The card of today’s focus is the Growlithe card from the Vending Machine Series, which were three sets of cards released only in Japan. Some of the cards made their way to the United States as promo cards, but Growlithe’s card was not one of them. The card also is unique in that it is one of the earliest illustrations created by Tomokazu Komiya, one of the most prevalent and unique artists in the entire series of the Pokémon TCG. He did the illustrations for several cards in the Vending Machine Series including the Machop line, Seadra, and Chansey.
Between all of the cards in the Vending Machine Series, I’ve always thought the Growlithe card was one of the weirdest. I’m perplexed by how the front legs are drawn, because I don’t think a dog sleeps on the floor the same way a kid would sleep on a desk. I almost feel like the card art is depicting a kid wearing a Growlithe costume. A lot of the earlier artwork in the TCG that was illustrated by Komiya depicts the Pokémon looking or acting humanlike. Ledyba crying next to a rock in a card from Neo Destiny, the Machop line from the Vending Machine Series performing different feats of strength while impressing the other Pokémon, Several Magikarp having a jump contest with a pair of Poliwhirl watching from the E-Reader set, Expedition. Komiya has done many unique illustrations, which is probably why I run into people who are often collecting the cards he illustrated. His style has changed a lot over the years, but early artwork like this Growlithe will be remembered and will always be unique.
Maybe dogs do sleep this way, but I don’t hang out enough with dogs to remember how they sleep.
