Bernie Wrightson Dead

LEGENDARY HORROR ARTIST BERNIE WRIGHTSON PASSES AWAY: His death was announced overnight on his Facebook page by his wife Liz Wrightson. The artist’s official website now carries his obituary.

Good! I hated him! Glad he's dead!

It was a jolt to see that Wrightson, of all artists, is dead. At 68, he wasn't that old. In a few weeks I'll turn 54, he was just 14 years older than me.

Wrightson is arguably the best artist that ever came out of the comics field. His decorative linework made almost everything he did, particularly during the 1970's, suitable for framing. And quite a few of those pages are framed and on the walls of several rooms of my home.

Some of the highlights of his career that remain among my favorites are his work for HOUSE OF MYSTERY (1969-1974), his award-winning run on SWAMP THING 1-10 and the preceding one-shot in HOUSE OF SECRETS 92 (1971-1974), his sporadic run of anthology stories and decorative title pages in CREEPY and EERIE magazines (1973-1982), reprinted in beautiful Steve Oliff color in BERNI WRIGHSON: MASTER OF THE MACABRE 1-3 from Pacific comics (1983-1984).
Plus Wrightson's work printed in THE STUDIO art book (with Jeff Jones, Windsor Smith, and Kaluta, of work they each produced while they shared a studio together in the mid/late 1970's, virtually all of which was released as posters, portfolios or limited edition prints. )
And Wrightson's illustrations adapting Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly's FRANKENSTEIN (released in hc and tpb in 1983), and the three limited-edition portfolios in 1977, 1978 and 1980 that preceded its release. Plus the book FRANKENSTEIN: THE LOST PAGES that collects all the pages that were created but not included in the final book, many more beautiful than those in the book itself.

Wrightson also did a CREEPSHOW graphic novel in 1982 with Stephen King, along with production design for the movie, and also did several other collaborative works with Stephen King, doing illustrations for the books CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF and THE STAND. The signed limited editions go for big bucks, as do the limited edition portfolios of those illustrations.
Wrightson also did design work for the movie GHOSTBUSTERS.

Beyond that, Wrightson was one of the most approachable and modest comics creators I ever had the pleasure to meet. He was a remarkably nice guy, particularly for one so talented and revered. By my account, for all his success, it never went to his head.

68 is way too young. But his work will be loved and revered forever.

From his own site, I liked his wife's tribute and overview of Berni Wrightson's career:

http://berniewrightson.com/

Quote:

A Message from Liz Wrightson

It is with great sorrow that I must announce the passing of my beloved husband, Bernie. We thank you for all the years of love and support. His obituary is below:

After a long battle with brain cancer, legendary artist Bernie Wrightson has passed away.

Bernie “Berni” Wrightson (born October 27, 1948, Baltimore, Maryland, USA) was an American artist known for his horror illustrations and comic books. He received training in art from reading comics, particularly those of EC, as well as through a correspondence course from the Famous Artists School. In 1966, Wrightson began working for The Baltimore Sun newspaper as an illustrator. The following year, after meeting artist Frank Frazetta at a comic-book convention in New York City, he was inspired to produce his own stories. In 1968, he showed copies of his sequential art to DC Comics editor Dick Giordano and was given a freelance assignment. Wrightson began spelling his name “Berni” in his professional work to distinguish himself from an Olympic diver named Bernie Wrightson, but later restored the final E to his name.

His first professional comic work appeared in House of Mystery #179 in 1968. He continued to work on a variety of mystery and anthology titles for both DC and its principal rival, Marvel Comics. In 1971, with writer Len Wein, Wrightson co-created the muck creature Swamp Thing for DC. He also co-created Destiny, later to become famous in the work of Neil Gaiman. By 1974 he had left DC to work at Warren Publishing who were publishing black-and-white horror-comics magazines. There he produced a series of original work as well as adaptations of stories by H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. In 1975, Wrightson joined with fellow artists Jeff Jones, Michael Kaluta, and Barry Windsor-Smith to form “The Studio,” a shared loft in Manhattan where the group would pursue creative products outside the constraints of comic book commercialism. Though he continued to produce sequential art, Wrightson at this time began producing artwork for numerous posters, prints, calendars, and coloring books.

Wrightson spent seven years drawing approximately 50 detailed pen-and-ink illustrations to accompany an edition of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, which the artist considers among his most personal work. Wrightson drew the poster for the Stephen King-penned horror film Creepshow, as well as illustrating the comic book adaptation of the film. This led to several other collaborations with King, including illustrations for the novella “Cycle of the Werewolf,” the restored edition of King’s apocalyptic horror epic, “The Stand,” and art for the hardcover editions of “From a Buick 8” and “Dark Tower V.” Wrightson has contributed album covers for a number of bands, including Meat Loaf. The “Captain Sternn” segment of the animated film Heavy Metal is based on the character created by Wrightson for his award-winning short comic series of the same name.

Characters he worked on included Spiderman, Batman and The Punisher, and he provided painted covers for the DC comics Nevermore and Toe Tags, among many others. Recent works include Frankenstein Alive Alive, Dead She Said , the Ghoul and Doc Macabre (IDW Publishing) all co-created with esteemed horror author Steve Niles, and several print/poster/sketchbooks series produced by Nakatomi.

As a conceptual artist, Bernie worked on many movies, particularly in the horror genre: well-known films include Ghostbusters, The Faculty, Galaxy Quest, Spiderman, and George Romero’s Land of the Dead, and Frank Darabont’s Stephen King film The Mist.

Bernie lived in Austin, Texas with his wife Liz and two corgis – Mortimer and Maximillian. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, John and Jeffrey, one stepson, Thomas Adamson, and countless friends and fans. A celebration of his life is planned for later this year.

I thought of Wrightson when I saw this Bleeding Cool article on artwork for sale, part of which was the unpublished contents for what would have been WEB OF HORROR magazine 4, if the art had not been stolen and the creators unpaid, including Wrightson and Kaluta. Finally resurfacing after 40-plus years, these pages from then-virtual-unknown artists in comics, are now unpublished lost treasures from grandmasters of the field.

Another Wrightson art print on my walls, titled "Bitch". Beyond his talent for horror, there's a playful humor in much of Wrightson's art.

This introduction page from House of Mystery 209, Dec 1972.

Many of these splash pages are suitable for framing, and I did enlarge and frame many of these, including this one. While the splash pages he did for Warren are likewise beautiful, I have a special affection for these earlier HOUSE OF MYSTERY pages, and the host character Cain, as portrayed by Wrightson.

From HOUSE OF MYSTERY 207, Oct 1972, another framed and on my wall.

From HOUSE OF MYSTERY 219, Oct 1973.

And here's a larger, clearer black-and-white version, from the original art.

And here's the 8 X 11" hardcover published in 2011, that collects all of Wrightson's stories and splash pages in one very nice and inexpensive hardcover.

Someone else was nice enough to write a review of CREEPY PRESENTS BERNI WRIGHTSON that I can link here.
That also shows the pre-order cover that, to my knowledge doesn't exist in published form.
I've only seen the above version.

Aw, what the heck. This image is too nice not to post directly!

"Gentlemen of Adventure" by Wrightson. The cover for CREEPY 113, Nov 1979.
And also released in 1988 as a limited edition print.
Another that I have framed on the wall.

Too bad it wasn't used as the book cover, it actually looks nicer than the published version.
I'm sure they chose the latter to cover-feature the title character, Uncle Creepy.

Originally Posted By: Wonder Boy

"Gentlemen of Adventure" ...

Too bad it wasn't used as the book cover,

I wonder if that wasn't in part to avoid people thinking it was "A Sound of Thunder"

$\:lol\:$

I see the similarities. As you're probably very aware, there are 2 nice illustrated versions of that Bradbury story, one by Al Williamson(WEIRD SCIENCE FANTASY 25, Sept 1954), and one by Richard Corben.
Both the Williamson and Corben versions are published in RAY BRADBURY COMICS 1.

But Wrightson said it was actually a parody of a series of Arrow Collar Shirts magazine ads running at the time.

The full title of Wrightson's picture is "Gentlemen of Adventure wear Arrow Collar shirts"

Wrightson's SWAMP THING run was possibly the first series reprinted in its entirety, in DC SPECIAL SERIES, issues:
2 (r 1-2) Sept 1977
14 (r 3-4) July 1979
17 (r 5, 6 & 7) Sept 1979
20 (r 8,9 & 10) Feb 1980

The first two with beautiful new wraparound covers by Wrightson.

