Fleer Ultra X-Men Wolverine Cards

This set of Marvel comics-based trading cards was released in 1996. It has a base set consisting of 100 cards, including the checklist. There are 2 types of chase cards, the first are "HoloFlash" cards which feature holofoil, and the second are "Mirage" cards which are lenticular, showing simulated movement. The card set design was done by Arnie Sawyer Studios, and the set was produced and distributed by Fleer/Skybox.

Card Types

The 99 basic cards all feature the same style layout front and back, unlike many sets.

The card set is arranged into 11 groups of 9 consecutive cards which form a theme, which is printed on the front of the cards as seen below. Each theme is representative of an important period of Wolverine's life and the related characters. The themes are
*1-9 "Weapon X"
*10-18 "Department H"
*19-27 "Second Genesis"(related to Wolverine's first appearance on the 2nd X-Men team)
*28-36 "Japan"
*37-45 "Allies"
*46-54 "Madripoor"
* 55-63 "Mojoworld"
* 64-72 "Enemies"
* 73-81 "X-Men"(related to Wolverine's association with the modern X-Men team)
* 82-90 "Age of Apocalypse"
* 91-99 "Savage Beast" (related to the period after the failure of Genesis to re-infuse Wolverine's skeleton with adamantium, after which Wolverine devolved to a beast-like state, until trained by Elektra to regain his humanity).

The 9 HoloFlash holofoil cards depict an original multi-card artwork showing the famous scene from the Fatal Attractions crossover, where Magneto removes the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton.

The 3 Mirage lenticular cards, are named MarvelMotion, MarvelMorph, and MarvelMirage. One depicts Wolverine in his Age of Apocalypse state, one in his feral state, and one as he fights magneto during fatal attractions.

Multi-Card Art

This set is unique in that it features what amounts to a mini-comic when the backs of each 9 card set are put into standard 9 card protective sleeves. It is not clear if this comic is meant to be considered canonical or not. On the one hand, a comic on cards would typically not be considered canon, however in this case the title is "Stan Lee Presents: Slay-Per-View", and therefore it could possibly be considered as being very officially endorsed (also it has the benefit that it does not conflict with any other canon).

The story depicts a period after Longshot has set up an "entertainment-free society" and is living with Dazzler and the X-Babies in Mojoworld. The story also takes place while Wolverine is in his feral state, and training with Elektra. Mojo II devises a plan to kidnap Wolverine by catching him off-guard by sending Spiral and the Warwolves both physically and mystically disguised as X-Men. However, Wolverine sees through Spiral's magic, and begins to fight her and the Warwolves. However, they are able to overcome Wolverine and Elektra and Wolverine is kidnapped to Mojoworld, where Mojo II begins broadcasting video of Wolverine fighting both friends and enemies (all of his opponents are Warwolves in disguises). Longshot, Dazzler, and the X-Babies plan to rescue Wolverine, however they realize they can not intercede while the broadcast is on the air, as that will only draw more viewers. As Wolverine is being badly defeated, viewers begin to tune out as it is not an interesting fight. Once the ratings have dropped low enough, Longshot, Dazzler, and the X-Babies can help Wolverine, who then sounding defeats the Warwolves and Spiral. With Mojo II's broadcast off the air, he is effectively defeated and Wolverine is able to return back to his home dimension and resume training with Elektra.

The credits for the mini-comic are as follows.
* Writer: Dan slott
* Penciler: Mark Buckingham
* Colorist: Chuck Maiden
* Letterer: Arnie Sawyer Studios

Artists

14 different artists were used in this set. Each 9 card thematic grouping was done by a single artist to give greater consistency. The artists (in order of appearance) were Glenn Orbik, Ken Kelly, Tom Kuffin, Julie Bell & Boris Vallejo, Dave Dorman, Mark Texeira, Tom Fleming, Cliff Nielsen, Joe Jusko, Marc Sasso, and Brian Stelfreeze. Greg & Tim Hildebrandt provided the art for all 9 holo-flash cards.

Misc

There is one instance of "breaking the 4th wall" in this set. On the back of car #77, Ice-baby (aka Li'l Ice-Man) is battling Shiva (Marvel comics) and says "HOLY SHIVA!" to which Cyke (aka Li'l Cyclops) says "ICE-BABY!" which is replied to with "Hey, it's code-approvable!" This refers to Comics Code Authority's regulation and standards for what comics which which to bear it's seal need to conform to. This means that Ice-baby knows he is in a comic.

Numerous cards in this set are frequently miscut, causing small portions of other cards to appear on the bottoms of some cards.

It is also reported that some misprints exist where the card title lettering on the front is embossed, but the gold foil not applied. [Jeff Allender's House of Checklists Fleer Ultra X-Men Wolverine checklist http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/allender/xmen96wo.htm]

External links

[http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/allender/xmen96wo.htm|Wolverine Checklist]

References