POSTER #1 • DRINK
GARBAGE PAIL KOLA — painted by artist JOHN Pound
Pictured
below is the final artwork image (T-L) as sold off of the online auction site
eBay, along with a 2005 Topps Vault magazine ad (T-R) from the Non-Sport Update
pubication, issue June/July Vol. 16 – No. 3, where the characters from Poster
#1 Drink Garbage Pail Kola can be found within. The
poster image pokes fun at product placement adverts.
The
‘HOUSE SPECIAL’ picture in the background of the poster is a rejected painting
completed by John Pound for the OS1 set that was eventually published within the
GIANT GPK set as card #8 Take A Garbage Pail Kid To Lunch
(T-L) which is very similar to the unpublished OS10 piece by Tom Bunk (T-R). The
Giant card image can also be found within poster #13 Beauty
Is Only Skin Deep, suggsting that the GIANT set was completed prior to
the Poster set, which originally was supposed to be the 2nd Series Giant set.
The
‘G.P.KOLA’ bottle image in the poster, with a rat instead of a character inside,
can also be found on OS4 cards 128a Sloshed JOSH & 128b Low CAL (T-L) painted
by John Pound with the same style red lettering instead of blue. The same café
environment is found in OS11 cards 422a SHERI Cola & 422b All-Night DINAH
(T-R) also by John Pound picturing the same toilet drink and contents, tablecloth,
booth, window curtain, the girl’s clothes, and ribbon style. In place of ‘HOUSE
SPECIAL’, the sign in the background now simply reads ‘SODAS’.
*
POSTER #2 •
HANG IN THERE, BABY —
painted by artist JOHN Pound
The
‘HANG IN THERE!’ slogan message is a parody of the feline cat posters of the late
80’s with the dangling kitten ‘hanging’ from a tree limb with only one paw, whereas
now, a hangman’s rope or noose is assisting the critter instead. To ‘HANG
IN‘ is to remain persistent and determined in difficult circumstances.
A similar Garfield-like cat image can be found within the OS4 set
for card images 159a Catty KATHY & 159b KITTY Litter by David Burke and is
much more humanoid in appearance but still very cat-like in character. The OS4
and Poster set were released around the same time and Mark Newgarden and Art Spiegelman
were art directing both at the same time.
Artist David Burke was tested out with GPK for the OS4 release and most likely
given a tight pencil sketch of Pound’s to work from. The character is given CPK
yarn-like hair (replacing the forehead whiskers) and the dead rat from Poster
#1 Drink Garbage Pail Kola may be the same one that
the cat is grasping in its paw.
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POSTER
#3 •
SUGAR CRUSTED SEWAGE
—
painted by artist JOHN Pound
The
Poster #3 Sugar Crusted Sewage image is very
similar to the Wacky Packages parody card product brand by Topps throws a satirical
spin on brand name items. This particular product image is a parody of the popular
kids cereal Kelloggs ‘Rice Krispies’ and their spin-off editions, ‘Cocoa Krispies’
and ‘Frosted Krispies’ (R) with the three mascot characters Snap, Crackle and
Pop, whereas the GPK cereal has a slob-like character that could be called Slop.
The final artwork
image above as sold off of the auction house eBay and painted by artist John Pound
can be seen with two additional dead rats, the third Poster image in a row with
connections to dead rats.
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POSTER
#4 •
GPK : THE INSIDE DOPE
— painted by artist JOHN Pound
The
Poster #4 pokes fun at the slogan ‘THE INSIDE SCOOP’, where ‘scoop’ is informal
for an exclusive piece of news or inside story and ‘scope’ is informal
meaning to look at something carefully; to scan and lastly, ‘dope’ is informal
for a stupid person. The image is a parody of science anatomy models that give
a literal inside look at organs, et cetera and dissects and analyzes a GPK
character.
The above final artwork poster image was an unpublished concept intended for the
OS2 GPK set and later considered for the OS6 GPK set as well.
*
POSTER #5 •
VISIT GARBAGE PAIL LAND —
painted by artist TOM Bunk
The
Poster #5 image contains a boat titled ‘HATE-BOAT’ which is a parody of the popular
television show The Love Boat that premiered in 1977 and ran for ten years.
Additionally, the ‘TUNNEL OF HATE’ is a parody of the title ‘TUNNEL OF LOVE’ that
pokes fun at ‘visit’ *insert locale* tourism advertising campaigns; and specifically
in this case, an amusement park and it’s many rides and attractions.
Tom Bunk’s original artwork as auctioned off of eBay is pictured above and a preliminary
tight color rough (R), both very MAD magazine-like in appearance and structure.
