The term Marvel Tarot is used for three different (fictional and real) tarot card games. Marvel Comics published the first major-arcanas-only Tarot deck in Italy in 1995 (based on its comic characters) called Tarocchi Marvel.[1] In 2007 Marvel Comics released a comic-book-styled magazine called The Marvel Tarot depicting a second major-arcanas-only Tarot deck mainly showing different characters (compared to the first one) for representing the trumps.[2]

Marvel Tarot (fictional) edit

Tarocchi Marvel edit

Description edit

22 card deck (trumps only), depicting characters from Marvel Comics. The card backs feature a dual image of Dr. Strange.

The cards and characters depicted are as follows:

  • 0 - Il Matto - Wolverine
  • I - Il Mago - Dr. Strange
  • II - La Papessa - Storm
  • III - L'Imperatrice - Invisible Girl (Sue Storm)
  • IV - L'Imperatore - Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards)
  • V - Il Papa - Professor X (Charles Xavier)
  • VI - Gli Amanti - Spider-Man and Mary Jane (although she looks like Gwen Stacy)
  • VII - Il Carro - Ghost Rider
  • VIII - La Giustizia - Daredevil
  • IX - L'Eremita - Silver Surfer
  • X - La Ruota - Longshot
  • XI - La Forza - Hulk
  • XII - L'Apesso - Nightcrawler
  • XIII - La Morte - Thanos
  • XIV - La Temperanza - Scarlet Witch
  • XV - Il Diavolo - Mephisto
  • XVI - La Torre - Baxter Building (with Thing and Human Torch)
  • XVII - La Stella - Dazzler
  • XVIII - La Luna - Moon Knight
  • XIX - Il Sole - Thor
  • XX - Il Giudizio - Punisher
  • XXI - Il Mondo - Captain America

Card dimensions: 137 x 74 mm, 5 3/8 x 2 7/8 in.

Creator(s) edit

Publishing details edit

ISBN none listed

Date of Publication edit

1995

Publisher edit

Lo Scarabeo

Reviews edit

Online Deck Images - links edit

Marvel Tarot (magazine one-shot) edit

Credits edit

  • Year = 2007
  • Editor-in-Chief = Joe Quesada
  • CoverArtist = Marko Djurdjevic
  • Writer = David Sexton
  • Penciler = David Sexton
  • Editor = Jeff Youngquist
  • Quotation = Is the universe so screwed up that it can't even ask the right wizard for help? - Ian McNee

Synopsis edit

The Marvel Tarot edit

Ian McNee looks through the First Tarot Deck, divining who appears on each card, and looking into their origins to see why. He discovered several cards are displaying more than one individual at different times, a sign he feels verifies that the world's magic is broken. In his research, he also traces back the Sorcerer Supreme title to its first earthly bearer, Agamotto.

Featured Characters edit

Notes edit

  • The above characters are listed next to the Tarot card they appear on. The Fool is the only card in the First Tarot Deck that doesn't receive a representative, something that McNee find extremely odd.
  • This serves as a sort of handbook, seen from the eyes of Ian McNee, profiling select parts of select characters' lives.
  • Rintrah is said to be a "cow-terpillar in a cow-coon" and that "he will come back soon."
  • The First Tarot Deck was used by Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange) in the Secret Defenders series as a way of figuring out what heroes were right for each mission.
  • The appearance of Naga on the Emperor card is seen as a possible reference to Nagala or a possible child of Nagala's, who would be seen as the seventh son of Set, the seven-headed demon, a child who would be known as the Dark Prince and usher in a time of immense power for the dark forces.
  1. ^ Tarocchi Marvel, tarotpedia.com
  2. ^ Marvel Tarot, marvel.wikia.com