And it has been reprinted in at least 6 other versions in its entirety since. While Len Wein is a skilled writer, I can't recall one other series of his that is as well remembered.
It is the Wrightson portion of the team that makes it so sought after.
Much as I love the work on SWAMP THING of both creators.

The cover of DC SPECIAL SERIES 14, reprinting issues 3 and 4 of SWAMP THING, under another Wrightson wraparound cover:

Good.
Glad he's dead.
Hated that guy.

Originally Posted By: Wonder Boy

Another Wrightson art print on my walls, titled "Bitch". Beyond his talent for horror, there's a playful humor in much of Wrightson's art.

$\:lol\:$

Another of my favorites, this early offering from THE SPECTRE 9, April 1969, a 9-page story where the Spectre intervenes to try and save a man who has made a contract with the devil. Story by Dennis O'Neil.

This was in the first few months Wrightson had just turned pro and begun working for DC. Along with his early assigments for SHOWCASE (issues 83 and 84, the latter 2 of 3 issues featuring Nightmaster, if I recall Wrightson's first pro work), HOUSE OF MYSTERY (beginning with issue 179), HOUSE OF SECRETS, WITCHING HOUR, and THE UNEXPECTED. For me this Spectre story was the single best of his early stories.
Also reprinted shortly after in HOUSE OF MYSTERY 224.

Why DC hasn't done a collected edition of the first SPECTRE series (the first issue along with a few prior SHOWCASE issues by Murphy Anderson, issues 2-5 by Neal Adams, and this one-time treat by Wrightson) is a complete mystery to me.

The above SPECTRE 9 story, and another story in HOUSE OF MYSTERY 179, are both cover-dated March-April 1969. So both are his first published pro work, although I think HOUSE OF MYSTERY 179 slightly preceded the other on the stands by a week or two.

"The Man Who Murdered Himself" a 3-page story, is written by Marv Wolfman.

Another bonus with this link is the photo of a very young 20-year-old Berni Wrightson.

Another early Wrightson story "In A Far-Off Land", from WITCHING HOUR 3, June-July 1969, Wrightson's 5th story published by DC.

This is early Frazetta-esque work, but I'm amazed how despite Wrightson's minimal output, he quickly rose to be one of the grandmasters of the field. The development of his work between 1971 and 1972 is particularly remarkable.

This discussion topic has an extensive display of Wrightson pages, from his comic book work for DC and Warren, portfolios and limited edition prints.

It occurred to me at some point that most of what Wrightson is best known for, from the 1972 to 1980 period, he did before he turned 30 years old!

I'd break his career into a few distinct periods:
1) the fanzine and early DC years from 1968-1971,

2) his SWAMP THING years when he reached the peak of his talent (1972-1974),

3) the Warren magazine period from 1974-1979, collected in the CREEPY PRESENTS BERNI WRIGHTSON book, and in color in the BERNI WRIGHTSON: MASTER OF THE MACABRE series 1-5 (the last 2 issues with some of his earliest fanzine work and self-published BADTIME STORIES).

4) his "The Studio" period from 1975-1979 where he shared a studio with Kaluta, Jones and Windsor-Smith producing limited edition posters and prints, and

5) his "Frankenstein" period, doing ornately detailed illustrations for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley novel from late 1975-1983. And the FRANKENSTEIN: THE LOST PAGES book (1993) that collected the pages not included in the final FRANKENSTEIN book (1983). Several portfolios, FRANKENSTEIN (1977), FRANKENSTEIN II (1978) and FRANKENSTEIN III (1980) have many pages that were otherwise not seen in the final book, until published in the LOST PAGES book.

There is some crossover between these periods. For example, Wrightson's "The Muck Monster" for Warren led to him immersing himself in illustrating the Frankenstein novel. And the Frankenstein period coincides with the Studio period and his Warren work, different creative outlets that all came out at once. And simultaneously in the late 70's/early 80's, Wrightson also did movie concept work for Heavy Metal (1981), Ghostbusters (1983) and other movies. And collaborative books and portfolios adapting work of Stephen King, who was close friends with Wrightson, and whose work was greatly admired by Wrightson.

After that, roughly the last 35 years or so of his career :

6) Wrightson had done the work he was passionate about, and continued doing work, but a bit half-hearted, relative to the work he'd done prior. A few illustrated editions of Stephen King books, some occasional covers and stories, and eventually in the late 80's back into doing comics, such as CAPTAIN STERN, THE WEIRD, BATMAN: THE CULT, PUNISHER: POV, and the SPIDERMAN: HOOKEY graphic novel. But a pale shadow by the late 1980's and 1990's of the work he'd done prior.

But I recall at a booksigning appearance in 1995, one guy commissioned Wrightson to do a drawing of "The Crow" and gave Wrightson a reference movie still to work from. And that page when finished was on a par with the best of his 1970's work. So Wrightson still had it in him, when he felt the inspiration.

In the link I provided above, the unfinished FRANKENSTEIN ALIVE, ALIVE he was working on at the time of his death looks like inspired work.

A collection of Wrightson images, and as extensive as my Wrightson collection is, there's at least 20 beautiful pieces here I haven't ever seen before.

https://www.pinterest.com/luquesilva00/bernie-wrightson/

I love this Wrightson commission piece, of his famous HOUSE OF SECRETS 92 cover...

...re-worked with the Simpsons!

Wrightson used Louise Jones as reference to draw the girl (then Louise Jones, wife of Jeffrey Jones, now Louise Simonson, married to Walt Simonson).

This Solomon Kane pin-up by Wrightson is something I don't even consider when compiling a list of Wrightson's work. But like so much of Wrightson's work, even a single pin-up page like this is suitable for framing, and worth picking up the book for.

From KULL AND THE BARBARIANS 2, July 1975. A short-lived 3 issue magazine that came out the year after SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN's success.

Originally Posted By: Wonder Boy

This Solomon Kane pin-up by Wrightson is something I don't even consider when compiling a list of Wrightson's work. But like so much of Wrightson's work, even a single pin-up page like this is suitable for framing, and worth picking up the book for.

Nice. I like how it's atypical of his work in that it uses a simpler chiaroscuro effect, rather than his usual cross-hatching.

There's two recent books from Dark Horse that collect the entire Solomon Kane run of stories previously published by Marvel.

One is titled THE SAGA OF SOLOMON KANE, that collects all the stories that appeared in black-and-white Marvel magazines, spanning a 20-year period. About 60% are Robert E. Howard story adaptations, with a few new/original stories. Plus dozens of beautiful pin-up pages, including this one by Wrightson. A tremendous collection of artistic talents drawing the character: Gene Day, Ralph Reese, Al Weiss, Neal Adams, Pablo Marcos, Mike Zeck, Howard Chaykin, Sonny Trinidad, Rudy Nebres, David Wenzel, Dan Bulanadi, Steve Carr, Al Williamson, Colin MacNeil, Jim Fletcher, Bob Gould, John Buscema, John Byrne. And Wrightson. Ranging from pin-ups to full stories, but nicely interpreted, either way.

A second thinner volume, CHRONICLES OF SOLOMON KANE, collects all the color Solomon Kane stories done for Marvel, a 1976 two-issue Thomas/Chaykin story done in MARVEL PREMIERE 33 and 34 (adapting Howard's "Red Shadows"), and a six-issue 1985 miniseries, 4 of which are Howard adaptations.

Between the two volumes, they adapt 13 of the 16 Howard stories, some of them adapted twice, by different hands. 4 of the 16 are incomplete story fragments by Howard, one loosely adapted and expanded on freely, the others not adapted. Two of the four Howard fragments were expanded and adapted in separate new books by Dark Horse, CASTLE OF THE DEVIL, and DEATH'S BLACK RIDERS about 10 years ago, that I found not overly satisfying reading. The first at least had very ornate art.
I liked the Howard fragment stories better in a Robert E. Howard text paperback edited by Ramsey Campbell, collecting all 16 Howard stories, I think for the first time (1995), where Campbell I thought did a far superior job of expanding them into full stories that were good reading.

From WITCHING HOUR 5, October 1969, "The Sole Survivor" .

Wrightson's 8th story for DC, and the only one I don't have the actual issue of in my collection.

