Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG - Iron Man Intro Deck Analysis

The Iron Man Intro Deck

The Marvel Super Hero Squad Trading Card Game has a series of one-player introductory decks that are themed around a single character. The second deck I'll analyze is Iron Man's.

First the package comes with the rules, a cardboard Marvel coin, a standard booster pack, and the 30 card Iron Man deck.

I feel like this deck is a great value - 40 total cards for $10 means each card is only 25 cents. 

The Iron Man deck has the following 30 cards (I place an * next to the cards that are not actually Iron Man related cards):

RARE

1x Incoming!

UNCOMMON

2x Shoulder Cannons

1x Stealth Mode

1x Pick Up a Friend*

2x Heavy Weapons

2x Juiced Up

2x Teddy Blaster*

COMMON

2x Hulk Practice

2x Combined Arms Fire

3x Cold Fusion

3x Playing with Fire

2x Repulsor Rays

2x Jab of Justice*

2x Fierce Competitor*

2x Animal Instinct*

1x Hurl the Shield*

Card Levels (the power cost to play the card):

level 1 - 5 cards

level 2 - 7 cards

level 3 - 5 cards

level 4 - 5 cards

level 5 - 2 cards

level 6 - 2 cards

level 7 - 3 cards

level 8 - 1 card

This deck uses a classic distribution of card levels. 

Card Factors

Red (Animal) - 4 cards

Green (Strength) - 3 cards

Blue (Elemental) - 6 cards

Purple (Energy) - 2 cards

Gray (Tech) - 14 cards

Orange (Speed) - 1 cards

The gray cards are obviously the workhorses of this deck. I'm disappointed by the inclusion of most of the other factor cards. Having only one orange, it is very likely going to be blocked. The red, green, and three of the blue cards just seem to be stuck in there as blocks - they don't even seem to go along with the theme of the deck.  

Blocks

Red (Animal) - 5 cards

Green (Strength) - 8 cards

Blue (Elemental) - 4 cards

Purple (Energy) - 7 cards

Gray (Tech) - 3 cards

Orange (Speed) - 3 cards

The blocking factor distribution is a bit uneven which does give this deck a few areas of slight weakness. 

OVERALL

The way to play this deck is to get the Juiced Up and Cold Fusion keepers into play early and then just grind the gray cards. I'm disappointed by the number of non-Iron Man cards include in this theme deck, especially since most of them don't support the gray grind keeper engine that drives this deck. Like with the Spider-Man introductory deck I want to buy multiple Iron Man decks so I can combine the and make one really good deck.

Marvel Media Mania: The Avengers (Midnight Show Review) - SPOILER FREE

The Avengers is the 2012 theatrical release starring... well, everybody from the previous films in the Avengers movie universe (except Ed Norton who was replaced by Mark Ruffalo). I'll try to do this without spoiling anything for anyone.

The Avengers

This movie is a fanboys' dream come true. Ten years ago if you had told me that Marvel would make a successful movie franchise of individual Avengers movies all tied together and leading into a group movie I would have said you're nuts. The logistics of it are immense. But that's exactly what Marvel has done.

The plot of the movie ties in the origins of the both the original Avengers and the Ultimate Comics version of the Avengers, The Ultimates. The two villains are Loki and the Chitauri. Combining an Asgardian god might seem like an odd choice and, I'll admit, it is. But there are quite a few moments of displacement. At one point, Thor and Loki duke it out on top of a skyscraper. A skyscraper just doesn't seem like the right location to see these two fight it out but once I got past that it worked.

This movie almost feels like two movies put together. The plot starts out pretty slow, introducing character one at a time with lots of talking and not very much action at all. Some scenes just seem to go on a little longer than necessary. The film really takes its sweet time introducing the character, let along forming a team.

The second half really rams up the action. All of the scenes that got huge reactions from the crowd (and I would say there were probably about 15 of them) came in the second half. Overall, the movie felt a little long.

The Avengers remain largely unchanged from the first films. Thor and Cap get a costume upgrade. The Hulk's appearance was altered slightly and to look like Ruffalo. Loki's appearance was made more menacing. I was pleased that characterization from the previous films was maintained almost flawlessly. Banner and Loki were perhaps the two most changed in personality. Banner, under Ruffalo's vision, comes across as a quirky, brilliant loser who simultaneously fears and desires to transform into the Hulk. He refers to the Hulk as "the other guy." "The Other Guy" is more wild than previously show in The Incredible Hulk. He lashes out wildly without any real control or direction. As for Loki, gone is the mischievous schemer who accidentally stumbles onto the throne. This Loki is power mad and willing to become a mass murderer to get what he wants.

