IMPEL DC Cosmic Cards recounts the ballad of the Millennium sagaAs a child of the 80s, I was a teen

IMPEL DC Cosmic Cards recounts the ballad of the Millennium sagaAs a child of the 80s, I was a teen of the 90s. And as a teen of the 90s (living in middle-class suburbia), I had way more disposable income than any 14 year-old had a right to - so I spent my money on these: IMPEL’s DC COSMIC CARDS (INAUGURAL EDITION) released in 1991. This was no friviolous expenditure, you need to understand. This was about a decade before every household in North America would have access to the internet and if you wanted to know about a specific comic book character you either needed to A) own the comic book or B) have a really knowledgable friend who could tell you all about them. DC COSMIC CARDS were the cheaper, more convenient solution. (Actually, the most effective solution would be access to all six volumes of Who’s Who in the DC Universe - but let’s be reasonable here.)In this example, some poor copy-editor needed to find a way to make Millennium sound exciting in three pragraphs or less. This is rather amusing, since Millennium is almost universally panned as one of the worst DC cross-over events to come out of the 80s. (I actually don’t agree with that - as a passive Green Lantern Corps fan, I find that the event has it’s own unique merits). The art on the front of the card doesn’t match up with the summary text on the back, and probably wouldn’t have really meant anything to anyone unless they’d read all 8 issues (and corresponding tie-ins) of the Millennium event first-hand. This particular 3-set of cards were illustrated by Joe Staton - the very artist who illustrated 1988’s Millennium event - so, that’s a nice touch of authenticity. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure this artwork was created specifically for these cards.On card #1 we have the team that will eventually become The New Guardians surrounded by Manhunters. OK - check. Card #2 we have the Suicide Squad, the Justice League, some Green Lanterns and the Spectre beating up on more Manhunters. The only recognizable Suicide Squadder on the card in Captain Boomerang - I had to really squint to recognize the Privateer and the other two driving the jeep (who’s names escape me at the moment). Card #3 is the real pièce de résistance: Guy Gardner cutting the head off of a Manhunter with a green knife construct. (Thankfully the Manhunters were robots, so this doesn’t really constitute as violence.) Staton would be the regular artist for the first 14 issues of Guy Gardner’s 1992 ongoing series (as well as it’s 3-issue Guy Gardner Reborn prequel) - so this is fitting. Guy Gardner rocketed to fame in the mid-to-late 80s as the anti-hero of the GLC and Justice League, and thus made him a “cool” character and I remember prizing anything I owned featuring Guy Gardner, so this card would not have been an exception.It’s noteworthy that the IMPEL Cosmic Cards collection contained NO Batman-related characters (unless you count Nightwing - who was a major player in the Teen Titans at the time), but I’m sure we’ll delve into that some other time. -- source link

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