What’s that? “We just had a massive article about upcoming variants in the nearish future, how could we possibly have another?”
Oh, you weren’t asking? My bad. But hey! In case that was your question, well, the variant forecast waits for no one! Even though we’ve got a nice little scrying-eye at the stuff coming up in March and April, I want to make sure all the Forecast Faithfuls out there get a proper look at the here and now: what’s coming up this week? Let’s get to it.
Note: for any sharp-eyed schedule watchers out there, you’ll notice that I haven’t covered a set of variants slated for this week with ‘Unknown’ release sources: that’s because they’re confirmed variants for the Sanctum Showdown shop, which got pushed back to opening up next week. Expect that coverage then!
02/18
Spotlights!
Artists (in order): He Tianyou, Jon Lam, Wild Blue
Source: Spotlight Cache
Spotlights are going to feature none other than Sam Wilson’s faithful bird companion, Redwing! (Or his plucky little R/C drone, if you’re coming from the MCU). And we’re getting a proper He Tianyou treatment like all the new cards this season, giving this fearless flier a dynamic composition that really utilizes some great lighting in the air alongside a strong sense of motion— and gives Redwing fun l’il red goggles to match Sam, to boot. Jon Lam’s giving us a Loki tossing Mjolnir like a plaything, which is always a fun image, and it’s some of the more personable, interesting work Lam’s done in the game so far, conveying mischief both in Loki’s expression and in the composition and subject matter. (And I love those nails.) And finally Wild Blue gives us the latest entry in the overt, rubber-hose animation style series of variants, with a sneering Baron Zemo emoting straight through its mask. It’s got a rare amount of personality for a studio variant, and that it’s a big draw for both fans of that sort of Cuphead throwback and for folks who are excited that the Baron is seeing more play than he ever has before.
eXiles (2004) #41 Cover… By Who???
Listed Artist: Jim Calafiore
Artist (Unconfirmed): Mizuki Sakakibara
Source: Bundle
This is a curious one— it’s an older existing cover from eXiles #41 (and a great looking one), but doing some research digging around, this piece might actually be misattributed in the datamines. While Jim Calafiore is Nocturne’s creator (writing and drawing this two part arc centered around her), and while he even did the cover for eXiles #42, it looks like this cover is actually by Mizuki Sakakibara. I don’t think this is any sort of ill intent by Second Dinner, nor do I really blame them; looking at the Marvel Universe wiki (which I know Second Dinner has used extensively in the past) this particular cover is attributed to Calafiore, and in fact there are different versions of the comic itself you can find— an older one with the credits on a splash, and a newer one with those credits edited out!
eXiles #41
The latter is on Marvel Unlimited (which does edit the contents of its older comics sometimes). Importantly, there the cover is attributed to Sakakibara; the result becomes something that seems less Second Dinner’s jurisdiction and more Marvel’s regarding documentation of who exactly did what. The clincher, though? In the cover itself, you can clearly see a signature spelled MIZ, which unfortunately gets cropped out by the SNAP template conversion that puts Nocturne front and center.
Now, Sakakibara and Calafiore both did a lot of work on the original eXiles run, so I”m inclined to believe it’s just a mixup coming from an older comic, or even possibly a collaborated cover between the two. Still, I’m interested in this especially because at the time this comes out, it’ll be not only in the game, but a bundle being sold for money. A correction feels simple and benign enough, but whenever something is sold for money I’m sure there’ll be people miffed about any sort of mislabeling. We’ll see what happens!
Mark Brooks’ Araña: The Heart of The Spider (2005) #1 Variant Cover
Artist: Mark Brooks
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
No mistaking this one, though— Mark Brooks is assuredly the cover for this sweet cover pull from Araña’s original solo comic, bringing one of the long lesser-known Spiders back into the limelight. There’s something about this cover that feels so of an era, from the big goggles, the massive gloves, and the general colors and shading style of the piece. But it’s cool and dynamic, and having a piece that so clearly is a cover from an era is really fun to have in SNAP— especially as we’re slowly inundated with more and more pieces commissioned en masse in a certain style.