One of this film's best qualities is the humor. There are some EXCELLENTLY FUNNY moments that you'll never see coming. There are plenty of insider references that will make fanboys happy and I don't think average fans will feel left out most of the time. Fans of Joss Whedon's sense of timing and penchant for delivering the unexpected won't be disappointed.

This movie will make fanboys squeal with glee and beg for more. Casual viewers will likewise feel satisfied.

1LR Movie Review - 17 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!

Marvel Media Mania: Marvel Super Heroes (1966)

The Marvel Super Heroes show originally aired on television in 1966. Although it was only on the air for one year, it aired five days a week and each half hour was divided into three segments, each of which told its own story, so about 200 segments were created for this show!

What a great old ad.

This show is the original motion comic. To meet the production schedule, they lifted art directly from the comics. In fact, the storylines themselves were directly from the comics. Frankly, motion comics today aren't much better than this series was in 1966. The images are largely motionless with only minor elements such as a mouth, a limb, or perhaps a bit of scenery moving.

The result is that, while the show doesn't have very good animation, it does capture the feel of a comic book. It even uses onomatopoeia in addition to actual sound effects. Each segment ends in a typical comic book cliffhanger. The episodes are heavy with narration that would have originally appeared in narration boxes.

Because the stories were taken directly from the comics, the faults of the comics are directly transferred to the  series. Action is energetic but unrealistic. Plots are full of excitement but all seem to be the same. Episodes are filled with pseudo-science terms.

The voice acting is capable at best. You can tell that these guys were churning out these episodes by the scores. The Hulk doesn't sound much like an angry toddler but  more like a man with a sore throat.

The different segments rotated between Captain America, Namor the Sub Mariner, Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk. To me, they're all equal to one another - no one is much better or worse than any other.

As a Marvel fan, these episodes are interesting simply for their historical significance. For many of these characters, this was there first appearance on any screen. And if nothing else watching these episodes provides a cheap and quick way to catch up on some old-school Marvel continuity.

1LR Review - 12 out of 20 - It's a Glancing Hit!

Marvel Media Mania: Iron Man: Extremis

Iron Man: Extremis is a "motion comic" based on Warren Ellis's Iron Man comic #1-6. A motion comic is like a hybrid between a cartoon and a comic book. The original pictures from the comic book are used and they are, for the most part, static except for small digital movements that are added. The camera is frequently in motion to enhance the feeling of movement. Voice acting and a soundtrack are also added so the viewer doesn't have to read sound effects or speech bubbles.

The art of Adi Granov is very capable, almost photo-realistic. The end result is a cartoon that in some aspects looks much richer than your average Saturday morning cartoon. But in some regards, motion comics are still in their infancy. Movements sometimes feel very two-dimensional, like an arm swinging where only the forearm pivots on one point. Talking is the worst, however, because the mouths never seem to move correctly.

The plot to this motion comic follows the comic book series almost identically. Essentially, it is a new origin story for Iron Man, reinventing him for the new millennium. The story isn't your typical superhero smash up. It focused a great amount of time on the philosophical underpinnings of Iron Man. Tony is confronted with the fact that his weapons have killed innocent children and asked to rectify that with his Iron Man heroics. Tony sets off on a personal quest to prove that he's more than just an arms dealer. He tries to do so by creating a faster and more advanced Iron Man. This makes me says, "huh?" Ultimately, I think the story fails to deliver on the high-minded tenets it establishes itself on. In the end, Stark is still a man in a suit of technological armor fighting bad guys.

These motion comics are definitely not for kids! The action sequences are graphic and full of blood. I did take issue with the revisionist history, claiming that Iron Man had to have killed at least 50 guys during his initial Iron Man outing. It used to be, "Avengers don't kill," but now every hero has to as bloodthirst as Wolverine, I suppose.

Overall, the motion comic is enjoyable. For what it is, it is well done.

1LR Review - 14 out of 20 - It's a Hit!

Marvel Media Mania: Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 is the 2010 sequel to the amazing 2008 original. The storyline presented in this film leads directly into the 2012 Avengers movie.

