It’s the third week of July and the second week of the First Steps season, and we’re in a bit of a lull and anticipatory period to see where exactly SNAP goes next—whether you’re feeling a bit disillusioned and disinterested in SNAP’s current direction or you’re feeling like it’s a brand new game, the weekly cadences comes, and it won’t stop coming! I received some lovely comments regarding this column being a breath of positivity amidst things, and I really appreciated being able to be that break amidst all the hubbub elsewhere. So what’re we waiting for? Let’s First Step on over to another forecast.
07/15
Creative House Pocket’s Sticker Takeover
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: General Pool (Rare/Super Rare)/Album Reward
It’s a common start this week, with Creative House Pocket getting yet another themed takeover and album—this time centered on a poppy, fun series of variants that features fun little charm stickers on all of its anime-style characters. Characters like Squirrel Girl, Goose, and Cosmo are quite easy recipients for the anime-adorable crowd, but there’s also some fun inclusions like Lady Sif and, perhaps most notably, Agony!
Winking Studio’s Araña Bundle
Artist: Winking Studio
Source: Bundle
Not to be outdone, Winking Studio’s got a fun take on Araña coming, giving us a high-rendering, fantastical-mythical take on Anya Corazon dubbed a Jade Web Weaver. I don’t exactly know what that means, but it reminds me of the more generally fantasy-based skins you’d see in a game like League of Legends, with dramatic aesthetic flourishes and broad thematic ideas. But that’s not a knock on the piece itself—it’s a cool and dynamic one, and one that I imagine any fan of Araña or those aesthetics.
07/16
Sam Nielson’s Human Torch First Steps
Artist: Sam Nielson
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Sam Nielson gets to continue his series of First Steps variants with Human Torch First Steps releasing this week, providing that General Pool variant for players hungry for alternate art even in the vacuum left by Spotlight variants. It’s worth noting that, wreathed in fire but notably absent those vertical sweater stripes (which hearken back to the classic Human Torch fiery look in the 60’s), this feels very much like a piece that could have been for Johnny or for New Johnny almost interchangeably.
It may just be that the costume of the Human Torch is always going to be occluded once he’s, you know, on fire, but it’s notable in what’s otherwise been a quite specific aesthetic connection to the film coming from all of these variants. Still, he’s joyous and fiery; folks ready to jump at the first variant available for our boy as played by Joseph Quinn, check this one out!
Michal Ivan’s Vulture Bundle!
Artist: Michal Ivan
Source: Bundle
Michal Ivan’s always a welcome standout, and he’s hitting the same day with a really sinister looking Vulture that looks maybe a smidgen less silly than comics-accurate Vulture normally does. And I love that sort of silly! But I think Ivan taps into a slightly more ominous vibe to great success here, using those dark green palettes and letting those enormous feathers loom in the foreground to get some real scale out of that suit. And, of course, Ivan brings a level of stylized exaggeration to those aquiline features and those inhuman talons—befitting the way he turns any of his characters into more than just people in colorful costumes. It’s great work!
aruana sick’s Magik
Artist: aruana sick
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
aruana sick is a really cool artist to see recur a bit more, bringing a softer, higher contrast style to the recognizable high-rendered anime look that we see so often in this game; I think they bring just enough individual voice to that look to make it stand out among the sea of studio work operating in that same space, and we’re better off for it! This Magik is, of course, vying against the stiff competition of her very stacked variant catalogue, but I think there’s lots to admire, from the contrast of that bright light to her dark armor, to just the way the composition is working with the angle to create some dynamism out of a standing pose. It’s certainly a win for any burgeoning aruana sick fans!
07/17
Carlos Dattoli’s Toxin Bundle!
Artist: Carlos Dattoli
Source: Bundle
Eagle-eyed datamine scourers may recognize this as the Toxin variant that was missing teeth for a long time! Some glitch of layering had poor Toxin gumming at the camera, but now we can see him in all that symbiote-proper toothy glory. And what glory it is! Dattoli’s talent for extract some real power out of his pieces continues to impress, with that maw open wide and spittle flying everywhere. It’s fearsome, and the colors really pop in that subtler lighting. It’s a great piece to cement Dattoli as a likely high-value repeat bundle draw.
ARTTREE STUDIO’s Luna Snow
Artist: ARTTREE STUDIO
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Luna Snow isn’t always a character I’m the hugest fan of, just as a Marvel reader—but I think that her role Marvel Rivals and her subsequent resurgence in places like our very own SNAP has led to some art I have to admire. I think the design as done by Rivals’ style is a high point, and this ARTTREE variant skews very close to that, meaning that those colors and that stylized rendering help bring the design to life. It’s quite the strong piece, and one that I think is definitely worth consideration at the 1200 Gold price point!
07/18
Tae Kwon Kim’s Surge
Artist: Tae Kwon Kim
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Tae Kwon Kim is here for the threefer! Starting off is this Surge, who makes me wonder if Tae Kwon Kim was originally a candidate for the feature or backup artist for the New X-Men season. Either way, the lightning off her gauntlets makes for interesting lighting, casting her in some shadow as it lights her sides, and Kim’s style makes for punchy, dynamic look for an appropriately punchy, cool character. It’s high-def and Cool, for people who like Cool—what’s not to like.
07/19
Tae Kwon Kim’s Esme Cuckoo
Artist: Tae Kwon Kim
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Tae Kwon Kim is here for the threefer! We’re going into the next one here with Esme Cuckoo, whose best shot at getting variants of her and not her sisters is likely going to be commissions like this. (They’re identical quintuplets, give Second Dinner a break.) But this one’s her! And she’s got a cool, modern take on that classic concentric circle effect of psychic power. I like the classic Stepford Cuckoo white X-Uniform on display here too, making for some welcome (if ironic) variety in SNAP’s Stepford Cuckoo wardrobe.
07/20
Tae Kwon Kim’s Elixir
Artist: Tae Kwon Kim
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
You get the idea! The last of the New X-Men cards tackled by Tae Kwon Kim’s big week here is Elixir, who gets an appropriately shiny treatment as he brandishes his healing power. The floating lights and nebulously organic shapes in the background tell me that Elixir might be functioning in his role with the Five on Krakoa, remaking and reviving embryos of dead mutants to bring your faves back to life. We also get either a hint of a direct depiction of the other half of Elixir’s biokinesis, with his other arm shadowed much like it becomes when he turns his powers deadly. It’s a cool piece, and a welcome little trifecta for some great characters spotlit a couple of seasons ago!
07/21
Cover Alert: What If? (1989) #17
Artist: John Romita Jr.
Source: General Pool (Rare)
We’re wrapping on a fabulous cover alert from What If, continuing the ongoing series of covers from that series that have been trickling into SNAP! This is pulled from a story where Kraven actually kills Spider-Man, but the tragedy and gravity of those possibilities is overshadowed by The Hunter’s incredible legs, on full display with a leopard-print loincloth keeping your eyes where it should be. John Romita Jr.’s early work might surprise people used to his modern work, but it works a classic veneer here, with the expressive personality that helps sell the excess of covers like this! For a Rare price point, any move players really should consider how great those thighs are.
Wrapping Up
And that’s a wrap! We’ve got a patch coming Thursday this week around, and I think that will likely bring some renewed variant excitement for all you faithful patch-datamine combers out there. But for now, I’ll keep covering the immediate: whatever’s coming to shops near YOU, on the, uh, scheduled release cadence, available months in advance.
So, hey, I’m glad you read these! Let me know down below what you think of the week’s showing—what’d you love? What’d you hate? And until next time, I’ll see you guys in the comments!