One of my favorite Wrightson pages, from the FRANKENSTEIN III portfolio (1980). One of the best purchases I ever made.

Also reprinted in the FRANKENSTEIN: THE LOST PAGES book.

Merry Christmas, Berni Wrightson style.

Intro splash page from CREEPY 77, February 1976.

_____________________________

1-10-2018. I actually like this black and white version better:

http://art.cafimg.com/images/Category_13461/subcat_164846/tjLYrF8R_2703152147101.jpg

Wrightson's 6th story for DC, "The Siren of Satan", from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 181, July-August 1969.

The longest HOUSE OF MYSTERY story Wrightson had done up to that point.

The whole 3-issue "Nightmaster" story, from SHOWCASE 82-84:

The first issue,
SHOWCASE 82, March-April 1969, is by Dennis O'Neil, with art by Grandenetti/Giordano.

Parts 2 and 3, in
SHOWCASE 83, May-June 1969(Wrightson's 4th story for DC)
and
SHOWCASE 84, July-Aug 1969 (Wrightson's 7th story for DC), are the first two book-length stories Wrightson did. And the only ones for about three years, from 1969-1972.
Uncredited, Wrightson was assisted on the art by Jeff Jones and Michael Kaluta.

The third full-length story Berni Wrightson illustrated was the award-winning "Dark Genesis" in SWAMP THING 1, November 1972!

I thought I'd include this profile of Wrightson, since it told me a number of things I didn't know:

http://www.like2do.com/learn?s=Berni_Wrightson

It also has an exhaustive list of Wrightson's work, including comics and books.

Such as his involvement in THE SHADOW comic series, and why he ended up not being the series penciller he was promoted as.
There was a full-page house ad in KAMANDI 2 (Jan 1973) and other titles that month that made it appear Wrightson would be doing the series, and for reasons not clear at the time, that series went to Kaluta instead.

Sometime over the last year, I learned that his first wife, Michelle Wrightson, was previously underground comics artist Michelle Brand, and was a colorist for mainstream comics as Michelle Wrightson, mostly coloring Berni's work.

Wrightson's first mainstream work for someone other than DC was for three issues of a short-lived WEB OF HORROR magazine:

In WEB OF HORROR 1, Dec 1969, he contributed "The Game that Plays You", a 6-page story, where an arcane shop keeper sends a guy into a monster-filled world. Wrightson's 10th published mainstream story.

WEB OF HORROR 2, Feb 1970, has two Wrightson stories:
"Mother Toad", 5 pages about scientifically evolved frogs.
and
"Breathless", a 7-page story of astronauts who have crash-landed and fight among themselves to survive. Wrightson's 12th published mainstream work.

WEB OF HORROR 3, April 1970, has the story "Feed It", a 6-page offering that is more in the same style as Wrightson's DC work, a gothic story in an old mansion with a creature in the basement. Wrightson's 13th published mainstream work.

Part of these and many of Wrighson's pre-professional fanzine stories and pin-ups are collected in the books BACK FOR MORE (1978), THE MUTANTS (1980), and in their entirety in THE REAPER OF LOVE (1988).

Out simultaneously for DC, "Ball of String", a 2-page story in UNEXPECTED 116, Jan 1970.

Wrightson's 11th published mainstream story.

What the heck, one more. Wrightson's "Secret of the Egyptian Cat", from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 186, May-June 1970, a 10-page story. Wrightson's 14th published mainstream story.

It was tough to find by itself, this link is where someone published the entire contents of WELCOME BACK TO HOUSE OF MYSTERY, July 1998, a DC editor's pick of her greatest hits from DC's early 70's mystery titles. And while not exactly my pick, is still a good selection. In particular, Wrightson's "Secret of the Egyptian Cat" (on page 37).
And Neal Adams' "Nightmare" (on page 25), both of which are from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 186.

Jumping the gun in my chronology a bit, it also reprints "The Gourmet" from PLOP 1, Aug 1973 (on page 9), 6 pages.
Wrightson's 33rd published story. And won an ACBA award for "Best Humor Story" for 1973.

And "Molded In Evil" from PLOP 5, June 1974 (on page 87), also 6 pages.
Wrightson's 40th published story.

Plus several intro pages by Wrightson from House of Mystery 203 (inside cover), June 1972.
And an intro page from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 219, Nov 1973 (used as contents page in this version, with new text).
And a new 1998 cover by Wrightson, roughly 20 years before he died.

You can see in the contents of this collection how much his art evolved from 1969-1970 up to 1972-1974. From talented amateur to grandmaster.

I've been trying to list Wrightson's mainstream work in order.

But I tripped over this index of Wrightson's fanzine work that lists all the stuff I didn't cover.

If you're a completist like me and want to know where the stuff is sourced from in reprint form, this at least details where the stories are from, if not the pin-up pages. Some beautiful covers displayed too.

To review and consolidate the Wrightson stories I've listed into a clear chronology:

HOUSE OF MYSTERY 179, "The Man Who Murdered Himself", 3 pages, March-April 1969.
Wrightson's first published story, for DC.

THE SPECTRE 9, "Abraca-doom", 9 pages, April 1969.
Wrightson's 2nd story for DC.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY 180, "Scared to Life", 3 pages, May-June 1969.
Wrightson's 3rd published story for DC.

SHOWCASE 83 "Nightmaster" part 2 (of 3), May-June 1969, 23 pages.
Wrightson's 4th story for DC

WITCHING HOUR 3, June-July 1969, "In A Far-Off Land", , 8 pages.
Wrightson's 5th story published by DC.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY 181, July-August 1969. "The Siren of Satan", 10 pages.
Wrightson's 6th story for DC.

SHOWCASE 84 "Nightmaster" part 3 (of 3), July-Aug 1969, 23 pages.
Wrightson's 7th story for DC.

WITCHING HOUR 5, October 1969, "The Sole Survivor" , 7 pages.
Wrightson's 8th story for DC.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY 183, "The Dead Can Kill", 3 pages, Dec 1969.
Wrightson's 9th story for DC.

WEB OF HORROR 1, Dec 1969 "The Game that Plays You", 6-pages.
Wrightson's 10th published mainstream story.

UNEXPECTED 116, Jan 1970, "Ball of String", 2-pages.
Wrightson's 11th published mainstream story.

WEB OF HORROR 2, Feb 1970, two Wrightson stories:
"Mother Toad", 5 pages.
and
"Breathless", 7 pages.
Wrightson's 12th published mainstream work.

WEB OF HORROR 3, April 1970, "Feed It", 6-pages.
Wrightson's 13th published mainstream work.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY 186, May-June 1970, "Secret of the Egyptian Cat", 10-pages.
(Complete issue, including second story and cover by Neal Adams, and even ads!)
Wrightson's 14th published mainstream story.

UNEXPECTED 119, "Mirror, Mirror...", 8 pages, July 1970.
Wrightson's 15th published story.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY 188, "House of Madness", 8 pages, Oct 1970.
Wrightson's 16th published story.

Some stories I previously skipped, since they (the ones not linked) are not printed in their entirety online to read.

Wrightson's first of a handful of stories for Marvel:

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS 7, "Gargoyle Every Night", 7 pages, Oct 1970.
Wrightson's 17th published story.

Wrightson also did covers for this issue, and for CHAMBER OF DARKNESS 8, Dec 1970, TOWER OF SHADOWS 8 and 9, Nov 1970 and Jan 1971.
And WHERE MONSTERS DWELL 8, March 1971 (Marie Severin pencils/Wrightson inks).

Plus a story for DC a month later, in UNEXPECTED 121, "The Hound of Night", 1 page, Nov 1970.
Wrightson's 18th published story.

Then Wrightson did 7 pin-up introductory pages for various stories in DC 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR 4, Jan-Feb 1971.
https://comiconlinefree.com/dc-100-page-super-spectacular/issue-4
Despite being number 4, it's the first of DC's 100 pagers, all reprint material except for Wrightson's contribution. Wrightson also did the cover, his first cover for DC.
Wrightson's 19th published mainstream work.

And CREATURES ON THE LOOSE 10, featuring Robert E. Howard's Kull, in "The Skull of Silence", 7 pages, March 1971.
Wrightson's 20th published mainstream work.