This film picks up directly where the last one left off - with Tony Stark announcing, "I AM Iron Man!" Anton Vanko and his son, Ivan, watch the event on TV. This sends Ivan into a revenge-fueled rage as he creates a arc reactor like Iron Man's to run his electric whips. The scene in which he does this closely parallel's Stark's creation of the Iron Man armor from the first movie.

This film introduces the idea of blood toxicity. All of a sudden, Iron Man's artificial heart is killing him. It's a neat metaphor for Tony's own self-destructive behavior but it seems to come out of the blue since it wasn't mentioned at all in the first film. Also, as a viewer I wasn't really that worried about it. What are they going to do... have Iron Man die from blood poisoning? Ultimately, this leads to Iron Man creating a "new element" to replace the Pallatium that was poisoning him (don't even get me started on the messed up science in that sequence!).

While the first film presented Stark as a deeply flawed individual he still remained quite likable.  This film almost crosses the line and presents Stark in a very dark line. It squanders much of the good will the first film created. Seeing a drunk Stark stumbling around in the Iron Man armor and mocking the person he cares most for in the world, Pepper Potts, is tough to take.

I liked how the film turned the spotlight back toward Tony's father, Howard. Seeing Tony explore his father issues was a nice paralled for Vanko's own father issues.

Of course, every fan loves seeing the clever little tie-ins between the movies. Seeing Thor's hammer at the end is a big one. But it's also cool that Nick Fury and Agent Coulson actually travel from one film to the the next (Thor, Iron Man 2, and the Incredible Hulk have sequences that overlap chronologically). This type of tight continuity really helps tie together the "Marvel Cinematic Universe."

I was REALLY bummed that the sequence from the trailer with Potts kissing the Iron man helmet and then tossing it from the plane was cut from the film... was a great sequence ("You complete me!")! It was nice to see them finally get together at the end anyway.

The inclusion of War Machine and Black Widow both seem a little forced and both characters suffer from being a little too two-dimensional.

Whiplash (although I don't believe they actually call his character that the entire movie) is an okay villain. Mickey Rourke is BRILLIANT in this roll. Man, can that dude act! Justin Hammer is a great sleezeball businessman but he comes off as a little bit of a putz which diminishes his presence on screen. Plus, Hammer sees WAY too much screen time and he gets to be a bit annoying.

All in all, this film takes a big step down from the first installment... but how couldn't it? It still stands on its own as a very entertaining film.

1LR Review - 17 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!

Marvel Media Mania: Iron Man: Armored Adventures

Iron Man: Armored Adventures is a cartoon that started its run in 2009 on the Nicktoons Network and is still running today in its second season.

This series reimagines the Tony Stark/Iron Man character. Gone is the origin based in an Asian or Middle Eastern war injuries which happen when Tony's an adult. Instead, Tony gets his chest injury from a plane crash that kills his father when he's still a teen. Even Iron Man's look is different - the suit is lean and sleek, not the beefed up armor we're used to.

Simply put, this series is fantastic. Almost everything about the show just works. The characters are well-defined and interesting. Pepper Potts is a fast talking junior sleuth. Rhodey is Tony's remote backup and covers for Tony's frequent absences. Character designs are great. The series creators obviously took inspiration from the comics but aren't afraid to completely redesign a character when necessary. The series uses some villains that are perennial jokes in the comics series but because they're reimaged they work both visually and dramatically.

While each show tells its own story the overall plotline progresses from episode to episode. Pepper finds out Tony's secret. Gene Khan (a teen Mandarin, one of the series main bad guys) discovers that Tony is after the power rings he also seeks and starts attending Tony's school to get close to him. This gives the series a sense of continuity and purpose. So when Tony runs into the Unicorn and Killer Shrike in an early episode he's still wondering where they got their power armor several episodes later which sets up an ongoing storyline of "Mr. Fix" (The Fixer to longtime Marvel fans).

The action sequences are interesting. The series does a nice job of setting up the action with story so that watching the action actually means something. So, when Iron Man meets the Blizzard who is trying to take down the series main villain, Obadiah Stane, he initially works with the Blizzard before discovering that the Blizzard isn't actually such a good guy either.

The animation is all CGI and it's done very well. It reminds a lot of MTV's Spider-Man: The New Animated Series but with much improved visuals. The only problem I have with how the series looks is the mouths of characters. The lips don't quite synch up to dialogue and you can see way too many teeth. The "suiting up" and launch sequences are reminiscent of the transformation sequences of Thundercats or He-Man which is great. They also borrowed the "digital space" view of Tony inside the armor from the comics which allows us to see Tony's facial reactions as well as things like warning messages that Tony is seeing inside his armor.

