Wild Cards

Wild Cards is a science fiction and superhero anthology series set in a shared universe. The series was created by a group of New Mexico science fiction authors, and mostly edited by George R. R. Martin. There were 12 volumes published between 1987 and 1993 before it switched publishers, which released three new volumes between 1993 and 1995; a fourth appeared belatedly in 2002, and a fifth in early 2006.

While most of the books are made up of individual short stories, they generally focus on a central theme or event. There were also several longer storylines which run through several of the books. Some volumes use the format of a mosaic novel. This involved several writers writing individual story lines which were then edited together into one novel length story. Finally, some volumes are a complete novel written by a single author.

Wild Cards was inspired by superhero comics, and many of the authors play with the conventions of the medium, while some characters are based on existing heroes (for example, Jetboy was modeled on the Hillman Periodicals' character Airboy). Many of the original authors were also inspired by a long-running Albuquerque, New Mexico campaign of the role-playing game Superworld, gamemastered by George R. R. Martin, and many modeled their characters on their in-game persona.^[1]

Major contributors to the series include Roger Zelazny, Lewis Shiner, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Walter Jon Williams, Leanne C. Harper, Chris Claremont, Victor Milán, John J. Miller, and Martin himself.

Contents 1 Setting 2 Main characters 3 Classifications in Wild Cards 3.1 Aces 3.2 Jokers 3.3 Deuces 4 Books 4.1 Original series (Bantam Books) 4.2 "New Cycle" (Baen Books) 4.3 (iBooks) 4.4 Tor Books revival 4.5 The Future 5 Wild Cards in other media 5.1 Comics 5.2 Role-playing 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] Setting

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The series relates an alternate history of the earth after World War II. In 1946 an alien virus that rewrites human DNA is accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It kills 90% of those who come into contact with it (referred to as 'drawing the Black Queen'). However, 9% mutate into deformed creatures (known as 'Jokers') and the remaining 1% gain superpowers (known as 'Aces'). There is also a class known as 'deuces' - Aces who have acquired useless or ridiculous powers, such as the ability to levitate up to two feet, or to grow body hair at will. The airborne virus eventually spreads all over the world, affecting tens of thousands.

The Wild Cards universe is distinguished from most superhero comic book fiction by several thematic elements. Early on the authors decided to pursue a more realistic, or naturalistic approach to storytelling. Few of the Ace characters in Wild Cards have secret identities, or are traditional crime-fighting superheroes in the mold of Spider-Man or Batman. Wild Cards remained set within a recognizably real world with recognizably real people and pop culture and, because of the historical setting of many of the stories, had characters who aged realistically during the course of the series. The majority of Wild Card victims live in the run-down ghetto of Jokertown, while the fortunate Aces become glamorous celebrities. In addition, Wild Cards took a more graphic approach to violence, and particularly to sex, than most superhero stories do.

Another aspect of the series is its use of real people, such as Buddy Holly, Grace Kelly and Richard Nixon. Unlike most superhero universes, the events of Wild Cards alter history in many ways - a notable example being Fidel Castro remaining in New York to play baseball, and the lack of a Communist takeover in Cuba thereafter. As of 1986, Castro was the pitching coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers, who never moved to Los Angeles, and still play at Ebbets Field. Thus, L.A, not New York, got an expansion team called the Stars after the Giants moved to Minnesota in lieu of San Francisco. In the Wild Cards universe, the Dodgers are the equivalent of the New York Mets, with their history after the 1950s coinciding with the Mets' history, including victory in the 1969 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles. The Los Angeles Stars are the equivalent of the real Dodgers.

Other notable changes: Mick Jagger is a lycanthropic ace. Frank Zappa became a general in the US Army rather than a musician, eventually becoming Vice President. Buddy Holly did not die in a plane crash, becoming a washed up has-been, working in dingy venues, covering Prince and Billy Idol eventually showing his Ace super powers in a come-back concert. HUAC blacklisted aces instead of entertainment industry workers. Thomas Marion Douglas (an analogue of Jim Morrison), lead singer for the rock group Destiny, was an ace called the Lizard King, and died not of an overdose in France, but from a dose of the experimental trump virus, which cured him and removed his immunity to many years of drug abuse. The botched Iranian hostage rescue of the Jimmy Carter administration was bungled by a team of aces (including Popinjay and Carnifex) rather than the U.S. military (and was later proven to be part of a conspiracy to prevent Carter's re-election due to his pro-wild card stance). President George H. W. Bush promised "no new exotics (a politically correct term for wild carders) laws" rather than "no new taxes," but still went back on his word.

[edit] Main characters

The series features a large and ever-changing cast of characters. A minor character in one story can become a major, or even the viewpoint character, in another, or vice versa.

[edit] Classifications in Wild Cards

There are certain broad classes of characters in the Wild Cards universe of superhero novels started by George R. R. Martin.

[edit] Aces

To be classified as an Ace, the person must still be basically human in appearance and generally be able to "pass" in society as normal person—as opposed to the physical mutations affecting those known as Jokers, resulting in various physical deformities or debilitating conditions. Certain individuals with both powers and physical alterations are still considered Aces, such as the celebrity Ace known as Peregrine, who despite having a pair of feathered wings growing from her shoulder blades is otherwise physically attractive in appearance.

