I’m going to start by putting aside any discussion of card quality, necessity of printing, cost of cards, anything like that. This post is not a forum for my opinions on the state of the game. I’m just here to look at the art on the cards. Who made them, what else they’ve done across Magic and other properties, are there any cool references, things like that. We’re here to celebrate artistic achievement.
There will also be criticism of any non-standard frames, alt-art styles, anything that messes with the normal layout of the card. Some of these are great, some of these are problematic.
Oh, this also might not be an exhaustive list. So many people make art for Magic, I’ll try to highlight the most interesting ones, but you should support everyone (who doesn’t get caught plagiarizing). I’m also only doing 5 at a time, so I can put these out at a reasonable pace, rather than wait a while and put out a gigantic post.
Let’s start near the top of the alphabetical list with Aunt May.
Randy Gallegos might be familiar to anyone who has been playing Magic for a while. A lot of the artists that draw for modern Magic started relatively recently, but Randy is part of the old guard. Nemesis all-star Accumulated Knowledge? There’s Randy. Excellent reanimation spell Dance of the Dead? Randy again. The very first printing of Shock? It’s your boy. He’s been drawing Magic history for decades.
Also, shoutout to his art series Hearts for Hardware, a series where he paints classic video game hardware. Now I want a Secret Lair with the Sega Dreamcast in it.
All right, who’s next? Ooo, Beetle.
Carlos Dattoli has only done four cards for Magic, all for Spider-Man. This is a good sign that he’s done significant work elsewhere, and indeed he has. Looking through his ArtStation profile, looks like he’s done a lot of Power Rangers comic covers, along with some splash art for Marvel and TMNT. Time will tell if we’ll see Carlos again for the TMNT set.
How about some Carnage?
That’s an interesting name, Lordigan. His real name is Pedro Sena, and if you couldn’t guess from the art on this card, Lordigan draws some pretty metal artwork. No, really. Album covers for metal bands. Here’s his ArtStation profile, but be prepared. It’s very pointy.
Time for another big splashy card with fun art history, Cosmic Spider-Man!
Again, those with an eagle eye will look at the artist and say, hey, wait a minute. Boros…like, the color pair? Oddly enough, that’s a coincidence, like Doug Bowser being the president of Nintendo America. But he is one of the longest tenured artists for Magic. At time of printing, Scryfall has him on almost 400 cards. Highlights include the Boo token for Minsc and Boo, classic cEDH annoyance Dargo, and a snazzy store league promo Soldier token. I’ll get working on my token appreciation posts eventually.
OK, one more, who is it…Eddie!
Another serious Magic veteran, Greg Staples is also on over 300 cards. Some of them are, in fact, staples, or at least fairly iconic. Baneslayer Angel, Buried Alive, and Chain of Smog, and that’s just on the first Scryfall page. He’s also know for a bunch of Judge Dredd comic book art.
All right, that’s the first five I’m going to look at. Right now, I’m working my way through Spider-Man, while collecting info about Avatar, Lorwyn, and TMNT as they become available. Expect those to start around the time that the full set spoilers are released.
Plus, I’ll be doing a deep dive on the history of tokens, so I can start up a post-release series on the tokens that each set adds to the game. How useful they are, should they slot into specific archetypes or general token strategies, etc.
I’m coming back, folks. I need stuff to keep me focused, and I think talking about Magic is that thing, at least for now. I’d appreciate feedback. Do you want me going more in-depth on artists? More examples of non-Magic artwork they’ve done? I’m here to make it happen.
See you next time, and remember, as much as the game changes, the art is always cool.
That's Pretty NEET 