Mondo’s new Iron Giant print is great, but Kevin Tong’s print was incredible.
Here are all of Kevin Tong’s “Once Upon a Time Series” side-by side for comparison. These were released by MondoTees. As a set, they look great together. The heavy background in the “Rumpelstiltskin” seems a bit out of place however.
Day 1 - Top 10 Favourite Mondo Posters
This Top 10 wasn’t actually as hard as I thought it would be. Mondo (@MondoNews) has established itself within the last year as a commissioning monster, contacting famous poster artists to create screenprints based on a variety of films. I’ve linked the pieces available with reference to the Mondo Archive. There are so many extraordinary prints it’s hard to pick a “Top 10”, but here are my favourites by far.
10 - Frankenstein by Drew Struzen (Mondo blog link)
I’m almost certain this poster would have made it significantly higher on the list if I hadn’t learned that the design had been created many years earlier as a promotional tool for the film. I can’t get over how amazing it looks though, so it had to be on this list. I’m not a horror fan, but this one strikes me as an outstanding piece of art.
9 - Alien by Ken Taylor (Mondo blog link)
I really like the cartoony-yet-realistic look of Ken’s pieces. It always reminds me of rotoscoping, carefully drawing over something with cartoon intentions to create a piece that doesn’t look like it belongs in either category. He created a companion piece to this poster but the simplicity of this one in particular is enough to warrant a spot on this list.
8 - Tron and Tron: Legacy by Eric Tan (Mondo blog link)
Eric Tan has a very interesting style, and he’s been well-suited to the Disney series that Mondo is slowly releasing (Steamboat Willie, etc). His artwork is very simple and straight to the point and it creates prints that look very clean. These screenprints in particular are two separate works that look amazing side-by-side and have mimicking content to create a great contrast between the old and new films.
7 - Pan’s Labyrinth by Aaron Horkey (Mondo blog link)
There are few poster artists who are able to get the amount of detail that Aaron Horkey achieves in his drawings. Every subtlety is replicated and carefully crafted in his works, and along with his incredible letter-work, Aaron Horkey is a force to be reckoned with. I love the art style and the vertical design of this print but is way too eerie for me to ever want to hang up. I’m desperately seeking the purchase of a Horkey print in the future, but I unfortunately had to pass up on this one. A variant was released, but I appreciate the blues more.
6 - Bounty Hunters Wave 1 and 2 by Ken Taylor (Mondo blog link 1 and 2)
Told you I was a fan of Ken Taylor’s work. My love for Mondo blossomed essentially out of my love for Star Wars. I saw that Mondo was doing an officially licensed series for LucasFilms and I was all over it. Purchasing the first set of the Bounty Hunters prints allowed instance access to pre-order the second one, which I did. I think they look amazing together. Once again, it’s Ken’s “rotoscoped” style that brings these characters to life - even when they had minimal screen time.
5 - A Linch Pin Droid by Kevin Tong (Mondo blog link)
I have this strange fascination with Kevin Tong’s work, it’s rough and polished at the same time and has a very “sketched” quality about it that I really enjoy. This print in particular stands out to be my favourite. Kevin also goes into full detail about the creation of his work on his website (link here) and shows just how much detail and careful consideration went into this piece.
4 - Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair by Tyler Stout (Mondo blog link)
First revealed at a special birthday screening for Quentin Tarantino (for the “Whole Bloody Affair” cut of the Kill Bill saga), Tyler Stout created a piece in the style he is used to - a theatrical one sheet. I’m a Tyler Stout fanboy at this point in time so I picked this one up. It really does the saga justice and carefully blends in a lot of the characters and specific moments that I loved so much from Tarantino’s film. Mondo also released a variant on this one with more blood, Japanese characters and subtle differences in the content which you can see here.
3 - The Evil Dead by Olly Moss (Mondo blog link)
Olly Moss is one of my favourite artists working today. It seems like everything he touches turns to gold, creating some of the most original and simplistic works I’ve ever seen. This poster for The Evil Dead is no exception as it is able to capture every subtle nuance of the film; the style, atmosphere and imagery. It is really a work of art.
2 - Star Wars Trilogy Prints by Tyler Stout (Mondo blog link)
I know it’s a cop-out to say three prints count for the number two spot, but I can’t see this series being viewed any other way. The colours and attention to detail are great, Stout really created one sheets that look authentic, but are also an homage to a great original trilogy. Stout also geeked out on printing these, creating a set of variants which included the original working title for “Return of the Jedi” - “Revenge of the Jedi”. Needless to say these prints in my possession and some of the finest print work I’ve seen.
1 - Star Wars Trilogy Prints by Olly Moss (Star Wars blog link)
Don’t even get me started on my disappointment over these. Due to a glitch in the system, Mondo oversold these bad boys and I was issued a refund as a random draw. It still hurts to this day to see how outstanding these prints are. The design is simple and speaks volumes of Olly’s ability to create some of this generation’s most significant art work. It’s absolutely mindblowing how great this design is!
Two incredible posters Comic Con posters from Mondo. The first is a “Cowboys & Aliens print from Daniel Danger”, the second a print from Kevin Tong “The Invisible Man”. If there’s a better quality shot of the Invisible Man one, I’d love to see it.
Unfortunately, I am not at Comic Con and can’t see these in all their glory.
