Are you sick of me yet? It’s the home stretch gang, I promise. But before I promise that, I’ve got the promise of the weekly Variant Forecast: a pact that I take quite seriously! So whether you’re following from this weekend’s mega-coverage of the patch datamines, just joining for the beginning of a new Spotlight week, or recovering from 24-or-so hours of the American SNAP drought, follow me for one more dive into the comic art entering the game this week.
01/21
Spotlights!
Artists (in order): PANDART STUDIO, Envar Studio
Source: Spotlight Cache
Spotlight caches, as per usual, to kick us off this week: this time, it’s highly anticipated murderous nutcase Bullseye headlining! (See my other article for more on that guy.) But hey! He’s getting a PANDART like the rest of the Dark Avengers, which means we’re getting him in lavish rendering, posed menacingly from behind with trademark playing cards between his fingers. I dig that he’s in front of some sort bullseye himself, compositionally, and I think it’s interesting seeing the PANDART approach to the texture of his suit, keeping the bodysuit but converting the concentric circles to a slightly more armored, practical-looking design. We’re also seeing the Envar Studio entries for Caiera and Marvel Boy, both of which are pretty radically different. Envar seems to have a couple of different stylistic series going, between ‘stylized but pseudo-realistically rendered’ (a la PANDART) and ‘flat colors with more overt anime influence’ (a la Creative House Pocket). Caiera here belongs to the former, while Marvel Boy is in the latter; it’s both interesting to see and good for diversity for both camps to exist, and fans of either style might be tempted to snag a variant for both relatively underrepresented characters.
Gerald Parel’s Eternals (2021) #5 Gilgamesh Cover
Artist: Gerald Parel
Source: Bundle
We’ve got a cool comics-pull from the 2021 Eternals run with Gerald Parel’s depiction of Gilgamesh next; like all of the Eternals, there’s a pretty significant difference between the movie incarnations of these characters and the source comics, and folks might be surprised what some of the Eternals looked like pre-MCU. Gilgamesh in particular was a lot less rooted in looking like…well, Gilgamesh. Instead, he was just known as The Hero, and he kind of Forrest Gump’d his way through history, becoming associated with legendaries heroes of myth like Hercules or Gilgamesh. (He also worked with the actual Hercules here and there.) He’s got a much more neutral, tech-y appearance here as a result, reminding me of a ‘been there, done everything’ bounty hunter type, with his preference for brute strength still represented in those powerful knuckles cracking in the foreground. It’s a cool glimpse at the precursor to the MCU Eternals (which the base art is based heavily off of) and nice to have the comics represented—especially when they’re so different, and so interesting to explore. (Also, it’s a cool variant in a bundle; go get it if you like it!)
PANDART Doctor Strange
Artist: PANDART STUDIO
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Doctor Strange gets his PANDART in the shop the same day, rocking those trademark glowy-pentagram-circle-things that the MCU popularized and looking quite sorcerous and supreme. Besides his iconic grey temples, he looks younger here, perhaps owing to PANDART’s broadly appealing, slightly anime-influenced style, and I think that it makes for a cool slightly more different take on the character than PANDARTs sometimes do. I also love those hands; an understated hallmark of Doctor Strange as a character, and a great thing to have front and center for someone doing magic.
01/22
Marcelo Vignali and Mooncolony’s Bullseye Shop Variant
Artist: Marcelo Vignali/Mooncolony
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Unlike most cards that release in a given Spotlight cache, Bullseye has a wealth of datamined variants on standby, ready to enter the shop rotation; he’s been around since the beta days, unlike many of his Dark Avenger (iron) compatriots. Marcelo Vignali and Mooncolony team up to provide an alternative take on a shiny and stylized Lester, not unlike PANDARTs in the Spotlight. This one gives him his classic psycho-smirk, complete with throwing knives, and a more comic-feeling design with whited-out eyes, straight bullseye-themed costuming, and a general cartooniness that Vignali and Mooncolony both excel at.
01/23
Fireball Studio’s Rocket Raccoon
Artist: Fireball Studio
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Fireball Studio has made its debut already with the Conquest reward variant for Luke Cage, technically, but it’s not quite possible for anyone to have it yet; this means their colorful Rocket Raccoon is going to be the first actual variant the studio will have in play, and it’s a great start. Something about the lighting and shadows from the explosion behind Rocket really pops— it’s a really pleasant cool shadow in all that orange light, and the fun foul-mouthed speech bubble is the cherry on top. It’s a blast— ba-dum, tss.