Coincidentally, the image contains another rat character.
*
POSTER
#6 •
KEEP OUT! —
painted by artist TOM Bunk
A
‘KEEP OUT!’ warning sign strategically placed on a bedroom door or clubhouse is
important during the prepubescent (pre/pube/scent) or the formative adolescent
years, to keep club activity or whatnot secret. These public warnings stem from
‘private property’ signs that oftentimes can be found fenced off by barbwire.
A similar pigtail girl cut up in a jump rope barbwire theme was later painted
by John Pound and placed in the ANS4 set for cards 15a Jumpin’ JEN and 15b MEGAN
Trouble.
*
POSTER #7 •
EAT MY FACE! —
painted by artist JOHN Pound
A
parody of the phrase ‘EAT MY DUST!’, or the derogatory ‘EAT MY SH*T’, that’s also
a 1976 movie title; the idiom ‘EAT MY DUST’ means to be outperformed (or outrun)
by someone, usually by a very wide margin, in this case, a food challeges or self-eating
contests.
The
‘PIZZA-FACE’ concept was created for OS2 set, painted and considered for the OS6
set, placed within the unpublished OS16 set as cards 639a GUY Pie and 639b Pepperoni
Toni, and eventually printed on card for the ANS1 set in 2003 as cards 9a Cheesy
CHARLIE and 9b Pizza Face CHASE. Note the CPK-like eyes and the four fingers on
the character instead of the three fingers that followed the GPK character model
releases after the OS9 release.
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POSTER
#8 •
SLIME MAGAZINE
— painted by artist Tom Bunk
The
poster features GPK character 19a Corroded CARL and 19b Crater CHRIS ,
originally painted by artist John Pound for the Original Series 1 (OS1) set, that
is a very Wacky Packages-like parody. The product is poking fun at the Time Magazine
publication, particularly their ‘MAN OF THE YEAR’ yearly cover (BR); the ‘KID
OF THE YEAR’ title was replaced with ‘ZIT OF THE YEAR’ to ante up the grossness.
Tom Bunk’s final artwork above as auctioned off of eBay and his tight color
rough (TL) is pictured for comparison; a large safety pin was added to the character
and a larger amount of whitehead squirt. The name ‘Crater CHRIS’, ‘Garbage Pail
Kids Zit of the Year’ and ‘GPK—A NO CLASS ACT?’ print was added to the final
artwork. Bunk had suggested ‘BANNED!’
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POSTER
#9 •
GPK CALENDAR
— painted by artist TOM Bunk
The
‘calendar girl’ image is reminiscent of GPK character 122a Broad MAUD and
122b Large MARGE, painted by Tom Bunk for the Original Series 3 (OS3) set, with
a ponytail rather than pigtails and works as a pin-up model tribute, where the
mass-produced pictures are meant to be ‘pinned-up’ to a wall for informal
display.
Tom Bunk’s
final artwork above, tight pencil (TL) and color rough T(R) are pictured for comparison;
The upper 1987 squares are eventually removed, and the head position and hair
color changed.
*
POSTER #10 •
DOUBLE-CROSSING THE DELAWARE —
painted by artist JAMES Warhola
The
patriotic poster image is a parody of the famous 1851 painting ‘George
Washington Crossing The Delaware’ by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze. The George ‘Washingdone’
character is a bit more stressed (attempting to pull out his hair) than stoic
for the GPK version having to deal with a boatload of garbage-gang idiots.
To double-cross
is to deceive or betray someone with whom one is supposedly cooperating; no GPK
character is being helpful to the atual crossing over, but only causing a bunch
of mayhem. The GPK Poster set marks the first
release where artists James Warhola participated, well in advance of the OS6 set.
The GPK characters are a bit more crude and not as detailed or as defined as the
OS6 card counterparts cousins.
*
POSTER #11 •
NATL. GARBAGE PAIL —
painted by artist TOM Bunk
The
periodical poster image, done up in the tradition of the ‘National Lampoon’
humor magazine, which ran from 1970 through 1998, is a parody of the supermarket
gossip tabloid ‘The National Enquirer’ that was founded in 1926. The poster showcases
several iconic GPK characters including, from top to bottom, and left to right,
OS3 Peepin’ TOM, OS2 PATTY Putty, OS2 CHRIS Hiss, OS3 LES Vegas, OS2 Double HEATHER,
OS2 Leaky LINDSAY, and OS1 ADAM Bomb, along with his brother Blasted BILLY.
Tom Bunk’s
final artwork above and color sketch (R) shows the development during production.
