Tarot is a beautiful and powerful young witch of the Order of the Black Rose who fights against the forces of darkness that are attempting to bring harm to the world.
I used to know a girl who loved Tarot & Vampirella. She had to come in to our store to pick up her boyfriend's regular order, and found that she had a more extreme taste than he did. As far as she was concerned, the more T&A the better!
" Everyone one of those issues likes like a hentai comic! Just judging from the cover. GIANT tits is what really draws the similarity's. "
actually it looks nothing like hentai if we want to get technical, to compare Jim Balent's art to Japanese manga is the same as comparing any Marvel/DC artist's work to manga
and actually the guy who writes and draws this used to do Catwoman art in the 90's
The Bat and The Cat- Jim Balent Style anyways, I used to be the "Tarot guy" years ago on this site so I suppose I should defend the comic since I've read it it really used to be more about story then just sex but over the years that has changed drastically so I stopped reading the comic some issues ago, it's mostly just an endorsement for the witchcraft religion nowadays, which has a lot of nakedness I guess I wouldn't recommend to anyone who likes story (unless you get some backissues) but if you just like beautifully drawn (Balent is quite talented) naked women, it's a great comic "
As an actual Neo-Pagan, having read some issues of Tarot, I can say without equivocation that it's porn.
That's it. The attempt to be a serious treatise on Wicca, etc. is just thinly veiled attempt to legitimize...porn. All he does is skate the shallow surface of the belief structure in order to give some texture. The book would actually be much better if it dumped the attempt to be about female empowerment and Neo-Pagan spirituality and just accepted that it's porn.
I mean, he draws Tarot with absolutely...she would snap in half if her breasts were that big and her waist that small. And sometimes I have to wonder if Balent has ever actually seen a real adult woman naked, because he draws all female pudenda like prepubescent girls. And don't even get me started on running into action (when she actually is clothed running into action) in a bikini and 6 inch stilletto boots with three foot spikes coming out of the calves. (Between the heels and her breasts offsetting her center of gravity so badly, she should just fall over.) And then Balent has the gall to include a PSA about how women should "accept and display their bodies" and feel sexy and empowered after presenting this completely unrealistic standard of beauty. I do not mind that female characters in comic books are drawn as physical ideals, the fact of it doesn't bother me. Just don't t try to tell me you're "all about the sisterhood" when you draw women with monstrous boobies.
Frank Cho does it better anyway (I quote someone from Scans_Daily: "There are three ways to draw women: The wrong way , the right way, and the Frank Cho way. The Frank Cho way is like the right way, only bustier.") and he doesn't make any claims about doing it for the good of woman-kind. Men are horn dogs, we get that. It's o.k.
And the amount of rape that takes place in a comic that claims to be about female empowerment and spirituality...I don't know why anyone finds rape sexy, but it is obvious Balent does. And it certainly is not empowering for women.
Instead of laughing at it (haunted va-jay-jays and all) and enjoying the sexy, whenever I read a Tarot comic I just get steamed over the hypocrisy.
As long as it involves consenting adults (and as mentioned Balent often crosses the "consenting" line) there is nothing wrong with porn. Just embrace the pure shallow sexy that is porn and don't try to make into something that it is not.
To be honest, I don't remember exactly which issues they were because I mostly read them on Scans_Daily where they were posted to be mocked. I do know they were later issues,since they were current issues in 2008 and 2007, which is when i first saw it. I do seem to remember seeing some scans of earlier issues in which it was more magic-centric fantasy with a soft core edge, but by the time it was current to what I was reading, it had become pretty much burlesque porn that then tried to preach to people.
And yeah. I looked at the Tarot board after I posted that and realized that I posted almost the exact same thing on one of the other two threads here a year ago or so. It does seem like I am carping on it. But as I put in that post a year ago, "My religion doesn't work that way." It's a little annoying to see it so hypocritically exploited. It would be like putting strippers in little nun outfits and then trying to claim their stripping is the way to Christian salvation just because they are wearing the little nun outfits. As appealing as that would be to many, it doesn't work that way. Can't you just enjoy the strippers in nun outfits without making any stupid claim trying to validate it? One could do a Wiccan comic book hero and you could even do a comic book about a Wiccan character with lots of sex in it, but so much of Tarot represents that exact opposite of what it claims to be.
Hey, if all of you people know so much about the da#& series, could you please (very pretty please, with blood drench plasmid mutated cherry on top of the universe most expencive and over priced ice cream sunday) expand the artical on the series. Cause there isn't a place in town to buy it and i can't find any scan galleries. And to be honest I don't know if I whant o read them any way after the rape incident, but I would like to know just what the heck you are talking about.
@Pania: Fascinating. As someone of a self-proclaimed sect which by definition is incredibly varied and synthesized - it seems odd for someone to be keeping count over how Jim Balent chooses to represent one of the belief systems incorporated by Contemporary Paganism. Wicca is but a fraction of the venues which make up this diverse array. That being said - you are interjecting a set of rules upon a suspended disbelief system. In other words - you are trying to play football with a basketball. As a belief system highly steeped in primal forces, magic without contemporary scientific explanation and (for some) long lineage traditions - there's a good deal of wiggle room for those modern practitioners whom take a more eclectic approach.
