Bernie Wrightson

Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017) was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel Frankenstein illustration work, and for his other horror comics and illustrations, which feature his trademark intricate pen and brushwork.

Wrightson began his career as an illustrator for The Baltimore Sun newspaper in 1966. In 1968, he was hired by DC Comics and was a regular artist on the House of Mystery and House of Secrets horror titles. Wrightson and writer Len Wein created Swamp Thing in House of Secrets #92 (July 1971). The character soon received its own monthly series, for which Wrightson drew the first ten issues.

In 1974, Wrightson began working for Warren Publishing magazines. Wrightson illustrated adaptions of works by well-known horror writers, including "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe and "Cool Air" by H. P. Lovecraft. He drew comic book adaptations of Stephen King's screenplay for Creepshow in 1982, which led to several more collaborations with King. Wrightson spent several years creating an illustrated edition of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, which was released in 1983. Later in his career, Wrightson provided concept art for various films and television series.

Early life

Wrightson was born October 27, 1948, in

but later restored the final "e" to his name.

In 1968, he drew his first professional comic book story, "The Man Who Murdered Himself", which appeared in

cover-dated March–April 1969).^[9] He continued to work on a variety of mystery and anthology titles for both DC and, a few years later, its principal rival, Marvel Comics. It was for Marvel's Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows titles where he was first encouraged to slightly simplify his intricate pen-and-ink drawing, and where his lush brushwork, a hallmark of his comics inking in the 1970s, was first evidenced.^[10]

Like many artists in the 1970s and 1980s, Wrightson moved to New York in hopes of finding work with comics publishers. At one point Wrightson lived in the same Queens apartment building as artists

Walter Simonson. Simonson recalls, "We'd get together at 3 a.m. They'd come up and we'd have popcorn and sit around and talk about whatever a 26, 27 and 20-year-old guys talk about. Our art, TV, you name it. I pretty much knew at the time, 'These are the good ole days.'"^[11]

Swamp Thing

With writer Len Wein, Wrightson co-created the muck creature Swamp Thing in House of Secrets #92 (July 1971) in a standalone horror story set in the Victorian era.^[12] Wein later recounted how Wrightson became involved with the story: "Bernie Wrightson had just broken up with a girlfriend, and we were sitting in my car just talking about life – all the important things to do when you're 19 and 20 years old. [Laughs] And I said, 'You know, I just wrote a story that actually kind of feels like the way you feel now.' I told him about Swamp Thing, and he said, 'I gotta draw that.'"^[13]

In summer 1972, Wrightson published Badtime Stories, a horror/science fiction comics anthology featuring his own scripts and artwork (from the period 1970–1971), each story being drawn in a different medium, including ink wash, tonal pencil drawings, duoshade paper, and screen tones, along with traditional pen-and-ink and brushwork.

Destiny in Weird Mystery Tales #1 (July–Aug. 1972), a character which would later be used in the work of Neil Gaiman.^[15]

In the fall of 1972, the Swamp Thing returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in the general DC continuity.[16] Wrightson drew the first ten issues of the series.^[13] Abigail Arcane, a major supporting character in the Swamp Thing mythos was introduced by Wrightson and Wein in issue #3 (Feb.-March 1973).^[17]

Wrightson had originally been asked by DC to handle the art for its revival of The Shadow, but he left the project early on when he realized he could not produce the necessary minimum number of pages on time, along with his work on Swamp Thing.^[8] Michael Kaluta illustrated the series, but Wrightson did contribute much to the third issue in both pencils and inks, as well as inking the splash page of issue #4.^[18]

Warren and The Studio

In the summer of 1973, Wrightson saw the Tod Browning horror film Freaks for the first time; in the years immediately afterward, the film influenced much of Wrightson's creative output.^[19]

In January 1974, Wrightson left DC to work at

H.P. Lovecraft's "Cool Air" was a foray into duotone paper. "Nightfall" was an exercise in ink wash. "Clarice" was also drawn in pen, brush, and ink, and with ink wash.^[21]

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.^[22] Though he continued to produce sequential art, Wrightson at this time began producing artwork for numerous posters, prints, calendars, and even a highly detailed coloring book, The Monsters.^[20] He also drew sporadic comics stories and single illustrations for National Lampoon magazine from 1973 to 1983.^[10]

Wrightson spent seven years drawing approximately 50 detailed pen-and-ink illustrations to

J.C. Coll and Edwin Austin Abbey. Frankenstein was an unpaid project, Wrightson describing it as a "labor of love" he worked on over seven years.^[24]

