The Tarot Room – Georgianna

Today’s deck from Georgie’s Magic Card Collection is the Fradella Adventure Tarot. It was designed by Frank Fradella with art by JP Dupers. My copy was published in 2002 by US Games.

5 Points About This Deck

1. Concept: The Fradella Adventure Tarot is based on the heroes and villains in Frank Fradella’s Cyber Age Adventure series. Knowing the characters from that series would definitely provide added insight to any reading done with this deck, but with the help of the LWB (little white book) and some focus on the images, I think the Fradella can be read by anyone with some Tarot background.
   Unfortunately, the two web addresses listed in the LWB no longer point to any site, and look to be for sale. Maybe it’s an opportunity …
2. Artwork: Bright, colourful, vibrant, and full of comic-book action (as one might expect from a collection of Superheroes) – I like it.
3. Card Stock: I know this is a little strange to mention, but the card stock is a somewhat thicker than that of most decks I have. The shuffling is a little stiff because of it (at least for me). It might be a good thing in the long run though, especially if you’re using the deck a lot. The cards are hearty.
4. Major Arcana: The Major cards of the Fradella Adventure Tarot follow the RWS model, but of course, replace the medieval imagery with Superheroes.
5. Minor Arcana: Instead of Wands, Swords, Cups, and Disks (or Pentacles), the Fradella Adventure Tarot gives us Staves, Blades, Masks, and Discs, but otherwise follows the familiar RWS/Golden Dawn concepts.
   One thing to note … because each of the Minor cards features a different hero or villain, the distinction between the Minor cards and their suit’s Court Cards is a little hazy. The main difference being that the numbered cards in a suit typically show an action, while the Court Cards are more about the character themselves. Either way though, the ideas pictured on the Minor cards are pretty straightforward, whether you know the characters or not.

The verdict overall … I like the Fradella Adventure Tarot. If you can get the guidebook meant to accompany the deck, it might be even better, but the deck alone is a lot of fun.