Pulitzer Prize-winning comix artist Art Spiegelman wrote the graphic novel Maus, the self-published zine RAW. While working at Topps trading cards he co-created the Garbage Pail Kids (with Mark Newgarden) and in 1971 this set of Nasty Valentine Notes.
You’re always wearing bells and beads
And asking “What’s your sign?”
Most people think you’re out of sight
You’re just out of your mind!
As Jay Lynch writes:
Art Spiegelman did the art on the wrapper and box. He also did the finished art on some of the pieces themselves… and he wrote most of them and did roughs. So he is the main guy behind this series. Some of the final art on the pieces are by Ralph Reece and Wally Wood.
The set of 30 cards lampoon yoga, hippies, fashion, sex and yoga. Sold in the same format as baseball cards, each satirical Valentine’s Day card needed to be unfolded three times to reveal the images and poem.
If you enjoy these subversive cards, check out these ‘vinegar Valentines‘ from the Victoria era,
Original Nasty Valentine sketch by Wally Wood
And finally…
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