Hot: For readers in the United States, please tell us a little about yourself?

LV: My name is Luciano Vecchio, and I am a comic book artist and illustrator based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I've been working in comics and storybooks for 10 years, my works have been published in the United States, UK, Spain and France, and my most recent jobs include Ben 10 and Young Justice for DC Comics. 

HoT: Why did you decide to create the Cruel Thing Tarot?

LV: Cruel Thing is a series of graphic novels written by Lean and drawn by me, first published by Norma Editorial in Spain. A supernatural gothic adventure that explored the human nature, with a heavy use of symbolic imagery and a vibrant color scheme of pure red, black and white. When our publisher suggested doing a postcards set using existing art from the books, I asked to do Tarot deck instead, along the lines of the same publisher's Favole deck by Victoria Francés. 

HoT: What was the process for developing the Cruel Thing Tarot?

To be honest, I knew little about Tarot when I started working on this deck. The main intention was to create a beautiful object for collectors using the characters and imagery from the Cruel Thing comic series "posing" and "acting" as the major arcana and court cards, but I also wanted to be truthful and respectful of the Tarot legacy. I did my investigation and took from diverse sources, I would name the works of Alan Moore and Alejandro Jodorowsky as influences, but I mostly studied the decks and let the cards speak to me. The creative process was pure pleasure, almost a state of trance, and to my surprise and joy readers and users have told me it makes a very coherent and powerful deck. 

HoT: Are there any aspects of the Cruel Thing Tarot that are overlooked by most readers?

LV: There is a whole level of interpretation that only the readers of the Cruel Thing comic will get, which makes the symbols used in the deck coherent with the fiction Lean and I created, but it's not important to use the deck in a reading. Another interesting aspect is that the minor arcana, while not fully drawn scenes, are iconic arrangements of the suits reflecting the meaning of the card in a subtle way. These are inspired by the Rider-White deck. 

HoT: What have you learned from the Cruel Thing Tarot?

LV: I learned about Tarot itself, and was inspired to keep learning about it, as a constant source of inspiration and a way of self-knowledge. 

HoT: What trends do you consider important for 2012?

LV: My 2012 started in a very unexpected and happy way, so I'm set on a very optimistic mood about the upcoming future. I have a strong feeling of big changes and "expecting the unexpected", but with faith that the best is yet to come. My focus trends are self-evolution, health, and thankfulness. Ironically, I think 2012 will be a year without consulting oracles for me. 

HoT: Please add anything you would like our visitors to now about yourself or your work:

LV: I would like to thank everyone interested in the Cruel Thing Tarot and express that I'm deeply honored and moved by the use of my art in the intimate and powerful moment of your Tarot readings. I would also like to invite you to learn and see more about the Cruel Thing saga at http://www.cruelthing.com/