It’s my penultimate forecast, gang—is it just me, or is someone… cutting onions around here?
Sike! There’s too many fun things to talk about to be “bittersweet” about the “end of an era,” like how many sick comic character JPEGS we’re getting this week! And the train’s just going to keep rolling on these codes, too, to celebrate the life and times of Snap.Fan’s Best Variant-Oriented Article Series That Comes Out Every Week.
(Thank you, thank you, you’re too kind. Have a code: Pax Bundle: 8a8e9HRPcX!)
So let’s forget about the future and think about the now—and by that, I mean the near-future that starts now, because a Forecast is still always going to be a little bit about the future. But no further future than that! Boom, forecast!
09/23
Rodgon & Mooncolony’s Chibi Album and Takeover
Artist: Rodgon & Mooncolony
Source: General Pool (Rare)/Album Reward
Rodgon and Mooncolony have been no stranger to the season thus far, but they’ve got their big moment coming up with this takeover—fans of Rodgon’s brand of Chibi art style are going to appreciate the broader range of character he takes a swing on here, from Red Hulk bellowing like a grizzly bear to previous season characters like Esme and Prodigy getting more looks just to diversify their burgeoning catalogues. It’s a fun series you can get for relatively cheap, which means in turn getting the Album completion reward relatively cheap; die-hards can get Strange Supreme’s variant for not too much at all!
Warlock’s Cyberpunk Launch Variants
Artist: Dardo Studio/Rodgon & Mooncolony
Source: Launch Bundle/General Pool (Rare)
Warlock’s launching, which is super exciting for any New Mutants fans out there; you can count me among them! And if you’re a fan of the Cyberpunk aesthetic Second Dinner’s designed out for this season, you might like these variants, as well—cards on the table, Warlock’s design here may be my least favorite of the whole bunch, trading out Warlock’s uniquely 2-dimensional, graphic design for far less interesting visual robot tropes like glowing blue bits and a really… bold neon mohawk look.
Color me not a fan, personally—but if you are, don’t let me harsh that! This design will come in both regular and chibi flavors like all the other launch variants we’ve seen, and you’ll be able to snag the Dardo Studio variant exclusively if you buy Warlock this week and pick up his subsequent launch bundle.
Creative House Pocket’s Spectrum/Punisher Double Bundle
Artist: Creative House Pocket
Source: Bundle
We’ve got more traditional robots going here too, with an interesting selection for a twofer bundle: Spectrum and Punisher, sharing top billing decked out in their best giant mecha duds. I expect that these are paired partly because they’re both early Series 1 cards, though it really is all over the place how that does or doesn’t get valued in bundles. My advice? Do what I do, and don’t worry about value at all—instead, worry about whether you want your favorite early Ongoing mainstays to be turned into sick Gundam mechs. When you put it like that? Not a bad proposition!
Justin Fields’ Hulkbuster Bundle
Artist: Justin Fields
Source: Bundle
Justin Fields’ latest mechanical masterpiece is a Marvel icon and early progression staple: Hulkbuster gets that Fields sheen, with that deep red and yellow really saturating the palette of the piece. (I actually think that, mayhaps, it’s a bit too deep a red for my taste). But, still! Fields is always a headturning artist for these bundles, and the detail with which he renders machinery and metal especially feels like a hallmark that goes without saying. Once upon a time, it may have been something to balk at for a Hulkbuster variant to headline a bundle, but Merge shenanigans have since become something players can play with. Maybe this is your sign to do the same!
09/24
Lee Woo-Chul’s Moonstone Bundle
Artist: Lee Woo-Chul
Source: Bundle
Lee Woo-Chul’s always a pleasant artist to see in the forecast, and (like previous times) they’re headlining a bundle with some eye-catching art—the bonus, of course, is that Moonstone is a character with less existing art to work from, at least as far as covers are concerned, which makes every high profile get a big win. Seeing Moonstone get rendered in higher detail than some other variants we’ve seen is nice, and while Woo-Chul hews closer to realism in their work, there’s still a general stylization that comes with a skintight superhero suit that they manage to adapt pretty well. If you’re rocking Moonstone in some crazy-greedy Ongoing deck and you’re looking for a new look, check this one out!
aruana sick’s Clea Bundle
Artist: aruana sick
Source: Bundle
aruana sick’s returning with another extra-stylized anime-style variant, this time tackling Clea, who certainly is a character that I expect will attract more and more variants in SNAP—and she’s already got multiple anime-esque pieces in the catalogue, making this one another for fans of that art style OR fans of everyone’s favorite Daughter of the Dark Dimension. Her white hair and all of that signature purple makes any Clea variant feel pretty distinct, which in my opinion helps this piece stand out amidst the plenty of anime pieces for the pretty women in comics, but aruana sick also deserves the shout for being a distinct individual artist working in that style rather than studio work. If you’re a fan of her extra-contrast shadows and that general anime style, give this bundle a look.
