Photos by Kayley Luftig
Mondo put on the 5th installment of MondoCon this past weekend after a two-year hiatus. The event was held at the Palmer Event Center in Austin, TX. The weekend included two full days of the convention, several movies at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, and lots of amazing artwork. The con provided something for everyone. There were movies, movie posters, art posters, originals, artist signings, pins, skate decks, pint glasses, and more. There were meetups for all types of food, video games at the arcade, and pictures for active facebook groups that support Mondo. There were alternate movie showings at popular places around Austin, including at Zilker Park. The weekend did not disappoint.
The weekend started Friday night with a showing of Scott Pilgrim vs the World where Mondo gave away several prizes to the audience. After the movie, hundreds of members of the poster community gathered at midnight outside the Event Center for a lottery to determine the order of the lines. Dedicated con-goers remained in the line overnight until the con opened Saturday.
Con opened Saturday with hundreds of people in the line for the Mondo booth. Movie posters by Rory Kurtz, Greg Ruth, Drew Struzan, and many other popular artists headlined what Mondo sold at their booth. They also had a fantastic selection of pins and pint glasses. Those who didn’t go in the Mondo line were in a separate artist line. People waited in lengthy separate lines for artists such as Jason Edmiston, Rory Kurtz, 100% soft, Static Medium, Uniquely Geekly, and Todd Slater as they tried to purchase originals, art prints, and other collectibles. As the day continued, panels with the artists started as well. The most popular event, however, was the skate deck art classes with Sonny Day. Attendees who purchased a ticket throughout the event could paint their own skate deck with help from Sonny himself. Saturday night offered a couple of amazing movies at the Alamo with pop culture goodies. The first was Evil Dead with a new score written by the original composer to go with the cult classic movie. The second movie was the highlight of the weekend for many; a screening of Spiderman Into the Spiderverse, in which attendees got a foil print created by Martin Ansin. This was the perfect ending to a long day of the con on Saturday.
Sunday started with lines as well, although not nearly as long as Saturday. Lines for artists were still packed for the first few hours but thinned out during the Sunday panels. Highlights include Mondo Talk and Live Draw panels: Mondo talk, where Eric Garza, Rob Jones and Mitch Putnam talked about posters that would have been, as well as answered questions about the past and the future of the gallery. Live Draw included Daniel Danger, Matt Taylor and Jock in which the audience helped create a movie poster for Paddington. The con ended Sunday night with a showing of There Will be Blood back at the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse. Those in attendance got beautiful posters by Joao Ruas. This weekend was full of friends, art, and community. I am already looking forward to MondoCon 6.