A fly has been added to the final artwork, the Elvis impersonator’s outfit color
has been changed from yellow to green and the ‘LAS VEGAS’ misspelling corrected
for the final image. OS3 Peepin’ TOM is spelled ‘Peeping TOM’ and the ‘LIFT BEFORE
STOOTING’ (acetate paper) was left on for the artwork sale on eBay, which should
be spelled ‘SHOOTING’.
*
POSTER #12 •
I ‘HEART’ GPK —
painted by artist JAMES Warhola
A
great GPK poster image by James Warhola, nephew of Andy Warhol, that pokes
fun at the popular slogan I ‘HEART’ _________, in this case, I LOVE NEW YORK stylized
as I ‘HEART’ NY (R), which is the slogan, log and song that are the basis of an
advertising campaign to promote tourism in the state of New York started in 1977.
The registered® trademarked™ logo is owned by the New York State department
of Economic Development.
The I ‘HEART’ GPK painting shows the character using
his own heart, cut out with the held hand saw, and used as the stylized ‘HEART’.
The image shows a liberal amount of lost blood and the ‘LIFT ACETATE BEFORE SHOOTING’
notice has been left on the image for the eBay sale.
*
POSTER #13 •
BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP —
painted by artist JAMES Warhola
The
poster illusion image, if viewed from a distance, is a skull with cross-bones.
The poster contains six different card images from the GIANT GPK set on the wall
around the vanity table. From left to right, top to bottom, cards #7 WHY
FIGHT IT, COLLECT GPK, #12 IT TAKES GUTS TO BE A
GPK, # 5 HAVE A NICE DAVE, #11 HOW
TO BE A GPK, #8 TAKE A GPK TO LUNCH!
— the image can also be found on poster #1
DRINK GARBAGE PAIL KOLA
— and #6 HOOKED
ON GPK. As mentioned previously, the Poster set was originally planned
to be the 2nd Series GIANT GPK set.
The GPK poster image is a parody of the 1892 drawing “All is Vanity”
(above) created by Charles Allan Gilbert. Where ‘vanity’ is one of the seven deadly
sins and a human skull, used as a focal point in a painting, is refered to as
momento mori—remember you will die, hence, vanity is a deadly sin.
The addition of the crossbones to the GPK parody adds a level of additional humor;
one of various meanings of a skull and crossbones, poison, etcetera, as a symbol
of death and especially as a memento mori reminder on tombstones.
The
final artwork above painted by newcomer James Warhola remains to be a dark subject
matter in tone and color, but bring a brightness of color and a lightness of humor
at the center of the image, including the murderess having cut up a victim, with
the pictured wood-cutting axe or splitting maul, and stuffed him in the bottom
drawer of the vanity cabinet.
*
POSTER #14 •
BEFORE AND AFTER —
painted by artist JOHN Pound
The
more-or-less, how to make Cabbage Patch Kids look like Garbage Pail Kids poster
was painted by artist John Pound. The image is reminiscent of the unpublished
OS16 character 626a Interracial RACHEL and 626b Stitched STELLA with the botched
job—ruining through clumsiness or ineptitude, also painted by Pound; the
card image was later released within the 2010 Flashback GPK set as cards 68a Stitched
STELLA and 38b Patchwork PAULA.
The poster pokes fun at ‘before and after’ portrait pictures, be it weight, facial
hair, et cetera; but in this case it’s about a back alley plastic surgery job
by a sketchy doctor (a.k.a. a mad scientist). The ‘LOOK LIKE GARBAGE’ is
a title parody of ‘LOOK LIKE A MOVIE STAR’
*
POSTER #15 •
GONE WITH THE GARBAGE —
painted by artist TOM Bunk
The
garbage-man poster image painted by artist Tom Bunk is a parody of the popular
movie poster “Gone With The Wind” (BR), a 1939 romance movie starring
Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, where the character is smooching a large bag of
trash as his love interest.
Tom Bunk’s
preliminary color rough is pictured (TL) can be compared with the final artwork
above. The layout remains mostly the same with the ‘movie scenes’ at the bottom
of the poster being rearranged. The drooling character has been switched to a
puckering-up character.
