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Shortly after they debuted in June 1985, Garbage Pail Kids became the hottest item on the playground. The sticker trading cards took the concept of the popular, cutesy toddler dolls known as the Cabbage Patch Kids, and gave them horror-film-type...
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Shortly after they debuted in June 1985, Garbage Pail Kids became the hottest item on the playground. The sticker trading cards took the concept of the popular, cutesy toddler dolls known as the Cabbage Patch Kids, and gave them horror-film-type physical deformities or repulsive, adult personalities; made them into human-animal mutants; or subjected them to cartoonish deaths. Each image would be paired with a silly name to complete the gag, like "Fryin' Brian." Every card had an A and B version, with the B version simply featuring a different name—"Fryin' Brian" became "Electric Bill." The cards could be saved and traded, or the stickers could be peeled off and affixed to bikes and Trapper Keepers. Card no. 8 in the first set ("Adam Bomb"/"Blasted Billy") became the most iconic "GPK" image—a toddler in a suit presses a big red button to explode a mushroom cloud from his own head. The combination of simple gross-out jokes and sense of access to subversive humor usually reserved for adults made the cards instantly appealing to 10-year-olds—unless the image hit a little too close to home. Many cards in the Original Series (1985-'87) were completely over-the-top and surreal with doll stuffing pouring out of the injured "Kid." Other contained racial caricatures, as well as jabs at obese kids, gay and transgender kids, and kids with disabilities, illnesses, or other abnormalities. Imagine if you didn't already have a schoolyard nickname and some bully decided you reminded them of "Itchy Richie" or "Hairy Mary." The Kids' origins go back to the '60s: In college, young cartoonist Art Spiegelman—who would become a legendary underground comix artist and Pulitzer-winning graphic novelist—took a freelance gig at the Topps bubblegum card company, and in 1966, when he was 18, Topps promoted him to creative consultant. Spiegelman, with artist Norman Saunders, developed the concept of Wacky Packages, or Wacky Packs, which were sticker cards that parodied popular consumer...
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