Ace powers range from the trivial (for example, the ability to turn water into wine) to the fantastic abilities that the general public would actually consider to be "superpowers" (flying, teleporting, mind-reading, shape-shifting, etc.). Those Aces with powers that are so minor or specific as to be considered "parlor tricks" are sub-classified Deuces.

[edit] Jokers

A Joker is a person that was infected by the Wild Card virus and got one or more deformities or crippling physical conditions as a result. The mutations can be slight (like Father Squid's nose, which turned into a mass of tentacles) or grotesque (like Snotman, who exudes a foul-smelling secretion through every pore of his body). Some alterations that would be classified as a Joker are only obvious if one was aware of the infected individual's original appearance (such as Gimili, who appeared to simply be a dwarf, but was in fact mutated into that form by the virus, or Succubus, who appeared to be an elderly woman, whose physical aging had been accelerated by her mutation). Those who gained superhuman powers were instead classified as Aces, though there were some with both powers and deformities who were referred to as Ace/Jokers, such as Bloat. There were even a very fortunate few whose deformities were considered attractive by many, such as Peregrine, an Ace with flight-capable angelic wings who eventually became a TV star with her own talk show, Peregrine's Perch. Jokers often refer to those not affected by the Wild card virus as Nats.

Dr. Tachyon has theorized that the forms taken by Jokers are influenced by the subconscious mind through a form of micro-telekinesis during the initial stage of the disease. This could explain why some joker forms are similar to those of animals or fantasy creatures, or often reflect the personal fears or desires of the individuals.

The largest and oldest Joker community in the world is the New York City neighborhood known as Jokertown.

[edit] Deuces

A Deuce is a person that was infected by the Wild Card virus and gained a useless or trivial ability, like the power to levitate pennies, the ability to turn into a puddle of water, the ability to grow bodily hair at will, or the ability to levitate 2 feet off the ground. Those with more significant powers are known as Aces.

[edit] Books

[edit] Original series (Bantam Books)

• Wild Cards (1987)
• Aces High (1987)
• Jokers Wild (1987)
• Aces Abroad (1988)
• Down and Dirty (1988)
• Ace in the Hole (1990)
• Dead Man's Hand (1990)
• One-Eyed Jacks (1991)
• Jokertown Shuffle (1991)
• Double Solitaire (1992) (novel)
• Dealer's Choice (1992)
• Turn of the Cards (1993) (novel)

Double Solitaire and Turn of the Cards were actually full-length novels rather than anthologies, written by Snodgrass and Milán, respectively.

[edit] "New Cycle" (Baen Books)

• Card Sharks (1993)
• Marked Cards (1994)
• Black Trump (1995)

[edit] (iBooks)

• Deuces Down (2002)
• Death Draws Five (2006) (novel)

Death Draws Five is another solo novel, this time by John J. Miller.

[edit] Tor Books revival

• Inside Straight (2008)
• Busted Flush (2008)
• Suicide Kings (2009)
• Fort Freak (2010 or 2011)^[2]

[edit] The Future

According to George R. R. Martin's website ^[3], Tor Books has picked up a contract to produce three new Wild Cards books. Tor released the first, Inside Straight, on January 22, 2008. The second, "Busted Flush" was released in December 2008 and the third, "Suicide Kings," in December 2009. The new trilogy features the next generation of Wild Cards, although there will be some familiar faces. Each is to be released initially in hardcover format. In May it was announced that a new volume will follow the Committee trilogy. The book titled FORT FREAK, will follow the police and detectives of the Jokertown police district. Tor books will also re-release the first three Wild Cards books, with the first book WILD CARDS containing three all-new short stories.

[edit] Wild Cards in other media

[edit] Comics

Portions of the series have been adapted into comic book format. Marvel Comics' Epic imprint.^[4] published a four-issue miniseries ("Wild Cards") in 1990 and included short stories set in the Wild Card universe (amongst other, non-Wild Cards stories) in the anthology-format comic book ("Epic Comics: An Anthology") in 1992. The series also ran for four issues, although a mooted second limited series was never released after Epic's demise.

Author Daniel Abraham is penning a 6-issue Wild Cards limited series for Dabel Brothers Productions that will be adapted into a graphic novel and possible ongoing series. The initial series is called George R. R. Martin's Wild Cards: The Hard Call and started in April 2008.^[5][6][7]

[edit] Role-playing

The setting was also adapted into role-playing game format twice.

The first was in the form of two GURPS sourcebooks that made use of the GURPS Supers rules.^[8] The first of the GURPS sourcebooks was published between the publications of Down and Dirty and Ace in the Hole, in 1989. It is currently outdated, providing a snapshot of the universe at that time, but does contain biographical and power data on about 60 characters from the first five books along with details on current storylines and organizations. It was written by John J. Miller.

The second is by Green Ronin Publishing, based on their Mutants & Masterminds product line. The first of this line, the Wild Cards Campaign Setting, was written by series author John J. Miller, and debuted at Origins in 2008. Two supplements are currently planned, including an adventure and a character book.^[9]

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• International Superheroes - Biographies of many Wild Cards characters.
• Book Covers - Scans of covers of all Wild Cards books.
• Wild Cards - The online guide to George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series
• Green Ronin To Publish Wild Cards RPG Line - Official Press Release
• WildCardsBooks.com - Tor's Official Wild Cards Website