02/19
Creative House Pocket’s Ghost Spider Bundle
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: Bundle
Speaking of! Creative House Pocket’s got a lot of art in the pipeline for the coming months, and so you’d better get used to their brand of anime-stylized art making its way through the shop. This might not be everyone cup of tea, but for what it’s worth it also doesn’t necessarily mean anything negative; Creative House Pocket in general has some variety in its catalogue, with some of its best work being really eye popping. (Peni Parker, looking at you!) I’m inclined to think this Gwen falls on that end of the spectrum, with some really cool lighting work via colored outlines, great colors that echo both in Gwen’s classic colors and the sky, and that iconic inverted skyline to signal that this is a Spider-Character composition, and we should orient ourselves accordingly. It’s not quite the same as Pocket’s Peni Parker (ha) but I do think this is far above some of the other Creative House Pocket work I was a bit more tepid on in the Patch Round-Up.
Rian Gonzales’ Sorta Chibi Redwing
Artist: Rian Gonzales
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
One thing that’s really quite amusing about Redwing’s variants is the divide between the ones that have him stylized as a literal red falcon, complete with matching attire to fully cement him as a superheroic bird… and Rian Gonzales’ piece here, which is, for all intents and purposes, Redwing as a completely naturalistic bird. It’s funny because you wouldn’t really have anything to distinguish him as Redwing if it weren’t for the chibi Sam popping up behind him, and because Redwing himself really isn’t chibi at all. But on the other hand, Redwing is an actual falcon, and it’s pretty fun to see a version of him that doesn’t actionize him quite so much. Instead, we get some fun play in the scale between a literal falcon and chibi Captain America, and it’s enough fun that even non-regular Gonzales Chibi buyers might consider this one.
02/20
Adi Granov’s Big Value Anti-Venom Bundle
Artist: Adi Granov
Source: Bundle
It feels like this piece has been in conversations for ages, though not really for any reason related to the piece itself. Hyped as one of the most cost-effective bundles for Gold we’ve seen in a long time, it also comes stapled to a premium Series 5 card in Anti-Venom, making folks quite anxious regarding whether or not its extremely reasonable price point would change in datamines. But with it among us, we haven’t seen too much change (beyond a slight bump in price). Moreover, I’m mostly disinterested in the above; what we’re really getting is a sick new menacing and moody Anti-Venom from none other than comics veteran Adi Granov himself. Anti-Venom is in this weird Venn diagram of having an extremely graphic, striking visual design but not actually having that many existing covers, making these commissions more pressing than for other characters. But Adi Granov is an above-and-beyond get from Second Dinner, and it pays off, with this incredibly rendered piece doing everything all those hyper-rendered studio pieces wish they could, and the strong shadows turning Anti-Venom in a bona fide horror figure: Nosferatu in vibes, if not in complete resemblance. Get it for its incredible value if you like, but goodness, please appreciate just how incredible the piece is too!
Dan Hipp’s Gorr, The God Butcher
Artist: Dan Hipp
Source: General Pool (Rare)
On the other side of rendered-versus-simplified, we’re finally getting another Dan Hipp, this time for Gorr: a long-awaited Hipp that we’ve had in datamines for quite some time! Gorr is in a similar place as Bullseye— a character and card that was clearly planned to exist at some point from the get-go, meaning they were ready with plenty of variants early on and just holding until the cards actually ended up getting released. I love the more dynamic pose Hipp brings Gorr, and the deceptive amount of scale and motion we get from him wielding All-Black the Necrosword (along with his billowing, shadowy cape) really gives some genuine threat out of Hipp’s incredibly simplified style. Amidst all of Gorr’s variants (which are, by and large, incredible, thanks to his iconic design) Hipp once again manages to stand out, and any fans will likely be snagging this one on sight.
(Me. I’m fans.)
