Although things were quiet on the Limited Paper front this week, one shouldn’t assume that it’s been quiet all over in Poster World:  in truth, things are just as busy as they were throughout October…it’s just that many things have been going down behind the scenes.  Indeed, there’s reason to believe—whether you’re a casual collector, a frothing-at-the-mouth true believer who feel s compelled  to buy everything, or if you’re just now making the decision to get into the absurdly entertaining hobby of print-collecting—that the rest of 2012 is gonna be (to quote former first lady Nancy Reagan) “absotively redonkulous up in hurr, bitches”.

But let’s not dwell on what may or may not be happening in the weeks ahead:  instead, let’s focus on what’s happening in the immediate future.   Wanna know when you can get a crack at the remaining prints that didn’t sell out at Mondo’s Universal Monsters Gallery show?  Are you a Mass Effect fan looking to prove your love for that franchise via the purchase and display of fancy-colored paper?  Wanna another head’s up regarding Limited Paper’s next giveaway?  It’s all after the jump, folks.

Well, folks, I think at this point it’d be fair to say that the conspiracy theories were wrong:  2013 appears to be happening whether we want it to or not.  If you’ve been assuming that a December, 2012 apocalypse would settle up that bill you acquired collecting posters this year, it’s time to start figuring out how to best fake your death.  But don’t let it get ya down!  Sure, the end of the world might not seem as sure a thing as it did last December, but who’s to say it’s not just running late?  And besides, the lack of a mid-December Armageddon means having that much more time to spend building your poster collection!  Huzzah!

And, really:  based on some of the whispers we’ve been hearing over the past few weeks, we’re going to be happy to have had this extra time whenever the zombies do start erupting from their graves.  There’s rumored to be a few major surprises in the weeks ahead, and it’ll be very interesting indeed to see if they all come to pass.  Obviously, none of this is anything we can share here and now… but here’s hoping you’ll find a little solace in the idea that this Christmas season sounds like it could be one for the books.

But enough about the not-so-distant future:  what’s going on in the here and now (specifically, in the week ahead)?  A few things, actually!  And since your humble Limited Paper author’s going to be balls-deep in a series of set-visit write-ups starting on Monday, we thought it’d be nice to give you a head’s up re: the week ahead right now.  Let’s go through the updates/announcements/what-have-you one by one, starting with our friends at Mondo.

MONDAY:  MONDO DROPS 5 MORE UNI MONSTERS PRINTS, STILL NO UPDATE ON RESERVOIR DOGS

The Mondo guys are coming off an incredibly busy month, having traveled from one end of the country to the other (and then back to the middle) for the 2012 New York Comic-Con, a pair of special screenings at the New Beverly Cinema (Halloween and Reservoir Dogs), and their biggest-ever gallery show, which—as you’re surely aware—was a celebration of the Universal Monsters.  Right now, they appear to be in the process of tying up any and all loose ends from those appearances, and it looks like they’re anxious to get those dangling threads tied up quickly:  on Monday, they’ll be eschewing their normal “New Stuff Drops on Thursdays” routine to unleash their remaining Universal Monsters prints online, and it’s expected that an announcement regarding the online release of Tyler Stout’s Reservoir Dogs poster will follow soon after.  Here’s what you can pick up Monday, if you haven’t already:

• Frankenstein by Martin Ansin
• 24x36”
• $50 regular edition of 430

• Creature From The Black Lagoon by Ken Taylor
• 24x36”
• $50 regular edition of 430

• Bride of Frankenstein by Kevin Tong
• 24x36”
• $45 regular edition of 380

• The Invisible Man by Francesco Francavilla
• 24x36”
• $45 regular edition of 405

• The Wolfman by Phantom City Creative
• Note: There’s so much metallic ink on this print, you could melt it down to build a submarine
• 24x36”
• $45 regular edition of 350

Having spent hours at this point wandering the exhibition Mondo set up for this show, I think I’m prepared to say that the five posters above—in particular Ansin’s Frankenstein, Taylor’s Creature, and Tong’s Bride—are probably the Uni Monster Show’s three strongest pieces (not counting originals;  had JC Richards’ heartbreaking, haunting, and deceptively simple Frankenstein OG made it to print form, it would’ve won everything by a landslide).  Not that Francavilla’s or Phantom City’s posters are anything to scoff at, of course:  both are bold and stunning in-person, and the Wolfman’s got some pretty insane metallic-ink action going on in it.  Buy any of these with confidence:  you’ll be more than happy when they arrive.

