Tag: bernie wrightson

Bernie Wrightson

Bernie Wrightson, Illustration for Batman Comics

Bernie Wrightson was an American artist. He was known for co-creating the creature “Swamp Thing”, his Frankenstein illustration work, and for his other horror comics and illustrations, which feature his trademark intricate pen and brush work known for its attention to detail. Wrightson also contributed character design for films, including creatures and aliens for “The Mist”, “Galaxy Quest”, and the original “Ghostbusters”.

Bernard Albert Wrightson was born in Dundalk, Maryland in 1948. He learned his craft from studying the work of other comics artists and from correspondence courses. His first published work was the 1969 “The Man Who Murdered Himself”, which appeared in the House of Mystery series from DC Comics. In 1974, Wrightson began work at Warren Publishing, producing original material and adaptions of Poe and Lovecraft stories.

Bernie Wrightson

Bernie Wrightson, “Frankenstein” Illustrations

Frankenstein was a comics adaptation of the novel of the same name, first published in 1983 by American company Marvel Comics, with script and art by Bernie Wrightson.

This edition reprints the full novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley published in 1831, with illustrations by Wrightson. It includes an introduction by Stephen King and from Wrightson himself. The illustrations themselves are not based upon the Boris Karloff or Lee films, but on the actual book’s descriptions of characters and objects. Wrightson also used a period style, saying “I wanted the book to look like an antique; to have the feeling of woodcuts or steel engravings, something of that era” and basing the feel on artists like Franklin Booth, J.C. Coll and Edwin Austin Abbey.

“I’ve always had a thing for Frankenstein, and it was a labor of love. It was not an assignment, it was not a job. I would do the drawings in between paying gigs, when I had enough to be caught up with bills and groceries and what-not. I would take three days here, a week there, to work on the Frankenstein volume. It took about seven years.” -Bernie Wrightson

For the 25th anniversary of the first edition in October 2008, a new edition was prepared and released in 1994 by Dark Horse Comics in an oversized (9″ x 12″), hardcover format scanned from the original artwork. It is still available through Amazon books.

Bernie Wrightson

Bernie Wrightson, Illustrations for “Cycle of the Werewolf: 1983

“Cycle of the Werewolf” is a short horror novel by Stephen King, each cahpter being a short story unto itself, featuring illustrations by comic book artist Bernie Wrightson. It tells the story of a werewolf haunting a small town as the moon turns full once every month. It was published as a limited edition hardcover in 1983 by Land of Enchantment, and in 1985 as a mass-market trade paperback by Signet.

The book is dedicated to the author Davis Grubb: “In memory of Davis Grubb, and all the voices of Glory.”