History

Below is a brief history of each overpower expansion.
 
Marvel Overpower

Released mid 1995 by Fleer, composed of 346 cards, being 39 characters, 195 specials (5 for each character), 28 power cards, 42 universe cards and 6 Missions of 7 cards each (42 cards total). Was sold in pre-constructed 62-card decks and in either 9-card or 17-card booster packs. Characters: Apocalypse, Beast, Bishop, Cable, Captain America, Carnage, Colossus, Cyclops, Deadpool, Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, Elektra, Gambit, Hobgoblin, Hulk, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Iron Man, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Magneto, Mr. Fantastic, Mystique, Omega Red, Professor X, Psylocke, Punisher, Rhino, Rogue, Sabretooth, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Storm, Thing, Thor, Venom, War Machine and Wolverine.

 

Powersurge

Released late 1995, with 267 cards, being 21 new characters, 163 new specials (6 for each new character, plus 1 for each character from the previous set), 28 power cards (reprints from the previous set), 42 universe cards (also reprints) and 2 missions of 7 cards each (14 cards total). They were sold in 9-card booster packs. Characters: Banshee, Black Cat, Blob, Daredevil, Dr. Strange, Domino, Ghost Rider, Iceman, Juggernaut, Longshot, Mandarin, Mr. Sinister, Mojo, Mysterio, Namor, Scarlet Spider, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, Silver Sable, Strong Guy and Super-Skrull.

 

Mission Control

Released early 1996, introduced a new type of card, the events. Composed of 142 cards, being 10 new characters, 68 new specials (6 for each character, plus 8 Any Hero specials), 2 missions of 7 cards each (14 cards total) and 50 events (5 for each mission, including the missions from early sets). They were sold in 9-card booster packs. Characters: Black Widow, Brood, Doc Samson, Hawkeye, Morbius, Morph, Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, Sentinels and Vision.

 

DC Overpower

Released middle 1996, introduced the Intellect Power type. DC also introduced the allies, a new type of universe card. It was composed of 334 cards, being 30 characters, 150 specials (5 for each character), 36 power cards, 70 universe cards, 4 missions of 7 cards each (28 cards total) and 20 events (5 for each mission). They were sold in 69-card random decks and 9-cards booster packs. Characters: Azrael, Bane, Batman, Brainiac, Catwoman, Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD, Cyborg, Doomsday, Eradicator, Hazard, Huntress, Joker, Killer Croc, Knockout, Lex Luthor, Metallo, Metropolis SCU, Nightwing, Parasite, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Ra’s Al Ghul, Riddler, Robin, Steel, Superboy, Supergirl, Superman, Thorn and Two-Face.

 

IQ Overpower

Released late 1996, brought the Intellect Power type to Marvel characters, reprinting all Marvel characters released so far, now with Intellect values. Composed of 279 cards, being 78 characters (8 new and 70 reprints), 172 specials (5 for each new character, 1 or 2 for each character from previous Marvel sets, and 2 Any Character specials), 12 power cards and 17 universe cards. They were sold in 15-card booster packs. New characters: Forge, Green Goblin, Henry Pym, Kingpin, Nick Fury, Red Skull, Shadowcat and White Queen.

 

JLA Overpower

(JLA stands for Justice League of America) – Released early 1997, introduced the new tactic cards. 197 cards, being 20 characters, 134 specials (5 for each character of JLA Overpower, 1 for each character of DC Overpower, and 4 Any Character), 1 power card, 15 universe ally cards, 14 tactic double shot cards, 1 mission of 7 cards and 6 events (5 for the mission and 1 Any Mission event). They were sold in 15-card booster packs. Characters: Aquaman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel, Darkseid, Doctor Polaris, The Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle, Neron, Orion, Parallax, The Ray, The Trickster and Wonder Woman.

 

Monumental Overpower

Released middle 1997, introduced the “team characters”, character cards that represented a team, while its specials represented the members of that team. Monumental also introduced the location cards, that added new mechanics to the game. 289 cards, being 22 characters (16 new and 6 reprinted promotional characters), 118 specials (6 for each new character, 1 Any Character, and 21 of the previous Marvel characters also got a new special), 30 locations, 36 power cards (reprints with new artwork), 26 universe cards, 20 tactic cards, 2 missions of 7 cards each (14 cards total) and 23 events (6 for each new mission and 1 for each of the previous missions). They were sold in 65-card random decks and 15-card booster packs. Some cards, like the missions, were only available in decks. New Characters: The Acolytes, Alpha Flight, The Enforcers, The Hand, The Hellfire Club, Hydra, Inhumans, The Kree, The Marauders, The Morlocks, New Warriors, The Reavers, The Serpent Society, The Shi’ar, The Starjammers and X-Babies.

 

Classic Overpower

Released late 1997, introduced the artifacts, a new type of tactic card, and the “variant characters”, new versions of already released character cards. Composed of 215 cards, being 32 characters, (24 new and 8 variant), 152 specials (1 Any Character and 6 for each new character except five; three of those five got just 3 specials, the other two have no specials; also, 28 of the previous characters got 1 new special), 5 locations, 1 power card, 24 tactic cards and 1 Any Mission event. They were sold in 15-card booster packs. After Classic, Fleer decided not to produce Overpower anymore, and the production passed to Marvel Comics. New Characters: Absorbing Man, Baron Mordo, Beta Ray Bill, Black Panther, Bullseye, Captain Mar-Vell, Dazzler, Deathlok, Dracula, Falcon, Havok, Heroes for Hire, Ka-Zar, Leader, Maggott, Marrow, Mole Man, Psycho-Man, Puppet Master, Reyes, Scorpion, Shang Chi: Master of Kung Fu, Superpatriot and Thunderbolts.

 

Image Overpower

Released middle 1998. Composed of 218 cards, being 19 characters, 127 specials (3 Any Character; 6 for each character, except Spawn (who had 7) and 3 for each character of the Marvel vs Wildstorms promotional set, except Future Backlash), 4 locations, 38 power cards, 13 universe cards, 4 tactic cards, 1 mission of 7 cards and 6 events for that mission. They were sold in 60-card random decks and 15-card booster packs. Characters: Backlash, Curse, The Darkness, Fairchild, Grifter, Grunge, Killrazor, Malebolgia, Overtkill, Ripclaw, The Savage Dragon, Shadowhawk, Spawn, Stryker, Tiffany, Velocity, Violator, Witchblade and Zealot.

 

X-Men Overpower

Released January, 1999 was the second set produced by Marvel, and the last Overpower set ever released. It introduced the aspects, designed to make locations more useful. X-Men Overpower cards were cut incorrectly, being slightly larger than the other cards, which made decks mixing X-Men sets and other sets very hard to shuffle without sleeves. Also, the font used for character’s names was different. It contained 200 cards, being 38 characters (26 new and 12 variant), 126 specials (1 Any Character and 5 for each new character except four, that have no specials; also, 15 previous characters got 1 new special), 5 locations, 23 aspects, 4 universe cards and 4 tactic cards. They were sold in 15-card booster packs. New Characters: Bastion, Callisto, Captain Britain, Cerebro, Crux, Deathbird, Donald Pierce, Goblyn Queen, Grey King, Landslide, Maverick, Mercury, Multiple Man, Phoenix, Polaris, Rapture, Sabra, Shadow King, Spider-Girl, Sunfire, Taskmaster, Thunderbird, Typhoid Mary, X-Man, X-Men: Original Team and Xaos.