MondoCon

This past weekend, you may have been lucky enough to find yourself in Austin, TX to attend the second annual MondoCon. If you weren't (like me), you apparently missed out on a whole mess of cool announcements (like me). In addition to the requisite vinyl and print teases for upcoming releases, Mondo also hinted at the future of its collectibles line. We already knew licenses like He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Madballs would be on hand, but Mondo's creative director of toys and collectibles Brett Otterbacher had a few surprises for those in attendance, too. According to a recap in the Austin Chronicle, Mondo will be crafting statues based on two different DC Comics prints that have already been released. First, a cast version of Francesco Francavilla's "Red Rain" print will be coming soon. Like the Godzilla statue based on the work of Phantom City Creative, the Batman-as-Dracula piece will be stylized as a 3D recreation of Francavilla's scrawny, bony, fang-bearing art. There will also be a Harley Quinn statue based on the 2014 SDCC-exclusive print from Matt Taylor (above). How this Harley will be translated to a statue remains to be seen, as this piece is just as much about her room as it is her. It will be interesting to see which elements make the leap to physical form when the statue begins development.

This weekend will see the second annual MondoCon take place in Austin, TX, and with that comes the debut of amazing exclusive vinyl soundtracks, prints, screenings, posters and teases from Mondo about its plans for the coming year and beyond. While there will be a heavy leaning towards film at MondoCon, there will be a smattering of comic and cartoon-related goodness on display, too. Jock will have his own panel, the 1989 Batman will get a special showing, and for the first time, Mondo's upcoming 1/6 scale He-Man figures will be on full display. The He-Man figure announcement came at San Diego Comic-Con, but the showing of any assets was very hush-hush, meaning this weekend's event will be the first time the general public will have a chance to peek at the prototypes for He-Man and Skeletor in their new forms. In advance of their debut, Mondo teased the a bit of the preliminary design sketches to give fans an idea of what to expect from their particular take on the '80s cartoon characters.

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When Mondo, the merchandising arm of the celebrated Alamo Drafthouse theater known for selling super-cool movie posters, announced that it would host a convention in Austin, Texas, September 20-21, it wasn't entirely clear what the focus would be. Movies? Artists? Movies about artists? As it turns out, it's all of the above. In addition to hosting the world-premiere screening of the new documentary about the British comics anthology 2000AD, Future Shock!, the weekend event will also host an array of comic artists, many of which have contributed their talents to film. Some of those artists, including Alex Ross have contributed art to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Iron Giant.

Mondo, the boutique merchandise arm of the celebrated Austin movie theater the Alamo Drafthouse, has developed a reputation over the years for super-cool movie posters and art prints. Now, it's got a convention to showcase even more cool art. MondoCon will take place at Austin’s Marchesa Hall & Theater September 20 and 21, and the guest list is pretty amazing: It includes Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (who just created a new, amazing Bride of Frankenstein poster for Mondo), Afterlife With Archie's Francesco Francavilla, revered horror artist Bernie Wrightson, Shaolin Cowboy creator Geof Darrow, ComicsAlliance favorite Jock, Mondo's animated Batman poster designers Phantom City Creative, and a bunch more.