From Onscreen to Tabletop: An Interview With Sergio Sandoval on Bringing Batman™: The Animated Series to Life in Enemies of™ Gotham City™
We are thrilled to feature the talented Sergio Sandoval in this Artist Spotlight. Sergio made his debut in the early 1990s drawing comic books and covers for Comic Forum (Spain). Since then, he has worked on several DC projects and is no stranger to capturing the legendary “Dark Deco”, bold silhouettes, and moody noir inspired aesthetic fans of Batman
: The Animated Series know well. Sergio Sandoval’s contributions to the Enemies of Gotham City game brings the atmospheric tension of Gotham City directly into the players’ hands. Join us as we go behind the scenes with Sergio Sandoval!
Product depicted for demonstration purposes only and is subject to change without notice. ©2026 The Upper Deck Company.
BATMAN and all related characters and elements ©2026 & DC. WB SHIELD: © & WBEI. (s26) AGES 14+
The box packaging serves as the front facing introduction to the game’s world, utilizing Sandoval’s signature angular lines and bold, modern comic style. We asked Sandoval how he gave each of these iconic villains their own spotlight on the box art, despite their competingly large personalities. Sergio responded “You have to think about each character’s personality, their special abilities, and how they face their enemies. Once you have that clear, you have to think about the sizes of each of them, so that they are all different, but occupy a similar space in the illustration. If the character is very small, you can add more striking elements, and if it is very large, you can place it behind the other characters. The composition must be balanced and none of them should stand out too much above the others”. Sandoval also emphasized how important shadows, highlights, and colors are when depicting Batman: The Animated Series’ Gotham City. Sergio explained, “Batman: The Animated Series is a work with a very defined character in terms of color and drawing. But Gotham is a very dark city, which contrasts with its blue and electric red skies. This influences the very strong lighting for the characters, as if they were illuminated by a flashlight in the dark. This gives them very vivid colors and very defined shadows”.
Product depicted for demonstration purposes only and is subject to change without notice. ©2026 The Upper Deck Company.
BATMAN and all related characters and elements ©2026 & DC. WB SHIELD: © & WBEI. (s26) AGES 14+
Sergio Sadoval was also the mastermind behind creating the Villain Boards for the Enemies of Gotham City game. We asked him how he used background art to add to the story and emotion tied to each villain. To which he responded, “That was a really easy task, since these characters have so many stories behind them and it was very easy to capture the scenes that Ricky Le (Art Acquisition Coordinator at Upper Deck) and Caleb Cleveland (Visual Art Specialist at Upper Deck) proposed to me”. Sergio’s favorite Villain Board to work on was Clayface. He said “He’s a character who, despite having a fairly specific anatomical structure, is very irregular and very brutal. This gives me a lot of flexibility to exaggerate the different aspects I like best, such as his big arms or hands, and draw the roughness of his skin however I want. I love it!”.
Product depicted for demonstration purposes only and is subject to change without notice. ©2026 The Upper Deck Company.
BATMAN and all related characters and elements ©2026 & DC. WB SHIELD: © & WBEI. (s26) AGES 14+
Before we wrapped up, we asked Sergio what he wants players to be most excited about when they see the box art for the first time. Sergio replied, “Show them a cover dedicated solely to the villains! Highlight how exceptional Batman’s villains are and that this time they are the center of attention. A great villain must be on par with a great hero”. From the striking presence of the box art on your shelf to the captivating detail of each Villain Board, this game is a dream come true for fans of Batman: The Animated Series. Whether you are a die hard fan of Sandoval’s iconic illustrations or a tabletop game enthusiast, the Enemies of Gotham City release is one you won’t want to miss! Follow along to learn more about the various artists that contributed to the creation of Enemies of Gotham City.
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Learn more about Enemies of Gotham City and the Knight on The Town Expansion by visiting: https://upperdeck.com/enemies-of-gotham/
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Categories: Upperdeck Tags: Animated, Batman™, Bringing, City, Enemies, from, Gotham, Interview, Life, of…, Onscreen, sandoval, Sergio, Series, Tabletop
Neopets Weekly Series 2
Hello Neopets fans and collectors! We’re excited to talk about the upcoming Neopets Weekly Series 2, featuring favorite Neopets and some fun painted versions of them. These cards will be released exclusively on Upper Deck e-Pack over a period of nine weeks. If you collected any of the cards from the first series, you’ll have a good understanding of how the weekly packs work. If not, don’t worry! We’ll go over the releases in this post.
Starting April 28th, packs will release each Tuesday featuring three different Neopets. In Series 1, we featured Baby and Fairy painted pets along with the base pets. There were also achievements with Darigan and Mutant pets as achievements. Series 2 will feature Eventide and Maractite painted pets along with the base pets, with Pirate and Maraquan painted pets as achievements.
Each pack will have 4 cards: 1 of each Neopet in a base color, and 1 random Eventide painted variant! There is also a chance to pull a bonus card, which can be one of four card types: Maractite painted Neopet variant, a Pirate Paint Brush, a Printing Plate, or a Grundo Warehouse loot card.
Example of Printing Plates
The Grundo Warehouse card will have a code on it that you can use to redeem for an in-game item on Neopets.com. Printing Plates are the metal plates that were used in the printing of the cards. Printing Plates are 1 of 1 items and come in Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. You have a chance to pull a printing plate for any of the base, Eventide, Maractite, or Pirate Neopets.
Additionally, each week there will be achievements to redeem for additional cards! Achievements are ways to earn rarer cards just from collecting the regular cards. You can view the Achievements page HERE. A simple one is that if you get a Pirate Paintbrush, you can go to the Achievements page where you’ll be able to combine the paintbrush with the base Neopet selected for that week. You’ll then get a card with the Pirate version of that pet.
If you collect the three Eventide variants, you can redeem them for a Maraquan Paint Brush. You can then combine that brush with the base Neopet selected for that week to receive the Maraquan version of that pet! If you are one of the first four collectors to redeem for the Maraquan Neopet, you can also redeem for a random printing plate of that Maraquan Neopet.
If you’re curious about the difference between Combine and Redeem, I’ll explain that now. When you combine cards, the cards that are combined will no longer be in your inventory and you will receive a new card in their place. When you redeem a card (or cards) for another, the cards that are redeemed will then have a yellow “R” tab on it showing it has been redeemed and cannot be redeemed for another achievement. They can still be used in combining, though.
Example of Redeemed Cards
I hope this guide has helped to get you ready to collect the Neopets Weekly Series 2 cards as they come out! Be sure to keep an eye on our social media to see which Neopets will be released each week!
Cards in images are from the Neopets Weekly Series 1 set and are for example purposes only.
© 2026 The Upper Deck Company © Neopets 1999-2026 All Rights Reserved. Intended for ages 6+.
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2024-25 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey: Young Guns®, New Chases, and Everything in Between
Hockey fans and collectors, mark your calendars for October 16th! 2024-25 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey is set to hit shelves, and this release brings a perfect blend of nostalgia, innovation, and exciting new chase opportunities.
Young Guns®
With each Hobby box including 12 cards per pack and 12 packs per box, collectors will have ample opportunity […]
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