It’s the pun so nice, I had to say it at least twice. Fantastic Forecast! We’re back again, and with some real cool variants that I’ve been looking forward to—there’s a to come this week with a whole new mode, new cards, and that push towards that whole new movie they made about the latest Marvel SNAP season. What a time! Let’s dive in.
07/22
Creative House Pocket’s Domino
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: Bundle
Creative House Pocket’s Domino feels like it’s been in datamines for a while—another one of those variants that had a ‘misprint’ in the datamines with missing layers until recently. But she’s here, and anime-fied! It’s always a win when a longstanding datamined variant finally hits the game, and I'm positive plenty of folks out there have been waiting for it. I like the fact that it’s such a straightforward but clear interpretation of the base Domino design, too—some anime variants feel a bit ‘overdesigned,’ but this one hits the mark.
Rian Gonzales’ Speed!
Artist: Rian Gonzales
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Rian Gonzales is here with a variant for Speed, who’s really bolstered his variant catalogue in a sneaky way through various Second Dinner commissions. This latest one is a sweet one, channeling that speedster metabolism as Tommy chows down on ramen and dumplings with a family of those trademark Gonzales chibis floating around—his parents and twin brother, just happy to be along for the ride. It’s great warm colors in her usual vibrant palette—what’s not to love?
Cover Alert: Captain Carter (2022) #1 Variant!
Artist: Jen Bartel
Source: Bundle
Jen Bartel’s got a great variant cover from Captain Carter’s inaugural solo series, and it’s a really great atmospheric Carnageized cover that makes good use of the visual cues that Peggy comes with, brandishing that shield mid-transformation. I like the dramatic red background to complement the dread of the half-transformation we normally see with these symbiote pieces—making it a bit less about the close-up body horror and more about the tone and mood, which feels appropriate. It comes with the tendrils and the black and red and those creeping veins custom for a Carnage piece, too, making this a solid win for any fan of the red ooze OR Captain Carter.
07/23
Adi Granov’s Agent Venom Bundle!
Artist: Adi Granov
Source: Bundle
This is unabashedly the highlight of the week for me, and it’s a rare moment where I have been, in fact, waiting for a bundle and tracking my own Gold to make sure I’ll be able to grab it when it drops! Adi Granov doing art for Marvel SNAP at this caliber is really incredible, and for a character as sick as Agent Venom, there hasn’t been nearly enough variant attention for him so far. This has added up to this piece hitting a similar chord as Granov’s Anti-Venom, which was another incredible piece that happened to be attached to an affordable Gold bundle.
I love Granov picking up on the simple appeal of Flash’s Venom, from those insectoid spines on shoulders and kneepads to the conscious and deliberate Spider-Man influence on his posture. The mist in the dark adds to all that mood, adding a menace and edge to the ambience that really ties it all together. I can’t wait to have this in my collection, and you might be in the same camp!
Sam Nielson’s Thing First Steps!
Artist: Sam Nielson
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
There’s a lot of stuff going on this week, but amidst it all Thing gets his First Steps retrain, and with it Nielson gets to drop the next in his series of Shop variants for the Ever Lovin’ Blue Eyed Thing First Steps. I like how it captures this Thing iteration’s pronounced Kirby-esque brow, and the personality coming out of the piece is simple but effective. The costume looks great in the light, too—which may be as much praise for the costuming department on the impending film as it is for Nielson! Fans of the Thing, or First Steps, or even The Thing First Steps, might want to pick this up—for my money, it’s the best piece behind Adi Granov’s Thing First Steps, which still has an unknown release date. Grab it if you want it!
Envar Studio’s Adam Warlock
Artist: Envar Studio
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Adam Warlock’s got an especially grimace-y variant from Envar, which is a bit amusing because the rendering and lighting puts that dramatic scowl into a relatively neutral composition and tone elsewhere in the piece. Still, I appreciate that sort of drama, and it feels core to the original Adam Warlock at the center of ALL the drama in the Infinity Saga. The red and black on the costume looks cool here, in that sort of ‘we modernized him’ sense we see so often in comics, and while there’s maybe a missed opportunity for this piece to have more of the gravitas promised by that mug, there’s a lot to like for someone looking for a new look for their favorite cosmic golden boy.
07/24
Grand Arena Champions Variants!
Artist: Dardo Studios/Greg & Tim Hildebrandt/Vincenzo Riccardi
Source: Grand Arena Shop
The Grand Arena is bringing a slew of variants as rewards for the latest mode to hit SNAP, and that it’s quite the roster! Of course, it’s all themed (mostly) on the Fantastic Four, with hints of Sakaarian gladiator aesthetics and also Carnage is there. But it gives us an excuse for a neat aesthetic departure, with newover Dardo Studios putting the likes of Reed, Sue, Doom, and Mole Man in that alien gladiator garb, decking them out with cool weapons and armor and giving them that stylized rendering lots of people like.
For folks interested in other looks, the Masterpiece variant for Mister Fantastic by the Hildebrandts and the Vincenzo Riccardi Torch with those incredible iridescent colors are also options for the ‘purists’ out there that just want to see those comic designs be the best they can be under great artists. It’ll be one of those ‘choose what you work towards’ shops, so pick carefully, and plan your resources accordingly!
Paul Mafayon’s Leader
Artist: Paul Mafayon
Source: Unknown (Game Mode?)
Paul Mafayon’s an artist we’re about to see a lot of, but this early-bird Leader (who, far as I can tell, wasn’t specified in the Shop contents in the announcement, but is tagged the same day and source as the other rewards) gives us a preview of what to expect. Now, Mafayon’s work isn’t without some controversy—some talk’s been made already about how his work feels like it has some traits that flag as AI to folks, and if you look it up he’s been involved in a previous separate discussion about his art on an album cover where he has discussed using AI in, purportedly, a small non-generative capacity as a finishing touch. I don’t want to bog down the forecast whenever this comes up, and it’s easy for these things to turn into witch hunts, so to be clear there’s no overt acknowledgement that these variants are in that same AI space, and I won’t be bringing this up again.
