What’s that? There’s been a latest acquisition-related drama regarding the new game mode? High Voltage Overdrive? You must have hit your head there pretty hard, pal. We’re just here to talk about some cool comic art in this nifty Marvel Comics card game. So put those worries aside for at least a couple of pages! We’re here to talk art, and we’ve got a Forecast full of it to run through. Let’s go!
06/17
Dan Hipp’s Cosmic Takeover!
Artist: Dan Hipp
Source: General Pool (Rare)/Album Reward
Dan Hipp hasn’t had a big variant drop in SNAP in a hot second, so big fans are probably going to be over the moon to see so many hitting the shop come refresh! It’s always refreshing to see Hipp’s singular style stand out amidst so many more conventionally stylized pieces across the board, and it’s no different here; I know it’s a divisive opinion whenever it comes up, but for my money Hipp is just one of the biggest highlights of this game’s variant art direction. There’s a cosmic theme to the album, giving us the whole Black Order—and Hipp shows his remarkable penchant for wringing out a lot of specificity out of those MCU designs in a charming way. (Of the bunch, Proxima Midnight might be my favorite, with bonus points for being her first shop variant ever.) The album itself also rewards Kate Bishop, who is, to her cosmic credit, really… purple. And she’s got Lucky the Pizza Dog with her!
Winking Studio’s Spotlight Nightmare
Artist: Winking Studio
Source: General Pool (Spotlight)
Winking Studio’s back at it this week with the Spotlight variant for Nightmare, or at least what would have been—as is, it’ll drop at 2400 Gold, with a likely stipulation that it’ll reappear at some point under some (relatively equivalent) token price. I’m a real sucker for a spectrally-lit green glow signifying dark and underworldly powers, and Nightmare’s demented grin amidst a bunch of poor ethereal screaming folks gives this piece perhaps the most personality out of this entire season run so far.
Wild Blue’s Art Nouveau Hood (and Demon) Bundle!
Artist: Wild Blue
Source: Bundle
Speaking of studio highlights, Wild Blue is following up on a great Art Nouveau series kicked off by Apocalypse months ago and carried on by this Hood bundle (with matching Art Nouveau Demon!). This is one of those ‘style-focused’ variants that are so specific and well-executed that they just stand out among a studio’s usual fare; Wild Blue has done solid work before, but if this Nouveau style continues it’ll be something I look forward to the most from them by a great margin. The matching token is a bonus, and it’s amusing and interesting to watch the relatively general, basic design of the base art Demon become a wholehearted reference to be adapted into a new art style. It’s a bundle for a popular character, and it looks good to boot—buyers, you may want to think about this one.
Creative House Pocket’s Wave
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Creative House Pocket’s anime adventure continues with this Wave, who hasn’t had a variant quite approach a direct anime-style adaptation until now. (We’ve had a chibi by Rian Gonzales, which is the closest). I like the different costuming and expression on her—some variety to the pretty ubiquitous turquoise swimming bodysuit is appreciated, and there’s some sort of story going on here with Wave looking pensively and perhaps even apprehensively at the power before her represented in those blades. It’s a cut above lots of the Creative House Pocket work I like, and folks that want a traditionally anime-style cute variant for Wave will be more than interested in this for a whopping 700 Gold.
06/18
Creative House Pocket’s Nightmare
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Creative House Pocket has the backup General Shop variant for Nightmare, of course, which gives us another anime treatment to look at; it also doubles as a continuation of the paint-magic connection that’s been the theme for all of the CHP variants this month. He’s unhinged and cackling and generally doing what all those malevolent magical entities do when they have paint on their fingers, and that a master of something as abstract as a realm of fears and nightmares is certainly a good fit for the even more abstract flourishes of roiling paint. The power of art, or something! Check this one out for 1200 gold, if you’re not keen on the Spotlight.
Ricardo Drumond’s Titania!
Artist: Ricardo Drumond
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Ricardo Drumond’s a comic artist who seems to have been tapped for commission work by Second Dinner as well, with this Titania being his debut in SNAP. It’s a really cool, almost collage effect that you get from that haloed painted look and those highlights, and there’s a ton of power and motion in a deceptively restrained pose like this! It feels like a wrestling poster of sorts, which fits perfectly for a character whose costume has never drifted too far from that classic comics look. Plenty of rubble ties the piece together; overall, I’m really interested in seeing more from Drumond if he was indeed commissioned for more than one piece. If you’re on the hunt for a Titania variant to properly jump all over the board with, give this one a shot!
06/19
Interior Alert: Avengers World (2014) #19!
