Jim Shooter, Marvel's then editor-in-chief, conceived the idea of envisioning a guide detailing statistics much in the manner of those found upon the back of baseball cards.
[citation needed] In addition to Gruenwald, contributing writers on the initial volume were Marvel editors Mike Carlin, Eliot R. Brown,[2] and Peter Sanderson.
[3] Critics of the Handbook have argued that the level of detail within the guide effectively limited the ability of writers to innovate, a charge Gruenwald dismissed, reputedly stating that the information presented was only the most recent data and was subject to change.
[4] Sanderson, one of the writers of the original guide, noted that "Mark sought to make the Marvel characters' super-powers as firm a basis in real science as possible.
Lawrence Henry Apodaca reviewed the original The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in Space Gamer No.