And While it's still in season, HOUSE OF MYSTERY 191, "Night Prowler", 3 pages, April 1971. Wrightson's 21st published mainstream story. A prelude to greater work by the Wein/Wrightson team.
Wrightson's 21st published mainstream story.

Followed in HOUSE OF SECRETS 92, "Swamp Thing", 8 pages, June-July 1971.
Wrightson's 22nd published story. And at only his 22nd story, Wrightson rose to superstardom as a comics artist. This was the single best selling DC title for that month, and editors were clamoring for Wein and Wrightson to continue the story and turn it into a series. Wein finally came up with the idea to follow the same theme with similar characters in a new series, while leaving this initial offering a stand-alone story.

After this, Wrightson only did another 18 stories for DC in this era, 10 of which were the award-winning SWAMP THING series (plus a lot of decorative covers and introductory splash pages), up till June 1974. Before he jumped ship and started working for the Warren magazines.

Wrightson did very little work for Marvel. In the 1980 book, A LOOK BACK, collecting his work and retrospective of his career to that point, he explains why:

Quote:

"When I first came to New York for a convention, I went up to Marvel's offices and showed them my samples. I really didn't care for the way they treated me. I wanted to see someone in charge --someone who could get me work. Instead they sent some flunky out of the office to talk to me. He must have been some lower level person who assisted in writing advertising, or some such thing. This guy comes out with the glad hand, back slapping. Everything was 'Oh yes, yes, very nice very nice.' He then asked me to do something with Marvel characters in it. By this time, I was very offended; even though as a green kid I wasn't in much position to be offended. I just did not like their attitude. "

"After I was at DC for awhile, I had trouble getting a raise, and they would not let me color my own work. I didn't like what DC was doing with a lot of their color. I ran into Marvel editor Roy Thomas at a party, and mentioned the problem. He told me to come over to Marvel and he would let me do my own coloring. I went over to Marvel's offices and made an appointment to see Marvel's founder, Stan Lee. I talked with him, and he said, 'Well, we like your work, but we will expect you to work in the Marvel style.' He explained that they liked things with thicker lines, big things in the foreground to draw you into the picture, lots of junk and facial expressions. He wanted me to take the type of facial expressions used in early silent movies and magnify that by twenty times. Again, it was a lot of smiles and back slapping and pep talk. I felt I was on a football team or something."

The extra money at Marvel was a little better, with the extra $3.50 or $4.00 a page for the coloring. The first story I did for them was a horror story, "Gargoyle Every Night". The second one was a Kull story, 'The Skull of Silence' ".

"I heard that Marvel was going to do CONAN, so I did some samples. They told me that was very nice, but not quite what they had in mind, not quite enough of the superhero. I was sitting there turning blue. What it all boiled down to was they just did not like my work on Conan. They gave me the excuse that they had promised the book to Barry Smith, but I found out later that the book hadn't been promised to him. He was getting the same runaround. They kind of threw me a bone and offered to let me do the King Kull story. I was not as excited about it as I was about doing Conan, because the character of Kull was not that clear. I never thought he was that great of a character. It was not my type of stuff with all the armies, royalty and palace intrigue and all. I was very much into the blood and guts thing at that time."

"But for some reason, I did the Kull story for them. I spent a lot of time on it, using all kinds of zip-a-tone, and leaving a lot of things in just rough outline, planning to do a lot of rendering with the color. I knew just exactly what I wanted to do with it. One of the features of the story was a skull which, when the door is opened, robs all sound. This thing drains everything of sound. How are you going to do this in a comic book? Since you cannot play with sound effects in a comic book, I figured out a way --slowly drain away the color until the scene ended up being black and white."

"I used a lot of craftint board on that job, especially the panels on pages 4 and 5. By the time the reader got over to page 5, the effect would be all black and white. The top panel on page 6 would be black and white, and then a large panel would explode into color. As the thing progresses, the whole point is that the color, symbolizing sound, slowly drains out. I thought it was a pretty good idea. Especially, since these were color comics, and the use of black and white would be very stark, very different. So, I colored the job that way until I was very pleased with it. It looked great."

"I took the completed job into Marvel and was told it was fine. Months later, the comic comes out, and everything has color on it. This despite my explanation to them of the purpose of black and white, and their complete agreement on the concept. After I complained, Roy Thomas said, 'Well, after all, these are color comics and we can't go on having black and white in color comics. We needed color in it, so we gave it to someone to color.' "

The whole job was printed badly, they must have colored and printed from poor photo-stats. I never got the originals back. I was told something happened to them. All the zip-a-tone and effects of the craftint board was cheapened and all my work was lost. All I ever received from Marvel was half-hearted apologies; that the whole thing would never happen again. It didn't, since all I did for them after that was a few covers. You couldn't get me to do another story for them."

I'd like to finish the section on Wrightson's DC stories, so I'll move it along.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY 195, "Things Old, Things Forgotten", a 10-page story, October 1971.
Wrightson's 23rd published mainstream story.
Plus the cover, and the preceding covers on HOUSE OF MYSTERY 193 (August 1971), 194 (Sept 1971).

The first cover Wrightson did for DC was DC 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR 4, Jan-Feb 1971 that I listed above. Maybe the covers he did for Marvel (beginning Oct 1970) pressured DC to let him start doing covers for them as well.

Then UNEXPECTED 128, "There's More Than One Way To Get Framed", a 9-page story, Oct 1971.
Wrightson's 24th published mainstream story.

Then BADTIME STORIES, a collection of 6 stories by Wrightson in a self-published book sometime in early 1972. To look at these stories, it certainly appears he spent a lot of time on them and experimented with different styles and genres, and on this group of stories his art improved immensely, to what we now think of as the fully formed Berni Wrightson style. They are dated on the stories as 1970 and 1971, then published in early 1972. So without editorial pressure, Wrightson spent a lot of time on them, and the labor he put in clearly shows in the visible improvement of his art in them. Wrightson's 25th published work.
Reprinted in many places, I like them best in the color versions, in BERNI WRIGHTSON: MASTER OF THE MACABRE 3, 4 and 5, two stories each issue:

"King of the Mountain Man" 8 pages, in BERNI WRIGHTSON 3, August 1983
"The Last Hunters" 7 pages, in BERNI WRIGHTSON 3, August 1983

"The Task" 8 pages, in BERNI WRIGHTSON 4, Aug 1984
["Reaper of Love", though without a printed title], 8 pages, in BERNI WRIGHTSON 4, August 1984.

"Ain't She Sweet", 7 pages, in BERNI WRIGHTSON 5, Nov 1984
"Uncle Bill's Barrel" 8 pages, in BERNI WRIGHTSON 5, Nov 1984

And the last story Wrightson did before his SWAMP THING series, HOUSE OF MYSTERY 204, "All In The Family", 9 pages, July 1972.
Wrightson's 26th published mainstream story.

And lateral to that, WEIRD WESTERN 12, "A Time to Die", 4 pages, July 1972. A back-up story, written by Cary Bates, Neal Adams pencils, Berni Wrightson inks. It's non-canonical Wrightson, but still really cool to look at.
Neal Adams (doing both pencils and inks) did two more backup stories with the same El Diablo character:
WEIRD WESTERN 13,
and
WEIRD WESTERN 15.

Wrightson also inked Adams in :
GREEN LANTERN 82, March 1971 (page 13. 1 single page inked by Wrightson, of a 22 page story).
And
GREEN LANTERN 84, July 1971 (22 pages, the entire issue inked by Wrightson).
And an Adams/Wrightson cover on BATMAN 241, May 1972.

The 27th Wrightson story would be the first of his SWAMP THING series...

Finishing up the stories Wrightson did for DC, his peak work for DC that won him numerous awards and award nominations from 1972-1974:

SWAMP THING 1, "Dark Genesis" 24 pages, Nov 1972
(Wrightson's 27th published mainstream story)

SWAMP THING 2, "The Man Who Wanted Forever", 24 pages Jan 1973
(28th published story)

SWAMP THING 3, "The Patchwork Man", 23p, Mar 1973
(29th published story)

SWAMP THING 4, "Monster On The Moors", 23p, May 1973
(30th published story)

SWAMP THING 5, "Last of the Ravenwind Witches", 23p, Aug 1973
(31st story)

SWAMP THING 6, "A Clockwork Horror", 20p, Oct 1973
(32nd story)

PLOP 1, "The Gourmet", 6 p, Oct 1973
(33rd story, an ACBA award winner. Reprinted in WELCOME BACK TO HOUSE OF MYSTERY on page 9, that I linked earlier.)

