Christopher Herndon’s “Werewolves Playing Poker” is a great horror riff on Cassius Marcellus Coolidge’s famous “Waterloo” painting. Herndon’s replaced Coolidge’s card-slinging, cigar-selling dogs with a group of werewolves who’ve decided to play poker instead of murdering everyone.
This painting crosses the threshold from “neat” to “I want it, and am already clearing wall space” because Herndon didn’t just swap dogs for random werewolves – he depicts five famous film werewolves, and he’s added nods to at least two more. I can’t make out who’s in the painting behind the light, but just by squinting at the preview, I was able to spot a Chinese takeout container from Lee Ho Fook’s, Larry Talbot’s wolf head cane, Michael Jackson’s jacket from the intro to Thriller, and the Mickey Mouse figurine that watches over David Kessler’s first transformation.
If you were at MSP Comic Con last weekend you had a chance to buy a print from Herndon in person. If you weren’t, and time travel is not an option for you, don’t worry: you can still visit Herndon’s Etsy art shop, in which Werewolves Playing Poker is just one of many great monster / sci-fi prints available. This Classic Monsters group is great (or get just the Wolf Man).
To see more of Herndon’s art, follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.