The Shadow of Oz - A Tarot Deck by Illogical Associates - on Kickstarter

drwitz

Hello all,

Following the rule at the top of the thread, I wonder if anyone here has seen The Shadow of Oz Tarot Deck which is being fundraised for on Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/illogicalassociates/the-shadow-of-oz-a-tarot-deck). The deck is by the authors of the modern Oz comic / graphic novel Dorothy and it sounds fascinating.

Personally (I have no connection to them) I have decided to support the effort and wonder where others are. I own an Oz Tarot deck already (Tarot of Oz) and would be interested to see how the art and the images / roles chosen differ deck by deck.

I also wonder how many Tarot decks have been fundraised using Kickstarter. Intriguing idea...
 

rwcarter

I watched the video and color me confused. First I thought the images flashing through the video would be part of the deck and I thought, "Wow. A dark Oz deck! That could be fun." Then it began to look like the images were more existing images from already published artwork from the artists working on the deck? The images and sketches shown from Emonic and Kori Thompson don't look anywhere near as dark as the initial images in the video, so I'm even more confused about whether those initial video images represent the deck or other work.

Rodney
 

Shade

I was confused by it as well. The cards that actually are from the deck are not nearly as attractive as the comic art featured in the video. For me to invest, it would have to be a lot farther along in design that it currently is.
 

drwitz

I was confused by it as well. The cards that actually are from the deck are not nearly as attractive as the comic art featured in the video. For me to invest, it would have to be a lot farther along in design that it currently is.

I get that. Ultimately I decided to make a leap of faith and invest, in part because I also liked the look of the dark Dorothy of the comics, and also because I understand that they are doing the artwork only if the project flies.

Have any of you invested in a Tarot deck through Kickstarter before? This is my first. I wonder what the experience has been with others.
 

Shade

I have Kickstarted a few. The big thing to remember with Kickstarter is that this is not a pre-order; this is investing money in the project. I have never had a Kickstarter project (of any kind) be completed in the stated time but I have been happy with the results. You're doing the right thing in making sure that word gets out about the project.

Trying to launch a Kickstarter with very little progress made on the project works if you have made a name for yourself in that field. The Burning Serpent Oracle project on Indiegogo found all its funds quickly because its creators are well known (Robert place and Rachel Pollack
Pretty) and all of the art had been created and shown to the community as it developed.

This one isn't in such a bad place in terms of funding acquired, I've seen most Kickstarters get a big boost at the very end (Often, I think, because initial contributors up their pledge to see it through.
 

magpie9

i just find it weird confusing and not very interesting.
 

IllusiveAnna

Shadow of Oz: A Tarot Deck Kickstarter

Hello Lovely People,

This thread was brought to my attention and I am here to answer any questions you might have and allay as many of your concerns as possible. I am Anna Cebrian, Publisher of this deck, co-owner of Illogical Associates and Owner of Illusive Comics & Games. My Illogical partner, Mark Masterson is writing the Oz Translation for the Tarot Deck.

To address some of the very good questions/concerns in this thread:

- We cannot have more art to show you until this project funds, because we are using only Professional Artists, many of whom are GIANTS in the Comic Book and/or Graphic Design fields. None of whom will donate even sketch work. We have contracts for all of them, so we know that they will produce this deck. The sketches and art we have on our site were the few that were generously "advanced" by two of our artists. But you can see the art for the back of the card.

- The art will be dark in nature. That is one reason we selected these particular artists. Over half of the costs needed are simply to pay them. The rest of the funds are to print the deck and ship the decks.

- These artists are familiar with the acclaimed "Dorothy" comic that we have previously published, so they are aware of the Feel we are going for.

Yes we are asking you to fund us a bit on a wing and a prayer. But we back up our promise of an amazing deck with this incredible list of artists that have never worked together on an anthology like that. I can make amazing things happen. I've been owner of my shop for the last 7 years and have brought it back from the brink of closure under the previous owner, to one of the best and biggest comic shops in the world. (Not just bragging. If you're in the Bay Area, come on by and get a tour!).

