2. Do you recall how you found work at the Topps Company during that time -- any specific contact or person that may have seen your work and asked to interview you? Was this job specifically for Garbage Pail Kids (GPK)?

Nick Meglin, an editor at MAD recommended me to Len Brown at Topps. I think they sort of had an artistic pipeline when someone needed an artist. I had no idea why I was going way out to Brooklyn to show a portfolio. Meeting everyone that first day was a bit surreal…being that it was a dingy old factory area, I thought that I left that world back in Pittsburgh. Len took me through a maze of dingy hallways to a room to meet Mark Newgarden and Art Spiegelman. It was like a darkroom with these 3 guys hovering over me in a spotlight… very film noire. After I showed them my stuff they showed me what they were working on. I couldn't help but think with all the snot and vomit that it'd be a big step backwards from what I normally did. I thought I knew Topps well, as a kid I collected everything but these new cards were crazy. I agreed to give one of the ideas a try but really all the signs were negative… I even remember riding the subway back to Manhattan with fresh gum on my shoe. A few days later I was back in their office with a finished piece and they all liked it. More importantly I really got into it. I suppose I filled their workload by becoming the 3rd artist besides Tom Bunk and John Pound. I ended up doing about 10 pieces for that first series..Series 6.

One note about John Pound - to me he was and always will be the 'GPK Master' The more I looked at his art the more I realized it was just impossible to attain his level of brilliance…the design, the technique, the ideas, - saying the most with so little, just great. Instead of emulating his art style I just had to accept that I was a different artist. Also, since I worked in oil paint I couldn't use an airbrush and detail might have been more difficult. Art and Mark did a great job at art directing Tom Bunk and I into some uniformity but really John Pound's work always hit the nail on the head.

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The original and final artwork piece for 6th Series cards 248a HECTOR Collector and 248b G.P. KAY was completed by John Pound and James Warhola, respectively. Pound's character, pictured to the left, was completed before the 6th Series release and was originally intended for the 5th Series release, but was later re-painted by newcomer Warhola, pictured to the right, as a test piece for painting Garbage Pail Kids by the NPD department. Unlike the rendition completed by Warhola with nine GPK sticker images there are no distinguishable GPK images from the previous sets that can be found on Pound's artwork containing sixteen GPK stickers.


The artwork for the 6th Series cards 233a WES Mess and 233b Trash-Can KEN, painted by James Warhola, was based off of the Vertumnus piece created by Giuseppe Arcimboldo in 1590. Per Roman mythology, Vertumnus is the God of seasons, gardens, plant growth, fruit trees, etc. The Vertumnus painting itself was based on the Holy Roman Emperor (1576 - 1612) Rudolf II whom greatly appreciated the piece.



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The big turning point was the Cabbage Patch 'settlement'. Up to that point life was fantastic! …but after that agreement we got word that the look would change 'a little'. Tom Bunk did new model sheets that showed the new GPK look - the characters now were to look like they were made of plastic with elbow joints and cracks...not soft and fleshy as before. Speaking for myself…I thought the new look was terrible! a total bummer. To me they just didn't seem real anymore… maybe one too many steps from reality, nothing like the old look. That was probably the beginning of the end or at least a turning point. I'm sure the kids picked up on it. I made the best of it as one does do satisfy a client but the shift killed some enthusiasm. As for my work load I always had other jobs… alien barroom scenes, dragons, spacemen, etc etc and… MAD assignments too. As GPK started to wined down, my other jobs filled in my schedule. I also started doing kids books which meant something different - a royalty, unheard of in other parts of the illustration field.

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There are several Unpublished Garbage Pail Kids paintings from 1987 intended for the 10th Series set including two by artist James Warhola; a kid being branded and a brick being tossed through a stained glass window. An artwork chart is listed below for Warhola's completed Original Series pieces.

OS6: 213, 214, 216, 231, 232, 233, 241, 244, 246, 248
OS7: 252, 262, 268, 272, 273, 274, 279, 281, 290, 291, 292
OS8: 294, 295, 296, 297, 308, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 334
OS9: 340, 351, 361, 364, 372, 373, 377
OS10: 380, 381, 382, 398, 402, 404, 405, 406, 410, 411
OS11: 420, 425, 432, 433, 437, 441, 442, 443, 447, 452, 453, 455, 459
OS12: 460, 463, 474, 475, 476, 478, 483, 485, 486, 492, 495, 497
OS13: 504, 522, 526
OS14: 554
OS16: 645
POSTER: 10, 12, 13

According to James Warhola's study-in-dinosuars for cards 425a DENNY Saur and 425b RIP Tile a thumbnail sketch shows the dinosaur Kid and a note by Warhola that the urine should be 'very green pee'. James would oftentimes meet up with Art Spiegelman, who also lived in New York, to go over concepts in person over food and drink. The character in the boat scenerio, riding the wave of pee, stayed in the scene from start to finish. Spiegelman questioned whether the urine should be green or blue; as the color rough demonstrates, the color blue was chosen and the dinasuar was initially the color green. Art also noted that one of the buildings should look like a fire hydrant (a canine gag) and the building does take this form for the final artwork, but I'm not sure the joke comes through. In the end, the dinasuar Kid became a brown and flesh-colored 'reptile' where the tail is not in view and the character's face becomes cheerful.