Later career

The "Captain Sternn" segment of the animated film Heavy Metal is based on a character created by Wrightson (first appearing in the June 1980 issue of Heavy Metal magazine).^[25] The Freakshow graphic novel, written by Bruce Jones and illustrated (via pen, brush, and ink with watercolors) by Wrightson, was published in Spain in 1982 and serialized in Heavy Metal magazine in the early 1980s.^[14]

In 1982 Bernie Wrightson illustrated the comic book adaptation of the

Wolves of the Calla, the fifth installment of King's Dark Tower series. He would later illustrate the cover for TV Guide magazine's April 26 – May 2, 1997, issue, illustrating the TV miniseries of King's The Shining.^[27]

During production on the 1984 film Ghostbusters, Wrightson was among the artists hired by associate producer Michael C. Gross to provide concept art envisioning the ghosts and other psychic phenomena encountered by that film's characters.^[24] The artwork he contributed included images of the "escapees" from the Ghostbusters' electrically-powered ghost storage facility, which run amok after the facility's electricity is turned off.^[28]

Thing) and Punisher P.O.V. for Marvel.^[36]

Wrightson brought back his Captain Sternn character in 1993 for the Captain Sternn: Running Out of Time miniseries, published by Kitchen Sink Press.[10] In 1997, Wrightson and Ron Marz collaborated on Batman/Aliens, a crossover between the Batman and Aliens franchises.^[37] Wrightson again worked with Punisher for the Punisher: Purgatory limited series from 1998 to 1999. The series was unusual for incorporating supernatural elements in a Punisher story.^[38]

He illustrated and contributed album covers for a number of bands and musical artists, including

Wrightson's first wife Michele Wrightson was involved in underground comix, contributing stories to such publications as It Ain't Me, Babe, Wimmen's Comix, and Arcade. She died in 2015. Wrightson and Michelle had two sons together,^[43] John and Jeffrey.^[44] Wrightson lived with his second wife Liz Wrightson and his stepson Thomas Adamson in Austin, Texas.^[44]

Wrightson and his wife announced in January 2017 that he was retiring due to having limited body function after multiple brain surgeries.

Wrightson's former neighbor Walter Simonson, who lived in the same building as Wrightson in the 1980s, recalled, "Even at an early age, we were all really in awe of his work, it was so good." Analyzing Wrightson's skill in depth, Simonson explained that in addition to his ability to draw anything, Wrightson was a master of value, able to effect a precise command over the depth and tones of the colors and shades of gray in his work, stating, "'Frankenstein' is a complete masterpiece of value, using incredibly complex pictures, and yet you always see exactly what you are supposed to see. He drives the eye right where it needs." Regarding the famously reproduced two-page spread from that work depicting Frankenstein's laboratory, Simonson said of that image, "It's so complicated and yet he's able to show you what he wants you to see. In some ways [the lab scene is] the core of the story. It's where Frankenstein breaks the laws of God." Comics analyst and historian Scott McCloud called that image a "riot of detail", saying, "It might take a moment before you even notice the corpse laying at the bottom of the composition on the left. That makes it a bit more of a treasure map. Bit more of a 'Where Is Waldo?'"^[11]

During a 2016 tour of his extensive library of art and pop culture memorabilia, Del Toro named Wrightson's Frankenstein as the work whose original artwork was the hardest to find, saying, "They are very rare. The people that have them don't let them go. It's taken me years to get that. I have nine out of the 13 favorite plates of the Frankenstein book that Bernie Wrightson ever did. The other four: one of them, no one knows where it is, and the other three are, I would say, very hard to pry away from the people that have them."^[11]

Awards

• Wrightson won the
  Shazam Award for Best Inker in 1973 for Swamp Thing, as well as that year's Shazam for Best Individual Story, for "A Clockwork Horror" in Swamp Thing #6 (with Len Wein).^[48]
• Wrightson was a recipient of the 1974
  Goethe Award," in 1973.^[49]
• Wrightson was co-recipient of the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award for 1986, along with Jim Starlin, for his work on Heroes for Hope.^[50] The following year, Wrightson received an Inkpot Award.^[51]
• Wrightson received the H.P. Lovecraft Award (also known as the "Howie") at the 2007 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon.^[52]
• He received the
  Frankenstein Alive, Alive!^[53]
• He was awarded the
  DC Comic's Swamp Thing and Frankenstein. In 2021, Wrightson was inducted into the Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame.^[1][2][3]

Magazines

As You Like It Publications

• Comic Book Profiles #2 (1998)

Gemstone Publishing

• Comic Book Marketplace #105 (2003)

Metal Mammoth, Inc.

• Heavy Metal Special Editions vol. 10, #1 (1996)

NL Communications, Inc.

