stand-up comedian career fizzles out.
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Feb 13, 2017 23:38
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Day 5: Red Ronin I've seen this guy pop a few times over the years, but nobody really ever does anything with him. He was created as someone Godzilla could fight when Godzilla was under the Marvel banner. To me he looks like a Go-Bot version of Colossus.  
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Feb 15, 2017 02:01
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Day 6: Cable Yeah, I know he's not obscure by any stretch. In fact we probably all know more than we ever wanted to about Cable. But I'm posting this for one reason. Those shoulder pads are insane on this character sheet. The '90s, what can you do?  
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Feb 15, 2017 22:29
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Day 7: Gronk Gronk is a Tight End and two time Super Bowl Champion for the New England Patriots. A possible Inhuman clone, Gronk is known especially for his strength and durability but isn't the sharpest knife in the shed. He's also really sticky.  
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Feb 16, 2017 21:43
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Day 8: Kofi Uh... you got me. Edge and Christian, maybe you have something on this one worth talking about?  
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Feb 17, 2017 21:21
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redbackground posted:Kofi Whitemane is poorly named. That's Lord Kofi Whitemane to you, oh lowly one.
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Feb 17, 2017 21:37
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Day 9: Manslaughter Sorry, I don't have much to add on this one either as I'm not really familiar with him at all. He looks pretty goofy though.  
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Feb 18, 2017 20:27
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Day 10: The Collector I'm sure everyone is familiar with this guy, at least from the Guardians of the Galaxy film if nowhere else. He's one of the Elders of the Universe. One time holder of the Reality Gem he traded it to Thanos. He's had many different designs over the years, this one might be the weirdest though. Most times when The Collector shows up you won't find The Grandmaster far behind.  
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Feb 19, 2017 22:01
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Yeah, of the elders that had them before Thanos I think Runner, Collector, and Champion didn't understand how the gems worked at all. Gardener and Grandmaster understood them a little more.
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Feb 20, 2017 00:14
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Endless Mike posted:Yeah and then like 4/5 of the Infinity Watch were kinda whatever about it. Moondragon made good work of the Mind Gem. Pip used the Space Gem pretty much only for teleportation. Drax ate the Power Gem because he thought it was a Jelly Bean and used it subconsciously. I don't remember Gamora using the Time Gem at all outside of her occasional visions. And Thanos was the secret member with the Reality Gem so I don't think he ever used it. So yeah really only Warlock and Moondragon used the Gems to their potential.
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Feb 20, 2017 00:25
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Zombie Dachshund posted:... where can I read this? Warlock and the Infinity Watch #2. redbackground posted:Is everyone with a cape required to lift it off to the side to show their butt? Yes. Case in point. Day 11: Karnilla Queen of Nornheim and a one time frequent Thor character. I can't even remember the last time Karnilla showed up in a comic. Maybe that mess with Ulik after Fear Itself?  
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Feb 20, 2017 23:12
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Day 12: Razor-Fist Presented without further comment, because honestly what can you say?  
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Feb 21, 2017 20:37
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Day 13: Warstar Here's one I had a fondness for that you don't see much. I'm not sure what it was but I always enjoyed Warstar. Perhaps it's just the simple design but I thought he looked cool as a kid. Pretty Warstar's been dead since the post Annihilation Nova series as I can't remember seeing any appearances since then.  
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Feb 22, 2017 20:08
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Day 14: One Above All Not to be confused with Marvel's version of God that shares the same name, One Above All is the leader of Celestials. Also currently might be the only surviving Celestial after recent events in Al Ewing's Ultimates.  
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Feb 24, 2017 01:04
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Wheat Loaf posted:I liked Arishem the Judge because he had the code that would destroy a planet written on his thumb and it activated whenever he gave a planet he was judging a thumbs down, because it's one of the Kirby-est of all Kirby's cosmic ideas and I think it's great. The Thumb Of DOOOOOOOOM 
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Feb 24, 2017 02:44
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Day 15: Knickknack Current Occupation: Juggler, Mercenary I really hope he has a business card with exactly that on it.  
