role-playing superheroes

Mayfairstivus Day 6 – Animal Man

Welcome back for the sixth day of Mayfairstivus, the nine day celebration of Mayfair Games’ DC Heroes Role-Playing Game! We took a break on Saturday and Sunday, but we’re back today for more Mayfairstivus holiday fun!  Today we’ll be looking at the 1989 character card for Animal Man!

I don’t talk about him much here, but I really dig Animal Man.  If you’re not familiar with the character, he’s a somewhat regular guy, married with kids, and gets caught up in nutso adventures.  His secret identity is Buddy Baker, and most people end up calling him Buddy rather than Animal Man.  I’ve really enjoyed this character ever since I started reading his monthly series in 1989.  I would highly recommend the old Grant Morrison Animal Man series to anyone (trade paperbacks volume 1, volume 2, and volume 3).  It’s definitely one of Grant’s more subdued works.

Since Animal Man was headlining his own series in 1989, he merited one of these super-cool character cards in the DC Heroes RPG.  Below you’ll find Animal Man’s … y’know what, let’s just call him Buddy … Below you’ll find Buddy’s character card (front and back) included in the 1989 edition of the DC Heroes RPG.

DC HEROES ROLE-PLAYING GAME – SECOND EDITION – 1989

Animal Man from 1989 Mayfair DC Heroes Role-Playing Game

Animal Man from 1989 Mayfair DC Heroes Role-Playing Game

Even if you don’t know anything about the game, you can tell from his powers that he wasn’t an overly powerful character.  Sure he could gain the proportional strength of an ant (meaning he could lift objects over his head weighing more than 20 times his own weight) or fly like an eagle, but he wasn’t the typical over-the-top powerhouse that era was known for.

The card art is actually pretty good on this one.  While I’d rather of had Brian Bolland (cover artist for the early Animal Man issues), this card art is certainly an improvement over the regular series artist Chas Truog.

Just thinking about Buddy has got me anxious to go back and re-read those Grant Morrison issues.  So good!

MAYFAIRSTIVUS

Don’t forget, the Mayfairstivus celebration continues at the following blogs!  Be sure to check them out throughout the Mayfairstivus celebration (Dec. 1-9).  I’d like to send a quick thank you to Walter from the BOO$TERRIFIC blog!  He provided me with a Photoshop template that adds a nice shadow effect on the scanned cards.  Thanks Walter!   Additionally, a huge thanks to Frank Lee Delano (of the blogs: Martian Manhunter: Idol-Head of Diabolu, Justice League Detroit, Atom: Power of the Atom, Wonder Woman: Diana Prince, DC Bloodlines, and …nurgh…) who not only masterminded the crossover, he also provided most of the card scans!  Thanks, Frank!

Come back tomorrow when we look at the Starman (Will Payton) character card from the 1989 edition!

4 thoughts on “Mayfairstivus Day 6 – Animal Man

  1. I’ve never been one to hold back on hating artists or writers, but everybody seems to beat up on poor Chas Truog, even Grant Morrison. While I’ll readily admit a vast preference for the Tom Grummett fill-in issues, I still enjoyed Truog’s work. I would have happily traded off Chris Marinnan and/or Jill Thompson on Wonder Woman for Truog, or Chris Wozniak on Justice League International.

    Hopefully next year I’ll get started reading/reviewing Animal Man. I’ve only read random issues over the years, but I’ve got the first few trades worth of material just waiting for me.

    I’ve got two more tests tomorrow, and no time to play with Walter’s template, but it looks really great here!

  2. Drawbacks; married. I’m not sure how I want to respond to that (Mrs. D would kick my ass as soon as I opened my mouth) so I’ll just quietly enjoy the moment.

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