Boy, where does the Season go? We’re at the last week of the Heralds season, finishing strong with Cosmic Ghost Rider’s debut and an entire mode and reward still running at the time of writing! And we’re going to end the month with a bang in this forecast, with several bangers and a big takeover that’s sure to be popular headlining the week. So come with me, Forecast Faithfuls—let’s see it!
08/26
The Latest PANDART Takeover and Album!
Artist: PANDART STUDIO
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)/Album Reward
PANDART’s kicking us off with the latest in a massive blast of stylized, quality-rendered pieces from the original prolific SNAP studio. We’ve got a full album’s worth of variants from PANDART coming in, with a clear overarching presence from the studio artist behind the series of variants from AvX with the hyper-dynamic, Kim Jacinto-esque foreshortening. The likes of Kitty Pryde, Nico Minoru, and Thena are breaking into the foreground, and we’re also getting PANDART revisits to symbiotes like Carnage and Venom in this more gritty, heavily inked style compared to the previous Symbiote season PANDARTs. To cap it all out, we’ve got the album reward: the coveted PANDART Arishem, who will turn all generated cards into their PANDART variants. It’s not often there’s objective value to a variant, but it’s hard to deny the aesthetic bang for buck for PANDART fans out there looking to finish an album.
…and PANDART Cosmic Ghost Rider
Artist: PANDART Studio
Source: Unknown
Aaaand we’ve also got this PANDART, as is standard for all the new cards coming out this month! It’s interesting that the release source is now Unknown in datamines, but the presumption is that it was previously in the same category as those Spotlight variants for all the other heralds, and priced accordingly either for 3500 Tokens or 2400 Gold. We don’t necessarily know how that’ll play out, but we do know that this Cosmic Ghost Rider captures a surprising level of pathos and contemplation in this pose, elevating it a bit in my eyes from lots of PANDART’s selection. Whatever price it comes out as, be on the lookout!
Viktor Farro’s Iron Patriot Bundle!
Artist: Viktor Farro
Source: Bundle
Farro continues his steady presence in SNAP as this next bundle for him comes out, giving us a gorgeous painted Iron Patriot that (following on a previous piece that did the same) lifts lots of the beautifully tangible elements from the original live-action Iron Man suit. Those metal plates and pieces rendered by a talent like Farro manage to be both realistic and dream-like, with that painted haze Farro so often works in really adding some dynamism and bringing the piece to life. Bundle buyers, if there was ever a time to consider…
Creative Plus’s Iron Fist
Artist: Creative Plus
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
We’ve got some Super Rares coming too, as is universally true these days: Creative Plus (a lesser featured studio we’ve seen, for now) is giving us a neat Iron Fist, with his titular… well, Iron Fist front and center. It’s a fine variant for someone we haven’t seen too much attention on recently, and that yellow glow and the competent rendering makes for a solid alt-art for anyone looking to dress up this classic Move enabler.
Cover Alert: Uncanny X-Men (2016) #10 (Ward Death of X Variant)
Artist: Christian Ward
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
And for folks that were invested in following the misattributed variant saga featuring the Xorn cover by Ethan Van Sciver, we’ve finally got our solution: this quite beautiful new Xorn cover from 2016, done by Christian Ward! It’s likely one of the best possible outcomes, having a great new variant replace a problematic one, and Second Dinner even gets to sidestep really talking about anything by just saying it was about the misattribution. And it really is a nice piece—Xorn’s main thing is his head being a star (and, I guess separately, secretly being Magneto) but taking that concept and running with it to see Xorn in the moments before his head goes supernova is gorgeous. Folks unfortunately enough to have bought the previous cover under false pretense are rewarded with a great replacement; everyone else has to see this in their shop and make a hard decision.
08/27
Creative House Pocket’s Maria Hill Bundle
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: Bundle
Creative House Pocket’s next bundle is anime Maria Hill, channeling a grittier action direction with that puff-jacket fashion and her iconic short haircut. I like the blue highlights to add some color to that classic black and white SHIELD uniform palette, and the angle looking up at Hill helps remind us that, quite often, she’s the one in charge. Pocket collectors are going to have to decide on whether they’re parting with cash for this next bundle, but for diehards it’s one of the best Creative House Pocket looks we’ve seen in a bit.
Envar Studio’s Cosmic Ghost Rider
Artist: Envar Studio
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Cosmic Ghost Rider gets an Envar like all the heralds do, and while this one isn’t my favorite of the bunch (mostly because I’ve been quite high on several, not because this one is particularly lackluster) it still lands as a solid alternate-art for folks who want a different variant for their new combination Ghost Rider-Punisher-Herald. It’s more dynamic than the other variants for him, with that flaming mug of his brandishing a gun straight at the foreground, and the linework and coloring are both tight. Like I said, Envar’s just been firing on all cylinders this month, and it’s ending strong even after its best showcases (in my opinion) have already hit SNAP.
