“War” is in the cards!

Back in 2006 when comicbook illustrator Dave Ryan initially conceived his epic industry-wide gathering of Independent comicbook characters in a six-issue “War” he really had no idea that it would ever generate such a powerful buzz it would create. “I’m friends with quite a few indie guys and it snowballed.” Well, like so many great and buzz-worthy ideas before it, The concept has morphed out of the pages of his comic and jumped into a set of trading cards.

That’s right; the six issue limited comicbook series — The War of the Independents featuring over 200 creators and their Indy characters — from Red Anvil Comics is now an impressive 50 card set, produced and distributed by redzonegirls.com ($21.95). In addition to the 50 cards of the main set there are three chase cards and one unique sketch card in every package!

In the history of comics such a monumental crossover of this magnitude, involving the sheer number of independent characters has never been attempted, much less actually accomplished…until now. Following on the heels of the critically-acclaimed War of the Independents comicbook series, comes a trading card set that features 50 of the most popular characters from the series with full color art. Given the uniqueness of the concept, and the fact that many of these indie characters have never before appeared in trading card sets have added to the mystique of the set itself. Needless to say, the set’s producers hope that this will ensure the collectability of the set.

According to the product information, the 50-card set is to be packaged and sold complete and in its entirety. Each full set will be shipped in a decorative plastic container, and will include three special edition chase cards as well as one signed creator card in every set. Further, there will also be a unique Special Chase Sketch Card by an artist from the series; each package will include the following:

• Full Set of Trading Cards (50 cards total)
• One of the above cards will be a creator autographed card guaranteed included in every set
• Special Gold Foil Original One-of-a-Kind Chase Card
• Decorative Gold Foil plastic container
• Certificate of authenticity

For his part, writer/Illustrator Ryan hopes that both the card set and the comicbook series itself are well received, and is already riding high on a wave of good will amongst indie creators and the fans themselves. The War of the Independents Trading Card Sets retail for $21.95 each, and are currently available from redzonegirls.com or by mail at: Nanu, PO Box 5631, Trenton, NJ 08638