1997 Fleer/Skybox Justice League (JLA) Overpower CCG Box & Cards

I'm sure most folks into comics remember the big collectible card game boom of the '90s. Combining aspects of role-playing with standard card games, CCGs went over big, from Magic: The Gathering to Pokémon and beyond. As a comic book guy, I hated dealing with those people when I started retailing, though not nearly as much as the sports card types. Still, you have to know what you're selling, so I learned the basics of Magic, and even spent too much of my time and money on the first few Star Wars sets.

When I switched from helping manage one comic shop for another, one of my favorite crossover customers talked me into joining him in sampling the new digs' DC Comics Overpower cards. Even though DC was my preferred company, I had and maintain a dislike of Superman and Batman in that period, whose casts were the sole feature of the inaugural set. Still, I had a good time playing with my guy, and though he started to drift out of comics, a whole gaggle of kids had gotten interested in our wake. Before long, my shop was home to the only Overpower players circle in that town, and traveling to competitions elsewhere. I'm still close friends with one of those guys twenty-six years later.

Meanwhile, I'd begun buying cards from the Marvel sets, since DC's was weak sauce. The emphasis on the Batman family, filled with non-powered acrobatic detectives, necessitated the creation of an IQ ability. This prompted Marvel to update all their previously released character cards with vastly superior stats. DC responded with this JLA set, offering a more diverse selection of characters, plus expansions on their first set to dilute its suckage. I was delighted to finally have access to decent playable characters, especially Wonder Woman, who joined Captain America in a briefly unbeatable deck that combined overwhelming fighting ability with excellent defense. Orion, Wolverine, Sabretooth, Nick Fury, Ra's al Ghul and Azrael all offered support at various times with results favoring Marvel.

Alright, to explain the Overpower Collectible Card Game, we begin with Characters. Every player puts together a team of four Character Cards. Depending on an optional rule, all these characters may have to be either heroes or villains. J'Onn here is a Hero, as indicated by the "H" symbol at the bottom left of the card. Every character has a Power Grid of either 3 or 4 Power types, depending on what version of Overpower you are playing. All DC Characters have four Power types: Energy, Fighting, Strength and Intellect. They are then assigned a Rating in each Power type, roughly based on their abilities in the comics, and ranked from 1-8. As you can see, Manhunter is a versatile Character, with solid Ratings across the Power Grid, and the penultimate limit on Strength.

Martian Manhunter also has an Inherent Ability, a special power he can use just by being present on a team. His is "Teammates Training card bonus' are an additional +1." Training cards allow characters with a Rating of less than 5 to increase the impact of an attack in a Power type they're normally weaker in. As you can see, J'Onn can not only get the most out of his own Training cards based on his Power Grid, but also enhance his fellows'. You can best use Martian Manhunter in decks emphasizing Strength and/or the full spectrum of Powers. However, especially in tournaments, the total point value for all the characters' Ratings on your team matter. Since J'Onn is a 20 point character, you have to bring in a much lower point character for, say, a 60 point team. Your team will be disqualified if they run over an allotted point value. Also, if you play Manhunter against an 80+ point team, they will most likely have characters with 8 Ratings, where the Martian's highest Rating is a 7, limiting his offensive and defensive abilities against them.

While there are no artist credits on the cards, it's obvious Sal Velluto drew this one. Because of a uniform flatness in the coloring of the DC character cards, the rare instances of more vibrant tones like those found here really stand out. The combination of detailed rendering and hue makes this one of the best looking cards in Overpower, as far as I'm concerned.

"Power cards are the basic unit of attack and defense in Overpower" As Poker has suits, Overpower has Power types. Instead of hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs, it has Energy, Fighting, Strength and Intellect. If you look at the Martian Manhunter Character card, you can see he has a Rating in each of these suits. Power cards have values of 1-8, but since Martian Manhunter only has a Rating of 4 in Energy, he can only use Energy Power cards with values of 1-4 to attack or defend himself.

You might wonder why anyone would bother with Power cards of low Value. Well you see, unlike Poker, you build your own deck of cards to play with, and pit it against your opponents' deck. At the start of the game, each of you draws an eight card hand. Any duplications must be discarded immediately, and you can't keep more than one Power card of the same Value. That means if you draw an Energy Power card and an Intellect Power card with a Value of 4 each, you can only keep one. Martian Manhunter can use either, so you have to determine which will be most useful to his teammates or your strategy, and keep that one.

