Limited Edition Tarman T-Shirt & Poster from Fright-Rags
Steve Barton
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All you have to do is attend one convention to know how much horror fans love to wear t-shirts immortalizing their favorite characters. And now, thanks to Fright-Rags, one of the most beloved zombies out there, Return of the Living Dead‘s Tarman, has a new shirt and poster for his followers to enjoy.
The items go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, March 3rd, and here’s the lowdown straight from the Fright-Rags website:
Very few individual zombie characters stand out as much as Tarman from Return of the Living Dead, released in 1985. Perhaps it was the gooey, dripping make-up, or Alan Trautman’s skeletal figure and creepy performance, or even the fact that he uttered the now infamous line synonymous with all zombies “BRAAAIIINNS!”. No matter what, Tarman is truly an icon of zombie cinema.
And he wouldn’t be that way if it weren’t for the brilliant visual style of William Stout, who helmed the production design for the film. Already a renowned artist having worked on other features such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Conan the Barbarian, and First Blood, this was his first job as production designer, making him the youngest one in film history. Working with director Dan O’Bannon, Stout drew his inspiration from the Mummies of Guanajuato, EC Comics, and actual corpse photos to make his zombies look as real as possible. Among the select few “principal corpses” used in the film, Tarman quickly stole the show the second he appeared on screen.
Since Return of the Living Dead is one of my personal favorite movies, I have always wanted to do a Tarman shirt. And while I’ve seen other Tarman shirts on the market, I never felt they captured the spirit and essence of the character. Over a year ago, I finally started the design…but it never seemed to look right. I had other artists try their hand at the type of look I was going for, but nothing evr seemed quite right. However, when discussing this idea with Diane O’Bannon (the wife of the late director Dan O’Bannon), she suggested I talk to William Stout. In all honesty, that thought had never crossed my mind. So based on her suggestion, I contact him.
To my surprise, William was not only interested in working together, he asked if he could do a completely original drawing for this design…and who better to visualize the infamous Tarman but the creator of the character himself! The result is a truly unique and original look for the iconic zombie. All of the hallmarks of the character are there – the bug-eyes, skeletal structure, goopy drips – and all presented in a highly-stylized illustration, referencing the EC Comics-style Stout used as inspiration for his original design. For the colors, I chose the talented Ray Frenden to bring Stout’s drawing to life in full vivid color. Never before has Tarman looked so striking…
And as a part of our artist series, we are also selling this design as a limited edition print, signed and numbered by William Stout himself!
T-SHIRT DETAILS
* Printed on super soft 100% ringspun pre-shrunk cotton shirts
* 4-color screenprinted design
* Sizes available: SMALL to 5X-LARGE
* Girl sizes available: S-XL (printed on American Apparel)
* PRICE: $24.95 LIMITED TO ONLY 200 SHIRTS!
SERIGRAPH/POSTER DETAILS
* Printed on 100# archival white coverstock
* 5-color screenprinted design
* Comes rolled in protective cardboard tube
* Each poster has been numbered and signed by William Stout
* PRICE : $40.00 LIMITED TO ONLY 100 PRINTS!
If you buy both, you’ll save $10.00. Click here for ordering info.
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Categorized:News