SUPJA and Mooncolony’s Gilgamesh
Artist: SUPJA/Mooncolony
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
SUPJA teams up with Mooncolony (who has quietly become the half-step superstar for these part studio, part other artist collabs) and they do a neat job taking Gilgamesh on with a different likeness—one that certainly carries a level of uncertainty and humanity that we don’t always see from the superheroic Eternal. It’s a nice change of pace, and one that still manages to encompass Gilgamesh’s scale and power with that giant glowing fist in the foreground. I’m a fan of pieces that tell a story, and telling a story with an expression is something that is oft-overlooked as a talent!
PANDART STUDIO’s Ka-Zar
Artist: PANDART STUDIO
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Ka-Zar is the last PANDART sneaking in here after the big blast, and it’s the more classic PANDART style we’ve seen before, with the glossier rendering and the more regular stylization we’ve seen. It’s solid for any Ka-Zar players that aren’t satisfied with what they’ve got for him thus far, though for the Super Rare tag that PANDARTs carry one of the many coming out this week will provide stiff competition. Ka-Zar’s just one of those cards at the intersection of beginner card and “has lots of variants already,” which makes any new variant harder to stand out, as well. Still, PANDART fans, it’s a good week for you!
08/28
Envar Studio’s Sam Wilson: Captain America Bundle
Artist: Envar Studio
Source: Bundle
Envar’s got a Sam Wilson: Captain America variant coming out, and it’s interesting to note that for Season Pass characters, after the initial month, they’re just as susceptible to a small variant lineup as any card—perhaps even moreso, because they’ve had a time in the spotlight that’s since past! As a result, this Envar is the first new SamCap we’ve seen in a minute, and it’s a beautifully rendered one that maybe only shows the cracks in the linework underneath the painting. That’s a relatively soft critique—for many folks, the rendering does more than enough to carry a drawing that doesn’t quite pop. Moreover, if you’re hungry for Sam as Cap, there’s relatively slim pickings, especially if you missed the February Pass. Worth considering!
Cover Alert: Scream: Curse of Carnage (2019) #1
Artist: Jim Cheung
Source: General Pool (Rare)
This is a great cover—a friend of mine mentioned not being a fan of Scream’s design in general, and this cover still won them over! Of course, as veteran of the comics world, Jim Cheung in general is a win whenever we get some of his work in game. And he captures an alienness that’s sometimes lost with Scream (on account of her having a clearly human mane of feminine hair atop what’s an otherwise screeching, inhuman creature), and he manages to put that monstrosity front and center without betraying that original design. There isn’t really a redesign at work here: just an artist who knows how to balance the core design of a character and the best way to realize it. And at Rare? C’mon!
08/29
Dan Hipp’s Araña and Madame Web!
Artist: Dan Hipp
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Bespoke Hipp enjoyers rejoice: we’ve got not one, but two coming this week, and as a bonus, they go in the same deck! Araña has lots of stiff competition for cool variants, so I understand if folks find a hard decision waiting for them there, but this clears Madame Web’s whole pool for me, personally—if a character’s always got to be seated, it’s great to see them seated in a distinct, fun style. Plus, Hipp’s doing some subtle lighting work to heighten the drama of the piece. Personally? The star of the show is those wonderful pigeons in Araña’s variant: what a cute, succinct way to tell us someone’s mid-air!
08/30
Zoltan Boros’ Miek!
Artist: Zoltan Boros
Source: General Pool (Rare)
My favorite piece from Zoltan Boros so far might have to be this one—the colors are great, and he just captures that sort of 90’s, Magic: the Gathering monster aesthetic with the lighting, pose, and design on Miek here. He’s just buggish enough in some places and notably not buggish in others, landing at a sweet spot that feels quite on the money for a comic book alien. There’s not a ton to say, other than is certainly a favorable direction to see more of Boros’ work in, and a favorable rate for Miek buyers that like it!
08/31
Cover Alert: Mystique (2024) #1 (Rose Besch Variant)
Artist: Rose Besch
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
We’re wrapping on another recent cut from the comics: yet another X-Men cover from post-Krakoa, which tallies us precisely at… so many more recent covers from X-Men than any other series. What can I say? Someone at Second Dinner is a fan. And I’m a fan of Rose Besch and her sweet Mystique here, straddling that line between abstracted and stylized, as Mystique (ever fluid in form normally) disperses into those gold skulls we see her rocking so often. It’s a great cover, and one that I’m certainly happy to see jumping over from shelves into SNAP, especially for Gold!
Wrapping Up
As always, thank you for reading. This has been your captain, Quiksilvur, and it has been an honor to mix metaphors with you. Remain seated until the light turns off, and let me know below in the meanwhile what you think of this week, this season, or just… I dunno, whatever. I want to hear from you! So I’ll see you below, and I’ll see you next time.