Even the theme song is fantastic. It's truly "earworm" worthy.

1LR Review - 19 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!

Marvel Media Mania: Iron Man (2007)

Iron Man is a live-action movie, released into theaters in 2007, starring the brilliantly cast Robert Downing, Jr.

If you haven't seen Iron Man yet, what are you waiting for? DO IT NOW. This movie, simply put, is nearly flawless. It is the pinnacle of not only superhero movies but all comic book movies.

What this movie does is it causes you to like Tony Stark (both before and after he "reforms") just as much as Iron Man, the suit. That's quite a feat since there is very little to like about the selfish, womanizing Stark. Stark comes across as intelligent, witty, funny, handsome, and carefree. As the saying goes, men want to be like him and women want him. I think part of the attraction to Stark's character is wish fulfilment- we all want to be billioinaires who can do whatever we want. We don't even seen any version of the Iron Man armor for about half the film. And who cares when you're having so much fun watching Stark?

This movie brings the superhero down to a gritty reality. This movie updates Iron Man's origin from Asia to Afghanistan, bringing with it the violent reality of today's war. When Iron Man is created it isn't "flash, bang, boom! We have our armor now off to the action!" It's a long, detailed process. Seeing Stark hammer out that first suit in the caves is inspirational like the Rocky theme song. Watching Stark perfect the Mark II and Mark III versions of the armor is just plain fun and amusing at times (his banter with his robotic aides is hilarious).

The armors themeselves are extremely well designed from a visual and practial standpoint. It brings the fantasy of the Iron Man armor and makes it believeable. The visual is certainly inspired by the comics but not beholden to any one specific version. I like the "inside the helmet" view which allows the audience to see Tony's expressions and gives information in the digital readouts (which is borrowed from the comics).

All in all, I can't say enough good things about this film. EVERYTHING works in it from the special effects, Iron Man gadgets, emotional character moments, character development, plot twists, and supporting cast.

This is 1LR's first perfect review!

1LR Review - 20 out of 20! It's a Critical Hit!

Marvel Media Mania: Invincible Iron Man

The Invincible Iron Man is a 2007 animated direct-to-DVD film released prior to the Iron Man live action theatrical release.

It's hard to say where this film goes wrong. It has all of the right elements in it. The animation is somewhat capable. Stylistically, the film has aspirations. But... it's... just... so... boring...

I seriously have a hard time staying awake in this film. Somehow, the creative team sought to make an exciting Iron Man film that revolved around... boardroom politics. Some of the scenes seem to be intentionally made boring such as watching businessmen wait silently in a room with a ticking clock. The film seems to take forever to get off the ground and even after it does it doesn't seem to have a firm direction.

The plot is a little thin. For some reason, Tony is interested in raising an ancient Chinese city. Somehow, that will bring back the Mandarin. Some elementals show up and there's a dragon and a group of rebels. And the board members. Don't forget about the board members. It's all a little confusing and plot developments seem all too convenient. For example, after Tony hammers out the "first" Iron Man armor in captivity, he returns home where an entire army of Iron Man armors awaits him. Seems kinda convenient that he has an armor for all of the different environments he needs to go into, doesn't it? Oh, and why didn't he use that armor to rescue Jim Rhodes in the beginning of the film?

One of the main characters, Li Mei, changes directions without a whim or a cause. At one point, she doesn't want to harm others. At another, she's framing Tony for crimes. In another, she's in love with Tony (even though she barely knows him). At another point, she is trying to stop the Mandarin. Then she's helping him. It's all too confusing. Ultimately, you end up not really caring about any of the characters or the thin plot.

The film vacillates between showing respect to the comics and turning its back on them. In the hall of armors, plenty of armors are shown that were first presented in the comics such as the Ultimate Iron Man armor. But somehow, the Mandarin only has five rings in the film when he should have ten. And one of those rings turns out to be a bracelet, not a ring? Huh? Tony's password to his secret lab is his mother's name, Maria. But in the film he designed all of the Iron Man armors without a heroic motive.

