Honestly, writing this I kept having to check if I had somehow missed a week in between this one and last— it just really feels like so much has happened. For a second, I didn’t know if I was ever going to write another one of these again! (God, imagine.) But rumors of SNAP’s demise were greatly exaggerated, and instead we’re back with a bright future ahead for the year so far. So for all you folks that will be sitting pretty on Second Dinner’s massively generous compensation, let’s do some celebratory window shopping. Forecast!
01/28
Spotlights!
Artists (in order): PANDART STUDIO, Creees, Marguerite Savage
Source: Spotlight Caches
Like always, for starters we have a Spotlight Cache threefer, this time with a last-minute swap from Kang to Ms. Marvel as of last patch. Kang aficionados (I see you guys out there, somewhere way out) might be disappointed, but Marguerite Savage’s fun, fourth-wall breaking cover for Ms. Marvel (2014) #13 is a sweet consolation prize— that is, if you aren’t rocking one of Ms. Marvel’s many other banger variants already. We’ve also got a Misery variant from Creees, looking almost like an alt-splash for the base art. That’s not necessarily a knock— some folks might like to keep their cards uniform in that base style, and these might fill a niche to give players like that some flair (even if Misery’s wig is looking a l’il crooked on her maw here.) Finally, we’ve of course got the PANDART treatment for Ares, giving us an imposing view from below at the God of War wielding a molten battleaxe. The glowing eyes are cool, the hands dripping in smithy’s fire are definitely cool, and figure itself is, well, you know. Really cool. Which means for PANDART fans, it’s another hit worth checking out!
ADIA’s Hela… Back From The Dead?
Artist: ADIA
Source: Album Reward
This is an interesting bit of extra news; for folks who aren’t aware, Second Dinner actually pulled an ADIA Hela variant from the September 2023 Season Pass (featuring Pantheon variants for multiple Asgardian characters).
The assumption is because it had been called out online (Reddit is where I saw) for being too close a reference to an existing cover by Maxx Lim— done for the Battle Lines variant from Asgardians of the Galaxy (2018) #9.
Second Dinner has proven willing to pull art or artists that might be hairy or unethical to support in the past, so this isn’t a huge surprise. But many of the studios (most glaringly the pixel variants done by G-Angle) have sourced existing covers similarly without the same response— that sort of referencing poses from the Marvel license isn’t the most uncommon thing in the world, especially in… Marvel games. But we’re now getting a Hela variant that’s a clear changed version of the same piece! The pose has been modified enough that it's different from the original Lim cover, but many of the same style hallmarks from the original ADIA remain, and the focal point being Hela’s sword pointed downwards at the viewer is still the big draw of the piece. Has more leeway been extended because it’s a studio, rather than a single artist catching the flak? Was it enough of an issue to pull the original to begin with? All questions I’ve still got rattling around. But for now, for fans of ADIA (and of Pantheon series ADIA specifically)? You’ll be able to snag this variant for finishing the album.
Tony Moy’s Caiera
Artist: Tony Moy
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Tony Moy continues to enjoy a presence in the weekly rotation, giving us a Caiera next for the general pool. If you missed the Spotlight Caiera last week and are itching for a variant, this is a great one that plays to Moy’s strengths for color and lighting, showing us some more purple than we normally see for Caiera in the warm orange light of some desert valley on Sakaar. It’s got that cool old-school colored pencil vibe that reminds me of paperbacks in the 90’s, and if that’s a vibe match for anyone, Moy’s the man!
Viktor Farro’s Ajax Bundle
Artist: Viktor Farro
Source: Bundle
Ah, when Second Dinner knows how to pick a bundle variant, they know how to pick a bundle variant. Ajax belongs to the not-uncommon Venn diagram of “meta-relevant Series 5 card” and “desperately in need of commissioned art,” making it always a treat when an artist of Farro’s caliber steps up to deliver. And yeah: Farro’s painted work and usage of color to bathe Ajax’s exoskeleton in warm colors elevates this 90’s Deadpool D-Lister into an imposing figure— plated up like a scarab beetle in the sand. Which is, of course, why this variant lands in a bundle— driving stubborn spendthrifts like me crazy. It’s a complete banger for someone in dire need of them: what more can I say? Save me, Collector’s Vault!
01/29
Lunar New Year!
Artists (in order): Lee Woo-chul, Winking Studios, Creative House Pocket
Sources (in order): General Pool (Super Rare), Bundle, Promo
We’ve got a good deal of variants coming out to celebrate Lunar New Year this week (woohoo!), which means lots of recognizable characters in cultural garb— here, we’ve got Lee Woo-chul’s Silk entering the General Pool as a Super Rare, Winking Studios’ Shang-Chi dropping as a bundle, and Creative House Pocket’s Armor being distributed in an as-of-yet unknown Promo source. From an artistic standpoint, I think it’s wildly fortunate that Woo-chul’s Silk is the one entering the shop— it’s dynamic and rendered with wonderful lighting, and while the character might be in an uncommonly static seating pose for her, there’s so much energy we get looking down at her from a midair vantage point, in freefall alongside these tossed corks.Fans of Winking will be able to pick up Shang-Chi hitting the Chinese drums, with your classic fireworks and celebratory red colors complementing the Master of Kung Fu’s already red attire. Finally, Creative House Pocket decks Armor and her armor out in some holiday garb, playing a bit with the nature of her energy-construct ability as both external and transparent. Like all Creative House Pocket variants, fans of an overt anime style will want to be on special look out: hopefully we’ll get news of how it releases soon!
