RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Bernie Wrightson Dead

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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This went unpublished for many years.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.



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:



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

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.

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.

Updated with a new image. Too nice to lose.

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.

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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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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.

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Another gorgeous inroductory splash page by Wrightson, from CREEPY 69, Feb 1975.
Like so many others, suitable for framing.


Sourced from the book CREEPY PRESENTS BERNI WRIGHTSON, collecting virtually all Wrightson's work for Warren in one volume, published by Dark Horse in Sept 2011.

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Wrighson's cover for CREEPY 113, Nov 1979, later released as the "Gentlemen of Adventure" limited print, signed and numbered, in 1988.

Wrightson's orignal title for it was "Gentlemen of adventure wear Arrow-collar shirts", a parody of the full-page ads run by Arrow shirts in the period he drew it.

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Wrightson, channeling John Carpenter's The Thing
Inked by "J".
Jeffrey Jones?

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Here is a list of Wrighson's work since 1980.
I put off posting this list for a long time, because I knew it would take a while. But here it is.



HEAVY METAL magazine
"Captain Sternn" 9p, June 1980 .......................... https://raggedclaws.com/2010/08/03/separated-at-birth-james-garner-and-captain-sternn/
(also turned into a segment in the 1981 HEAVY METAL movie )

"Freakshow", Part 1, 9p, Aug 1982 ( full FREAKSHOW series later collected in a b & w 2006 tpb, 48p total )
"Freakshow", Part 2, 6p, Sep 1982
"Freakshow", Part 3, 7p, Oct 1982
"Freakshow", Part 4, 9p, Nov 1982
"Freakshow", Part 5, 7p Dec 1982
"Freakshow", Part 6, 6p, Jan 1983

CREEPSHOW graphic novel (8" X 11" size)
Stephen King story, Wrightson art, 64p, July 1982

TWISTED TALES
2 Wrightson cover, Sep 1983
10 "Egg In Your Beer" 4p, Dec 1984

DREADSTAR
6 "Interstellar Toybox," 9p, Sept 1983 backup story, Starlin story, Wrightson art
7 "Devolutionary Dilemma", 9p, Nov 1983 backup story

MASTERWORKS SERIES (BERNI WRIGHTSON issue)..... Oct 1983
3 ...r PLOP 1 "The Gourmet", 6p,
......r HOUSE OF MYSTERY 186, "Secret of the Egypian Cat", 10p
......r HOUSE OF MYSTERY 188, "House of Madness", 8p
......r PLOP 5 "Molded In Evil", 6p

FRANKENSTEIN, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Oct 1983
45 full page illustrations by Wrightson, of 200p book,. in hc, and tpb editions ( also a 1994 tpb edition: https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=19661721 )

BERNI WRIGHTSON: THE LOST FRANKENSTEIN PAGES
tpb, 52p, Aug 1993


CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF
Stephen King text,
Berni Wrightson illustrations. 48p, of 128 page book, hc Dec 1983, tpb April 1985


EPIC ILLUSTRATED magazine
8 ( 1p Frankenstein by Wrightson, in portfolio sampler) Oct 1981
10 ( 1p "Apparitions" portfolio by Wrightson) Feb 1982
22 ( 8p, FRANKENSTEIN illustrated book preview) Feb 1984
25 "Potty's Over", 11p horror story, Aug 1984
30 Wrightson cover, plus pages in article on art show June 1985
34 "They Just Fade Away" 7p war / SF story Feb 1986

MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL
22 SPIDER-MAN "HOOKEY", 62p, Starlin story, Wrightson art, Aug 1986 https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=751581
29 THING AND THE HULK, 62p, Starlin story, Wrightson art, Nov 1987 https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=751721


THE WEIRD (DC)
1 Starlin story, Wrightson/Green art, 38p, April 1988
2 Starlin story, Wrightson/Green art, 38p, May 1988
3 Starlin story, Wrightson/Green art, 38p, June 1988
4 Starlin story, Wrightson/Green art, 38p, July 1988

BATMAN: THE CULT
1 Starlin story, Wrightson art, 48p, Aug 1988
2 Starlin story, Wrightson art, 48p, Sept 1988
3 Starlin story, Wrightson art, 48p, Oct 1988
4 Starlin story, Wrightson art, 48p, Nov 1988

CLIVE BARKER'S HELLRAISER (Marvel / Epic)
1 "The Warm Red" 15p, Strnad story, Wrightson art, 1989