• The National Lampoon Encyclopedia of Humor (1973)
• National Lampoon's Very Large Book Of Comical Funnies (1975)

Skywald Publications

• Nightmare #9–10 (1972)

TwoMorrows Publishing

• Alter Ego vol. 3, #41 (2004)
• Back Issue! #6 (2004)
• Comic Book Artist #4 (1999)

Warren Publishing

• Creepy #62–63, 77, 87, 95 (1974–1978), 83, 86 (inks over Carmine Infantino)
• Eerie #58, 60, 62, 68, 72 (w/ Chaykin) (1974–1976)
• Vampirella (backup stories) #33 (with Jeffrey Catherine Jones), 34 (script only)

Book illustrations

• The Art of Wrightson : A Pop-Up Portfolio, 1996, Sideshow, Incorporated,
  ISBN 1889164003
• Badtime Stories, 1972, Graphic Masters
• The Berni Wrightson Treasury, 1975, Omnibus Publishing
• ISBN 0396082777
• Berni Wrightson: A Look Back, 1991, Underwood Books,
  ISBN 0887331300
• Berni Wrightson: Back for More, 1978, Archival Press, Inc.,
  ISBN 091582230X
• The Conan Grimoire, by L. Sprague de Camp, 1972, Mirage Press
• The Conan Reader, by L. Sprague de Camp, 1968, Mirage Press
• Creepshow by Stephen King, 1982, NAL
• ISBN 0451822196
• ISBN 141651693X
• The House of Mystery by Jack Oleck, 1973, Warner Books
• The Lost Frankenstein Pages, 1993, Apple Pr Inc.,
  ISBN 0927203081
• The Monsters Color the Creature Book, 1974, Phil Seuling
• The Mutants, 1980, Mother of Pearl,
  ISBN 093784800X
• The Reaper of Love and Other Stories, 1988,
  ISBN 093019361X
• The Stand-Complete and Uncut by Stephen King, 1990, Dbldy; BOMC edition
• ISBN 9063325819
• Stuff Out'a My Head, by
  ISBN 0972660402
• Zombie Jam, by
  ISBN 1931081778
• Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History by Daniel Wallace, 2015, Insight Editions.
  ISBN 978-1608875108

Album artwork

• Meat Loaf: Dead Ringer, 1981, Epic Records
• Obituary: Back from the Dead, 1997, Roadrunner Records

