Playing cards (2005)
In 2005 I decided to design a set of Scary Go Round playing cards.
I never printed them - the numbers didn't work, I'd never have sold enough of them to break even. But I mocked them all up for my blog, though I never assigned the suits and values, I suspect because I'd burned through enough of my then-plentiful life force and wasted enough time. While the Scary Go Round comics used templated artwork and occasional reused elements, these are almost all drawn from scratch.
I see, looking in the folder, that I drew all of these in five afternoons. I wish I could still crank things out like I did back then! Also, I'm impressed that there are 54 meaningfully recognisable characters here. The old Bobbins favourites aside, Scary Go Round had only been running for around three years. I increasingly think of this period as "Cambrian" in nature, an explosion that is now unrepeatable. So many hard shells, such a lot of bones.
Comments (35)
Approximately one million years ago, I used Tessa's haircut from the very first story line as inspiration for my friend. And I think I'm going back to it! What a time! Your art remains so wonderful; happy to have your work out there!
Thank you Nina!
Is it bad that I miss Gibbous Moon, on this full-moon night?
The real question, though: Who would be the major arcana in a SGR Tarot card set?
You could always make a poster print. Folks apparently heart the uncut deck view! I prefer the deck deck view, 'cause feeling the shuffle is a lot of the fun of collecting cards. Thanks for sharing this! <3
I still miss my "Secret Scary Friend" t-shirt from this era of your work. I pull out my dead-tree version of your Scary Go Round work at least a couple times a year to read through them again.
I remember, a long time ago, making digital card sets for solitaire games on the Amiga. Does anyone know of any modern solitaire software that allows easy creation of custom decks (Win/Mac/Linux) or am I going to have to boot up the old girl (through emulation, alas)?
Well the cards will need a little tweaking but a quick search provided a possibility to me in 'Solitaire GTK' on sourceforge. Looks like there are phone apps too.
I still have a krakkagar email address. People assume it's just gibberish of some kind
Aww, I miss the goblins as a pre-Des source of whimsy. Lovely walk down memory lane.
Lemmy is disappointed that you did not make them the Ace of Spades
Here’s the names for each character 1. Amy Chilton 2. Archie Stanwyck 3. Bentley Quorn 4. Best Monkey in the World 5. Blackthorne Templeton 6. Bob Crowley 7. Seamus the Goblin 8. Grim Reaper 9. Devil Bear 10. Old Nobby, the fake Devil 11. Daniel Petrescu 12. Erin Winters 13. Ernest Cromerty 14. Esther de Groot (school) 15. Esther de Groot (goth) 16. Fallon Young 17. Seamus Fogerty 18. Guiltomatic 19. Barry Proops, the Gas 20. Hamilton Percy 21. Ileanna Godmundsdottir 22. Petrescu’s Chimps 23. Krakkagar 24. Len Pickering 25. Lindsay James 26. Manny the Goblin 27. Man-o-War 28. James Mayor 29. Gibbous Moon 30. Elsie Birch 31. Natalie Durand 32. “Pa” Jim Beckwith 33. Poppy 34. Rachel Dukakis-Monteforte 35. Ralph 36. Red Robot 37. Rich Tweedy 38. Riley Beckwith 39. Ryan Beckwith 40. Saddest Wookie 41. Sanjiv 42. Sarah Grote 43. Shelley Winters (mortal) 44. Space Owl 45. Tessa Davies 46. Poh Drake, the Child 47. Tim Jones 48. Unit Daisy 49. Wayne Tinsley 50. William Crow 51. Wishing Fairy 52. T. Wogun the Goblin 53. Shelley Winters (zombie)
Excellent work. Far better than I can remember. 18 is Tim's invention, the guiltomatic toaster.
So many memories! And, honestly, it's weird to think about, if these were only three years in, how early some characters showed up. (I would have thought Esther was a later addition, but... apparently I was mistaken.) (I mean, I was reading it at the time, but memory has a way of getting fuzzy on details like that.)
I can recall names of only 18, plus a whole bunch more that look familiar. Been way too long since reading early days of SGR.
> Also, I'm impressed that there are 54 meaningfully recognisable characters here Although a bunch of repeat characters; Esther, Shelley, etc. What nits to pick, this is great.
I knew these existed, but I wasn’t aware there were so many. There’s still something very appealing about these Adobe-era designs with their emphasis on angular shapes, which help the coloring pop at just the right level.
I had these from when you posted them in 2008; but missing school uniform Esther. (Although I do have an extra Amy, on an ace of spades, from 2006. Lovely to see all these old villains (and a few heroes).
These are wonderful.
So many old faces here! So many memories!
Krakagar and also Ms Moon!
My old brain strikes. I was an avid reader back in those days and some of these are ringing no bells
Pretty darn cool to see this many characters get dedicated portraits. Oh, you said 54 characters but there are only 53 images - is one missing? I guess very few games use jokers anyway.
I believe there's a bat in a person's pocket on one card.
Lovely stuff.
I think my favorite is the Ace of Clubs.
Like John said, the numbers didn't work.
Flipping through these it's fun to feel names arise unbidden ("Len Pickering!") and also have thoughts like "have I really seen that man in the overalls before?"
If we're thinking of the same guy in overalls, it's Pa Beckwith (Ryan and Riley's dad), the King of the Tramps.
These are beautiful. I still love the feel of your old style.
Yes, bright and full of excitement and joy.
These are such a wonderful blast from the past! I suppose it’s been enough years now that I can call myself a lifelong fan, but this was the era where I first fell in love with your work
Same!
These are great. I am such a sucker for decks as an organizational principle. 21 years later, you certainly have enough characters for a full 78-card Tarot deck.
Oh my gosh, the memories! What a time.