274 GRUENWALD, MARK
the future of the comics industry. Gruenwald was perhaps best-known for his focus
on continuity (the existing back-story of comics characters), and he originated the
encyclopedia-like Offi cial Handbook of the Marvel Universe in 1982, a series continued
through multiple later editions and mirrored by DC in their Who’s Who in the DC
Universe series. Before being hired by Marvel, Gruenwald had penned a self-published
1976 Treatise on Reality in Comic Literature as well as the more public-friendly 1977
A Primer on Reality in Comic Books (co-written with his father Myron Gruenwald).
Each discussed the nature of comic book reality and alternate universes, as did both
issues of his 1977–79 fanzine Omniverse , and Gruenwald carried these ideas into his
professional work; his defi nitions and language are still used in comic books today.
Noted for his vibrant sense of humor, Gruenwald’s last request was honored fol-
lowing his unexpected fatal heart attack on August 12, 1996, and his ashes were mixed
into the fi rst trade paperback reprinting of his Squadron Supreme miniseries. Upon
the 10th anniversary of his death in 2006, Marvel Comics began referring to him as the
Patron Saint of Marvel.
Mark O’English
