tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post6260176175441070136..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: Unstacking the Deck: Marvel Universe Series V Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-24499735010194985372018-12-23T01:32:07.089-06:002018-12-23T01:32:07.089-06:00The crazy thing about this set is, by now, these t...The crazy thing about this set is, by now, these things are years-in-review, so that iconic characters that have been taken off the board are glossed over. Hell, even Magneto, the premiere villain of the at-their-peak X-Franchise, doesn't get a proper character card. (Though he gets a "Fatal Attractions" card. I think the only villains to get their own cards in all five sets are Sabretooth, Venom, and Thanos. (And possibly Doom, if yu consider the 2099 version to be him)Rob Bartletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03485214703300912262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-51544516323211214442018-09-20T10:59:41.728-05:002018-09-20T10:59:41.728-05:00“First” is really an arbitrary concept here since ...<i>“First” is really an arbitrary concept here since the cards are released all at once, distributed randomly in packs, as opposed to being published in numerical order. </i><br /><br />Yeah, I was thinking of it in terms of having the cards laid out in nine pocket pages in a binder (in numerical order, of course), in which case the X-Men are the first group of characters you come across. <br /><br /><i>So the other characters just don’t appear? </i><br /><br />Correct. Nightcrawler, for example, doesn't have a card in this set. But Nightwatch does, which totally makes sense, right? Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-27126094572896248362018-09-20T10:56:02.836-05:002018-09-20T10:56:02.836-05:00Those power rankings for Polaris seem pretty weak,...<i>Those power rankings for Polaris seem pretty weak, as do a lot of characters overall. </i><br /><br />Yeah, Polaris is a good example of how characters w/energy-based powers are underpowered in this set, as there's no category that really reflects that type of power. <br /><br /><i>I know this is presented inconsistently, but doesn't she and Magneto levitate due to metal components in their outfits? Her "racy" X-Factor costume was designed with this in mind.</i><br /><br />I believe the "official" explanation for how magnetic characters fly is their power gives them a wider range of electro-magnetic manipulation, and they use that to negate gravitons. Polaris' racy costume was more about giving her the ability to manipulate it so she could create shields, grab stuff with it, etc. (and be racy). Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-85374022293533204372018-09-20T10:51:34.977-05:002018-09-20T10:51:34.977-05:00D'oh! Thanks for clearing that up. Makes more ...D'oh! Thanks for clearing that up. Makes more sense, given the general disregard of Marvel UK stuff. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-59232184317956185132018-09-17T19:21:18.747-05:002018-09-17T19:21:18.747-05:00// Black Knight’s moment of truth //
… is from th...<br><i>// Black Knight’s moment of truth //</i><br /><br />… is from <a href="https://www.comics.org/issue/22332/" rel="nofollow">the 1968 US <i>Marvel Super-Heroes</i> #17</a>, like Tim said.<br /><br /><i>// Not surprisingly given their sales dominance at the time, the X-Men are the first group featured in the heroes/villains category //</i><br /><br />“First” is really an arbitrary concept here since the cards are released all at once, distributed randomly in packs, as opposed to being published in numerical order. That’s a bedrock principle of the whole phenomenon. Lower numbers could be seen as pride of place, sure, but it’s not like anyone would think the X-Men were being shafted by alphabetical order, say, or even solo heroes coming before teams.<br /><br /><i>// Meanwhile, X-Force is represented by Cable, Shatterstar & Warpath, X-Factor by Polaris & Random, and Excalibur by...Shadowcat. //</i><br /><br />So the other characters just don’t appear? <br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-72882060238105454902018-09-05T20:44:12.625-05:002018-09-05T20:44:12.625-05:00Reading them as they came out, it somehow felt a l...Reading them as they came out, it somehow felt a lot shorter than two years. I just remember being disappointed whenever Bachalo had a fill-in.