The Agatha Christie Tarot.

tarotbear

To tell you the truth - as long as you are not 'redrawing' images from movies or production stills from plays - and you are creating 'your own' drawings of characters you are not breaking any copyright rules that I can think of... a woman in a 1930s evening gown can be any woman in a 1930s evening gown until you tell us that is (whoever). If you used the Hollywood or television casts of 'Death on the Nile' for inspiration - yes - that would infringe on the people that designed the costumes, sets, the actors that played them .... etc.

However - wanting to use the name 'Agatha Christie' is what will give you the problems... you may have to get permission or even pay a royalty to her estate to use her name ... legally. Her name would be the 'drawing point' for the sale of the decks.
 

luxshine

Six Degrees:: Thank you very much! ::blushes:: I hope you like how the card ends up looking.

Padma:: Thanks! I do have a list for all the Minor Arcana-with only a couple of question marks in some cards, such as for example the 10 of pentacles, and the 2 of cups, where I'm not quite sure if I'm going to go with the first choice. The list for the Major Arcana, though... it's still a bunch of choices for each card, as I try to decide what will be the best fit for each.

Chronata:: Thanks!

Tarotbear:: I've thought a lot about the copyright issue, and yes, one of the possibilities is to do a kickstarter to pay for the licensing rights directly to her state, as you mention, her name is the drawing point. According to my lawyer, I don't need to pay royalties for a Patreon in order to get the illustrations done, as in this case, people would be giving me money to draw the tarot itself, not so much to GET the deck, but the moment the deck is up for distribution... that's a hurdle, even if I named it the 'Mystery Deck' or something, as the cards ARE completely based on her characters. Sure, a lady in a 1930 evening gown is just that, but a man in a black 1930 suit, half balding, with an elegant twirled mustache, egg-shaped head and a twinkle in his eye? That's a bit more specific as Poirot.
For now, my goal is to finish the deck, . But in the future, well, all my notes can be used to make a different 'general' detective deck, if the licensing is too expensive for a kickstarter.
 

tarotbear

Sure, a lady in a 1930 evening gown is just that, but a man in a black 1930 suit, half balding, with an elegant twirled mustache, egg-shaped head and a twinkle in his eye? That's a bit more specific as Poirot.

You have just described ME ;) - and not necessarily David Suchet .... :surprise:
 

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Hemera

Oh, I love this idea! I´ve been a fan of Agatha Christie´s since I read Murder Is Easy in my very early teens.
I always thought that Luke and Bridget had the most perfect love story. It impressed me how Bridget was one of the suspects and how she looked "like a beautiful witch with her black hair flowing in the wind"...Luke loved her already even though she was a suspect. And the book ends magnificently.

Wikipedia said:
Bridget, who was about to have her throat slit, fights with the older woman, who has the wiry, mad strength of the truly insane. Having himself realised that Honoria was the killer, Luke arrives on the scene and saves Bridget. With the case over, Bridget and Luke decide to leave the village once and for all, to live their lives together as a married couple.

Oh yes, Miss Lemon would be an excellent High Priestess. :p
 

chartreuse_eyes89

What a great idea!
You'll have to let us know which characters are assigned the cards ;)
 

JOdel

There's a dark side to the Lovers. All for Love and the World well lost...

I'm thinking mostly of the pair in... I think it was either 'Evil under the Sun' or 'Death on the Nile', in any case the lovers were the young husband and his ex-girlfriend who was acting like a stalker, following him and his new bride around.
 

blue_fusion

You could, you know, do two decks (or more). Haha Miss Marple's, which would come in a pink crocheted bag, maybe with a tweed card back design, and serene (yet scandalous and sinister) old village scenes. Poirots would have a more action adventure them and would come in a sleek leather case. Or with a toupee. Haha
 

SixDegrees

I'm thinking mostly of the pair in... I think it was either 'Evil under the Sun' or 'Death on the Nile', in any case the lovers were the young husband and his ex-girlfriend who was acting like a stalker, following him and his new bride around.

I believe that was "Death on the Nile"...which, in my opinion, contains one of Christie's most contorted "final chapter explanations" ever...
 

JOdel

Oh, I quite agree. Some of her puzzlers are next to impossible to follow the threads, although one can sometimes figure out who probably did it. You just can't follow how. Or sometimes why.
 

luxshine

Hey guys, Still behind due to trying to get some material to do the first ones (and the whole Patreon thing is starting to look like my only choice here) plus got distracted with another deck I want to make (and yes, I'll make a thread for it)
but man, that idea for the crocheted bag is precious! (of course, then I'd have to call it the 'Cozy Mystery Tarot' as to avoid Copyright issues? Sigh. I wish I had money for the license, I swear it'd be great)