02/21
James Ryman’s Arishem
Artist: James Ryman
Source: General Pool (Rare)
This Arishem will be James Ryman’s debut into SNAP, and he’s bringing a fun and simplified almost Hearthstone-esque look to the game, echoing other artists/studios like Mooncolony who operate in this fun and approachable almost 3D-shaded art style that nonetheless maintains some gravity and drama. This is a really strong debut and, arguably, his strongest piece of the three coming in the next month— I love giving Arishem a clear figure in frame and instead letting his scale get carried by Earth sitting comfortably in the palm of his hand. It’s fun (especially with that ever-undecided thumb hovering sideways) and the lighting coming from Arishem’s big lighthouse head is a fun interpretation of exactly how this character looks in Ryman’s lens!
02/22
Mello and Studio Grafit’s X-23
Artists: Eduardo Mello/Studio Grafit
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Mello and Studio Grafit are getting a couple of showings this week, and it feels like a new age of ‘standard release style’ to have a reliable base artist like Mello get coloring backup from one of the big game art studios really prolific in SNAP right now. We’ve seen it before— and the result is just fine! There’s some diversity that’s undeniable once you leave the shadow of ‘colored by Kinnaird’ dominating this game; seeing Grafit’s colors work with Mello’s linework and inks is a welcome change, and I always love a nod to Laura’s rightful place as the new Wolverine. Is it revolutionary? Probably not. Are artist-studio collabs like these a trend that will likely become a new sort of ‘house style,’ perhaps only marginally different from what I normally critique in these variants? Maybe! But for now, it’s nice to see a solid variant that’s something different.
02/23
ADIA’s Fantasy Havok
Artist: ADIA
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Here’s something interesting (which I admittedly won’t say often about these Fantasy variants): this is going to be our first Fantasy variant to enter the General Pool, with most of them either coming through bundles or the Token shop as Ultimates (and a handful being Spotlights). Those other methods feel like Second Dinner’s traditional shorthand for slightly more ‘prestigious’ variants, if only because they’re… well, literally more expensive. So it’s cool to see the theme extend to a slightly more accessible place; Havok is a cool choice, and I love the graphic opportunity taken to interpret his power and its trademark concentric circles front and center. I’m unsure exactly how ‘Fantasy’ Alex’s vague knightly armor looks here, especially when his headpiece is the same as his normal one, but I do appreciate the effort to at least put him in some sort of nebulous plated armor. I might be more interested in the General Pool getting a Fantasy variant in principle, but it’s a fine piece; moreover, keep an eye out for at least one more of these entering the General Pool next month.
02/24
Mello and Studio Grafit’s Ms. Marvel
Artists: Eduardo Mello/Studio Grafit
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Now I spent some time talking more broadly about Mello and Grafit’s collaboration above, but I also want to talk a bit about their work itself; Grafit deserves some real praise for its painted colors in this variant in particular, which feels alive in a way many studio variants don’t quite. Mello’s the other half, of course, giving us a really exuberant Kamala, complete with giant hands that really steal the show in how great they look. Both are talented halves working together, and perhaps it’s poetic that I’ve also realized both their variants here feature a legacy character and their predecessor and mentor in the background: that sort of storytelling does often put a variant over for me, and for both Mello once again flexes how he’s a good deal more versatile than his base-art pedigree might otherwise suggest. Grafit, like Mooncolony, has work that it’s collaborated on and work it’s done by itself, but in both cases it’s clear that working with an extra individual voice like Mello yields something greater than the sum of its parts.
And That’s A Wrap Again
Patch Round-Up? Check. Variant forecast? Check. Ask what the reader thinks in the comments below… Oh, that goes here. Thanks for reading as always, guys! This week was relatively small on variants and strangely big on things to talk about (truly, the Sakakibara rabbit hole ate more of my attention than I expected). But however all that shakes out, I appreciate y’all letting me get on a soapbox here and there amidst all the variant talk to get a bit more opinionated. But that’s my time; it’s yours now. What are you opinionated about? Regarding Marvel SNAP variants, I mean. Or anything! Let me know what you agreed with, what you think I missed on, and anything in between below; I love reading and chatting with literally anyone in the comments of these. Until next week, folks!