SWAMP THING 7, Night of the Bat", 21 p, Dec 1973
(34th story)

HOUSE OF MYSTERY 221, "He Who Laughs Last..." 8 pages, Jan 1974
(35th story, initially looks like Wrightson pencils and Kaluta inks, but it is far more intertwined than that. There are pages and panels fully pencilled and inked by each)

SWAMP THING 8, "The Lurker in Tunnel 13", 20 p, Feb 1974
(36th published story)

THE SHADOW 3, "Kingdom of the Cobra" 20 p, Mar 1974
(37th published story. And again, not as simple as Kaluta pencils/Wrightson inks, a full collaboration that needs a page-by-page breakdown to fully explain)

SWAMP THING 9, "The Stalker From Beyond", 20 pages, April 1974
(38th published story. And uncredited, Kaluta and especially Jeffrey Jones partially inked the latter half of the story.)

SWAMP THING 10, "The Man Who Would Not Die", 20 p, June 1974
(39th published story)

Plop 5, "Molded In Evil", 6 pages, June 1974
(40th story, and last for DC in this era) Reprinted in WELCOME BACK TO HOUSE OF MYSTERY on page 87, that I linked before.

The one I regret I couldn't find a link to the complete story for is THE SHADOW 3, since it's such an interesting collaboration between Wrightson and Kaluta, ranging from full pencils and inks on parts by Wrightson, to full pencils and inks by Kaluta on parts, and everything in between.

Beyond these stories, there are dozens of issues where Wrightson just did a cover or splash page, or both, for issues of HOUSE OF MYSTERY, HOUSE OF SECRETS, WEIRD MYSTERY, DC SPECIAL SERIES (wraparound covers of SWAMP THING reprints), KONG (of all things), and possibly a few others I can't recall offhand.

But now at the height of his talent, he would put his full energy into arguably his best comics work yet for Warren.

___________________________

UPDATE: I added a link I found to the full story for THE SHADOW 3.
From Wrighson's own account in A LOOK BACK, here's a detailing of who did what in this Wrightson/Kaluta collaboration:

cover : Kaluta pencils and inks
page 1 and 2 : Kaluta pencils and inks
p 3 : Kaluta pencils, Wrightson inks
p 4 : Kaluta pencils and inks
p 5, 6, 7 : Kaluta pencils, Wrightson inks
p 8 : Wrightson pencils and inks
p 9 : Kaluta pencils, Wrightson inks
p 10, 11 : Kaluta rough pencils, Wrightson tight pencils, Kaluta inks
p 12 : Kaluta pencils, Wrightson inks except on last panel
p 13 : Kaluta pencils, Wrightson inks
p 14 : Kaluta pencils, Wrightson and Kaluta inks
p 15 : Wrightson pencils, Kaluta inks
p 16 : Kaluta layouts, Wrightson pencils, Kaluta inks
p 17 : Kaluta pencils, Wrightson inks.
p 18 : Wrightson pencils, Kaluta inks
p 19 : Wrightson pencils and inks on figures, Kaluta pencils and inks on backgrounds.
p 20 : Wrightson pencils and inks.

_____________________________

**2nd UPDATE:

I added links for all the remaining stories.

Another Berni Wrightson tribute at the time of his death, that links all the books of Wrightson's collected work:

http://atomicjunkshop.com/memory-bernie-wrightson/

Plus a few things I didn't already know, such as Wrightson did design work on Green Goblin for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie.

As good as Wrightson's post-DC work is for Warren (from 1974-1979), there is surprisingly little of it when you actually track it down. As I said prior, virtually all of it is collected in the CREEPY PRESENTS BERNIE WRIGHTSON hardcover, and that's only about 140 pages. Which broken down, is 9 stories by Wrightson, that are outstanding Wrightson pencils and inks.

1) CREEPY 62, May 1974, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" 12 pages.

2) CREEPY 63, July 1974, "Jenifer" 10 pages.

3) EERIE 58, July 1974, "The Pepper Lake Monster" 10 pages.

4) EERIE 60, Sept 1974, "Nightfall" 8 pages.

5) EERIE 62, Jan 1975, H.P. Lovecraft's "Cool Air" 7 pages.

6) EERIE 68, Sept 1975, "The Muck Monster" 7 pages.

7) CREEPY 77, Feb 1976, "Clarice" 5 pages.

8) CREEPY 87, March 1977, "A Martian Saga" 6 pages,
and a pin-up page, "Four Classic Martians" 1 page,
plus the cover (panels from "Four Classic Martians")

9) CREEPY 95, Feb 1978, "The Laughing Man" 6 pages.

All of these stories are reprinted in BERNI WRIGHTSON: MASTER OF THE MACABRE 1-3 in 1983, in color by Steve Oliff instead of black-and-white, and for my money, in the nicest form.

If you want them in black and white as they originally appeared in the Warren Magazines, you can read them in the CREEPY PRESENTS BERNI WRIGHTSON hardcover (except for "The Muck Monster", which is presented in color as it originally was in 1975 by an unknown colorist, not Oliff colors).
That's 70 pages of stories.
Plus all 33 intro splash pages and covers Wrightson did. Many of them in an odd two-color form, but that is exactly how they appeared in the magazines. A fantastic Wrightson portfolio, many of them suitable for framing.

The remaining 3 are Wrightson inks over other artists, that barely resemble Wrightson's own style. But they are still interesting, both as stories, and as Wrightson collaborations with others.

CREEPY 83, Oct 1976, "Country Pie" Infantino pencils/Wrightson inks, 6 pages

CREEPY 86, Feb 1977, "Dick Swift and His Electric Power Ring", Infantino pencils/Wrightson inks, 9 pages

EERIE 72, Feb 1976, "Reuben Youngblood" Chaykin pencils/Wrightson inks, 10 pages.

Wrightson's page contributed to the National Cartoonists' Portfolio, 1978.

A page I was thrilled to add to my collection a few years ago, after about 30 years of looking for it!

From the Wrightson APPARITIONS portfolio (1978) for S Q Productions.

There's also a signed, numbered edition with an extra plate, of Conan fighting a giant serpent. I have the regular edition.

Here's a link to an enlarged version of the Apparitions portfolio cover. The look of horror on the two mens' faces are beautifully rendered. Wrightson in peak form, to be sure.

Wrightson worked on his illustrations for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley FRANKENSTEIN illustrated book from late 1975 to 1983. During that time, he made money to keep the project going by releasing three FRANKENSTEIN portfolios, in 1977, 1978, and 1980. Before the book was finally completed in 1983.

Here are the pages in the FRANKENSTEIN II portfolio (1978).

And the pages in the FRANKENSTEIN III portfolio (1980).

FRANKENSTEIN II has five pages used in the published book, pages 113, 141 151, 154, and 171. Two remaining images, the beautiful cover, and gravedigging page, appear in FRANKENSTEIN: THE LOST PAGES.

FRANKENSTEIN III has all images not seen in the final book.

All the portfolio pages and covers are collected either in the actual book, or in THE LOST FRANKENSTEIN PAGES. Including the decorative covers for all three portfolios.

I had less luck finding the first FRANKENSTEIN portfolio (from 1977).
Its contents are all in the FRANKENSTEIN illustrated book
(the cover is the title page of the book, page 5. And the interior plates are pages 28, 40, 43, 61, 73 and 91).

I have II and III, I never managed to find the first one. But the first two are mostly pages in the final book, whereas III has the bonus of being unused and less seen pages.

Wow.

http://book-graphics.blogspot.com/2013/04/frankenstein-illustrator-berni-wrightson.html

Here's a site where someone nicely presented virtually all the FRANKENSTEIN and the LOST FRANKENSTEIN PAGES in a size where you can really appreciate them.

For those who want to purchase the book and haven't, the 1983 Marvel softcover is complete and correct. The 1983 hardcover is not.
In the 1983 hardcover from Dodd-Mead, there are two double-page spreads at the very beginning and end, the first with Frankenstein alone in a forest, the second with Frankenstein at the North Pole standing on the ice watching the ship sail away on the horizon.
I bought the hardcover when it was released, and only later learned that the softecover was more complete. The hardcover only has one page of each of the two double-page endpapers. The Marvel paperback version has the double-page spreads complete and correct.