<br /><br />As far as things not panning out, I'm thinking of the M/Penance retcon that came about immediately after Lobdell left. "M" was only ever supposed to be a gestalt of two little girls, and Penance was a deaf girl with PTSD from Yugoslavia. It threw out everything established about them up to this point and made them a convoluted mess during the M-Plate story.Eric Magnushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561025479642283501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-25972447314149803752018-09-05T12:15:13.765-05:002018-09-05T12:15:13.765-05:00To be fair, it's not like Lobdell and Bachalo ...To be fair, it's not like Lobdell and Bachalo left only a few issues in. Lobdell's final issue was 28, and Bachalo's was 32. They were both on GENERATION X for more than two years -- though Bachalo had lots of fill-in artists along the way. I do think "Age of Apocalypse" threw their plans out of whack early on, but for the most part I would guess that what we got from Lobdell and Bachalo was pretty much what was intended, aside from the weirdness of Mondo.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-57509587811341864272018-09-05T12:09:06.466-05:002018-09-05T12:09:06.466-05:00Wow, I was so sure I had packed it in following th...Wow, I was so sure I had packed it in following the previous series, but some of these cards look super familiar to me! I probably just bought a few packs to check them out. I know I certainly didn't have anything near a full set.<br /><br />"<b>Colossus appears in his Acolytes uniform.</b>"<br /><br />And he's categorized as a Super Villain! I'm not sure anyone in the X-Office actually intended him to be considered a bad guy during this period... just confused. And regading the uniform, that kind of looks like it was drawn to be his original costume (or the Jim Lee version), but was <b>colored</b> like the Acolyte uniform!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-89572559006151729482018-09-05T11:07:00.383-05:002018-09-05T11:07:00.383-05:00This was the set I bounced off of, as I do remembe...This was the set I bounced off of, as I do remember a few individual cards (I think they re-used some of that Fatal Attraction stuff from Overpower), I remember basically nothing about the design. Also I liked the previous series' "focus" on four skills that the character actually had; if you cut off "energy projection," Polaris seems like a real loser, and you give her a bunch of useless (to her) stuff like "stamina" and "speed."<br /><br />But the perfect balance was Series 3, now let's all get some frosty chocolate milkshakes.Dobsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08884152078310514684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-16574020991638522802018-09-05T10:49:39.377-05:002018-09-05T10:49:39.377-05:00Even though I had tons of cards from previous sets...Even though I had tons of cards from previous sets, I only had the Rogue "freeze frame" card from this one, most likely packed in with one of the action figures.<br /><br />Those power rankings for Polaris seem pretty weak, as do a lot of characters overall. She has basically the same ranking as Mondo, a character who never actually did anything (outside of one story), but who could be stronger if he tried. I doubt Polaris holds back all that much. Plus, she has the ability to "fly" because of magnetism? I know this is presented inconsistently, but doesn't she and Magneto levitate due to metal components in their outfits? Her "racy" X-Factor costume was designed with this in mind.<br /><br />Speaking of Mondo, I wonder if his non-presence in Generation X was planned, or if it was due to storied being derailed by events, artist absences, or changes in creative direction. Mondo appears more in Age of Apocalypse than he does in the regular Marvel U. Replacing the book with another 4 issues in hurt the momentum of the book. I always wonder about the stories we may have gotten if Lobdell and Bachalo had stayed on the book, particularly involving their original ideas for for certain characters. I can't wait for you to cover this era of books.Eric Magnushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561025479642283501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-25322267576065101932018-09-05T07:44:18.141-05:002018-09-05T07:44:18.141-05:00Black Knight's moment of truth is from the UK ...<i>Black Knight's moment of truth is from the UK Marvel Super Heroes Book in which he appeared with Captain Britain, a rare reference to Marvel UK material.</i><br /><br />The comic in question was Hulk Comic - the Marvel Super-Heroes stories came later and involve reality crossing and the numbering was much higher (starting with #377).<br /><br />This would appear to be from the US Marvel Super-Heroes (#17 actually had the cover date November 1968), though there was a period of Hulk Comic from #31 to #41 when a delay on the Black Knight strip led to modified reprints of both the Black Knight and Captain Britain's origin.Tim Roll-Pickeringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12589024696145675963noreply@blogger.com