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Feb 24, 2017 20:44
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Day 16: Air-Walker Air Walker was a former Nova Corps member turned Herald of Galactus turned Robot. Not the kind of upward mobility one hopes for in the cosmic hierarchy. Once on Earth he used a horn to contact Galactus and those stupid Earthers thought he was the actual Archangel Gabriel. Stupid Earthers.  
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Feb 25, 2017 20:44
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Lobok posted:They could at least give us a ballpark estimate. Like "unliftable by normal humans, has been picked up by Spider-Man". Firelord and Air-Walker were partners in the Nova Corps prior to their time with Galactus.
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Feb 25, 2017 22:37
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Day 17: Fer-De-Lance Here's another one I'm lost on beyond what's on the sheet. I've read all those Captain America issues listed and I vaguely remember her design but I don't know much beyond that.  
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Feb 26, 2017 21:33
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Day 18: Null The Living Darkness Here's another one that I'm not really that familiar with at all. I guess it showed up in some old Defenders comics that I never read. Seems like a basic monster design.  
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Feb 27, 2017 22:53
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Day 19: The Zodiac Here's something a bit different. A whole load of random characters. Themed villains! Bad designs! Pirate boots! Cybernetic limbs! Lobster claws! Cybernetic Lobster Claws! A man named Aquarius wearing a belly shirt! This post has it all!     Modus operandi: Criminal activities based on astrological themes X-O fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Feb 28, 2017 |
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Feb 28, 2017 23:42
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ecavalli posted:What's the deal with Cancer I? Are the inexplicable crab claw hands made of razor-sharp adamantium? Do they shoot lasers? Can he talk to crabs? I imagine you'll be disappointed. I was going to skip today because of the double up yesterday but I might be gone all day tomorrow so might as well throw one up before bed. Day 20: The Reavers With Logan coming out tomorrow here's another dump of multiple characters. The Reavers. I believe at least Donald Pierce is in the movie, if not others. I wouldn't expect to see a Bonebreaker looking like this though.  
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Mar 2, 2017 06:54
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How about a cool character today? Day 21: Doom 2099 Doom 2099 was a pretty great series in the 2099 line. In fact it was probably my favorite although a lot better stuff has been done with Spider-Man 2099 overall.  
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Mar 3, 2017 05:28
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Day 22: Left-Winger A Captain America and primarily U.S. Agent enemy Left-Winger is another in a long line of pro-wrestlers turned terrorists. He also had a partner who is not featured in the Marvel Handbook. I'll give you a guess as to what his name is.  
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Mar 4, 2017 21:42
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Day 23: Trump Criminal, Children's Television Host, and possible future President? Trump is a accomplished clown and drama student with no actual powers. I believe he has a magic wand though for his Other accessories: Trained pigeons, tame rabbits.  
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Mar 5, 2017 22:51
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Day 24: Midnight Sun This is another character that I know I've read because I've read the Silver Surfer issues listed below. But I don't remember a single thing about him. He has metal discs on his hands and feet though. So that's a thing. A hat like that seems like a no-no for space travel though.  
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Mar 7, 2017 00:44
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Ferrule posted:Ron Lim art helped. As far as Marvel cosmic stories go, there's nothing that this doesn't help.
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Mar 7, 2017 02:04
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Missed a day, but to make up for I'm giving you the best looking design in the Marvel Handbook by far. Day 25: Mongoose Created by The High Evolutionary, this Rikki Tikki Tavi wannabe from Wundagore has battled all the greats like Thor, Spider-Man, and of course Thunderstrike.  
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Mar 9, 2017 00:54
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Day 26: Earth-Lord Here's another Thor character that I don't really remember at all. His helmet is giving me Juggernaut from X3 vibes though and that's not a good thing. Actually everything about him is giving me Juggernaut from X3 vibes.  
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Mar 10, 2017 00:11
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Day 27: 8-Ball I, uh, got nothing on this one. I mean, he's got a Pool Cue for a weapon and travels in a Hover-Rack, which is exactly what it sounds like. I mean what can even be said?  
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Mar 11, 2017 00:32
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 20:34 |
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Lurdiak posted:That guy loving rules. Yeah, pretty much. 
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Mar 11, 2017 00:54
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