Jack's Luck Runs Out
Encyclopedia
Jack's Luck Runs Out is a full-color one-shot comic book
created by Jason Little
. The book features playing card
s as characters, where the title character is a jack
. In March 1998, Little received a grant to help publish the book from the Xeric Foundation
. The book was published by Top Shelf Productions
.
, and was able to use their computers to complete it. The final thirty-six hours of work was done in a single session. Little was inspired to create Jack's Luck Runs Out by the comics of Evan Dorkin
.
and the decorative qualities found in the design of many playing cards. Since playing cards originate from medieval times, they have a distinct two-dimensional quality to them. Because of this, Little chose to use flat perspective
for the comic book.
for "Best New Talent" as well as an Ignatz Award for "Promising New Talent" for his work on Jack's Luck Runs Out.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
created by Jason Little
Jason Little (cartoonist)
Jason Palmer Little is an American cartoonist.He grew up in Binghamton, New York, studied photography at Oberlin College, and now lives in Brooklyn with writer Myla Goldberg and their two daughters....
. The book features playing card
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
s as characters, where the title character is a jack
Jack (playing card)
A Jack, also Knave, is a playing card with a picture of a man on it. The usual rank of a jack, within its suit, is as if it were an 11 ....
. In March 1998, Little received a grant to help publish the book from the Xeric Foundation
Xeric Foundation
The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations...
. The book was published by Top Shelf Productions
Top Shelf Productions
Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. The company is based in Marietta, Georgia, Portland, Oregon, and New York City, New York....
.
Development
Little considered Jack's Luck Runs Out originally to be an exercise in drawing, but it eventually developed into a full-fledged comic book. The entire book was drawn and inked before the faces were added, which were taken from playing cards. When adding the faces, Little spent nine hours cutting and photocopying the faces of playing cards. The majority of the computer work was done on a PC 486. Towards the end of development, Little was working at MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, and was able to use their computers to complete it. The final thirty-six hours of work was done in a single session. Little was inspired to create Jack's Luck Runs Out by the comics of Evan Dorkin
Evan Dorkin
Evan Dorkin is an American comics artist and writer. His best known works are the comic books Milk and Cheese and Dork...
.
Style
The three main characters are based on the three face cards in a deck of playing cards (Jack, Queen, and King). To emulate the style of playing cards, Little used primary colorsPrimary Colors
Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics is a roman à clef, a work of fiction that purports to describe real life characters and events — namely, Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign in 1992...
and the decorative qualities found in the design of many playing cards. Since playing cards originate from medieval times, they have a distinct two-dimensional quality to them. Because of this, Little chose to use flat perspective
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
for the comic book.
Awards
In 1999, Little was nominated for a Harvey AwardHarvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
for "Best New Talent" as well as an Ignatz Award for "Promising New Talent" for his work on Jack's Luck Runs Out.
External links
- Jason Little's comics at his Beekeeper Cartoon Amusements, includes 5 page preview