Attention Nerd Citizens! We are happy to announce our very own Alex Ross Poster Super Awesome Giveaway.

Because we are so fucking cool, Nerd City has recently scored copies of Alex Ross’ posters for both our good friends @ C2E2 and Chicago Comics…and we are GIVING THEM AWAY.

The first person to email max@nerdcityonline.com with subject heading “Alex Ross” will receive a copy of BOTH posters! Do it…now!

And for those who don’t win, get your very own Alex Ross/Chicago Comics print here.

Our friends at Mondo have been putting out so many amazing limited edition art posters that it’s honestly hard to keep up!  Their releases for today are no exception, featuring The Holy Mountain, Dark Side of the Rainbow, and Tommy-themed pieces.

Poster by Florian Bertmer. 24″x36″ screen print w/ metallic inks. Hand numbered. Printed by D&L Screen Printing. Edition of 125.

Poster by Jon Smith. 24″x36″ screen print w/ metallic and glow in the dark inks. Signed and numbered by the artist. Printed by D&L Screen Printing. Edition of 35.

Poster by Jon Smith. 24″x36″ screen print w/ metallic inks. Printed on metallic silver paper. Signed and numbered by the artist. Printed by D&L Screen Printing. Edition of 15.

Poster by Jesse Philips. 20″x36″ screen print. Hand numbered. Printed by D&L Screen Printing. Edition of 50.

Poster by Jesse Philips. 20″x36″ screen print w/ metallic inks. Hand numbered. Printed by D&L Screen Printing. Edition of 25.

I really love those Tommy posters.  I would really appreciate it if you got one for me here. While you’re at it, pick up something for yourself!

If you’re headed to DesignerCon this weekend, be sure to check out the Badass Cinema show at Gallery 1988 put on by our friends at Mondo and featuring Nerd city favorite, Skinner!

From Mondo:

Friday November 20th at Gallery 1988, Mondo will be setting up shop for the night with lots of our friends providing live art. Skinner will be on hand watercoloring a limited edition Medusa art print we printed special for this show. Kevin Tong will have a new art print for sale (just got that image in and it looks incredible) and Harry Diaz will be screen printing shirts and prints by hand live in the store! Not only will all of these guys be hanging out, but Mondo will also have shirts, toys, and some exclusive and never before seen posters that we printed especially for this show.

Live art by Skinner?  Be there or be square!

Coming next year, following the events of Dark Reign, Marvel will jump into their next big event in The Siege. This story looks to re-establish the main three Avengers (Captain America, Thor and Iron Man) as one main group of guys you don’t want to fuck with. What is most intriguing though is that Norman Osborn a.k.a The Green Goblin, still seems to be enjoying his position as the head of H.A.M.M.E.R right now and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon. So it will be interesting to see how Brian Michael Bendis wraps up Normans story and leads into the heroes taking things over again. Or is that even how things are going to go in the long run? Plus what would a returning Steve Rogers possibly have to do with all this? And will Norman take down Asgard as part of his list of things to accomplish? Find out more in January when The Siege mini series and event begin. For more information check out the Bendis interviews over at comicbookresources or at Newsarama. Marvel has provided a fantastic video preview and hit the jump to view all the teaser posters released for the event as well.

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Opening Nov. 13 @ The National Pastime Theater in Chicago, this is the second year for the David Bowie-themed Christmas stage show from The New Millenium Theatre Company.

This is a very cool organization, responsible for the Texas Chainsaw Musical, and a show based on Hack/Slash. In fact, our good buddy Tim Seeley occasionally does their posters. Plus, i have heard nothing but good things about last year’s production.

Get your tickets here.

Our friends at Mondo are releasing some really cool limited edition posters/prints of your favorite spooky movies just in time for Halloween!  These prints are so well done that they stand on their own as pieces of art, but really are “must haves” for fans of these films.

From Mondo:

Freddy Krueger is not a nice dude, but audiences loved him so much in the 80’s that A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET single handedly saved a major Hollywood film company from going bankrupt. Is there anything Robert Englund can’t do?

