Why in God’s name do I have a full set of the Bloodlines trading cards?
I mean, I was hardly a fan of this 1993 DC crossover event series. I didn’t hate it or anything, but I didn’t go out of my way to follow it. I didn’t buy the two issue “bookend” Bloodbath series that began and ended this crossover, and the only tie-in annuals I bought were for those series I was buying anyway.
The alien bad guys that were the focus of this event were kind of neat-looking, though…sorta weird and grotesque, like this guy:
As I’m sure some of you remember and are trying to forget, the aliens came to Earth to feed on human spinal fluid or some damn thing, and survivors of the attack were somehow “changed” in the process, getting superpowers and not excruciating headaches or blurred vision or anything.
Here’s one hero, Gunfire (shown here with Deathstroke during his “anti-hero” phase) resplendent in all his Nineties-ness:
I’m not even sure what the hell is going on here:
Hey, this is cool: Hitman trading cards!
The bonus cards featured the four post-death Superman stand-in characters (you know, Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator, Steel, and Superboy) and a fifth “exchange” card that, if memory serves, you had to mail away for. Well, guess who mailed away for it:
It’s a foil card, so Superman’s metallic blue chest doesn’t appear as shiny in the scan as it does in real life. And it’s embossed, which means you can drag your filthy, filthy fingers over the molded features of the card and gently caress the outlines of Supes’ big red S and his mighty Kryptonian super-mullet. Not that I’ve ever done that. Or am doing it right now as I type this.
So, anyway, Bloodlines cards…yet another thing I bought and held onto for the better part of two decades for no real good reason. Well, aside from blogging about it, I suppose.
Didn’t Tommy Monaghan end up getting headaches and the like?
Josh – Yeah, I think so. Was it ever explained as a direct result of spinal fluid loss, or just simply as a side effect of the powers?
(NOTE: NOT A DOCTOR. Everything I know about spinal fluid loss symptoms comes from about five minutes of online research.)
No, I think it was basically because Ennis didn’t like having to deal with Tommy having useless superpowers, so he made them more trouble than they were worth.
Also: the day they figure out how to take effective scans of foil / chromium items will be a serious breakthrough for mankind. I know where *my* blog research funds are going.
Never head of this “event” or trading card set.
And having seen it here ….. kind of glad I never had.
Hold up a second …
Tim O’Neil has blog research funds? I’d like to submit a grant proposal…
“Also: the day they figure out how to take effective scans of foil / chromium items will be a serious breakthrough for mankind. I know where *my* blog research funds are going.”
I suppose you could turn it into an animated gif but that seems like a lot of trouble for stuff I’d rather forget existed.
Mike, that one with Jamm is from, believe it or not, Legion of Super-Heroes. He somehow was sent to the future with his skateboard, could hypnotize people, and spent the issue basically getting the LSH women to take off their clothes. Really, truly. Where was HE during Infinite Crisis? He did come back to 1993. As you already know, at least we got Hitman out of this mess.
God, it’s so embarrassing, but there was a genuine thrill to buying a case of cards and tearing them open hoping to get a bonus card. I have so much crap in boxes in my garage now…
I’m checking any future comic purchases for fingerprints.
I suddenly get a sense that someone at DC was shopping around the title:
JAMM JAMS and the PAJAMA PARTY.
Oh, c’mon… during the hey-day of “Swimsuit” comics, SOMEONE would buy it.
~P~
You know, in the 90s I seemed to find enough worth reading, but whenever I see something from the 90s now (especially with that jagged, cluttered artwork) I just skip it and pretend it never happened.
Deathstroke does seem to have come through the 90s surprisingly intact. He hardly looks like a douche at all in that picture, which is hard to do when you’re dodging a guy named “Gunfire.”
The most obnoxious part of the whole thing (to me, at least) is that the legal department won out and we got ™ on all of the card fronts. Nothing says “bad-ass” like making sure you assert ownership. “I am Gunfire (trademark)!”
What kid doesn’t marvel at “The One True Superman Trademark”?
And just like that, “Bloodlines” is evoking nostalgia within me. These are the end times.
I liked Anima, for what it’s worth, and I don’t remember the Argus book being all that bad.
Everything else, save Hitman? P U.
I think Glonth is ready for a comeback.
I liked the Bloodpack mini series. It was a reality TV comic before reality TV became all pervasive. Jade was their PR person. Good times.