As for the Reservoir Dogs update, there’s nothing new we can share at the moment, unfortunately:  We all know to expect a regular and a variant edition of the print, that the edition size on both will be pretty extensive, and we know that the online drop via the Mondo store is happening sometime in the near futur.  Rest assured we’ll all be given plenty of warning before the drop occurs, and—for what it’s worth—know this:  I’ve seen the Reservoir Dogs in-person, and it’s even more impressive than the jpegs would lead you to believe.  Stout knocked this one out of the park, and (from where we’re standing) this is a more-than-worthy addition to his lineup of Tarantino-themed prints.  We’ll update you when there’s more to share.

BIOWARE’S MASS EFFECT SCREENPRINT:  SO GOOD, YOU’LL FORGET HOW MASS EFFECT 3 ENDED

Mass Effect 3’s been out for months at this point, but that doesn’t mean that Bioware’s done with their biggest franchise…nor does it mean that fans are tired of collecting Mass Effect-themed merchandise.  Recently, the Bioware guys announced a pre-sale for the poster below, a bit of Mass Effect-themed art produced by Chicago-area artist Courtney Billadeau.  Check it out:

• No One Left Behind by Courtney Billadeau
• 5-color screenprint
• 18x24”
• $40 limited edition of 250

When it comes to chatty-yet-combat-driven open-world RPG’s based in alternate realities, Limited Paper’s always been more of a fanboy for the Fallout series (why, oh why, has no one created an entire line of Fallout-themed screenprints?  I would smash a bottle of Nuka-Cola over a baby seal’s head to make this happen), but this print’s impressive enough to challenge my allegiance to Bethesda Software’s greatest franchise.  If you head over to this page you can put down a fully-refundable-before-shipping-deposit on the poster, which Bioware expects to ship later in November.  Have at it, Mass Effect fans (and if you’re interested in checking out some of Billadeau’s other work—I admit to being unfamiliar with her work before now—you should take a peek at her page for more cool stuff.

UPDATE REGARDING OUR NEXT GIVEAWAY:  IT’S GONNA BE REALLY COOL (IF EVERYTHING PANS OUT)

Recently, Limited Paper held its biggest giveaway ever, awarding a Drew Struzan Creature From The Black Lagoon to one lucky Limited Paper reader.  We were stunned by the number of submissions we received for that giveaway, but we were especially jazzed to see how many people went the extra mile during the entry-submission process to create their own Limited Paper logo.  Those logos were so good, in fact (see below), that we decided our next giveaway would be centered around that—and only that—idea:  design a Limited Paper logo, be the best, win a prize.

Good news is, I’ve spent some time wrangling together the next few giveaways, and we’ve got two (yes, that’s one more than one, one less than three, half of four, etc) on deck for you in the next couple of weeks.  Both will result in one lucky Limited Paper reader winning a limited-edition screenprint based on one of our favorite films, but only one will revolve around the “Limited Paper Logo” contest.  That one’s going to go first, and—just to avoid any unfortunate confusion like we saw with the last contest—I figured I’d clarify things a bit now for anyone that wants to get an early start:  the logo contest is open to anyone that wants to design a logo for Limited Paper.  Submissions will be judged by myself and 1-2 other friends of Limited Paper HQ.  If you already submitted a logo for Limited Paper in our last contest, you are free to enter this one…but will need to enter a new design.  The contest will run over a week-long period—just as they always do—but you can get a head start now if you wanna have your submission ready to go once we announce.

On Monday, we’re going to have a mind-blowingly cool look at an upcoming gallery show for you (contained in that show is a poster that I truly believe to be one of the year’s best, and I cannot wait to show the full version to you guys).  Be forewarned that—as previously noted—I will be working on some non-Limited Paper related stuff for Collider this week, but that we’ll be keeping you up to date on any big announcements as they get made.  In the meantime, if you’re an artist or gallery with artwork you’d like to see featured on Limited Paper (or if you’re just some lucky bastard who happened to overhear a bit of poster-related gossip while standing in the bushes outside Martin Ansin’s house) we wanna hear from you!  Email Limited Paper directly at LimitedPaper@gmail.com, and be sure that you’re following us on Twitter via @LimitedPaper for ongoing commentary, news updates, giveaways, and more!