Source:^[55]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Marston, George (August 13, 2020). "2020 Inkwell Award Winners". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
2. ^ ^{a b} Almond, Bob (August 6, 2020). "2020 Inkwell Awards Voting Results". First Comics News. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
3. ^ ^{a b} "2020 Winners". Inkwell Awards. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
4. ^ "Bernie Wrightson, illustrator". The Baltimore Sun. n.d. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014.
5. Connecticut Historical Society. Archived from the original
   on September 27, 2007.
6. ^ Bails, Jerry (n.d.). "Wrightson, Bernie". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on May 11, 2007.
7. ISBN 978-1-60549-055-7
   .
8. ^ ^{a b} Cooke, Jon B. (Summer 1999). "Like a Bat Out of Hell Chatting with Bernie Wrightson, DC's Monster Maker". Comic Book Artist (5). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. Archived from the original on February 18, 2010.
9. ^
   ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9
   . 'The Man Who Murdered Himself' in House of Mystery was...the first DC story illustrated by Berni Wrightson (who left the "e" off his first name to distinguish himself from a famous diver.
10. ^ ^{a b c} "Bernie Wrightson". Lambiek Comiclopedia. March 19, 2017. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017.
11. ^ ^{a b c d e} Woerner, Meredith (March 25, 2017). "How Bernie Wrightson uncovered the soul of the monster in his work". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017.
12. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 146: "'Swamp Thing' was the name of Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson's turn-of-the-century tale, and its popularity with readers led a modernized version of the character into his own series a year later."
13. ^ ^{a b} Ho, Richard (November 2004). "Who's Your Daddy??". Wizard (140): 68–74.
14. ^ ^{a b} Groth, Gary (March 22, 2017). "The Berni Wrightson Interview". The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
15. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p.152 "The host that was first presented in a framing sequence by scribe Marv Wolfman and artist Bernie Wrightson received further, imaginative development in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series decades later."
16. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 153: "Following his debut in House of Secrets #92 in 1971, the Swamp Thing grew into his own series, albeit with a reimagining of his origins by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson."
17. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 154: "Scribe Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson left Swamp Thing some company...the woman who would become Swamp Thing's soul mate, Abigail Arcane."
18. ^ Ringgenberg, Steven (March 21, 2017). "Bernie Wrightson, 1948-2017". The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
19. Metro Con in 1973... For the con,... my friend Warren Bernard... was able to secure a rare (for the time) showing of the film Freaks
    . Attending the convention that year was Bernie Wrightson. It was the first time he had seen the movie and it proved to be a major influence on his work over the next few years.
20. ^ ^{a b} Gustines, George Gene (March 24, 2017). "Bernie Wrightson, Artist and a Creator of Swamp Thing, Dies at 68". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
21. ^ Cooke, Jon B. (Spring 1999). "Wrightson's Warren Days". Comic Book Artist (4). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.
22. ^ Daudt, Ron E. "Joe Barney Interview (Pt. 2)". The Silver Age Sage: A Tribute to the Silver Age of DC Comics. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
23. ^ Niles, Steve (May 8, 2012). "Frankenstein Alive, Alive! A Conversation with Bernie Wrightson". SteveNiles.net. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
24. ^ ^{a b} Carey, Edward (June 16, 2008). "Spotlight on Bernie Wrightson". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017.
25. ^ Dwyer, Theo (June 14, 2021). "Bernie Wrightson Original Captain Sternn Artwork Hits Auction". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
26. ^ Henriksen, Erik (May 9, 2017). "Stephen King and Bernie Wrightson's Creepshow Comic Is Available Again, For the First Time in Years". Portland Mercury. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
27. ISBN 978-1-250-05412-8
    .
28. ISBN 978-1608875108
29. ^ Heroes for Hope Starring the X-Men at the Grand Comics Database
30. ISBN 978-0756641238
    . Horrified by the plight of starving children in Africa, writer/artist Jim Starlin and illustrator Bernie Wrightson convinced Marvel to publish Heroes For Hope. It was a 'jam' book...and all of Marvel's profits were donated to famine relief in Africa.
31. ISBN 978-0756692360
    . Writer Susan K. Putney and artist Bernie Wrightson delivered a memorable graphic novel that removed Spider-Man from his usual urban setting and placed him in a fantasy world of magic and mysticism.
32. ^ Heroes Against Hunger at the Grand Comics Database
33. ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 219: "Plotted by Jim Starlin, with dramatic designs by Bernie Wrightson...Heroes Against Hunger featured nearly every popular DC creator of the time."
34. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0
    .
35. ^ Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 234: "Writer Jim Starlin took the Dark Knight into the depths of Gotham for the four-issue prestige format Batman: The Cult...with horror artist Bernie Wrightson."
36. ISBN 978-0786425006
    .
37. ^ Cyriaque Lamar. "The 10 most deranged Alien crossover stories". io9. Archived from the original on October 13, 2011.
38. ISBN 978-0-7864-4165-5. Archived from the original
    on April 4, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
39. ^ "Meat Loaf, Fantasy Art Evangelist". Heavy Metal. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
40. SuicideGirls.com. Archived
    from the original on January 22, 2016.
41. ^ "Byrne, Wrightson Return To IDW With New Series". Comic Book Resources. March 5, 2012. Archived from the original on June 13, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
42. ^ "2013 Reuben Awards Winners". National Cartoonists Society. May 25, 2013. Archived from the original on October 7, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
43. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (June 1, 2015). "RIP Michele Wrightson". ComicsBeat.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
44. ^ ^{a b} "A Message from Liz Wrightson". Bernie Wrightson official site. March 19, 2017. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
45. ^ McMillan, Graeme (January 30, 2017). "'Swamp Thing' Co-Creator Announces Retirement Due to Poor Health". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
46. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (April 3, 2017). "The Walking Dead season 7 finale: Who is Bernie Wrightson, the person episode 16 was dedicated to?". The Independent. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017.
47. ^ "1972 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013.
48. ^ ^{a b} "1973 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013.
49. ^ Miller, John Jackson (July 19, 2005). "GOETHE/COMIC FAN ART AWARD WINNERS, 1971-74". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on September 20, 2010. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
50. San Diego Comic-Con International. 2013. Archived
    from the original on February 13, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
51. ^ "Inkpot Award Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
52. ^ "The H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival Awards". HPLFilmFestival.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
53. ^ Parkin, JK (May 26, 2013). "National Cartoonist Society announces Reuben, divisional awards". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013.
54. ^ Mahadeo, Kevin (August 12, 2010). "Marz Reveals Batman's "Hidden Treasures"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Writer Ron Marz's Legend of the Dark Knight tale with artist Bernie Wrightson became a legend in its own right among the comic book professional community—a long-lost story the writer himself believed would never see print.
55. ^ Berni Wrightson at the Grand Comics Database and Bernie Wrightson at the Grand Comics Database

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bernie Wrightson.

• Official website
• Berni Wrightson at the Grand Comics Database
• Bernie Wrightson at the Grand Comics Database
• Bernie Wrightson at Mike's Amazing World of Comics