Sep 19, 12:41 PM · Garbage Pail Kids
Last week, I hit the comic shop on Wednesday (as always) and saw that Topps has indeed made life worth living again by releasing a new series of Garbage Pail Kids trading cards and stickers. Somewhere in my apartment is a shoe-box with the entire first, second, and third runs of these cards. Like many other kids in the Eighties, I was gonzo for these cards. How ingenious, I thought to myself back then, how absolutely pure and evil!
And then, I thought, I wonder if I could make my own…
As weird as it may sound, I owe much of my love for drawing to Garbage Pail Kids. I think I ended up creating my own little series of them. There was an irresistible mischievousness that surrounded them. Teachers would confiscate the cards and the drawings. Girls would laugh or get grossed out. Boys would snicker and gain kudos if they were the creators. Eventually, other kids would pay me to draw their ideas. I remember a fall break spent entirely drawing Garbage Pail Kids and going to the local gas station to buy more.
Soon, after the craze died and the awful movie came out, I kept going to the gas station with friends for lack of anything better to do. The comics spinner rack would eventually come to my attention*, and I would find something new to inspire me. Comics have kept my attention through the years, but I still have a soft spot for the Garbage Pail Kids.
The gum in the new packages are better, too.
*Specifically, Kieron Dwyer’s blood-soaked run on Captain America.