JESSE LONERGAN deals a behind-the-scenes look at his new The Unveiled Tarot deck

Comics artist Jesse Lonergan is putting out a new tarot deck — dubbed The Unveiled Tarot — via Union Square & Co. in January. 

Accompanied by a booklet with a forward by comics legend Mike Mignola, the deck sees Lonergan using a pictures-within-pictures concept for the 78 archetypes of the tarot. I’ve seen a copy of the deck, and it’s a wonderful physical artifact, with just a beautiful set of through-provoking images. This, of course, is no surprise, given that Lonergan is one of the most exciting artists in comics today, with a growing resume of award-winning projects of idiosyncratic and gorgeous books like Man’s Best, Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea, and his breakout work, Hedra.

So yes, the artwork on the deck is great, but what I really found compelling about this project was the way Lonergan’s concepts juxtaposed often-modern imagery with the archetypes of the tarot. I asked Lonergan if he might share some insights into his process creating The Unveiled Tarot, and he was kind enough to write a behind-the-scenes look about his thoughts on the development of three of the cards.

You can find those notes below, along with the relevant imagery. And you can pre-order the deck via Union Square & Co. now … enjoy!

JESSE LONERGAN gives insights into his new tarot card deck

On XIII Death: The Death card was the first one I drew back in 2020 in the middle of lockdown. I think it’s still a period of time that I haven’t fully made sense of, and in some ways, it feels like something out a dream now, but it’s not surprising that this was the card that came to mind. With my comics, I think about how panels and composition can be used to show relationships that are not simply chronological, and I think that kind of thinking lead to this card, showing an inner and outer reality, which would go on the become the theme of the whole deck. 

On The Fool: This was the card that got me the contract to do a whole deck. I’d been drawing tarot cards at a leisurely pace and without much intention, maybe I’d draw all of the major arcana, or maybe not. But when I posted this card online, it got a lot of comments and retweets, and all of that. Some people praised it for mocking Trump, others for mocking Biden, others shamed me for being a kneejerk liberal. With the relation to the tarot, some people said it was the best interpretation of the card, and some said it was the worst, that I was totally missing the point. It unintentionally had all the things that feed an algorithm, which got it in front of the right people’s eyes. In some ways, it defined some of the rules for how the deck would work. It breaks from the more standard card composition and symbolism, which became one of the ways the deck is distinct. Ironically, I don’t think I would have drawn this card this way after I signed the contract. Once that happened, everything became sort of official, and I think with that, I lost some of the looseness that this card came out of.

On Five of Pentacles: And of course, once I signed a contract, it was no longer whimsical drawing, but I was definitely doing all 78 cards, and there was a deadline on them. I think of all the major arcana cards as the heavy hitters. They’re the ones you see in the James Bond movies and stuff. They’re the ones people will get tattooed on their arms. And in a way, they’re easier because of that. Coming up with ideas for The Lovers, The Devil, and Judgement, feels easier than for something like the Five of Pentacles. Basically, I’d sit down with a sketchbook and begin doodling ideas for what kind of image could capture the themes of the card, in the case of the five of pentacles, hardship, either in it, or overcoming it (much can be said about each individual card, so this is the briefest of brief explanations), and I try to think of image that would capture those ideas, but also images that could be reversed in some way. With this card, I thought about the Dust Bowl, the idea of shopping carts, full and empty, or used by the homeless, but I couldn’t find an idea that really clicked in terms of an inner and outer relationship. But then had the idea for how an army leaves and returns from war, and the juxtaposition felt right.

The Unveiled Tarot by Jesse Lonergan is available for pre-order now!