I can't believe the ridiculous and completely over-the-top art I'm already getting a look at for Mutant Pizza. And it reminds me that we never had a proper send-off for ColleXion: RefleXions. Soooo, sorry for artbombing your feed in 3...2...1...

1st up, @disasterlaster. I that he thematically tied the Apoc into his S1 Kid Omega entry. This dude has blossomed into a stud artist in front of all our eyes. So lucky to have caught him on the way up. (Find all the double-sided cards FREE here: https://gumroad.com/collexion  )

Not much I can say about @adamreck that X-fans don't already know, but get this: The Angel piece was literally a less-than-one-day turnaround when my OCD took over and NEEDED a perfect number of cards to fill the sleeves. And those Nates?!? I've always been madly in love w/ them.

Half the fun of this big group project is showcasing different art. Bold & simple shapes and colors from @chickendynasty's Banshee look like they were pulled from my old modern art textbook & the indy underground vibe of Callisto is...well, it's Morlockian. Such a snug fit.

Holy balls. Follow https://www.instagram.com/heri_shinato/  for more incredible illustrations that belong on the actual comic books you hold in your hands.

So @elisamakesart was a real feather in the cap to the ColleXion team, bringing these silky smooth (in shape and tone) watercolors to the group. Idealized, but not overly sexualized bodies, that look like they could inhabit and move in real space. I'm jealous of this skill.

Another newcomer bringing an entirely different skill set to the table, @monikanimated's illustrations remind me of classic Golden books. It's like comfort food in card form. The palette is inspired & absolutely POPS. She nails this blend of retro and modern in one fell swoop.

Here's @taylor__birdie a Tabitha Smith card begging for it's own animated series on Disney+. Terrific mix of light & shadow here, all done with especially vibrant colors. Rainbow sherbet made dangerous, which thematically, is pretty spot-on for the once and future Boom Boom.

If you're an IGer, you've prob seen @mikesegawa's awesome work at https://www.instagram.com/x_cerpts/ . He's a big visual voice in this corner of fandom. So glad he was able to chip in. Another last-minute savior w/ the Brian set. My only regret is that I couldn't get him better characters!

My favorite cards play with the same space on each side, like these Calibans. @elliotcomicart took two meh characters (I like Cal, but let's call it what it is) and made them look SO SO GREAT. Each side tells a story, and together, tell a BIGGER story. This is a next level brain.

Yo. @MarceloBot is a WORKHORSE. Dude had a pair of solid digital entries, & when it was time to hit that perfect 81, he volunteered himself to pick up an entirely new medium. This is why art is wonderful. You are NEVER confined to a single label. REMINDER: https://gumroad.com/collexion 

Another stud in a classic comic booking sense, @jeansinclairBR got the assignment, to steal a meme. PERFECT juxtaposition. Speaking of which, I was ready to roll & he insisted on "fixing" Psylocke's colors when honestly, none of us would have noticed. But that's how you get great

I think it's completely unfair to everyone on this godforsaken planet that @artsyenterline is this good at
1. penciling
2. coloring
3. being lightning fast; These probably took him 15 minutes. UN.FAIR.

Big fan of being able to pick an artist on sight. @The_Stem_Cell is one of those, and they OWN it. The Cyphers do so much with nothing but simple expressions. A much-overlooked talent. I half-vetoed the Maddie pic, but Leigh was basically like, "Too bad." They were right!

These come from @ArtByErle, another returning artist who I'm comfortable with tossing anything at him. The Havoks in particular use the space so well, gracing us with a throwback to late 80s/early 90s laser background class photos.

Oh now we're getting into some experimental stuff. @realjetcomics Chibis were initially question marks for me, but when Jeremy sent me this Toad (the 1st card of RefleXions!) I GOT IT. Effing adorable & I still chuckle when I see bloody Deathstrike is the "good" version of her.

Garbage Pail Kids were a staple of my youth & shaped me (sorry?), so to be able to get a GPK sketch card artist on board, that was a MUST. And does any character fit that mold better than Deadpool? More card kismet among subject and artist. Find Emma here: https://www.instagram.com/emmadreamstar/ 

Phew. Another big gun in X-fandom, @valentinemsm1th is a genius, no exaggeration. We talked about these cards at length, and the level of detail in here... you really just need to sit with these to find the Easter eggs. It's truly amazing. And again, the palette here!

FACT: @Air_Bacon8er is the most underappreciated artist on Twitter. I'm tellin' you, if these were canvas paintings, they'd go for THOUSANDS. OF. DOLLARS. This is the kind of art I sweat, and I wanna see more people get this daring and brazen with their work.

But wait, there's more! I gave @RAD_pencils Logan cuz he's from western Canada, and he did his countryman proud. I thought his idea to make anime-inspired art as if it were screenshot right from a stream was brilliant when I first heard it, and my appreciation has only grown.

I forgot what a murderer's row of X-artists were a part of this set. @beefcakeboss2 brought his popular Mutie Cuties into the fold, and then threw a total curveball at me with these Rachel shots, which hold as some of my personal favorites in the entire series.