Please let me know of ANY other questions or concerns you have. Any at all. You can post them here, message us on the Kickstarter or email me directly at anna at illogicalassociates.com.

Thank you all for even taking the time to discuss this project. I'm honored that it's on your radar.

Blessed Be,

~Anna
www.illogicalassociates.com
www.illusivecomics.com
 

starlightexp

Greeting IllusiveAnna and welcome to the crazy world here. I do have a few questions about the deck. I am a HUGE follower and collector of the original 40 Oz books.

How much of the cards will work within the world of the books themselves? Typically Oz related items take the most famous book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and then begin to make their own world up around it.

Is there some sort of outline for the deck? I would be most interested in hearing about some of the planed cards. What sources are you asking the artists to draw from? Is there some consistency across the deck to bring the images together?

Are the suits going to be more based on the Rider Waite Smith Tarot? Are there going to be themes for them if not?

I am on several Oz related sites and would be happy to spread the word but if it is just going to be a 'more grown up' version of the first book with a card or two nod to the others, quite frankly, most of the collectors I speak with are a bit past that concept as it's been beaten to death over the past decade.
 

IllusiveAnna

Shadow of Oz: A Tarot Deck Kickstarter

Those were excellent questions, Starlightexp. I popped them over to my partner, Writer and Researcher, Mark Masterson to answer and here is his reply:

One of our first challenges in designing the deck was figuring out how to appeal to the general public without, as you say, just dropping random characters from the Wizard of Oz into RWS poses. We also wanted to get the tension right between the symbolism of the tarot and the continuity of Oz - for instance, there aren't many horses in Baum's books, so it didn't feel right to put the Knights on generic horses. Instead we chose characters that were themselves animals and had the requisite personal qualities.

So we use characters and scenes from the 14 books Baum wrote by himself - some quite obscure but so visually and thematically close to the card that they *had* to be on there. We also make liberal use of the famous characters, particularly in the Major Arcana. The theme of Imagination, and the exploration of the psyche, was really our guide. An "important" card, we felt, deserved an Oz link that had similar "weight" in the collective imagination. People would find it easier to get to the meaning, or at least the impact. In the end, I believe 18 of the 78 cards are taken directly taken from The Wizard of Oz.

I can't guarantee it off the top of my head, but I think there's something from every Baum book except Rinkitink. We hope that people will be intrigued enough by the cards and art that they might go back to the books to learn more. Vice versa, we hope some Oz and comics fans will get invested in the tarot and esoteric wisdom. That's why we opted to use traditional card names and suits - trying to make connections and tensions between these two worlds of the imagination. If Glinda is just "The Good Witch of the South", it doesn't spark the way "The High Priestess" might.

The main visual unity will be in the design. We gave Olympia Maxenchs lots of detail from the edges of John Neill's art, and then tried to push toward a "Decayed Deco". Each image will be surrounded by a frame that echoes the back of the cards, also designed by Olympia. The suits' frames will be color-coded: Quadling Red, Munchkin Blue, Winkie Yellow, Gillikin Purple, with the Trumps in Emerald Green. (Another instance of Oz/imagination over-ruling strict adherence to one system.)

The other artists are bringing their own styles and imaginations to the game. We hope, again, that we bring a good balance of light and dark and odd and traditional, just like the way life should be.

***
I hope that answers the questions you posed. Please ask any others you might have :)

~Anna
 

rwcarter

Thanks for posting Anna. Your answers to starlightexp intrigue me more than the kickstarter video did, which, as I said, left me confused about what to expect. I'm not a huge Oz fan, although I do own a T-Shirt that says "I haven't been the same since that house fell on my sister." }) For instance I had no idea there were 14 books.

Please let the "frame that echoes the back of the cards" be as narrow as possible. I don't mind borders as long as it's not a huge border at the expense of the art. And the fact that one of the borders will be purple never hurts. ;)

"we bring a good balance of light and dark and odd and traditional, just like the way life should be" almost sold me. I'm definitely teetering closer to helping fund the campaign than I was when I first posted in this thread....

Rodney