I hold in my hot little hands two great new books: The Offical Handbook of tjhe Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2004 and The Official Handbook of tjhe Marvel Universe: X-Men 2004
And inside each, a detailed history and powers description of a heap of Marvel characters.
I've been waiting for this title to reappear for a long time and I'm especially glad that these new books follow the old-style format of the early Marvel Universe books. (I was never a big fan of the loose-leaf version.)
Why do I love these books so much?

• Because they are a guidebook to some of my favorite characters.
• Because they are quick and easy to reference.
• Because the give an accurate portrayal of the character's costume.
• Because they give techno-babble on how powers work (which is always fun!).
• Because it allows me to compare one character to another (for those who would win in a fight between arguments).
• Because they give a detailed bibliography on each character.

For years, Marvel has avoided quantifying its characters in this manner, probably to make things easier for writers and editors. And sure, they can still ignore these MU entries, but at least now, they don't have any excuse to.
Anyway, I want to give marvel a big sloppy kiss for returning these books back to the stands. I love 'em. They're great!
Please keep them coming for all your titles! I haven't picked up Avengers 2004 yet, but I'd also love to see issues focusing on Daredevil, Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four, solo heroes, super villains, cosmic characters, mystical characters, universal entities, gods, Kirby creations and even titles like "Heroes from the 1990s," "Heroes from the 1980s" and so on.