Ares’ Shop Variant!
Artist: Mooncolony
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
War, though… War never changes. And so we’re also getting the debut shop variant for Ares, done here by the rapidly-ubiquitous Mooncolony studio, this time heading up the entire artwork. We’ve got a similar combination of Ares in his classic anachronistic horse-hair plume and skulled battle vest and a warm, energetic explosion in the background, but I think the colors on this piece are brighter and more stark to fit the lighting we’re seeing from the background. And it’s no surprise: Mooncolony excels at a simplified, fun and friendly style not out of place among folks like Max Grecke. It’s a fine piece that captures a lot of the same appeal as his PANDART, just trading some of the edginess for bolder colors and clearer contrast.
01/30
Wooh NaYoung’s Spider-Men!
Artist: Wooh NaYoung
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Continuing with some more cultural variants, Wooh NaYoung brings us both Spider-Men in Korean attire, bringing them up to speed with the Ghost-Spider variant NaYoung did earlier. I do love the application of the classic Spidey design to the big sleeves and ribbons on Peter, with the hat and its trim all matching that red. Miles meanwhile has his costume on underneath, with a simpler dark red coat and the flattened mask on his head. Across both of these, though, I think what strikes me the most is the wonderfully thick, bold ink that helps bring all those folds and textures into sharp relief, making these both awesome variants to rock at any time of year.
01/31
Meghan Hetrick’s Psylocke Bundle
Artist: Meghan Hetrick
Source: Bundle
Meghan Hetrick’s Psylocke is finally coming to SNAP, and now that I’ve been able to confirm that it was a direct commission from Second Dinner, I just want to reiterate how incredible it is that that’s the case! She’s a comics veteran with lots of really, really good covers to her name, and this Psylocke is absolutely gorgeous both in its subject and composition— we’ve got Japanese kimono to help root Kwannon a bit more in her cultural background while keeping to the stark purple scheme from both her hair and outfit alongside the butterfly motif. And all of it is painted with a great sense for both subtle rendering and lighting, avoiding that over-rendering that often makes a piece feel airbrushed. It’s just a very well done piece for a custom commission, and makes perfect sense to headline a bundle for all the whales out there with great taste!
Steampunk Doc Ock!
Artists: Marco Itri/Ryan Kinnaird
Source: General Pool (Rare)
And for steampunk fans out there, Doc Ock is arriving in appropriate attire, helmed by the familiar duo Itri and Kinnaird. If it’s a surprise to see Hetrick on the commission list, it’s absolutely the opposite to see these two, as veterans of cultivating the house style for SNAP. The colors and lighting are a lot more typical for the game, which may even just be your preference to all the more different variants we see flying around, and I do love how ominously thick and serpentine this variation on the Doc Ock design is— steampunk styling might be a given we can assume, but this composition (with those great claws reaching out from either side of the name plate) shouldn’t be taken for granted.
02/02
Jessica Fong’s Pixie
Artist: Jessica Fong
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Finally, Jessica Fong’s other datamined piece hits the shop as the first new piece you’re going to see in February: riiiight before we get taken straight into a Brave New Season. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: it’s a great Pixie, with quietly great lighting (a big plus for a sparkly, iridescent character) and a great complementary shade of pink coloring the entire thing, even beyond her trademark headbanded head of pink hair. I really love the texturing and colors on a classic X-uniform, and Fong does great work adapting those big ol’ gauntlets and boots that feel sneakily iconic for the generation and era Pixie came from. So hurrah, I say: it’s wonderful work from a very talented comic artist (again, seemingly commissioned for SNAP directly!) and a great addition for a character whose got way fewer variants than she ought to have in the game. (I know, I know, get in line.)
The Calm Before The Storm
It’s a quiet week, and thank goodness: I’ve got to prepare myself for the double whammy of a new season and a new patch coming out on February 4th! So mark your calendars folks: both for all the cool art I just went over, and for all the cool art we’ve yet to see! And until then, you can content yourselves with letting me know all your art opinions down below. Got any favorites this time around? Any unfavorites? (The Matt Dixon Jeff the Land Shark has garnered a shocking amount of controversy for being less-than-superlatively-cute. Which I called! But am still surprised by.) So maybe you can get ahead of the next Reddit thread to blow up. Talk to me! And see y’all next week.