Top 10: MTG x TMNT
I don’t have a lot of nice things to say about Universes Beyond as a product diluting the identity and integrity of my favorite game. But! I did work on this one, and I did find some pieces to be really fun illustrations. So here we are.
-V
10. Pizza Lands
The subject of much ire and disgust in various forums (mission accomplished!), these lands are yet another in a series of homeruns from an artist whose work I now await with impatience every set. Those gooey edges can make even this herring/onion pizza look salivating to me.
✦︎
9. Super Combo
I enjoy Caroline’s soft, clean style. The shapes on that Rocksteady are just perfect.
✦︎
8. Raphael, Ninja Destroyer
Don’t be fooled: a good silhouette is damn hard to do! This gesture in particular feels pitch perfect to me and lends Raphael a graphic gravitas which is a nice departure from the otherwise pervasive goofiness of the set. Joshua was also responsible for my favorite black & white Phyrexia: All Will Be One pieces. Comic book artists are just a cut above!
✦︎
7. Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers
I just think this painting is so damn cool? Just absolutely radical, really. At card size it looks like they are both riding on the same skateboard, which only makes it more comedic and badass to me.
✦︎
The great TCK illustrated no less than nine cards for the TMNT set.
I couldn’t choose just one, so I included a couple!
Each more fun than the last, Thomas once again playfully showing us how it’s done.
The guy dropping his OJ in the subway lives in my head rent-free!
✦︎
5. Mutant Town Musicians
This card put me on to the phenomenal work of Leonardo Vincent (what a powerful art name.)
I looove the style and shapes on this card, desperately wish I could see a full res!
✦︎
4. Mona Lisa, Ever Adaptable
Ever since April got on my radar for her design work on Bloomburrow (could write a whole separate post on this alone), I’ve been pretty obsessed. Her work stands out with superior caricatured expression, anatomy, and gesture, particularly of animal or partly-animal characters. The staging on this piece specifically is ambitious and packed with detail yet importantly remains extremely clear, which gives it an almost Norman Rockwell quality that I truly appreciate and aspire to.
✦︎
2. Leonardo, Sewer Samurai
If there was ever any doubt, this painting is definitive proof (and a good reminder to at least me), that a great artist is a great artist agnostic of medium. This is one of only three existing digital paintings from Ryan for Magic, since traditional paintings were not allowed for this set, but it could have fooled me! Ryan’s characteristic play of tight vs loose, gorgeous edges, not to mention absolutely masterful composition are on full display. New York feels a faraway nightmare in this beautiful and poetic rendition of a samurai/ninja clash in feudal Japan that feels much more classical fantasy and much less anachronistic than the rest of the set. Definitely a case where the name and frame don’t do the card any favors aesthetically, but the painting stands firmly on its own as one of my absolute favorites.
✦︎
2. Leonardo, Leader in Blue
I think I’m just a Nicholas Gregory fanboy at this point. I love the strained, sinewy tension in his figures, the abstraction and stylization of muscles and forms. Could look at this one for hours! Patiently hoping/praying the hi res gets posted some day (this is a screenshot from Instagram)
✦︎
1. Donatello, the Brains
I loved all three of Jason’s images in this set (there is a clear passion and appreciation for the IP!), but this one just takes the cake. The MacGyver'd assortment of whacky equipment on display is so thoughtful, so delightfully cowabunga, it teleported me back to my childhood reading I Spy books. The Shredder squeegee vicegripped in the clamp, its eyes bulging out, the camera plugged into the TV displaying Donatello’s goofy teeth, the red emergency button hooked up to the clamp+fire extinguisher, the multitasking gesture of Donatello himself…every square inch of this painting is filled with love, and for that I gladly award it First Place Best Winner Champion of MTGTMNT!
For the statistics-inclined among us (me), it looks like the the top 10 list included:
- 2 Michelangelos
- 2 Leonardos
- 3 Donatellos
- 6 Raphaels
