![]() Usually very different from the action scene or sinister post for the front of the card, these more casual snapshots of the subject feel like a peek behind the scenes. My favorite part might be the profile pictures on these pages. It looks like a write-up that is more likely to exist in the X-Men universe. The backs of the card are on the next page, complete with bios, X-tra facts, and a fun graph that shows the character’s stats rather than just listing them in some boring fashion. ![]() Each card has its own page, centered on a white background in the same way one might view this artwork if it were on a museum wall. This book feels like the publishers wanted to handle revisiting this collection with care - or as much as they could, at least. ![]() There’s a pleasant element to reading the information here and knowing how much these characters changed, seeing who stayed popular in the fandom and who didn’t, right alongside several notes of what they would have done differently with that knowledge. I was immensely amused by the one about how Gambit is smoking on the back of his card and that fans would never see that in comics today, or how they had to be vague with some of the descriptions for characters who, at that time, had barely been in the books for a few months. These insights into the production of the cards and choices made at that time are as enlightening as they are entertaining. There are two introductory pieces of writing here, from Ed Piskor ( X-Men Grand Design ) and editor Bob Budiansky, as well as notes from several contributors who helped work on making these cards a reality. I love that the book is smaller with a digest style because it feels right for the subject matter and makes the pages easy to thumb through. The actual hardback front has a spectacular picture of Wolverine, who is noted as appearing in multiple cards since he was the most popular character at the time. The dust jacket has a fantastic image of Magneto on the front and a couple of images for the cards on the back as examples, but take it off, and the back of the cover is a full poster featuring a massive chunk of the roster that is, simply put, awesome. ![]() The book also comes with three fresh bonus cards in the back, but I’m weary of opening them … for now, at least. Some of Lee’s original character sketches are added in here as well, which are great and will be seen for the first time by many readers. Marvel’s mutants never looked so good before artist Jim Lee got hold of them, and now he was doing the entire 105-card set (99 standards, 5 holograms, and 1 checklist). The 1990s may have been a chaotic decade for the comic book industry overall, but those earlier years were booming for the X-Men’s popularity with a cartoon, toys, and stylish collectible trading cards. I needed more to have that rush continue - so Marvel Snap was my best bet – but the book is what re-ignited that fire for sure. Suddenly I was a kid all over again, thumbing through binders of my favorite heroes and villains and reading all about them. After receiving a copy of The Uncanny X-Men Trading Cards: The Complete Series and flipping through it, a rush of nostalgia hit me. I’m not normally into mobile gaming and like to avoid anything that’s easy to spend money on - yet I still got married - but the inspiration came from an odd place this time. The game is fun, easy to pick up, has some sweet small touches with the card animations, and lets me flex my comics knowledge to friends who aren’t as deep as I am - but I almost didn’t give this game a chance. I think I’m addicted to Marvel Snap, and that’s alright.
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