WARNING: Spoilers for Wild Cards: The Drawing of Cards #1 ahead
The critically acclaimed author and editor George R. R. Martin helped to craft the vast Wild Cards Universe beginning in the 1980s, but Marvel Comics’ recent comic book reimagining of the Wild Cards world is turning classic superhero origin stories on their heads. In an origin in some ways similar to the Fantastic Four, or even Spider-Man, the “wild card virus” used to create super beings in the Wild Cards universe is still a unique twist on a classic superhero formula.
Beginning in 1987 with Bantam Books’ release of Wild Cards the expansive world of Wild Cards has led to dozens of mosaic anthology stories, novels, comic books, and games, ever expanding with new writers and creators and all edited by George R. R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame. Two prior comic book adaptations of the Wild Cards series, by Epic Comics and Dabel Brothers Productions, both adapted stories set far into the future of the Wild Cards universe, but Marvel’s newest Wild Cards: The Drawing of Cards limited series adapts the very first Wild Cards novel, which sets up the entire universe from page one.
Wild Cards: The Drawing of Cards – written by Paul Cornell with art by Mike Hawthorne and Adriano Di Benedetto adapted from stories by Howard Waldrop, George R. R. Martin, and others – is a 4-issue mini-series that, given enough popularity, will hopefully be expanded into an ongoing series of Wild Cards related comics. The basic premise of the story focuses on a normal Earth directly after the end of WWII, which is then inadvertently infected by the “Wild Card” virus. The synopsis for Wild Cards: The Drawing of Cards #1 explains:
When a human is infected with the alien “Wild Card” virus, the odds are that they will be killed…which is referred to as “drawing the black queen.” Of those who survive, the bulk of them become “jokers,” left with some strange mutated form. A lucky few are called “aces,” those gifted with super-powers they can put to use toward heroes goals…or villainous ones.
The first issue tells the story of “Dr. Tachyon,” an alien from the Planet Takis, who tried to stop his people from releasing the Wild Card virus onto Earth but failed, forcing him to remain on Earth to help the humans out of a deep sense of guilt and shame. The first transformations the reader sees of humans exposed to the virus are a disturbing parallel between Marvel’s Fantastic Four, with a ghastly interpretation of Mister Fantastic, The Thing, the Human Torch, and the Invisible Woman all horrifically impacted by the virus.
Throughout Marvel’s long history there have been numerous viruses released on Earth that have caused humans to gain superhuman abilities, such as the Ultimo Virus or the Extremis Virus, but all of these diseases were released after the advent of superheroes in the Marvel Universe, and have always been reversed or stopped by Marvel’s heroes. What sets the Wild Cards universe apart is that there were zero super beings on Earth before this event. Although Wild Cards #1 is very much a “setting up” issue it is already clear that the impact the “Wild Card” virus will have on this universe’s Earth will be disturbing, and since Marvel Comics is so well known for their Multiverse, it is really exciting to think about the Wild Cards universe potentially engaging with Earth-616 in the future.
While George R. R. Martin’s superhero universe Wild Cards has been around since the late 80s, Marvel reimagining the mosaic of stories in a new comic adaptation is revealing the unique way that Martin’s Wild Cards world both builds on, and expands the classic origins of Marvel and DC Comics characters.
Wild Cards: The Drawing of Cards #1 by Marvel Comics is available now in stores.