Each player takes a turn performing an action, which may include using a Power card to attack their opponent. Your opponent will usually have to target one of your characters, in this case Martian Manhunter. If your opponent attacks J'Onn with a Power card valued at 7, Martian Manhunter can use a Strength Power card with a Value of 7 to defend himself. If you decided to hold a 7 Intellect Power card for one of J'Onn's teammates (since he can't use an Intellect Power card over 5,) and have no other means to defend the Martian Manhunter, our hero will be hit by the attack. Since most characters can only take 20 points of damage, that leaves J'Onn with only 13 points of injury he can sustain before being knocked out. Also, if J'Onn takes hits from two other Power card suits, regardless of their point value, he will become the victim of a Spectrum KO. That's where even low Value Power cards are useful. Once a character is knocked out, they are removed from the game. You start out with four characters, three active, and one safely in reserve. If Martian Manhunter is knocked out, the reserve character takes his place. One way to end the game is if all four of a player's characters are knocked out.

There are two types of Power cards that are not part of the four basic suits. MultiPower cards are wild, and can assume the properties of any Power card type. Any-Power cards, like the one spotlighted here, have no Power type. Since this one has a Value of 6, any character with a Ranking of 6 or more in any Power type can use it to attack or defend. While its Value of 6 and versatility can be useful, it's useless in effecting a Spectrum KO. You'll also note this card is limited to one per deck.

Though the card has no art credit, this one was obviously drawn by Howard Porter, likely with John Dell inking. The same image was used on the display box and in advertising.

Each Overpower player must have a set of 7 Mission cards. These cards tell a short story involving a set of heroes and villains. They blessedly need not be the same Characters you're playing, since there was only one Mission set produced for the JLA expansion, and then there's mixing Marvel Characters in to consider.

Mission cards serve two purposes. The first is to determine which Event cards can be played. Events are optional cards that can be placed in a deck. If an Event card is drawn, it immediately effects both players, rather than being played as part of a hand. Events are directly tied to Missions, and can only appear once per deck. It should be noted that Event cards are printed like most any other, on pliable matte stock with rounded corners. Mission cards are separate from the deck, and are printed on more rigid glossy stock with square corners.

Another way to win a game of Overpower is through Venture, the second and primary purpose of Mission cards. At the start of each Battle, meaning one turn for each player, one or more Mission cards are "bet" on the outcome of the battle. It's up to each player to decide how many Mission cards they choose to Venture per battle, and they need not Venture the same number. One card minimum must be Ventured, and for every card over two Ventured, your opponent gets to draw a card from their deck. The first player with all their Mission cards "Completed," as in accumulated winning bets, takes the game. The first player with all their Mission cards "Defeated," accumulated lost bets, is out of the game. The victor of each battle is determined by who deals the highest number of Value points of damage to their opponent(s.)

"The Brave And The Bold" Mission's story involves Darkseid trying to take over the Earth after the destruction of his home planet, Apokolips. The New Gods Orion and Mr. Miracle warn the Justice League, who battle Darkseid's forces on our moon. "--Having beaten the Female Furies, the League now clashes with a squadron of Parademons, led by the brutal Kalibak. With strength like Superman's and an unquenchable lust for battle, Kalibak is a terrifying enemy... Yet the heroic Martian Manhunter battles him alone and unaided, buying time for the other heroes to smash Darkseid's forces and invade his fortress!" There were 5 Event cards tied to this Mission, but none mentioned Martian Manhunter, so we won't bother with them.

As usual, there are no art credits on this card. I strongly suspect it was drawn by Mike Collins, based almost entirely on how much it looks like his work on Martian Manhunter Special #1. Do note the Ray, one of J'Onn's charges from the Justice League Task Force, in the background.

After my lengthy tutorial on the basics of the Overpower collectible card game, this number should be fairly self explanatory. You would use this card if one of the Characters on your team had a Fighting Power Grid Rating of 6 or higher, while a Teammate had a Strength Rating of 6 or higher. For instance, if you were using the pictured duo of Batman and Martian Manhunter, it would work with the Dark Knight's 7 Fighting Rating and the Alien Atlas' 7 Strength Rating. So the Caped Crusader could use this as a 4 Value Fighting attack or defense, which the Martian Marvel would have to elevate higher by combining it with a Intellect Power card. Since J'Onn J'Onzz is one of the smartest strong men in Overpower, his Intellect Rating of 5 could boost the action to as high a Value as 8. Pretty awesome.