*
POSTER #16 •
HOW TO BE A GARBAGE PAIL KID —
painted by artist JOHN Pound
This
psuedo ‘HOW TO BE COOL’ diagram image, a hodgepodge of GPK pieces, can also be
found as card #11 HOW TO BE A GARBAGE PAIL KID
within the GIANT GPK card set; both images
are exactly the same except for their dimensions, 11×17 instead of 5×7, perfect
for a wall poster. Most of the painful bodily afflictions being pointed out can
be located within the GPK card series, such as ‘MUSHROOM CLOUD’, ‘HIT BY LIGHTNING’,
‘TOO GROSS TO DISCUSS’ (melting), ‘TOILET HUMOR’, ‘CREEPY INSECTS’, ‘THERE’S NO
PLACE LIKE HOME’ (garbage can), including the torn off arm can be found within
the OS1 set, ‘HOLES IN BODY’, ‘LEAKY NOSE’, ‘WEAR CLOTHING OF BOTH SEXES’, including
the veined legs located within the OS2 set and ‘SNAKES FOR HAIR’ found within
the OS3 set.
Per John Pound’s pencil artwork the character was originally titled the ‘ULTIMATE
GPK’. ‘Ultimate’ is about the best achievable or imaginable of its kin, the utmost,
the epitome, the zenith. Oftentimes connected with ‘warrior’, ‘fighter’, ‘showdown’
and in this case, the ultimate visual guide at HOW TO BE
A GARBAGE PAIL KID, a vey rare instance of the usual plural GPK header
found in the singular form.
*
POSTER
#17 •
GPK WANTS YOU
— painted by artist JOHN Pound
The
patriotic poster image, originally painted for the OS3 set for cards 110a
Snooty SAM and 110b U.S. ARNIE, by artist John Pound, is a classic parody of the
iconic 1917 U.S. Army recruitment character “Uncle Sam” (initials
U.S.) painted by J.M. Flagg (BL), picking his nose rather than pointing accusingly
to the general public. The U.S. recruitment poster is based off of the popular
1914 British “Lord Kitchener Wants You” advertisement poster (BR) where
the hat and finger-pointing were brought over to ‘our side’ with a red, white
and blue paint-job finish.
Althougth
seperated, the U.S. has history of borrowing from our original Motherland, including
the re-naming of England towns, rather than creating new ones, i.e. (New) York,
(New) Hampshire, (New) Jersey island, etcetera. The GPK image can also be located
within the 2011 Flashback Series 3 set and as a major mascot for the 2016 “American
as Applie Pie in Your Face” Yearly set.
*
POSTER #18 •
BUSTED! —
painted by artist JOHN Pound
A
fantastic humor poster where ‘art imitates life’, which is based on the reality
of how GPK cards were ‘kicked’ out of school and banned from classrooms. Busted—getting
caught in the act of doing something wrong, i.e. possessing GPK cards on school
grounds. The poster image can also be found as card #14 BUSTED!
from the Giant GPK card set with the original curved GPK header rather than the
straight GPK banner at the bottom (B). The poster image was also used for
the OS5 through OS8 retail ad posters with an enlarged, straight GPK banner and
some subtle changes.
In both the poster and Giant card, there are several OS1 and OS2 characters found
throughout the image, along with various award and license card backs. As can
be discerned from L-R from the ‘SCHOOL’ sign to the ground: 45a Leaky Lindsay
& 45b Messy TESSIE, 27a Brainy JANIE & 27b JENNY Genius, 49a Double Heather
& 49b Schizo FRAN/FRAN FRAN, 30a New Wave DAVE & 30b Graffiti PETEY, 8a
ADAM Bomb & 8b Blasted BILLY, 73a Gorgeous GEORGE & 73b Dollar BILL, 3a
Up CHUCK & 3b Heavin’ STEVEN, 83a Ugh LEE & 83b Sumo
SID, 77a Ghastley ASHLEY & 77b Acne AMY, 54a Fryin’ RYAN &
54b Charred CHAD, 79a Sewer SUE & 79b MICHELLE Muck, 74a MARK Bark & 74b
Kennel KENNY, 57a TOMMY Gun & 57b Dead FRED, 67a Phony LISA & 67b MONA
Loser, 43a Smelly KELLY & 43b DOUG Plug, 44a SY CLOPS & 44b One-Eyed JACK,
66a MATT Ratt & 66b RACHEL Rodent, 62a Greaser GREG & 62b CHRIS Hiss,
5a Dead TED & 5b JAY Decay, 65a Shrunken ED & 65b Cheeky CHARLES, 42a
PATTY Putty & 42b Muggin’ MEGAN, 18a Cranky FRANKIE & 18b Bad BRAD, 75a
Off-The-Wall PAUL & 75b ZACH Plaque, 46a Rappin’ RON & 46b RAY Gun, 4a
Fryin’ BRIAN & 4b Electric BILL, 39a Buggy BETTY & 39b Green JEAN, 41a
Mean GENE & 41b Joltin’ JOE, and 40a Unstitched
MITCH & 40b Damaged DON.