However, it’s worth mentioning that even if it’s an unfortunate resemblance between Mafayon’s work and certain AI hallmarks people have come to recognize, it makes for certain aspects that may make these variants divisive. I do like the sort of cartoon expressiveness in this Leader—it’s a great expression on a devious character, and for some folks that stylization will hit just right. But many of the other elements feel like a glossy, appealing sheen that can ring a little generic to me, in the wrong dosages. If it’s your thing, definitely be on the lookout, though: we’ll be seeing more of Mafayon quite soon.
Nicola Saviori’s Venomized Blade Bundle
Artist: Nicola Saviori
Source: Bundle
Nicola Saviori’s next charming Venomized variant goes to everyone’s favorite vampire hunter in cinematic development hell—Blade, enveloped in that toothy, inky alien substance. It feels more apparent that Saviori’s stamp on the Venomized genre (that pink glow) is what really makes it feel distinct from classic symbiote depictions, and it helps add a lot of that visual flair that makes these bundles tempting. Beyond that, the sword and outfit are classic Blade, and it’s a testament to a character’s recognizability that those muted black outfit accoutrements can feel so distinct on a character like the Daywalker himself.
Cover Alert: Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider (2024) #4 Variant!
Artist: John Giang
Source: General Pool (Rare)
John Giang’s a recent back-issue favorite for Second Dinner evidently, with this Spider-Gwen being only the first of two Spider-folk getting a variant cover into Marvel SNAP. And it’s not hard to see why! His penchant for more dynamic compositions combined with a slightly off-kilter, almost collage-like rendering that really draws the eye. The roughness might not be for everyone, but for a Rare price such a cool style is an absolute steal.
07/25
Vincenzo Riccardi’s Thing Bundle!
Artist: Vincenzo Riccardi
Source: Bundle
The Thing’s OG card gets a variant from Riccardi alongside the rest of the OG F4, and like the rest, Riccardi’s doing a great job adding his kaleidoscopic coloring and rendering style to make these pop. What particularly works well are those shadows on the rocky plates of Grimm’s skin, which naturally plane out into distinct blocks that help make that rocky shape really pop. That orange being created out of whites, dark reds, and yellows in that bright lighting does the same, making it clear that Riccardi is a really experienced color artist that’s made his artistic hallmark those colors for good reason. It’s a great piece all around, and F4 fans might feel like it’s worth the bundle even with the Thing’s new First Steps toy kicking up dust on the block.
Cover Alert: Kang the Conqueror (2021) #1 Variant!
Artist: Peach Momoko
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Peach Momoko’s got an extensive memory lane in comics to walk down as far as back-issue variant covers are concerned, and I always think people will be a little surprised how many of Momoko’s variants were originally covers, versus direction commissions. (It’s a vast majority of them.) This Kang in particular stands out as a cover I remember seeing everywhere, especially when Kang discussions were at an all-time high and the comics were capitalizing.
I love the quieter, contemplative nature Momoko brings to her work, and it works really well for such a wide-scope high concept character like Kang. She sneaks her trademark horror eyeballs in there, too, making it a bona fide Momoko with all the personality that exudes. Here’s hoping that Kang rework is soon, for these variants to really get their time to shine.
07/26
Cover Alert: Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #4 Variant!
Artist: John Giang
Source: General Pool (Rare)
John Giang’s second appearance for the week is with none other than the man himself, Spider-Man! And like with that previous Ghost-Spider, there’s a really neat combination of Giang’s lo-fi rendering style and that classic comic-book action energy that helps this variant stand out in the webslinger’s enormous variant catalogue. It comes with an extra side of ‘this is an iconic Spider-Man pose,’ and that really helps cinch the piece up into something really nice. As a side note, Second Dinner’s penchant for grabbing relatively recent covers from current comics is really fun, and I’m hoping we continue to see more of the standouts on stands entering our little corner of the Merry Marvel universe!
07/27
Eric Guerrerro’s Arishem
Artist: Eric Guerrerro
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Ever since the change to card-generating cards that let them generate cards that match their variant category, Arishem variants have skyrocketed in value. Any variant category he belongs to will be included in that massive 24 card deck, which means that this Eric Guerrerro Arishem is going to call forth the respectably stocked Guerrerro variant catalogue. Fans of a bright, relatively stylized series of variants might consider this Arishem on that pure novelty, but it’s also a fine variant with an amusingly actionized pose looking like Arishem’s looking to scrap.
07/28
Grafit Studio’s Patriot
Artist: Grafit Studio
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
In a bit of a surprise, Grafit Studio’s shown up with impressively painted rendering for this Patriot variant! I’m far from delusional enough that to be surprised it was a studio variant—my cautious skepticism of the volume of variants shouldn’t be mistaken for my skepticism that a given studio can put out a banger. But I was surprised at the different direction this Patriot took from all of Grafit’s other work in the game—still stylized, with that sharper lighting many of their variants have, but with much subtler linework and rendering. I was reminded of their Quicksilver (which was also excellent)—and I myself have been looking for a Patriot variant. If I could just scrounge up the gold, post-Agent Venom…
Wrapping Up
But either way, I hope y’all liked some of these variants as much as I did! But, of course, if you didn’t, I wanna hear that too. I want to hear all your thoughts! And I hope everyone has a great week—I’ll be watching First Steps out there will all the nerds, and I’m hoping it’s the sort of thing that both carries the hype and revitalizes it. Maybe I’ll come back gung-ho about reprinted First Steps cards! Until next time, though, adieu.