New Brevoort Formspring

For the most part, any new Handbook material builds directly atop the previous versions, taking into account any stories that have seen print since then and what effect those stories may have had on a given character. But for, say, a Spider-Man entry, much of it is going to remain the same over the years–his height and eye color, the manner in which his powers work, and as much of his history as the entry covers. Where it could change is if he picked up new skills (studied kung fu under Shang-Chi) or new gadgets (improved webbing devised by Doc Ock) or has a new job (head of Parker Industries) or new relationships (Anna-Maria Marconi.) So the need for an absolutely new Handbook is pretty slim–you’d be repeating work that had already been done by the people who came before you.

And in terms of a new Handbook vs add-ons, what we’ve seen over the last number of years is that the more dedicated Handbook releases tend to perform better than the more general ones. In other words, an Avengers-dedicated volume or an X-Men-dedicated volume sells better than a volume that covers A-B. While that’s the case, unless the interest in and the sales on the Handbooks spikes up suddenly, it’s unlikely that we’ll undertake a new A-Z set of volumes.