320 pp. "X-Men: The Characters and Their Universe is a huge, oversize coffee-table book that should entertain a wide variety of X-fans. Author Michael Mallory wrote the same-sized Marvel: The Characters and Their Universe, and now benefits from a narrower focus on a single group: their comic books, movies, TV shows, and memorabilia. Published in 2006, the nearly 300-page tome covers topics as recent as House of M, 1602, and the third movie, X-Men: The Last Stand (though only passing mention of Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men) Also covered are the development of the team from the Stan Lee-Jack Kirby days through the 1975 revamp through the various spin-off series such as Age of Apocalypse and X-Force, and alternate realities (the great Days of Future Past story line). If you have gaps in your X-knowledge, this is a good resource for filling them, but X-perts may simply dig the large pictures of key covers and panels, movie stills, sketches, and Greg Horn's luscious take on Emma Frost. -- David Horiuchi" "X-Men: The Characters and Their Universe tells the story of this unique band of Marvel comics’ heroes from their creation in 1963 to the present as one of the globe’s hottest franchises. This colorful, lavishly illustrated volume also traces how the characters have been adapted into the media of television and film, including the groundbreaking 1992 animated series and blockbuster feature films, including X-Men III: The Last Stand."