Then there's the creator of many a popular X-tee, @sergetowers, w/ another pair of terrific mirrored images for the light & dark aspects of these characters. A number of artists came to this same solution, and it's certainly a case of great minds thinking alike. (Vamp Jubes 4eva)

As we start Mutant Pizza, @Hateball told me she'd turn out better work than she delivered in RefleXions. Uh, imagine apologizing for this? Crazy, I know. There is a reason she has illustrated more cards than anyone else involved in these projects.

It's always a treat to see @BrickheadzX, another artist whose totally unique, one-of-a-kind work snaps together with this collaboration like two LEGO bricks. I made a list of light/dark characters. He came up with his own. All winners. I also learned "Peepers" is not the name.

I know only one thing about @ahzrukhals, and its that they turn in bangin' artwork in near record time. Polaris was the first complete card I had in hand, and it became the guinea pig for developing the template.

My boy @helltobreakfast puts out some of the trippiest art on the block. He's another master of color, and I have an affinity for how he bends and melts the human form, as if seeing it through a funhouse mirror.

If I were assembling an all star team based on hockey configurations (C, LW, RW, LD, RD G), I don't know how I could choose only 6, but @karen_xmenfan is one of them and they'd be my center. This villainous Marrow is so (insert superlative here).

Already shone a light on 1 of my fave artists of the female form; now it's time for the other. Scroll thru @KevinNewburn's work, and he's got a ton of fantastic examples of natural posing, all with a real pencil and inks, which is something an old fart like me would respect.

Nobody did more with less than Lee Nycz: https://www.instagram.com/killermanjaro/ . He replied late, got some real shitty characters, and did something amazing with them (then got Mystique as filler at the end). Zoom in on any part of any card & I promise you'll see something interesting.

My good buddy @DaveShevlin will tell you he's no artist, but folks, this Mirage is another one of my faves, and both sides of this card bring more of that grungy indy vibe to the series. Art is for EVERYONE & I'm always gonna have a non-artist artist(s) going forward with these.

Holymolies. @joshcornillon, another baller artist building some name brand value 'round these parts, graciously contributed big booty daddy Northstar. For reals, I'm pretty lucky to ride all these coattails.

Ugh. Choosing which four images of @knifesystem is HARD. (Here's the benefit of fungibility. See all of Bradley's tremendous inks and colors here: https://gumroad.com/collexion ) Forget level-jumping. He took the warp zone to the final boss's head, smooshed the bastard and won the game.

Crushed that @BrandonDeichler declined to join RefleXions at first, I never found a toy photographer to fill his spot, a glaring hole. But w/ literally a week left, he swooped in, sated my need for top-notch artistic diversity & created one of the best moments w/ that damn cat.

Darker than Scarlet is one of my 1st fave stories. I knew it was in good, steady, precise hands w/ @andrewdrilon. Another alum of Series I, Andrew turned up the magic, making the most of the composition w/ the whirly hex bolts. They just add another dimension. Sometimes literally

FACT: The 2nd most underappreciated artist on Twitter is @geekburning. You need to see his work in person. It looks inky, but it's pyrography. He literally burns into wood and in this case, paper. No eraser. No CMD+Z. The ColleXion is not the same w/o contributors like him.

In Series I, @Powderkegday shared memorable takes on Glob, Doop & Nightcrawler. His Vanisher set is a complete 180, and another example of pushing boundaries. The only black-and-white card, and relies largely on patterns of symmetry. You can get lost in the facets of these gems.

More new blood! @davehulteen was another last-minute addition, so pickins were slim, yet he still knocked it out of the park in under a week. With so many digital artists, it might be easy to get lost in the mix. Not Dave whose textured, contour-less art stands out in the crowd.

It's easy to sleep on contributions from the @mSperoni of the world, but that's because their seamless, steady hands are so good and without flaw, they make it look easy. Like an athlete who's so good it doesn't appear like they're even trying, y'know? Cuz this is just rock solid

Mm. @RADMANRBARR. I told him I almost didn't even wanna bother him for Mutant Pizza, cuz I just have this impression he has better ways to spend his time. Not because he's aloof or anything (I'd say he's the opposite), just that he's so good he should be cashing his first mil.

The greatest mutant by the greatest dude. @sommerjam has the quintessential comic strip sense of design w/o being a comic strip artist (probably to his financial benefit). I ambitiously hoped the cards would release in time for XMas, and this was to be the bonus. #HatPouch4Life

For the sake of completion, Namor is mine. I hope I never run into someone else who paints sloppily with acrylics, cuz then I'll be out of a job.

All said & done, we raised $2K for EJI, later matched by my employer, for a total of $4K! Fingers crossed Mutant Pizza beats that

And that was ColleXion: RefleXions!

Many of the artists in this thread are returning for Mutant Pizza, the TMNT fan-made set that will debut sometime next year. We're also seasoning this tried and true recipe with some new ingredients. New artists! New media! Cosplay! Crochet!