PUNISHER: POV
1 Starlin story, Wrightson art, 48p, May 1991
2 Starlin story, Wrightson art, 48p, June 1991
3 Starlin story, Wrightson art, 48p, Sept 1991
4 Starlin story, Wrightson art, 48p, Dec 1991

CAPTAIN STERNN (Kichen Sink)
1 Wrightson story and art, 48p, Sept 1993
2 Wrightson story and art, 48p, Dec 1993
3 Wrightson story and art, 48p, Mar 1994
4 Wrightson story and art, 48p, May 1994
5 Wrightson story and art, 48p, Sept 1994

BATMAN / ALIENS (DC, Dark Horse)
1 Marz story, Wrightson art, 48p, Mar 1997
2 Marz story, Wrightson art, 48p, Apr 1997

SPECTRE (3rd series)
58 Wrightson cover, Oct 1997


NIGHTMARE THEATER ( Chaos Comics )
1 Wrightson cover, Nov 1997
2 Wrightson cover, Nov 1997
3 Wrightson cover, Nov 1997
4 Wrightson cover, Nov 1997

SHADOWS AND LIGHT (Marvel)
1 Hulk, "Limited Intellect", 8p, Feb 1998

WELCOME BACK TO HOUSE OF MYSTERY
1.. new Wrighson cover ........................................................ July 1998
.... r HOUSE OF MYSTERY 203 (intro page)
.....r HOUSE OF MYSTERY 219 (contents page)
.....r PLOP 1, "The Gourmet, 6p
.....r HOUSE OF MYSTERY 186, "Secret of the Egyptian Cat", 10 p
.....r PLOP 5 "Molded In Evil", 6p

PUNISHER (4th series, a k a PUNISHER:PURGATORY)
1 Sniegoski story, Wrightson art, 22p, Nov 1998
2 Sniegoski story, Wrightson art, 22p, Dec 1998
3 Sniegoski story, Wrightson art, 22p, Jan 1999
4 Sniegoski story, Wrightson art, 22p, Feb 1999



Wrightson had a change in linestyle beginning with his HEAVY METAL "Captain Sternn" story in 1980, that was different from his previous work, but consistent through this long period. So I thought it right to group all these issues together.

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And the last of Wrightson's work, from 2000-2018.




NIGHT TERRORS ( Chanting Monks )
1 "Spuds" 8p, and cover, Nov 2000


BATMAN:NEVERMORE ( DC )
1-5 Wrightson covers, June-Oct 2003


TOE TAGS FEATURING GEORGE ROMERO ( DC )
1-6 Wrighson covers, Dec 2004-May 2005

TREEHOUSE OF HORROR (Topps )
11 "Squish Thing" 15p, by Wein, Wrightson, Oct 2005 ( A Simpsons-styled parody of HOUSE OF SECRETS 92 )


FREAKSHOW (Image, Heavy Metal, collected tpb of 1982 series )
48p, 2006


BAD PLANET ( Image )
2 Wrightson cover, July 2007


CITY OF OTHERS (Dark Horse)
1 Niles story, Wrightson art, 26p, Feb 2007
2 Niles story, Wrightson art, 25p, Apr 2007
3 Niles story, Wrightson art, 26p, Jun 2007
4 Niles story, Wrightson art, 26p, Aug 2007


DEAD, SHE SAID ( IDW )
1 Niles story, Wrightson art, 22p, May 2008
2 Niles story, Wrightson art, 22p, July 2008
3 Niles story, Wrightson art, 22p, Sept 2008


THE GHOUL ( IDW )
1 Niles story, Wrightson art, 20p, Nov 2009
2 Niles story, Wrightson art, 21p, Jan 2010
3 Niles story, Wrightson art, 21p, Mar 2010


DOC MACABRE ( IDW)
1 Niles story, Wrightson art, 23p, Dec 2010
2 Niles story, Wrightson art, 23p, Jan 2011
3 Niles story, Wrightson art, 23p, Feb 2011


FRANKENSTEIN ALIVE, ALIVE ( IDW ) Also reprinted in mutliple editions listed.
1 Niles story, Wrightson art, 17p, May 2012
2 Niles story, Wrightson art, 16p, Nov 2012
3 Niles story, Wrightson art, 19p, Apr 2014
4 Niles story, Wrightson layouts, Kelley Jones p & i, 19p, Jan 2018

Wrightson personally selected Kelley Jones to finish the last issue, that he himself could not.
The collected hardcover shows Wrightson's layouts and pencils for each page of the last issue, as well as Kelley Jones' finished pages for that issue.