01/24
Justin Fields’ Sentinel
Artist: Justin Fields
Source: Bundle
Justin Fields is one of those artists in SNAP that’s reserved exclusively for big bundles— his style, with its incredible rendering and sense of imposing, moody lighting is a perfect fit for an art product that ‘feels’ valuable: people love a level of gloss, a level of pseudo-realism and rendering that makes labor clear. To be clear, this is no knock against Fields— in fact, it’s a massive compliment in his favor! There’s zero doubt that the likes of this Sentinel, with its hulking form, menacing eyes, and devastating laser, is worth bundle money: and it's all tied together with an impressively detailed metal texture we don’t always see on the big purple mutant killers. The rendering and style are what make the piece a bundle-type variant— but the monstrous scale and eye for detail are what make it classic Justin Fields.
Tony Moy’s Sunspot
Artist: Tony Moy
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Tony Moy brings his shiny, almost chromatic style of lighting and color to our favorite Brazilian mutant wunderkind Sunspot, giving us a different take on what his powered form might look like emitting all that solar energy. The light reflecting off of his X-uniform is a nice touch, and helps focus the eye so the entire piece isn’t quite so silver— and the brightness of it all really sells a level of intensity appropriate for a powered-up Sunspot. It’s right in line with Moy’s other work, which means that if you’re a fan of his style of coloring or his sensibility for lighting, this is going to be right up your alley.
01/25
Dan Hipp’s Right On Time Bullseye Variant!
Artist: Dan Hipp
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Anyone else getting déjà vu? Dan Hipp’s variant for Bullseye is entering the General Pool this week— this time quite punctually, right after Bullseye’s release. And what can I say that already hasn’t been said before? By me, I mean. About the exact same devious, devilishly fun little variant? Making the exact same joke about how he doesn’t miss? (He doesn’t miss!)
It rocks; ‘nuff said.
Rian Gonzales’ Chibi Malekith
Artist: Rian Gonzales
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Rian Gonzales’ steady presence in the release cadence for shop variants continues, and notably more and more of her work for the game seem to be in the Chibi space! It’s a huge win for both fans of chibis as well as fans of Gonzales, and even for fans of Malekith to boot. Seeing a cutesy version of everyone’s favorite megalomaniacal dark elf (complete with shadowed half-face) is fun enough; strangely enough, though, my favorite thing about this piece might be the ever-so-slightly oversized hand that Malekith has been given, holding that spear like he’s proud of it. Between that and the hyper-kawaii white tiger, this piece might have enough ridiculousness to even win over folks who aren’t about chibis— who knows! Either way, this is a great pick-up for anyone interested.
01/26
Marcelo Vignali and Mooncolony’s Scarlet Spider
Artist: Marcelo Vignali/Mooncolony
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Marcelo Vignali and Mooncolony will return— within 4 days of their first variant release this week! That’s right, we’ll also be getting a Scarlet Spider from the artist/studio duo, rocking Ben Reilly’s classic duds and his classic-er enormous Todd McFarlane eyes. There’s some interesting texture on the suit that they’ve added, too, helping break up that spandex with some rubber-looking suit texture. Besides that, it’s a faithful rendition of OG Ben’s outfit, complete with oversize on-the-wrist webshooters, and fans of Scarlet Spider will probably be quite happy to run this for a measly 700 gold!
01/27
Matt Dixon’s Lounging Jeff
Artist: Matt Dixon
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
We’re wrapping up on a low-key but fun note, with Matt Dixon offering us a slightly less cute, slightly more goofy looking Jeff the Shark. Jeff looks straight out of a comic strip (or perhaps a fun advertisement for a summer camp) with a toothy grin, heart glasses, and sundae— and he’s cheesing like he’s having the best time. Something about the ratio of eye-to-snout, the proportion of the simple, and the general shape of everything shifts Jeff away from his normal adorable register, but it’s hard to be mad at an artist really leaning in to Jeff being a lovable goof regardless. I think watching this little guy pop up in his inner tube to take over the Sanctum Sanctorum is precisely going to be the intended level of silly for this variant’s usage; anyone wanting to flex that, he’ll be 1200 gold in the shop!
Whew!
Seriously, déjà vu? But you said it, section header I’m wrapping up one last time today, and I wanted to say again that I really do appreciate each and every reader for this fun column I run each week. But enough about me talking about you— let’s just talk about you. What do you like most from this upcoming slate? What do you think I’ve overlooked? And what else might you enjoy seeing, for articles like this? We’re always looking for readers’ thoughts, so make ‘em known below! I’m no telepath, but I’d love to hear what you think. And until then…
Seriously, déjà vu?