Tactic cards emphasized team work, but in order to be effective required careful consideration of which characters were to be used. For instance, if Martian Manhunter were to be KO'd, and no one else on your team had at least a 6 Rating in Strength, the card would be rendered worthless. On the other hand, someone like Orion with a Strength Power Grid Rating of 7 could use the card, but his low Intellect Rating of 2 maxed the action's Value at a milder 6. Better to have the evil Neron on the team, whose Strength Rating of 6 could do the heavy lifting, and Intellect Rating of 8 offered the potential for a more devastating action. Of course, you're now breaking the optional rule against mixing good and evil on a team, and it will already be at 61 combined Rating points before the addition of a fourth Character.

Besides Power Grid Ratings, another reason to choose a Character for an Overpower game team is their Special cards. Only the specific character identified on a Special card can use that card, and only so long as they are active in the game. Another good thing about Special cards is that they are so specific, unless you overload your deck with one single card, the odds favor your not having to discard duplicates. You can hold as many Special cards as you like, so long as they are not the exact same card. Also, you can place a Special open face on the table for later use to free up your hand.

"Malleable Form" is not so great. You have to waste an action to preemptively insure nothing happens with the Martian Manhunter for the rest of the battle. I guess if he's the endangered lynch pin of your team or something, it could be useful.

Though uncredited, the art on all the Martian Manhunter Special cards is clearly by Sal Velluto, making his among the best looking in the set. Back when I had my "Martian Manhunter: The Rock of the JLA" site, I cropped most of these Specials for use in a section devoted to the super powers of the Alien Atlas. Also, secret identities rarely came into play on Overpower cards, so it was a nice surprise for Detective John Jones to make an appearance.

Unlike "Malleable Form," this Overpower Special card is extremely useful in the game. Not only is it a get-out-of-jail-free card for any single attack against the Martian Marvel, but it protects him for the rest of the battle, regardless of whether the Alien Atlas does some attacking of his own. Since Martian Manhunter has quality offensive Specials, having this card in play can win a game. Say J'Onn is the last Character standing on your team and "Alien Physique" is available to you. Venture as many cards as you can, and regardless of how many additional cards your opponent may draw, you have potentially neutralized them for the entire battle. Either they Concede beforehand and you secure a slew of Mission cards, or you need only score damage to win them outright. Of course, J'Onn has to be directly attacked first, the Special could be neutralized by another Special, and a stalemate likely leaves your opponent stronger for the next battle. Still, "Alien Physique" is boss, and limited to one per deck because of it.

Artist Sal Velluto seemed to like bringing out the "alienness" of the Martian with awkward body language, and helped get the big upturned collar look going before JLA blew up. His abuse of the Banana Hammock From Mars endeared him to few Overpower players, though.

Here's another Overpower Special Card, this one acting as a 5 Value Energy attack. Since Martian Manhunter's Energy Rating was only a 4, this made for a nice attack in pursuit of a Spectrum KO. As with "Alien Physique" and "Malleable Form," the card also has a unique defensive aspect tied into it that could protect the Martian Marvel from any future attacks that battle should it prove successful. Personal defense was a defining attribute of the Character in the game, though his intangibility was never referenced, and he wasn't much use in protecting others. Odd choices, I think. As you can see, this is an excellent Sal Velluto profile shot, and another image I cropped and blew up to display the Alien Atlas' super powers on my old "Martian Manhunter: The Rock of the JLA" web site.

Clearly not Silver Age fans, the Overpower game makers bypassed "Alien Atlas" for the more generic "Martian Strength." This card acts as a level 4 Any-Power attack, which would be lame in and of itself, but could be combined with a Power card. Given Martian Manhunter's Power Grid, that could mean an 8 Value Energy or Fighting attack, 9 Intellect, or 11 Strength. That meant a successful Strength hit could halve its target's life and offer serious points toward a Venture win. It also potentially meant a damaging assault in a Power type J'Onn was weaker in, enabling an easier Spectrum KO. Finally, since this Special was unlimited, the Martian Marvel could routinely ramp-up any given attack throughout his time in the game, of just offer an additional attack unhindered by a Power type, a major asset. The Character doesn't draw attention to himself with any 8 Ratings, has a bunch of defensive cards, delivers massive attack points, and helps his entire team score Spectrum attacks. The only drawback is those humongous thigh muscles Sal Velluto drew so provocatively. At least that Silver Age male eroticism remained intact.