I think the thing that bothers me the most about the film is that Tony doesn't go through a personal journey. His damaged heart isn't an issue. He doesn't learn a lesson like, don't be selfish. The film tries to call upon the theme of fatherly expectations but it only faintly noticeable. Why is Tony a hero? What's his motivation?

In conclusion, it's like this film has all the right elements, they just seem forced and don't work together. Kinda like diving into a swimming pool full of Oxygen and Hydrogen - you're going to fall flat on your face if they aren't joined together as water.

1LR Review - 6 out of 20 - It's a failure!

Marvel Media Mania: Iron Man (1994)

Iron Man is a 1994 animated television show that was part of The Marvel Action Hour along with the 1990's Fantastic Four cartoon. Both shows were a part of Marvel's "Animated Universe" which also included Hulk, X-Men, Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, and Avengers shows.

The appearance of Iron Man for this show is taken directly from the comics of the day. The show also features Force Works - a short lived comic book team that featured a slightly altered lineup of Spider-Woman, The Scarlet Witch, Warmachine, The Century, and Hawkeye. Beyond that, this show has little relation to the comic book series. In fact, I think in one episode they call Warmachine "James Avery" when his actual name is "James Rhodes."

Frankly, there's little redeeming quality about this show. The animation is below even 1994 standards. The show tries to shoehorn in some CGI sequences when Tony Stark transformer into Iron Man but watching hand-drawn animation morph into CGI and back again is paintful. The series is riddled with coloring problems and reused clips that have the wrong backgrounds.

Sound effects and music are likewise abysmal. At times you will wonder why they were reduced to ripping off old Nintendo games for their sound effects and repetitive background music. The opening credits are horrible and the theme song is likewise completely forgettable.

But the writing may be the worst. The internal logic of the episodes defies explanation. Things just happen without cause or apparent logical effects. The techno-babble is truly amazing as character string together any three or four words with more than five syllables to explain any event or "scientific fact." Characters are two-dimensional and are reshaped to meet the needs of each episode. We see Tony Stark in physical therapy and walking with a cane but in other scenes he's running and jumping freely. Mandarin berates the Blizzard for freezing his begonias. Seriously. The "big bad villain" is upset his flowers died. Modok, the super-genius, thinks being pushing a baby stroller is a good disguise for him. In another scene, Modok is able to produce a baby-Modok with his hand that he calls his "ELF" - External Life Form. In one episode, Iron Man develops a "solar weakness," and he recharges by listening to classical music. Bill Clinton, Luciano Pavarotti, and Van Cliburn are all given cameos.

The series opener features the following villains (all in one episode!): Whiplash, Mandarin, Aquatic Zombies, Modook, Blizzard, Fin Fang Foom, Hypnotia, Dread Knight, Whirlwind, Grey Gargoyle, and Justin Hammer. The series never really goes beyond these villains. They appear again and again, episode after episode.

The series does get better as it goes on but not by much. It is noteworthy that the production value of this show was improved in the second season with better animation, writing, music, and sound effects.

One very odd note - One episode shows a plane flying into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center hit by missiles from the same plane. I'd call that strangely prophetic...

Final analysis: The second season lifts this show slightly but not nearly enough to overcome the horrific first season.

1LR Rating - 6 out of 20 - It's a Failure!

Marvel Character Origins for Kids

It's always good to make your core concept easily accessible to fans. Marvel has attempted to do this a number of different ways over the years but the latest seems to be a series of books featuring Spider-man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, and the X-Men that retell each of their origin stories.

  

While that sounds great, I wondered a few things... from the solicitation write-ups it is very unclear whether or not this is a reprint book or represents the origin retold with new art and stories. One clue might be from the X-Men book because it says it features Storm and Wolverine (among other characters) when both Storm and Wolverine didn't come around until much later in X-Men continuity. 

Another point is the price - Sure, books are expensive but Marvel made these hard covers at a $9 price tag. If the idea is to introduce future fans to your characters why not make them soft cover and give them away for next to nothing?

Geek Gear: Iron Man Hoodie

In a recent Previews there were a series of hoodies announced. Most of them were ho-hum. A giant X-Men "X" on the chest, a Captain America sheild on the chest, a Ghostbuster's symbol on the chest. But the Iron Man hoodie caught my eye. Check it out:

What I thought was neat about this hoodie was the fact that it actually looks like Iron Man's armor. In fact, if you look carefully at the sides of the hood, you see a profile view of Iron Man's helmet. How cool is that!?! Uni-Beam coming online...