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My family loved my GPK work as they had with all of my work for MAD magazine. It was mainstream and mass produced. I was a hit with all my nephews and nieces. The experience though short-lived as it was, was incredible! I wouldn't have traded it for the world. It was underground humor for kids - something despised by most adults. I don't think its ever happened before and can ever be repeated. The idea found the perfect time and place and the right creative bunch to make it all happen - Mark, John, Art, Jay, Tom and Len. I was just very fortunate to go along for the ride.

5. Speaking of family, your uncle, Andy Warhol, was of course a renowned leading figure in the visual art movement, especially in New York City and reviving 1960’s pop art – what were his thoughts on your chosen career and his feelings on you working for Topps on the GPK images? I have seen larger-than-life ‘surreal’ images in your art studio that come to mind… what influenced those?

As for career advice, my Uncle Andy tried to persuade me to go into something different - either photography or film directing. His thoughts was that illustration was a dying profession. He was right to a certain extent - the need for illustrators was a downward spiral. Of course I didn't listen and went my own way and became an illustrator as he had. He still grooved with everything that I did - the sic-fi / fantasy/ MAD assignments… and the Garbage Pail Kids. He thought it was all great. He came from an illustration background so he was always tapped into the mass media. It set him apart from most of the other big contemporary artists making him like an oracle mirroring our popular culture back to us in the form of FineArt. Yes, he was especially intrigued with my GPK work. He loved things that hit a nerve and the GPK's certainly did that. One of his comments was that the small 5 x 7 paintings were too small…he suggested I try doing them big so they can be hung on walls by rich people. He always thought big. It took me a while but I finally took his advice and in recent years started making my images larger than life, not 5 by 7 inches but 5 feet by 7 feet. To my surprise it kind of works - making something lowbrow and mass produced into something highbrow. Could it be like making a boring old soup can into something important. Maybe. I have no idea where these large paintings will take me but I'm having a helluva lot of fun doing them.

ed. note: see the highbrow version of the 7th Series image 273a Haunted FORREST and 273b Sappy SARAH pictured at the top of this interview page along with artist James Warhola; which includes one of his uncle Andy Warhol's iconic 'Campbell's Soup Cans'. The trading card die-cut image is pictured below for reference.



Artist James Warhola completed the first final artwork piece for 9th Series cards 346a Peeled PAUL and 346b Skin LES prior to the New Product Development (NPD) team at Topps having John Pound paint a different, alternate version for the printed card. Per Mark Newgarden: "The consensus was, it just wasn't working. Compare it to John's and you can see why. Definitely a tough concept to solve. Even John's doesn't read if silhouetted. What's unusual is that we went this far and then started all over again with another artist." In previous sets, John Pound's tight pencil or final artwork was used for new GPK artists coming on board to mimic; this was a reversal, bringing in Pound to solve the concept. Newgarden has the number '14' circled on the artwork -- possibly for the fourteenth final artwork piece turned in for the 9th Series set and the artist's initials circled 'JW' along with several potential card names including; Raw RON, CURT Shirt, Inside OTTO and Peeled PAYNE. Without the closet of skins in the background (and nomenclature) the concept wouldn't read with Warhola's finished product; the character is simply removing an "outfit". Compared to Pound's piece, with different footing and hand placement, John adds another layer of humor by making the character accidentally tearing his "outfit" while removing it, thus, putting that closet of skins to good use.



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I never offered any of my own concept ideas. I stuck to their system they had in place - Mark and Art giving me the gags and I focused on designing and painting. They never seem to be short of ideas, their creative flow was great. You name it they were coming up with it. Brainstorming at its best. There may have been a few times that my interpretation may have been too literal or I may have had a hard time seeing the humor… Didn't happen too often. They'd rework the idea or try giving it to either Tom or John. At first the ideas were just thoughts and words, then they went into a doodle stage, then I'd sketch it out and if it passed mustard I'd get the go-ahead on a finish. Each card had a life of it's own. At the idea stage everything was up for criticism, all for the purpose of making them better.

The only things I have from the early series are the sketches, tissues and some of Art's and Mark's doodles. Unfortunately not one final painting. Yes, Topps kept all the finals. I suppose at the time it didn't bother me. As a beginning artist I was just happy to get work so I accepted any terms thrown at me. The same went for MAD magazine, they insisted on keeping the original artwork. That policy changed in the early 90's and then artwork was returned. Though there was a big difference with MAD. When MAD put everything up for auction at Sotheby's, they were gracious enough to split the profits with all the artists. That didn't happen with Topps. They didn't feel any gratitude toward the artists that helped make it all happen for them. I guess generosity wasn't quite their thing unless maybe you were an executive.

