Limited Paper: The 20 Best Posters of 2012 Part One Includes Tyler Stout, Martin Ansin, Ken Taylor, Tom Whalen, Mark Englert, Godmachine and More

14.  Jock—THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (VILLAIN VARIANT)

Those who attended the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con had to run a gauntlet of Twitter-based shenanigans to get their hands on a copy of this, but those who waited it out were able to snag one of the AP versions (which had a 1 in 8 chance of being personally doodled-upon by Jock himself).   2012 produced no shortage of Batman-themed prints, but this was one of our absolute favorites.  Can’t wait to see what Jock’s got in store for 2013.

13.  Martin Ansin—FRANKENSTEIN

Martin Ansin.  Universal Monsters.  What more needs to be said (besides, of course, “Where the hell is our Ansin Creature From The Black Lagoon?!”)?   Ansin might not have produced enough heavy-hitters to have landed in our soon-to-be-announced “Poster MVP” position, but he’s still a goddamn genius.

12.  Tyler Stout—THE AVENGERS (Variant)

The drop that gave us this print was one of the most brutal I have ever experienced.  So brutal, in fact, that I still don’t own one of these.  The scars may never heal, but that’s still a beautiful print (and far from the last Stout you’ll be seeing on this list).

11.  Martin Ansin—LOOPER

One of the highlights of Fantastic Fest 2012, Martin Ansin’s Looper was one of the year’s best.  The decision to produce half of them with a gold-tint, the other with a silver-tint was one of the most clever bits of coloring we saw all year, and the likenesses here show why Ansin is considered one of the best in the business.  Everyone we know bought both copies of the poster, and many of them are still arguing with themselves—months later—as to which one belongs in a frame (hint:  the correct answer is “Gold”, but don’t ruin the surprise for everyone else).

And that, my friends, is it for part one of our “Top 20 Posters of 2012” extravaganza* (*= extravaganza not included).  We’re still kinda arguing over the exact lineup for the top 10, partly because there’s so much great stuff to choose from…and partly because we are incorrigible nerds who really need to examine their priorities.  But sooner or later a consensus will be reached, and at that point we’ll be back with part one.  We’ll also be naming Limited Paper’s first-ever “Poster MVP” for 2012, the artist who we felt turned in the most incredible work on the most consistent (and frequent) basis.  Who’ll win?  Who’s going to end up in the top five?  Can we delay part one long enough to add something big that we hear is dropping soon?  Stay tuned to find out, folks.

And now, the perma-outro:  And that does it for now, folks!  This week in Limited Paper, we’re going to be catching up with a few releases we missed last week, looking ahead to one of the coolest-looking gallery shows we’ve seen in some time, and—if the stars align—we may have a pretty kick-ass interview for you.  Congrats once again to our winners (if you haven’t checked your email lately, get in there and see what’s what, folks), and good luck to everyone on the next one:  I have a feeling the competition’s gonna be stiff!