New Pokemon Card Is First Card in 20 Years to Feature Art by American Illustrator
The Pokemon Trading Card Game is turning to an American artist for only the second time in history.
An upcoming promotional Pokemon card is also a history-making one. Earlier this month, The Pokemon Company revealed that they would release the Oddish card seen in the animated miniseries Pokemon – Path to the Peak as an upcoming promo card. The card features artwork by Miranda Branley, a graphic illustrator at The Pokemon Company International, which also appeared in the Pokemon – Path to the Peak series. However, the card is notable for another reason – it's the first time in over 20 years that a Pokemon card has featured artwork by an American artist outside of Illustration Contest cards. Bradley is only the second American illustrator to draw a Pokemon card, joining famed Magic: The Gathering illustrator Christopher Rush, who re-drew an early Mewtwo promo card for international audiences. You can see the card below:
Bradley appears to be the fourth-ever non-Japanese artist to have their work featured on a Pokemon card, joining Rush and former Game Freak employees James Turner and Lee Hyun-jung. Additionally, Bradley is the first to have her art appear on a previously unreleased card, as Rush's illustration was featured on a card previously released in Japan that used artwork by Ken Sugimori. Rush's version was also released in Japan as a promotional work. (Thanks to PokeBeach commenter nick15 for doing much of the research on this last bit.)
No timeline was given about the release of the new Oddish card, and it's likely that more promo cards from Path to the Peak will be released in the future, given that several other cards from the series have never been printed before and appear to have been designed specifically for the animated series.
Pokemon – Path to the Peak is available on YouTube now.
Upcoming Pokemon TCG Releases
Pokemon Trading Card Game players can look forward to two more sets getting released later this year. The long-awaited Scarlet & Violet – 151 set will feature all 151 original Pokemon, including the first Kadabra card for the first time. This is a special set that won't be released with booster packs that can be purchased separately. In November, Pokemon Trading Card Game players can look forward to the release of Paradox Rift, a set that introduces Paradox Pokemon and the Ancient and Future tags to the game.