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Artist James Warhola was the third largest contributor to GPK during the original releases. Warhola's pencil art for 12th Series cards 486a Chiseler CHAD and 486b JULIUS Sneezer can be found littered with notes by either Art Spiegelman or Mark Newgarden along with his own notations; James lived in NYC and was able to visit the Topps office or meet up with Art in the city to go over concepts, etc. Comments were jotted on the sidelines pointing out a 'Skylight' at the top of the picture and that the farthest sculputure was a 'H. Moore Type'; this may have been a dedication to Henry Moore (an English sculptor/artist) who passed away in August of 1986 who created sculptures of abstract human form. The other two statues are The Thinker (Le Penseur) by Auguste Rodin, a French sculptor, and David, a Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo. Additional notes mention a 'Younger Kid, full profile, chipping at sculpture' where a chisel and hammer were added to the artwork, to add 'More goo' to the main sculpture and that the 'Back statues will be the same green slime color as his present work".


The color rough for James Warhola's artwork for 13th Series cards 504a COOPER Scooper and 504b JESS Desserts went through several changes from start to finish. Besides a drastic change in clothing and a hat added, the character's tongue has been removed for the final artwork; from the picture, the left arm/hand does not show up on card and the left eye is missing (instead of the right eye). The layout of the picture became horizontal with a neighborhood and ice cream truck added to the artwork. It is interesting to point out that part of The Eyescream Boy title shows up in the artwork as the name of the ice cream truck.



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I think I was first contacted out of the blue by John Williams… he asked me if I'd do a few. He caught me in between book jobs so I had fun doing them like in the old days. Of course it helped that the pay was better and the artist kept the art! At some point I started working with Jeff Zapata but my memory is lacking as to who was who over the phone.

9. This period was a very short-lived freelance job for Topps where you created less than 15 new pieces; was other work keeping you from working on more? And, was it different working with a whole new group at Topps?

Actually I was up for as many as they would give me. I think they divvied up the gags as they wanted. I had no clue who the other artists were or who was doing what. I did change my medium to acrylics and tempera. I stopped working in oils several years before. It was definitely a better change not to wait long for paint to dry.

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The All-New Series 2 final artwork image for cards 1a Peg Leg GREG and 1b JUSTIN Timber Leg by Warhola. An artwork chart is listed below for Warhola's completed All-New Series pieces.

ANS2: 1, 21, 31, 35
ANS3: 9, 12, 16, 18, 27, 34, S10
ANS4: 19, 21, B8

The following unpublished piece by James Warhola is rumored to have been intended for the 14th Series set, but was most likely rejected prior to this release. Artwork that the higher-ups at Topps found questionable in taste were held back and often resubmitted in future sets to see if the paintings could be 'snuck' in for a later release. The last, largest contribution from Warhola for the 1988 GPK sets was for the 12th Series set and three pieces for the 13th Series set. Only one final artwork image made it into the 14th and 16th Series sets each and were most likely images held back and re-submitted by the NPD Department. Warhola had this to say about the piece: "Yes it's one of my rare 'not in the mood' pieces, I think I was moving out of the city and was rushed, thus the slightly different style. [The painting] is oils and of course no one else used oils except me" (April 2016). The piece does feel 'off' and not one of Warhola's strongest offerings, but as mentioned, he was moving out of NYC physically and quite busy. Mark Newgarden, one of the art directors for the set, mentioned no dates were located of when this piece was planned or completed but "the sketch notes call for a few of the coils and food splashes, but James really went overboard here. I'm guessing that 'Yes', it probably sat around for quite awhile."



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10. It was great meeting you in person at the 30 Years of Garbage: The GPK Story documentary premiere in NYC over 4th of July weekend of this year. As an executive producer on the project, I was thrilled of your presence there along with Mark Newgarden – I wish there had been more time to socialize; it just went so fast. In conclusion, what type of work have you been working on over the past decade and where can we look for your current work?

Likewise, great meeting you also at the premier. Loved the movie, very well done! Doesn't seem like 30 years, really its like yesterday.

The children's picture books have pretty much tapered off and for the last several years I've been doing art for art's sake. I still like telling a story so I hope to keep my hand in the narrative. Presently I have a show out of the blue this September in Bratislava, Slovakia. It's a Warhol/Warhola show and besides my uncle's and my work from my books it'll feature four of my large GPK inspired paintings. Hard to say how those Eastern Europeans will view it but it certainly should be interesting. I think with the way the state of the world is at the moment it certainly could use a good dose of raw humor.

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