Probably that was fixed in the later Dark Horse hardcover, but I haven't seen it, or at least not that I remember.

Another Wrightson print I had trouble finding, "Ode to a Scottish Prayer"

With the caption underneath: "From ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night, may the Good Lord deliver us."

Half of this image was used as the cover for two different magazines in the late 1970's and 1980's, DEJA VU, and CARTOONISTS AND ILLUSTRATORS PORTFOLIO 2, as well as some foreign language publications of Wrightson reprints.

The image was released as the poster I have by Glimmer Graphics in 1990.

What is probably Wrightson's first portfolio/print illustration outside of comics. Wrightson's page, along with other contributing artists, for the "Abyss portfolio" out in 1970. That helped finance the ABYSS 1 fanzine (Nov 1970) that Wrightson also contributed a story to.

I have an oversize print of this, from 10 or 20 years after the fact.

Here's a checklist of Wrightson's harder to find fanzine work, much harder to find, or even know exists, than his mainstream work. Many are just a cover, pin-up page or convention sketch.
http://www.glimmergraphicsprints.com/BWFanzines.html

"Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor" another I have on my walls. I ordered it from Wrightson himself at a booksigning for FRANKENSTEIN in 1995.
Just when I thought he'd forgotten it, it arrived in the mail a few weeks later!

(click on image to see larger)

Some of the covers for HOUSE OF SECRETS by Wrightson, from roughly 1971-1975. Even after Wrightson stopped doing stories for DC in June 1974, he still did beautiful covers and splash pages, mostly for DC's mystery titles from 1975 till the 1980's.

From 1974-1983, Wrightson was simultaneously doing stories for Warren's CREEPY and EERIE, and doing posters and limited prints during his "The Studio" period.

"Freaks", a 1976 Wrightson limited-edition print published by Christopher Enterprises
(who also published the A LOOK BACK book by Wrightson in 1980).

In this case re-used as the cover for a CREEPY foreign reprint magazine.

Another one I love from Wrightson's intro pages for CREEPY, an oval portrait of Uncle Creepy. From CREEPY 62, May 1974.

In an interview of Wrightson, he said it was illustrated with magic markers. I'd love to enlarge this and put it on the wall as an oval portrait, that it is in the style of. A definite conversation piece if I did that.

I posted "Jenifer" above in black-and-white before, as it originally appeared in CREEPY 63, July 1974.

Here's "Jenifer" IN COLOR by Steve Oliff, as reprinted in BERNI WRIGHTSON: MASTER OF THE MACABRE 2, 1983.

If the colors weren't so damn good, I'd prefer it in black and white.

From left to right: Wrightson, Jones, Kaluta, Windsor-Smith, together in their shared period in "The Studio" (1975-1979).

They look like a rock band!

Another photo From Neil Gaiman's facebook page:

Left to right:
Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, Bill Sienkeiwicz, Berni Wrightson, and "Dave"[Gibbons?]

An unusual story from Wrightson we've discussed before (at least me and G-man).

From BATMAN 265, April 1975, "Batman's Greatest Failure" story by Michael Fleischer, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Berni Wrightson. Of the jobs where Wrightson inked other artists, this one looks the most like Wrightson to me. As compared to many others where you might never guess it was inked by Wrightson.

A fill-in issue during the O'Neil, Novick/Giordano run, but a good one.

What looks to be a really nice BERNIE WRIGHTSON: ARTIFACT EDITION, that despite already having most of this material, I might have to add to my collection.

This link displays a ton of interior pages, and a video from the publisher, IDW.

Originally Posted By: Gee, wouldn't it be nice if someone said

Wow, WB, thanks for digging up all these hard to find Wrightson stories so we can read them online. And organized in chronological order.

It's really cool to be able to see and read all these Wrightson stories and covers and pinups, without having to buy them. Or at least being able to sample them before actually buying them.

It must have taken you a hell of a long time to look up this stuff and organize it online so we could easily access it chronologically. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that.

Oh, hey, you're welcome.

https://atocom.blogspot.com/2017/03/berni-wrightson-exhibition-1977.html?m=1

The cover for the exhibit program book, that I'm glad to have in my collection, if for the cover alone. At the time, I didn't have THE STUDIO book, or any of Wrightson's Warren magazine work, so beyond the beauty of the program book itself, it turned me on to some good stuff.

I happened to run across the name of Michelle Brand (also wife and colorist Michelle Wrightson, who I mentioned earlier in the topic) and was surprised to see she died also, in 2015.
http://www.scottedelman.com/2015/05/31/michelle-wrightson-1941-2015/

In the link, she is shown with her first husband Roger Brand, and like herself was also an underground artist.

She divorced Roger Brand in ("circa") 1974. And married Berni Wrightson sometime later in 1976, and they too later divorced at some undisclosed date.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Wrightson

Here's a photo of Berni and Michelle Wrightson together in 1983. Accompanying an interview and reminiscences of a guy who knew Wrightson almost from the beginning of his comics career.

http://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2017/09/joel-pollack-remembers-bernie-wrightson.html

Some way-cool Wrightson covers, in full color as published, on a page offering a side by side comparison with their equally gorgeous original black and white versions.
I'm hard pressed to say which I prefer.

http://wednesdaysheroes.com/top-10-bernie-wrightson-covers/

Even after Wrightson stopped doing stories for DC in June 1974 he still gave us a multitude of breathtaking and suitable-for-framing covers in the years after.

And here's a Barry Windsor-Smith page, with Smith doing his best version of Wrightson.

Cover from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 211, Feb 1973.

I also updated the links to all the stories indexed here previously not available to read online. Now they all have links to read, and expired ones updated.
Every last damn one of 'em!

The last one I added was "Dick Swift and His Electric Power Ring", 9 pages, that originally appeared in CREEPY 86, Feb 1977. One that I really enjoyed. A quiet sentimental story, with Infantino/Wrightson art.

Wrightson's last interior splash page in HOUSE OF MYSTERY 225, June-July 1974, a 100-page issue for which this intro page doubled as a contents page.
The complete issue online here:
https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/House-of-Mystery-1951/Issue-225?id=70761#3

Here's the same Wightson splash page in black-and-white original art form, without any captions. Poster-worthy!
https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic.../a/7169-93221.s

Here's a link to the "Purple Pictography" series, written and pencilled by Vaughn Bode, and inked by Wrightson.

http://bronzeageofblogs.blogspot.com/2014/07/vaughn-bode-jamboree.html

These were a feature in SWANK magazine. I've never seen the actual magazines, only seen them reprinted in Wrightson's book A LOOK BACK, published in 1980.
The purple pictography stories were also collected in the mid 1990's in a PURPLE PICTOGRAPHY one-shot comic book by Eros comics (an imprint of Fantagraphics).

http://411posters.com/tag/bernie-wrightson/

A link to a number of Wrightson pages that were apparently re-issued for sale in 2013.

Of particular interest, Wrightson's "The Stand" portfolio from the early 1980's, adapting Stephen King's novel. I recall that they were eventually reprinted in a later hardcover extended version of the novel, restoring some initially deleted sections (and the book is quite long to begin with!)
THE STAND was Wrightson's favorite Stephen King novel, and one he said in an interview with Gary Groth he'd re-read many times. The illustrations I'm sure were a labor of love on Wrightson's part.

Wrightson really earned his reputation as a master horror artist with this "Dark as a Dungeon" interpretation of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film.

It was originally the cover of some small-print horror film fanzine, that I've seen listed on Ebay occasionally. A disturbing image, but somehow aesthetically beautiful and expertly rendered down to the last pen-stroke.
Both Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the novel and movie Psycho, and Silence of the Lambs, were inspired by the real-life serial killer Ed Gein.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein

Hard to believe these were not just a grisly fantasy, but based on horrific events that actually happened.

From the Wild, wonderful (and horribly wrong) penciller/inker combinations topic :

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy, 12-28-2017

Those last two stories with Wrightson and Kaluta combining talents is definitely in the "Wild, wonderful" category.

In the "horribly wrong" category, these Wrightson collaborations, that hide what a great artist Wrightson is:

SUBMARINER 36 cover, April 1971, Sal Buscema pencils, Wrightson inks

ASTONISHING TALES 31 cover, August 1975 Hannigan pencils, Wrightson inks

DEAD OF NIGHT 11 cover, August 1975. Gil Kane pencils, Wrightson inks.

MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN 18 cover, Sept 1975 Mayerik pencils, Wrightson inks.

MARVEL CHILLERS 3 cover, Feb 1976, Chaykin pencils, Wrightson inks.

WEREWOLF BY NIGHT 35 cover, March 1976, Starlin pencils, Wrightson inks.

CAPTAIN MARVEL 43 cover, March 1976, Milgrom pencils, Wrightson inks.

TOMB OF DRACULA 43 cover, April 1976, Wrightson pencils and inks.

And on interior art:

MORLOCK 2001, issue 3, July 1975 Steve Ditko pencils, Wrightson inks.

The full interior Ditko/Wrightson story:
http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2008/12/lo-there-shall-comeendings-morlock-2001.html

Most of these are pretty average looking pages, but for Wrightson, really substandard. Some are interesting, just to see the way their styles mesh. Others are, well, horribly wrong. And generally in all these examples, unrecognizable as Wrightson.

Just thought I'd list it here, to complete the checklist of Wrightson art credits. Even on the less successful combinations, Wrightson's collaaborations with others are always worth seeing.

.

And the Adams /Wrightson portion of that collaborative checklist:

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

A few other issues have Adams pencils/Wrightson inks.

GREEN LANTERN 82 (1 page), Feb-Mar 1971
GREEN LANTERN 84 (complete story, 22 pages), June-July 1971
WEIRD WESTERN 12 ("El Diablo" story, 4 pages), June-July 1972

But as far as I know, BATMAN 241 is the only cover they did together.

He?s probably the best inker Adams ever had other than Giordano

https://13thdimension.com/13-covers-a-bernie-wrightson-birthday-celebration-4/

.

It took me many years, but I have all those Wrightson covers, with the exception of the two SECRETS OF HAUNTED HOUSE covers.

Wrightson never goes out of style, but he's always even more in style around Halloween time.

Originally Posted by the G-man

He?s probably the best inker Adams ever had other than Giordano

The only other name I'd immediately toss out there is Tom Palmer.
Particularly on X-MEN 56-65, AVENGERS 93-96, and AMAZING ADVENTURES 5.

http://www.rkmbs.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1232323#Post1232323

Terry Austin (who partially inked the SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI treasury, along with Giordano) let on that it was stressful to ink Neal Adams, because Adams was hyper critical of anyone who inked his work, that "every last line means something to Neal". But Wrightson was so talented right from the jump, I doubt Adams had any complaints.

.

A 1973 cover Wrightson did for the then bi-weekly BUYER'S GUIDE TO COMIC FANDOM issue 47, Oct 1973.
https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?tid=528431&pgi=1

Wrightson did a number of gorgeous covers for this and many other fanzines and other fan publications, long after he became an established pro artist. A number of memorable covers appear on BUYER'S GUIDE, by both amateur and pro artists, many of whom went on to pro fame after doing covers for fan magazines.

.
Hilarious!

I just ran across this parody by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson in BART SIMPSON'S TREEHOUSE OF HORROR 11, Oct 2005. Where they do a reprisal of their famous story as "Squish Thing", with Homer and Marge Simpson in the starring roles.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Treehouse-of-Horror/Issue-11?id=49884#17

Earlier in the topic I showed what I thought was a Wrightson commission piece of the HOUSE OF SECRETS 92 cover, with Homer and Marge Simpson inserted, but it may have been an alternate cover for this issue, or a proposed but unused cover. Which would be a shame if it went unused, because it was a fantastic cover.

Here's the original version, that first pushed Wein and Wrightson to fame, in HOUSE OF SECRETS 92, July 1971:
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/House-of-Secrets-1956/Issue-92?id=66168

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

I also updated the links to all the stories indexed here previously not available to read online. Now they all have links to read, and expired ones updated.
Every last damn one of 'em!

The last one I added was "Dick Swift and His Electric Power Ring", 9 pages, that originally appeared in CREEPY 86, Feb 1977. One that I really enjoyed. A quiet sentimental story, with Infantino/Wrightson art.

The above link expired, so here's an updated link to the same story:
https://comiconlinefree.net/creepy-1964/issue-86/16

and also at
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Creepy-1964/Issue-86?id=82445#16

I used to prefer ReadComicOnline, but the last few months they have a ridiculous amount of pop-up ads, so more recently I've gone more to CominOnlineFree. If you look at ComicOnlineFree in the now-obsolete Windows browser, you can read any comic on thier site without ads, all the pop-up ads are set up for Google Chrome, and for Microsoft Edge.

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

I thought of Wrightson when I saw this Bleeding Cool article on artwork for sale, part of which was the unpublished contents for what would have been WEB OF HORROR magazine 4, if the art had not been stolen and the creators unpaid, including Wrightson and Kaluta. Finally resurfacing after 40-plus years, these pages from then-virtual-unknown artists in comics, are now unpublished lost treasures from grandmasters of the field.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-con...301411_5240561915923052498_n-600x810.jpg

The linked first page image expired, although 2 pages still display in the linked Bleeding Cool article.

Fortunately I found the same image on the HeritageAuctions site, that shows not just the first page, but all 7 pages.
https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-...-original-art-group-major/a/7104-91023.s

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

[Linked Image from glimmergraphicsprints.com]

Another Wrightson art print on my walls, titled "Bitch". Beyond his talent for horror, there's a playful humor in much of Wrightson's art.

Updated:

.

"Freaks" art print by Wrightson, one of about a dozen Wrightson did for Christopher Enterprises, released by Chris Zavisa, the same guy who wrote the BERNI WRIGHTSON: A LOOK BACK book giving an overview of Wrightson's life, art and career, published in 1980, that includes all Wrightson's art prints in the book.

A LOOK BACK was also re-published by Underwood Miller in 1991, in both hardcover and trade paperback editions.

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Another page from the previously mentioned APPARITIONS portfolio (SQ Productions, 1978).
I've always been awed at how Wrightson not only drew the macabre so well, but also drew gorgeous, gorgeous women. Wrightson also drew with a lot of playful humor, and drew great funny animals as well. The humor often complements and gives a playful lighter side to intense images of horror and gore.
For example, the above "Bitch" print.
And in his above "Gentlemen of Adventure" print.

About 25 years ago, I brought a college friend over and was showing him the home gallery, including this APPARITIONS portfolio image. He was fairly indifferent to most of the comics art on the walls I showed him. But he was absolutely awed by this one image, and couldn't stop looking at it.

I particularly love the cover sleeve illustration, as much if not more than any of the 4 interior color paintings:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7515/15997369115_09f78453f0_o.jpg

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An early swamp creature illustration by Wrightson, possibly preceding the very first Swamp Thing story in HOUSE OF SECRETS 92 that same year.

This went unpublished for many years. I first saw it in the AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS 6 fanzine in 1976, an issue dedicated to editor Joe Orlando and his line of DC mystery titles, that Wrightson contributed a lot of exceptional stories, covers, and splash pages to. Some of which sat around unused for up to a decade later.

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EDIT: At second glance, while there is an earlier version, this is a 1974 version that Wrightson did for THE MONSTERS: COLOR THE CREATURE coloring book, that comics convention host Phil Seuling commisioned Wrightson to do in late 1974, right after he'd left the SWAMP THING series. A set of 16 new full-page illustrations, each accompanied by humorous verse by Phil Seuling, and published in an oversize 11" X 17" format. It was recently re-released in a new edition.

[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]

When Wrightson sold the original art through Russ Cochran, he offered to color the originals for an additional fee, and buyers had him color 5 of the 16.
I like them in both color and black and white.

Here's a color version of the above illustration:

[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]

And here's a link to the earlier AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS 6 illustration I mentioned, from 1970, that clearly far pre-dates any of his SWAMP THING work :

https://comiconlinefree.net/amazing-world-of-dc-comics/issue-6/2
https://readcomicsfree.com/comic/amazing-world-of-dc-comics/issue-6

Also at :
https://viewcomiconline.com/amazing-world-of-dc-comics-issue-6/

And :
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Amazing-World-of-DC-Comics/Issue-6?id=100342#2

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This image is not by Berni Wrightson, but by artist Nestor Redondo. Used as the cover for COMIC BUYER'S GUIDE 439, April 1982.
Which shows Redondo was a good and natural choice to succeed Wrightson in 1974 on the SWAMP THING series.