Here is the final Sal Velluto-drawn Overpower Special card, and it's a One Per Deck doozy. Successful hits against a character go on the Permanent Record until they are somehow removed, or else the Character is knocked out of the game. This happens when the total Value of hits on record reach 20, or if three Power types strike them. Let's say Martian Manhunter hit someone with the Any-Power "Martian Strength" combined with an Intellect Power card. Let's also say the Alien Atlas struck with a Fighting attack, unlikely given his modest 4 Ranking in that Power type, but maybe one of his teammates scored it instead. Point being, the opponent's character has taken damage from two Power types. Now hit them with "Martian Vision," and "Martian Strength" becomes an Energy card, scoring a Spectrum KO.

The great thing about this card is that it works for the remainder of the game. People will often take an Any-Power hit, especially one of low point Value, because they're not afraid of a Spectrum KO. If your team is otherwise lacking in Energy, no one will see this coming until it's too late. You can lay the card on an opponent's character in battle, and that new found Energy hit will just sit there until you can finish the Character off with other Power types. Lethal!

As for Sal Velluto and the arm hair-- I don't know. That's how Sal drew him throughout his JLTF run. I don't want to think about why J'Onn has no hair anywhere else on his body, and I especially don't want to consider his "bikini area," that other Velluto quirk...

As I recall, tactic cards were created for the first DC set, and appeared in every one thereafter. This here was an "Ally," which offered the opportunity to have a lesser-known super-person make a "cameo" appearance in your deck to help out you four member team. This one required you to have a Character with at least a 7 in Strength active to launch a 2 point Strength attack. If Martian Manhunter were to call in Metamorpho, another of his teammates would then have to play one of their Special cards. It couldn't be one of J'Onn's Specials (unless another 7 Strength Character on the team had called for Metamorpho,) and the Ally card couldn't be played without the follow-up. There were also 6/2 and 8/3 Ally cards, which saw the attack value increase with the risk of not having a high Rated Character left in the game to use it. I was never big on Ally cards, but I knew others who wielded them well.

The art is by Chuck Wojtkiewicz, an underrated artist that used to work on Justice League America and Europe/International. I met him years back at San Diego, and he was a nice guy. Shame he's pretty much left the industry behind.

Here's another Ally card. Where Marvel produced so many sets of Overpower that Characters no one has ever heard of were playable, powerhouse DC fixtures like Black Adam, Cheetah, Firestorm, Gorilla Grodd, Guy Gardner, Ocean Master, Lady Shiva, Mr. Mxyzptlk and more were relegated to these lousy nuisance cards. Seriously, Marvel used Ally cards for supporting characters like Mary Jane Watson-Parker, and gave Character cards with Specials to Crux, Grey King, Landslide, Mercury, Rapture, and Xaos. Who, who, and who again? Further, the lion's share of Marvel cards looked like they were drawn by interns on their lunch break, possibly reproduced directly from a cocktail napkin. This one is by Howard Porter, the talent who turned JLA into a hit title. Maybe there's something to be said for quality over quantity?

Also note that even though Zauriel has allied himself with Martian Manhunter on this card, J'Onn J'Onzz's Energy Rating of 4 on his Power Grid prohibits his using it. Guess other then-current JLA members like Superman, Green Lantern, or Flash* would have to join them. Tricky to pull off, and not worth the trouble when you figure I never had a use for Zauriel, in or outside the game.

(* ...though none of Wally's stats are above a 6, his selection of specials makes him one of the best DC characters to play in Overpower.)

Sadly, I only occasionally got use out of the Martian Manhunter, a decent enough DC-only character, but underwhelming when pitted against Marvel. You see, while DC only ever released two sets, Marvel offered seven, providing much expansion and improvement for old and new characters. Four sets followed JLA, including one for Image Comics, leaving DC even more in the dust. Also, I had to keep buying black backed card sleeves, because unless you were fool enough to go all DC, you had to insure no cheating through variances between DC and Marvel's designs. That gets expensive, and tough to shuffle. Mac built a decent deck for me pairing J'Onn with the X-Man Rogue, of all people.

To be honest, competition brings out the worst in me, and I got sick of how irate I'd get when I lost. Since my interest was more in enjoying specific characters and their fisticuffs, losing became routine. Younger men than I were living for this stuff, and focused solely on strategic gaming. It wasn't fun for me anymore, but I continued to host games at my shop and enjoy folks' company. It even led to a brief fling with RPG GMing. *Shudder*.