You have to bear in mind, and as a Neo-Pagan I'm sure you do, that the practices of Wicca have been handed down for a millenia or more - and in many cases, done so in bardic fashion - meaning, mostly by oral representation. This said, many sects (covens) assuredly have their own interpretations of their beliefs which would fly in the face of other practitioners. This is to say nothing of that which we consider 'contemporary societal customs' - which govern day to day interactions over say, how much clothing we wear or how much we shave our privates. (And for the record, Mr. Balent has in fact seen a naked, adult female - just ask Holly sometime).
My wife is a contemporary adult fiction author herself - and a subscriber to Tarot. As a woman who tolerates little of my rather obvious male behaviour (contemporary or genetically induced) - I can tell you that if she found the book to be effusive or insensitive she would be quick to rid herself of anything to do with it. This is to say nothing of the ever-present nudity - and while we're on the subject, if you do not like it because you are espousing some moralistic approach contemporarily based on what your mother taught you then most likely you've missed the point. Summarily put - porn is something which induces desire for anything. Voyeuristic pornography is something different, entirely.
Thanx Burt...when I come across a gaggle of comic book Readers who are snarky and being self minded in their criticisms of Jim and My work- 2 things
come to mind- The Silent Bob and Jay reaction in their 2nd movie : D and this quote by Anto Ego: “In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations. The new needs friends."
Thank you for Being a Friend Bert! I find that our passionate readers are open minded, strong and passionate individuals. We're very proud, supportive and inclusive with our Readers...
In many ways I do feel like Our comic book- many people judge me by my looks and I've been bullied and underestimated as a person and an artist.
In my 47 years I've learned that people's reactions ( including my own) are based from their personal experiences. So if you are uncomfy with nudity- you may view our work from the point of view- me I was taking life drawing classes at the Art Students League of NYC since I was 11...so it's part of my artistic education.
Glamor may be confusing some people as well...:shrug: oh well- just tea another title...Comicbooks and Ice cream- they are similar - they have so many choices to be enjoyed...one flavor enjoyed by a person does not make another not enjoyable to someone else...so lick your fav!
To address that there was a rape in our book- that may have been the story reflecting the Boudicca Legend...Rape is NOT something to take lightly...
As a woman I have had to deal with it...and through our art we do.
It does seem like some if not many of you have never really read our comic- you may not know- as two people doing everything - how hard we work- and how easy it is to be judgmental safe behind your computer...at this point I ask people to take a moment and watch... ; )
If you would ever like to have a civilized discussion on comics-movies or Star Wars...
We'll be at SDCC booth #1715 : )
okay- I'm still punchy from finishing the deadline on Issue #75... so forgive any poor spelling or grammar..gotta go update our websites...
May the Force be with you Always!
PS no I didn't win - but Warwick Davis nodded at me and I listed 2nd or 1st highest score...yes i love Star Wars..
proof- our wedding pic...no Daddy jokes- heard em all!
anyways, I used to be the "Tarot guy" years ago on this site so I suppose I should defend the comic since I've read it it really used to be more about story then just sex but over the years that has changed drastically so I stopped reading the comic some issues ago, it's mostly just an endorsement for the witchcraft religion nowadays, which has a lot of nakedness I guess I wouldn't recommend to anyone who likes story (unless you get some backissues) but if you just like beautifully drawn (Balent is quite talented) naked women, it's a great comic
I'm a huge Tarot fan and aztek, if your laying down the mantel, I would be happy to be the "Tarot guy" on CV
I read Tarot early in its run but haven't kept up with it due to moving to Ireland [getting Marvel and DCs are a pain. An Independent comic like Tarot is impossible] I found Tarot to be a fun series with alot of charm. Jim and Holly one crucial element of comic books. Its escapism. They're not trying to be "This book is serious business". If a guy can get bitten by a radioactive spider and gain the powers of a spider and a rich guy can dress up in spandex to look like a Bat and jump in hordes of machine gun toting mobsters than two well endowed Women can fight mystical forces in high heels, thongs and a smile. I hate that Marvel and DC are trying to force real world issues into their books now. They can be too preachy and political now. For the amount of money that we have to pay for a comic I just want to be entertained for the time I'm reading a comic. If I want current event and political issues I'll read a newspaper or watch the news.
On the series I think its time to maybe expand the cast. Sometimes the best way to expand on backstory [so we can finally learn Raven and Tarot's full name and their parents names. {I imagine them with names that start with R as well to match Raven and Tarot [Rowan] and being Scottish since they feel that names that are magical [not 100% sure on that. I have heard that before] plus the Pagan/Druid/Wiccan religions are very common in the Celtic regions] is with a new character. Jonathon Webb and Boo Cat should already know that so that background revelation would just come across as forced exposition. Maybe a Male childhood friend [1. So Raven can have something to do other than being the Emo, Goth sister and can have a potential love interest and 2. To show that their childhood did have some happiness] I think I'm looking into this way too much. Btw. Are Raven and Tarot really supposed to be nearly 40? I saw that on the Tarot wikia.
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