Daniel Falconer was kind enough to drop by our forums for another update on the progress of the much salivated Art of District 9 Book– click through to see the cover art and projected release window!

[Update] Daniel’s shared some actual page spreads with us! Click here to see them!

I have honestly lost track of how many custom painted one-offs we have seen thus, however the product page for these new offerings remind that there have been 10 previously, upping the total count to 13.

For the True Blood fan there’s the The Hammer and Stake, complete with Holy Water and cross. The NASA GASA themed OV 077 Victory riffs on the iconic look of American space exploration. And A Subray Car named Destruction looks like a piece of wall somewhere in downtown LA.

Even if the custom paintjobs are terrific, I’ve always kind of preferred the unique exploits of Dr. Tremont (the Star Burst being one of me faves) and his muscular new Goliathon 83 Kraftig is another delightful variation on a theme. Almost the antithesis to the colorful hues characteristic of the painted ones, this piece is pretty completely sans adornment. Like it? Too bad, it’s already sold! [update: all four guns have sold at $1250 each]

In our poll on the Weta forum, there was quite a show of support for an “Art book” in requests for the District 9 collectibles (this option tied for second place in fact). Now that an “Art of District 9″ book is officially under way, you have an opportunity to let Weta know just what you’d like to see featured. Make your way to the thread and help them help you!

Weta reports that the three one-of-a-kind Manmelter 3600ZX Rayguns to have undergone Weta painters Sourisak Canpaseuth and Jonny Brough’s stylish transformations have sold out in just 20 minutes.

The Yellow Peril | The Crimson Curse | The White Devil

$1250 was the asking price for each piece, a roughly 80% increase from a standard Manmelter. Which, considering you have the ducats, doesn’t seem entirely unreasonable!

Rayguns creator Greg Broadmore was at SDCC 07 selling some nice prints:

Moon Mistress (l) Saturn 17 cutaway (r)

Limited to 200 each.

Midnight Special Bookstore, Santa Monica | September 1, 2002

On one of the most intolerably humid and sweltering days of the summer, close to two hundred people crammed into a poorly ventilated, frightfully un-air conditioned room. Willingly.

They came in groups. They came alone. They came to see Viggo Mortensen. The crowd, composed of mostly women, converged on the busy busy area of the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. The Midnight Special Bookstore was the venue. The Midnight Special folk managed admirably considering the size of the crowd. From the microphone-equipped podium, the staff dispensed to us “the rules”– again and again. And again just for good measure: “No photography, or any other kind of recording devices of any kind!” “He will only sign Viggo Mortensen books! No Lord of the Rings items!” There was a “don’t spill your drinks” plea too, prompted by someone who had already done so. After various workers came in to announce the same rules once or twice more, it was show time.

As Viggo entered, he was met with cheers and roaring applause from the sitting, the standing, and the squished. He took a few moments to gather up his books from his bag, and finally in response to the warm reception said, “I don’t think I can top that”. He went right into one of his poems. He would occasionally give bits of background, stating where the poem was written and so on. The works Viggo read ranged from one of the first poems he ever wrote at a workshop, to unfinished works in progress read from his yellow notepad. Included too was material from his new book. He would also read from other authors, including various New Zealand and Native American poets, keeping everything moving at a brisk pace throughout the entire session.

He appeared a little nervous and reserved at first, but eased into it eventually. Not taking himself too seriously, he would joke with the crowd and was actually a bit playful. After reading a particular poem of his which met with no applause (probably because people didn’t know if he had finished), he said “hmm….need to work on that one”. At one point he stopped to thank the people who had given him some Argentine beer, taking a swig from the bottle. As he was setting it down on the floor, there was a bit of a spill. So much for that “no drink spilling” rule. When he slurred a little on one of his passages later, he remarked, “that’s the beer talking”. It was particularly interesting when he explained that poetry readings were beneficial in the creative process. That something that happens when the words leave his mouth and reaches the audience’s ear that can maybe assist him in writing or “changing” his work.

Viggo had already broken one of the bookstore’s rules that night, and he continued that trend by letting the “he’ll only sign Viggo Mortensen books” rule fly out the window by signing anything and everything. As always, Viggo would only sign personalized, which is a fine way to deter people only interested in profiting off his signature. I had met him once before at another appearance and was not let down in meeting him again. I ended up somewhere near the back portion of the signing line because the people who got to be a part of the poetry reading had to line back up behind those who didn’t. Fair enough. Third Street was a river of people by now. We made it to him after about two hours. At this point he looked pretty tired, but soldiered on admirably. Viggo asked if we knew about “the one coming out in November”, referring to the extended DVD– “it’ll be even better”

“Thank you for waiting,” he said as I presented him my copy of “Signlanguage”. I asked if he’d be going back to New Zealand anytime soon. He said “yeah I think sometime next spring, to finish the third movie” I told him that I enjoyed his reading more than I thought I would, which I think he appreciated. I then asked if he would sign my painting of him, and gave him my gold marker. He asked, “did you do that?” to which I replied, “yeah”. He turned it over to examine the back, a blank standard green color common with illustration boards, which I’m sure he recognized. He must have asked me if I had painted the thing about two more times, I must admit there are probably a dozen more interesting responses, but I just kept saying “yeah”. I thanked him when he said it was very good. He proceeded to turn it horizontally and sign along the edge. Now he did this last time too, as he is being courteous and doesn’t want to “ruin” it. I had planned all along to tell him to sign nice and big, right next to ‘Aragorn’s’ head, but of course I got nervous and didn’t say anything. But it’s just as well, he definitely added his touch.

I’ll leave you with a thought from Mr. Mortensen, which he announced very responsibly during the poetry reading between sips of beer: “I’m not advocating the consumption of alcohol. I’m just doing it.”

The One Ring Celebration, Pasadena | January 14, 2005

Daniel Falconer is possibly the nicest person you’ll ever meet. As a guest of the inaugural One Ring Celebration, his appearance at the convention was hosted by Weta’s then-very chummy partners, Sideshow Collectibles. Read the rest of this entry »

Book Soup, West Hollywood | December 11, 2004

By good fortune, the book tour appearance with Alan Lee winded its way towards Hollywood- one of many cities across the US fortunate enough to see Mr. Lee’s visit. This was his last stop, and his fans from sunny California and beyond gathered at Booksoup to show their admiration for this extraordinary artist. Read the rest of this entry »