I also like how it combines Swamp Thing and Man Thing in one image. The playful ribbing at Marvel and DC about who came up with the swamp creature idea, and who ripped off who, is the source of a lot of playful back and forth in the fan press in images like this.
Although both characters were preceded by Theodore Sturgeon's "It", and by the character "The Heap" in the 1940's AIRBOY comic series. And probably a few others.
https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/2011/09/swamp-thing-vs-man-thing-poll-results.html

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

What the heck, one more. Wrightson's "Secret of the Egyptian Cat", from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 186, May-June 1970, a 10-page story. Wrightson's 14th published mainstream story.

It was tough to find by itself, this link is where someone published the entire contents of WELCOME BACK TO HOUSE OF MYSTERY, July 1998, a DC editor's pick of her greatest hits from DC's early 70's mystery titles. And while not exactly my pick, is still a good selection. In particular, Wrightson's "Secret of the Egyptian Cat" (on page 37).
And Neal Adams' "Nightmare" (on page 25), both of which are from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 186.

Jumping the gun in my chronology a bit, it also reprints "The Gourmet" from PLOP 1, Aug 1973 (on page 9), 6 pages.
Wrightson's 33rd published story. And won an ACBA award for "Best Humor Story" for 1973.

And "Molded In Evil" from PLOP 5, June 1974 (on page 87), also 6 pages.
Wrightson's 40th published story.

Plus several intro pages by Wrightson from House of Mystery 203 (inside cover), June 1972.
And an intro page from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 219, Nov 1973 (used as contents page in this version, with new text).
And a new 1998 cover by Wrightson, roughly 20 years before he died.

You can see in the contents of this collection how much his art evolved from 1969 up to 1972-1974. From talented amateur to grandmaster.

Another updated link, a book I particularly enjoyed, not just for the classic Wrightson intro pages and stories, but also for reprints of a nice thick 100-page sampling of other HOUSE OF MYSTERY, HOUSE OF SECRETS and PLOP material, by Neal Adams, Wallace Wood, Jim Aparo, Sergio Aragones, Mike Sekowsky/Tom Palmer, Gil Kane, and Alex Nino.

https://viewcomiconline.com/welcome-back-to-the-house-of-mystery-tpb/

Since I first posted this link, DC has also released thick hardcover reprint collections BRONZE AGE HOUSE OF MYSTERY OMNIBUS,
and BRONZE AGE HOUSE OF SECRETS OMNIBUS.
I think in eithr case, the wide assembly of talent reprinted in its entirety is about a billion times better than doing individual collections of selected Wrightson or Adams or other artists included. The whole is so much better than the sum of its individual parts.

Originally Posted by Wonder Boy

Another Wrightson print I had trouble finding, "Ode to a Scottish Prayer"

With the caption underneath: "From ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night, may the Good Lord deliver us."

Half of this image was used as the cover for two different magazines in the late 1970's and 1980's, DEJA VU, and CARTOONISTS AND ILLUSTRATORS PORTFOLIO 2, as well as some foreign language publications of Wrightson reprints.

The image was released as the poster I have by Glimmer Graphics in 1990.

a second link, with the full poster :
https://stuartngbooks.com/images/detailed/33/38860.jpg

It was also used in cropped form as the cover for a fanzine reprint collection DEJA VU in 1982.

And also the cover for CARTOONISTS AND ILLUSTRATORS PORTFOLIO 2 in 1978.

Quote

Cover from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 211, Feb 1973.

Updated with a new image. Too nice to lose.

Originally Posted by WB

Wrightson really earned his reputation as a master horror artist with this "Dark as a Dungeon" interpretation of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film.

[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]

It was originally the cover of some small-print horror film fanzine, that I've seen listed on Ebay occasionally. A disturbing image, but somehow aesthetically beautiful and expertly rendered down to the last pen-stroke.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the novel and movie of Psycho, and Silence of the Lambs, were all inspired by the real-life serial killer Ed Gein.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein

Hard to believe these were not just a grisly fantasy, but based on horrific events that actually happened.

Resurrecting another horrific Wrightson masterpiece, just in time for Halloween.

In the pre-internet era, there was a 12-page text article with photos on the source material for this, the murders by Ed Gein, in DEATH RATTLE , issue 7, Oct 1986. Gein's home is photographed in the article, his pickup was purchased and turned into a traveling sideshow at county fairs. Only an anonymous arson of Gein's family farm in rural Plainsville, Wisconsin prevented it from becoming an intended museum of the murders, burned to the ground before it could be sold at auction to someone who voiced a desire to do so. That was clearly an indefinite fame for decades that the small town of 600 people didn't want.

And beyond Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, influenced John Carpenter's Halloween film series, and the Friday The 13th film series as well. And Silence of the Lambs.
The true story being stranger, or at least equally strange, as these fictional versions.

Robert Bloch, author of the novel Psycho, lived in nearby Milwaukee, and read in the local papers about the Ed Gein case, and used it as source material for his book. Made even more famous in director Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 movie of the same name. And in the films that followed in the same vein. As I recall, Wrightson's above illustration was initially done as the cover for a Texas Chainsaw fanzine, circa 1975.

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Here's another gorgeous Wrightson page that's very season-appropriate.

[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]

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The introduction splash page from EERIE 57, June 1974.

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From EERIE 63, Feb 1975.

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[Linked Image from static.wixstatic.com]

Wrightson's cover for HOUSE OF SECRETS 94, Nov 1971.

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CREEPY 138 intro page, June 1982.
(Just 8 issues before CREEPY was cancelled, with issue 146. )

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Inside cover of CREEPY 64, August 1964.

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CREEPY 75, Nov 1975.

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An illustration Wrightson did of the EC host characters, the Old Witch, the Vault Keeper, and the Crypt Keeper.

A nice piece for Wrightson to do, giving beautiful tribute to EC as the source for the Warren host characters (Uncle Creepy, Cousin Eerie,and Vampirella), and the DC mystery host characters (Cain, Abel, Eve.)
And Wrightson with this page shows he is among the most talented artists to draw the EC characters, just as he was on the characters inspired by them.

In the wonderful age of the internet, I can link all the source material, just a click away. For most of the time I've collected comics, for exactly 50 years now, the EC line were almost impossible to find, and very prohibitively expensive if you could even locate a few issues. Now you can sample it easily for free, in its entirety :

TALES FROM THE CRYPT (27 issues)
https://viewcomiconline.com/tales-from-the-crypt-1950-issue-46/

THE HAUNT OF FEAR (28 issues)
https://viewcomiconline.com/haunt-of-fear-20/

THE VAULT OF HORROR (28 issues)
https://viewcomiconline.com/the-vault-of-horror-1950-issue-26/

CRIME SUSPENSTORIES (27 issues)
https://viewcomiconline.com/crime-suspenstories-23/

SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES (18 issues)
https://viewcomiconline.com/shock-suspenstories-issue-5/

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Cover from HOUSE OF MYSTERY 211, Feb 1973.

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cover for HOUSE OF MYSTERY 213, April 1973

Wrightson's clever parody of a Norman Rockwell's SATURDAY EVENING POST cover for November 5 1949.

I might check my comic shop and see if these are in trades. I doubt I could afford the original issues.

For the HOUSE OF MYSTERY and HOUSE OF SECRETS, they have Bronze Age Omnibus editions.

The first volume of HOUSE OF MYSTERY collects issues 174-200.
And a 2nd volume I saw collects H O M issues 201-226.
https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=47930099

The range of outstanding artists doing work in these issues, particularly when Adams and Wrightson, Kaluta, Redondo, Nino, Toth and others began, you really can't go wrong.

I have no interest in the black and white SHOWCASE reprints of these issues, but those are available too.
https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=754721

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https://raggedclaws.com/tag/bernie-wrightson/

A blog showing several very obscure but beautiful Wrightson stories, two of them in collaboration with Jeffrey Jones.

"The Believer" from VAMPIRELLA 33, May 1974, by Wrightson/Jones.

"Captain Sternn" the very first Captain Sternn story, and the inspiration for the animated segment in the 1981 Heavy Metal movie, that first appeared in HEAVY METAL magazine in June 1980.

And "Cold Cuts", from CREEPY 91, August 1977. Wrightson story, Jones art.