Ethan Fleischer

Edge of Eternities Vision Design Handoff, Part 2 Mark finishes his journey through Edge of Eternities's vision design with stories about cosmic cards, creature types, and Limited gameplay.

Today's #MakingMagic column is part two, of two, of the #MTGEternities Vision Design Handoff Document (written by @ethanfleischer.bsky.social and annotated by me): magic.wizards.com/en/news/maki... #mtg #WotCStaff

Yes, we played around with a variety of ways to implement cosmic cards, and gated them in various ways. Mana costs were something we tried.

A Warhammer miniature of an ogre, wearing camo pants and a metal breastplate, holding a machinegun. Written on his base is his name: THARGADD.

Fresh off the painting table, an Ogryn for #Warhammer40k.

Some people at my job play Magic, so I put my extra cards on the free table at work.

That reminds me! I haven’t updated my Dominaria reference map in literal years. I really should add the new references from DMU, BRO, etc.

I named the island of Walassa, on Dominaria.

Edge of Eternities Vision Design Handoff, Part 1 Venture into the depths of space with the Edge of Eternities vision design handoff document.

This week’s “Making Magic” article is part one, of two, of the #MTGEternities Vision Design Handoff Document, written by @ethanfleischer.bsky.social and annotated by me: magic.wizards.com/en/news/maki... #WotCStaff

We made a Magic set! #MTGEternities #WotCstaff

Oliver Reed is always intense. I watched this a few months ago and really enjoyed it.

I tried to get Sea King’s Blessing into Theros and got No Sirred. :(

I tried to get an Aurochs in Dominaria, Dominaria United, and The Brothers’ War, but they didn’t stick. I’ll keep trying though!

Continuing my quixotic quest to make Magic cards with fewer words on them.

Gary Gygax convinced Jack Scruby to produce these fantasy miniatures (including orcs, goblins, an "elve," wizards, dwarves, and ent, and a hobbit). They were advertised in the first printing of the Original Dungeons and Dragons, IIRC. #WotCstaff

Yeah, I have no doubt that the Silver Age Green Lantern was inspired by the Lensman books. Julius Schwartz, DC's editor at the time, was certainly aware of Smith's work.

Title page of The Dragon Lensman by David A. Kyle. Written in blue pen is an inscription: "To Ethan Fleischer - a true Galactic Roamer - Best wishes from David A. Kyle"

I'm not normally interested in getting autographs, but this particular inscription warms my heart to this day. 21/21

Smith's writers' workshop was called the Galactic Roamers. David A. Kyle was the youngest member, and wrote (with Smith's blessing) three sequels to the Lensman series. I made an announcement about a new edition of those books, and Kyle was kind enough to send me inscribed copies of all three. 20/X

I made a website (last updated in 2007!), including a bibliography: www.ethanfleischer.com/lensman/main...

I'm afraid that my short Lensman animated films cannot be viewed. "Adobe Flash Player is no longer supported." 19/X

Anyway, being the scholar squirrel that I am, I couldn't resist doing a bunch of research on Smith. I read nearly all of his books, and various earlier scholars' research. My previous job working at Powell's made that pretty easy. 18/X

Also, be warned, this shit is old. Smith's definition of diversity meant including Germans and Swedes along with the Americans. There is exactly one female Lensman. I guess women's brains are just built different? 17/X

If this sounds cool, and you decide to read it, I recommend starting with book 3 (Galactic Patrol) and skipping any prologues or introductions. It was assumed that readers were already familiar with these stories; don't let them spoil the ending for you! 16/X

Smith wrote First Lensman, an entirely new book to explain what happened between Triplanetary and Galactic Patrol. It was published in 1950. The rest of the series, somewhat rewritten, was subsequently released in hardcover. 15/X

Hardcover copy of Triplanetary.

In 1948, the early chapters ("Two galaxies were colliding" through "WWIII") for Triplanetary were written, and the main part of the story was rewritten to fit into the Lensman storyline, and published by Fantasy Press as a hardcover. 14/X

Pulp magazine cover: Astounding Stories, September 1937. A teardrop-shaped streamline moderne spaceship fires rays at another spacecraft, cross-sectioning it.

The mainline Lensman series was serialized from 1937-1948. 13/X

Pulp magazine cover: Amazing Stories, January 1934. On the cover, a man in a space suit fires a tripod-mounted weapon at another space-suited figure in the corridor of a spaceship.

Digging into the publication history was interesting. The first book, Triplanetary, was originally written as a stand-alone story, serialized in 1933-4. 12/X

Anyway, once I got to the meat of the story (books 3-6), I loved it. It was so elemental and vigorous. The viewpoint was sufficiently familiar (Smith is American, as am I) that I could relate, but sufficiently removed (Smith was born 80 years before me) to be interesting. 11/X

I won't spoil the rest of the story. Suffice it to say, the scale of the tale increases, book by book, to an intergalactic, and finally cosmic, scale. As the scope of the story increases, so too do Kinnison's telepathic powers. The "Sense of Wonder" is on full display. 10/X

Book cover: Galactic Patrol, by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D. In the cover art, two figures wearing armored spacesuits float through space, approaching a quiescent spaceship covered with round portholes.

Finally, in book 3, we are introduced to Kimball Kinnison, the main character of the entire series! He has just graduated from the Academy, and is sent on a mission to capture an enemy (space pirates, or so the Galactic Patrol thinks) spaceship to learn the secrets of their superior technology. 9/X

Book cover: First Lensman by Edward E. Smith, Ph.D. On the cover, a streamlined spaceship flies through space.

The second book, First Lensman, was less of a history lesson, and more of a spy thriller. It featured the very first recipient of the Lens, who visited weird planets with even weirder inhabitants. The most vivid scene, however, dealt with hard rock mining with advanced technology. 8/X

That said, there was nary a Lens in sight. Some "Lensman" book, eh? 7/X

It was kind of a slog, TBH, except for the WWII part. That bit was set in a munitions factory, and involved Our Hero, a chemist, refusing to allow defective shells to pass inspection, leading to his firing. Later, I learned that this whole sequence was autobiographical. 6/X