Artist: Marco Chechetto
Source: General Pool (Rare)
This is a rare treat: we’re getting an interior excerpted panel turned into a variant here, from none other than the master Marco Checcetto in the pages of Avengers World. (Specifically, page 17 of issue 19!) It’s no small feat for an interior panel to make it to a variant; not only is there a sometimes a quality difference between panels where the primary goal is sequential storytelling and covers where the goal is to grab the eye, but there’s a compositional demand in the playing card format that can be hard to meld an interior with. That is to say, it’s big props on Second Dinner’s art folks for undertaking the task of applying that layering process onto an existing panel and making the necessary decisions to capture the same spirit. There’s only one or two other interiors in the game, if I’m correct (the Sentinel variant comes to mind), but it also reminds me the Bronze Age variants that have to condense larger covers and lots of text into a variant that still preserves the spirit of it all. Overall, something incredible for just 700 gold.
Oh yeah, and Roberto decking an AIM guy is absolutely sick; love that guy.
Creative House Pocket’s Death
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: Bundle
Creative House Pocket’s gonna dominate much of the rest of the forecast; spoilers. But that’s okay! It’s quickly become a fact of life that the studio has become one of Second Dinner’s primaries, and that becomes a plus when you get neat variants like this, where the artist behind this particular CHP piece went above and beyond working the lighting and shadows of a very dynamic, strongly lit composition. I love the shadows on Death’s face here and the extra detail on those hands. And, of course as is tradition, it’s done in a more recognizably anime style than other Death variants, meaning folks that are on the hunt to really turn SNAP’s style towards manga and anime might be interested in this bundle.
06/20
Nicola Saviori’s Venomized Gladiator Bundle!
Artist: Nicola Saviori
Source: Bundle
Nicola Saviori’s niche seems to be these terrific, Skullgirls-reminiscent Symbiote variants that double down on the cartoonish physicality of an oozing alien with all of those imposing teeth. This corrupted Gladiator has those spines running all over, and it’s a great look that varies the hallmarks of the symbiote just enough that it feels special to Saviori; those teeth, the hot pink glow, and the even the way the symbiote seems to more of a creeping parasite enveloping its host than just a living costume really pumps up the alienness of the whole thing to 11. And, of course, Saviori bundles all of this with a really strong, stylized look that I’d consider top-shelf regardless of whether or not all of his work in game is currently Symbiote-based. It’s terrific work, and be on the lookout for more soon!
Creative House Pocket’s Gamora
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
A Creative House Pocket Gamora is barrelling towards the reader in this variant, with a more traditional look and composition more in line with Creative House Pocket’s many other anime treatments for various characters. I like the dynamism of the run with the swords in hand, and the coat is a great way to help direct a lot of the attention to Gamora’s fierce expression. While it’s not necessarily the same break from more-of-the-same that some other Creative House Pocket variants manage to achieve, it’s quite solid at what it does, and folks looking for an anime variant for this Guardian of the Galaxy should consider it at least.
06/21
Creative House Pocket’s Hulkling
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Curiously enough, this Hulkling by Creative House Pocket again seems part of the paint motif in this ongoing series of variants splattering colors on everyone; however, he’s one of the first ones to not have any discernible relationship with magic at all! It still is a cool look for Teddy, who gets to color match both green and yellow thanks to the highlight colors on his skin, and the pink-purple plays well on both his outfit and the paints at the edge. It's a good reminder that lots of good art has deceptively limited palettes; takes notes, any artists out there, and consider buying, everyone else!
06/23
Cover Alert: Exceptional X-Men (2024) #1 Rose Besch Variant!
Artist: Rose Besch
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Finally, this Rose Besch variant is actually a cover: the latest in the recent post-Krakoa variant covers to come to SNAP. X-Men is likely one of the most common comics to pull for a ‘cover-to-variant’ situation, but it’s continuously interesting (and cool) to see the Second Dinner art folks with any sort of interest in current comics. Besch really nails the colors here, with Kitty’s blue outfit really working well with those dark brows in her hair and eyes and Lockheed(!)’s purple skin. It’s cute and fun and it gives Kity appropriately charming almost-anime big ol’ eyes; for a character swimming in great art, she just seems incapable of going without for more than a patch!
Wrapping Up
Thanks for bearing with me for another Forecast; as a treat, I’ve also got a PAX Code to give away! Comment below on what your favorite variant for the week is and why with your discord username, and you can have a chance to snag Penny Arcade Miles and a smattering of other goodies. So speak up down there! Submissions will be taken until Friday June 20th. You deserve it, and I’ll be listening. Until next time!