The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #4

The Deluxe Edition of Marvel's indispensable reference series reaches its fourth volume, covering entries from Doctor Strange to Galactus — a stretch of the Marvel Universe packed with sorcerers, cosmic entities, and everything in between. John Byrne and Joe Rubinstein's cover delivers a sprawling montage of characters in dynamic motion, with Doctor Strange's crimson cloak sweeping the left side, a blue-suited figure surging forward at center, a gun-wielding man in a brown jacket firing to the right, and a cascade of heroes and villains — including flying figures in yellow, a winged dark form above, and a green-costumed character below — filling every corner of the composition. For anyone serious about understanding the Marvel Universe as it stood in 1986, this issue is an essential companion.