Poster by Methane Studios. 19″x27″ screen print. Hand numbered. Printed by Methane Studios. Edition of 150.

From Mondo:

Do you think John Carpenter is secretly psychic? He must’ve been to have the foresight to put his name above everyone of his film’s titles. I mean, how else would we differentiate his films from the shitty remakes? Oh wait, I just answered my own question…his were classics and the remakes are…well…shitty.

Poster by Methane Studios. 19″x27″ screen print. Hand numbered. Printed by Methane Studios. Edition of 150.

From Mondo:

This movie features one of the best actor transformations of all time by Michael Keaton, won an Oscar for best makeup and spawned a hugely popular children’s cartoon. Why in the world didn’t they end up making the sequel, Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian?! One of Hollywood’s biggest mistakes.

Poster by Drew Millward. 12″x24″ screen print. Hand numbered. Printed by D&L Screen Printing. Only 65 available through Mondo!

And, in a super-limited edition of 15 is the variant glow-in-the-dark version of the Beetlejuice print.

To get your posters, go here.

Direct Youtube Link

Last month, Hell came to Chicago, courtesy of Frank Kozik and Rotofugi.  Nerd City was at the show and had the chance to have a brief chat with Mr. Kozik, himself.

Your recent Hell Comes to Chicago show at Rotofugi was a shift back to more 2-D/ painting-type work from the extensive amount of toy design that you had been doing for quite a while before that. What is the transition between these two mediums like for you, artistically?

Not much…I always draw and paint analog, and do all the packaging layouts for the toys, so it is always a mix.

How do you feel about the emerging philosophy that the designer toy is a small piece of art?

Personally I feel its quite important..basically ‘underground’ pop sculpture..before this its always been either 2d , film, audio or live performance. the sculpture thing is novel.

Political icons like Mao and Ho Chi Minh appear throughout your work. What is your fascination with these figures and what do you feel they represent?

Just look at it as my ’self help’ manual. all those dudes went from zero to a hundred in record time.

Punk imagery is another recurring theme in your work and you obviously spent years making music posters/ prints. How does music continue to influence your art and what are you listening to at the moment?

Music has almost no effect on the current toy design. I mostly listen to nothing at work. I like no noise.

What’s on the horizon for you, artistically?

More of the same, forever.

Thanks, Frank!

From Mattel:

Hey MOTU Fans!

Oh man, this is BIG… the design team at Mattel just announced the first book in their “Designed @ Mattel” series and it’s a MOTU art book!

The book shows off the fantastic art of the MOTU brand from 1981 through current day. It’s packed with never-before-seen Mattel concept art, behind-the-scenes notes, posters, oil paintings, and a whole lot more from across the brand. All that MOTU art from over the years is mighty sweet, but the book also premiers concept art from new projects, like a proposed live action film!

It’s a soft-cover edition, limited to only 1,000 numbered copies. Each one comes with a numbered cover ribbon and an embossed seal. The first place they’ll be available is San Diego Comic-Con. Purchases will be limited to two per guest, per wait in line. And get this… you can even have your copy signed by the Mattel artists at the show!

If any units remain after the show they may be sold on Mattycollector.com, but honestly, we expect to sell out at SDCC. Be sure to come by the MattyCollector.com booth early for your chance to own a piece of MOTU history!

Pretty sweet.  I certainly wouldn’t mind one of these!

In the early 70’s, a company named Third Eye produced a sweet series of Marvel Comics-themed black light posters for sale in comic shops, record stores, and head shops. Some day, when I have the means and the wall space, I intend to amass a nice collection of these. Until then, however, I can check out the gallery of images on Nick Derington’s Flickr here.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada’s Adriean Koleric is Item, one of Nerd City’s favorite artists and greatest allies.  Item was kind enough to answer a few questions about his artistic philosophies, inspirations, and his upcoming HERD show.

I see a really cool range of homages in your work from nerd pop culture to modern architecture to fashion to music. Stylistically, what influences propel Item?

