Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Think'n Bout Berni Wrightson

















































Just heard the report about Berni being hospitalized with small strokes as I was getting off work today.  I hope he's alright.  He's certainly given us a ton of amaz'n art over the years.  You know I personally groove to the early stuff, but it's all been off the hook-Nightmaster, Kull, HOM, HOS, Swampthing, and the Frankensteins.  Get better soon
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2 comments:

  1. RussJuly 9, 2014 at 3:35 PM

    I was never the sort of guy who would intrude on the privacy of an artist I admired. But a friend of mine was, and one day back in the late 70s he called and asked if I wanted to visit Berni Wrightson, who was living here in Florida at the time ( I had no idea.)

    Berni and Michelle could not have been more gracious; we saw an awful lot of beautiful art. I was impressed by how careful and meticulous he was. Next to a commission drawing of Superman fighting the Hulk, he had propped up an open copy of a Bridgeman anatomy book to reference the torso. The wraparound Frankenstein cover was partially finished in ink, but half was still being pencilled and it looked as if he had used templates to draw each beaker and flask.

    After what should have been an overstayed welcome they took us out for pizza. Berni had a really interesting idea on how to do Batman, and he told us about a story he was working on about a character called Captain Stern.

    I'm still amazed at how accommodating he was, but I know he got to meet a lot of his artist heroes early on, and maybe this was payback.

    Berni Wrightson should know there are many folks out there whose lives he has touched with his amazing work. I hope he understands that our support is always there for him.

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  2. Cap'n's ComicsJuly 9, 2014 at 11:00 PM

    Wow, thanks for shar'n this, Russ. I know little about Berni personally, but interviews and such have always struck me as to what a stand up guy he is. You mentioned two great pieces of art that I've always loved, as well as the first (and what I thought for a time was the only) Captain Stern. His Batman was breath-taking (of course! the ears SHOULD be longer!). I hope to do a post that does tribute to your narrative soon

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