09/25
Brett Bean’s Hydra Stomper Bundle!
Artist: Brett Bean
Source: Bundle
Brett Bean’s back with a bundle—an alliteration I’ll never tire of, and it looks like Second Dinner feels the same. We’ve seen work from Bean before, and I’ve especially liked the contrast of seeing his cartoony, almost elastic art applied to the hard mechanical shapes of a character like Iron Man, or, in this case, the Hydra Stomper! There’s always a level of ‘animated’ expression that Iron Man characters carry even in the most realism-tinged piece, and seeing Bean tackle that tension and generally otherwise apply his rounded style to a mech-suit character is a lot of fun. Certainly worth checking out, for fans of Bean!
Leo Chiola’s Gorgon!
Artist: Leo Chiola
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Leo Chiola’s continuing with the hits, bringing a lesser-printed character a total banger with this Gorgon piece. His sense for that classic comics-feel, from the inked line art to the dynamic composition, is, as always, on full display. But I also love how the entire piece, from the literal swords to Gorgon’s swooping kimono and flowing hair, feels ‘sharp’—that sort of unity in design is something that I always love to see in an art piece for a character, and it makes that katana that Gorgon’s brandishing at the viewer feel that much more powerful. If you’re any way like me, you might heavily consider this particular General Pool variant for sure. Chiola stays batting 1000!
09/26
Andrea Guardino’s Thunderbolt Ross
Artist: Andrea Guardino
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Guardino’s stepping outside of myth and magic for a bit to to depict iconic military curmudgeon Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross—another great gritty match for Guardino’s style, with those strong shadows and scratched-in feeling inks. The personality of the piece is straightforward but evocative, and communicating the austere sensibility of a standard military portrait for a character like Ross is a great mood match. Guardino branching out into different characters is a welcome thing to see, and I’m always going to be more happy to see more from an artist like him!
09/27
Dan Hipp’s Super Skrull
Artist: Dan Hipp
Source: General Pool (Rare)
Dan Hipp, baby! He’s bringing us another classic look for a villain in this Super Skrull, who’s positively popping with all of the Fantastic Four’s powers on display. I love the four-part dynamic that comes with any Super Skrull depiction, giving us that full combo-platter of forcefields, fireballs, rock-fists, and stretching that is core to any depiction of Super Skrull. And Hipp’s talent for capturing that pop-comics spirit is on full display, as always—I love those iconic fire-lines borrowed from the Torch he’s got going, and the colors all work together despite the intentionally-disparate look that Kl’rt always rocks. It’s a steal!
09/28
Kim Jacinto’s Rogue!
Artist: Kim Jacinto
Source: General Pool (Super Rare)
Kim Jacinto is back in SNAP with a Super Rare variant, and he’s bringing a different flavor of work this time around—and it’s no less phenomenal. Rather than leaning into the hyper-foreshortened dynamic look that we’ve all come to associate with Jacinto’s work, this Rogue is less exaggerated, taking on a classic flying action pose as she smashes a Sentinel apart. But fear not; this Rogue has as much energy as any of Jacinto’s best, and the inked linework and all of those comic flourishes still pop off the page. The style is all still there, and for Super Rare it’s going to be hard to not consider spending the gold, at least for me. Here’s hoping for more of these from Jacinto!
09/29
Dan Hipp’s MODOK!
Artist: Dan Hipp
Source: General Pool (Rare)
We’re wrapping on another one from Hipp here, bringing us another classic scowling ne’er-do-well in MODOK—and just look at him! Look at those big ol’ eyes, the shadows under them, that craggly face and brow… Hipp understands how to evoke that really tangible personality and energy that classic comic villains exude, and this is a top-tier example. As a bonus it’s the classic design, which I especially appreciate in the light of recent cards coming with Hipp pieces that use the Second Dinner-made Cyberpunk designs. I get why they did it, but variants like this MODOK and Super Skrull above confirm how I like my Hipp variants classic.
Wrapping Up
Thanks for sticking through it, y’all.
Here’s another code: Pax Bundle: 19B36B04m8).
Let me know your favorite variant artist you’ve seen in SNAP’s lifetime—it might be a mainstay who’s had your heart since beta, it might be someone brand new on the block. But let me know below (If you still need a PAX Bundle code, put your discord user), and until next time (and only next time)... see ya!