I think you pretty well summed it up in your question! Ya, i’m a Nerd through and through. I love Industrial Design, Architecture, etc. …but my first love is pop culture, especially early to mid-80’s era. Stuff like comic books, toys, vinyl, cartoons, etc. That shit just gets me going and really helps fuel the creative fire. By the way I have to say, the trailer for the new GI Joe movie looks absolutely sick! I was a little worried with the all leather promo posters, but this really settled things down for me. I’ve been waiting for this flick since 1983, so it’s kind of a big deal to me!

What specifically is the HERD show and how did the idea come about for it?

HERD is my first solo show that’s based on the original Star Wars AT-AT design. The show will center around a dozen refurbished AT-AT’s (aptly renamed to AK-AT’s ) and will also feature some wall graphics, lighting elements and my first official toy based on my AK-AT driver mashup. I basically had 2 objectives for the show. One was to put focus on the actual design of the AT-AT’s and make people realize that someone actually sat down and spent time on this piece which in my opinion is one of the most iconic pieces of art ever made.

The funny thing is we don’t know the name of the Artist behind it like we would with a VanGogh or Warhol piece. According to Wikipedia, the AT-AT Designers name is Joe Johnston who funny enough is supposed to be the Director for the upcoming Captian America movie. Nice little tidbit eh? As for the second objective, I also wanted to show how some of us are heavily influenced by Western Pop Culture and that items such as the AT-AT’s are essentially ‘Art’ to us which then filters into our work today. These are the creations we look fondly back onto and inspire us to do what we do in a creative realm. Essentially what i’m saying is that we’re the HERD that are being lead by this movement called Pop Culture.

You have commissioned some really cool pieces from Suckadelic as part of the show. How did that collabo come about and what was the process like?

It was such an easy process. I have to say The Sucklord is a machine and an absolute professional at what he does. I basically dropped him an e-mail with a sketch of my ‘AK-AT Driver’ to see if he’d take it on as a job, which he graciously did. From there he rattled off a dozen kit-bashed resin figures that were spot on to what I was hoping to get. I felt like a kid again when those bad boys showed up in the mail. The quality is downright criminal. I cannot wait to include them in HERD!

You share the music that you’re enjoying fairly regularly on your blog. What have you been listening to while working on the pieces for the HERD show?

My Nano was on serious shuffle mode through the HERD process. The tunes were all over the place, but if I had to pick something specific i’d say I really got into The Rakes. ‘Strasbourg’ is a bloody masterpiece! Absolute brilliance! I’m also one of those guys to have a ‘background’ movie playing while I work. You know, the flicks that just sound great? Life Aquatic, Snatch, Lock Stock, The Darjeeling Limited and definitely Afro Samurai! RZA rocked the shit with that soundtrack. I wish my theme song sounded as bad ass as that one.

What is your process for custom painting the AT-AT’s.

Well the first challenge was actually getting my hands on them. Thank goodness for E-bay! Otherwise i’d be hooped. Once they arrived, then came disassembly and then a major cleaning as you would not believe the state that some came in. One was actually lit on fire from the inside! Of course no mention of that in the auction description. So after all components were ‘brought back to life’, out came the spray paint and the rest is history.

What else is on the horizon for you, artistically?

I’ve got a couple of shows in the pipeline. One based on Cobra Commander which will be another solo gig and then a group show I’m putting together that will be an all ‘Droid’ program. The mediums will vary for both, but the common is that I’ll still be incorporating some of my Design background to each one. Stuff like this just evolves as the process goes, so it’s always hard for me to know exactly how things will turn out at the end.

Thanks so much for what you’re doing with your art. Your combination of uber modern style and geek culture reverence is exactly what Nerd City loves!

…and I love you Nerd City !

HERD will officially be happening Spring 2009 (April 17-May16) in Edmonton at Latitude53.

Please check out Item’s web site here and blog here for more info.

One of my favorite mass-murderers/evil dictators is Kim Jong-il.  Imagine my delight when kottke posted a link to a photo essay of North Korean propaganda posters.