There are those artists in the comic book world who left a lasting impression on us. From each stroke of the pen or paintbrush, you know that something special is being put on the page to make our eyes widen in wonder.
That’s what Bernie Wrightson did.
Then at the end of the 1970s, the co-creator of Swamp Thing began working on a group of detailed pen and ink illustrations that were inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This was a labor of love that he did in his spare time in-between the gigs that put food on the table and went out of his way to make sure that he drew each character the way that Shelley described them in the book.
After 7 years, he had finished fifty Frankenstein illustrations and they were published in a new edition of Shelley’s novel by Marvel Comics back in 1983 and then 25 years later, Bernie Wrightson’s Frankenstein was re-published by Dark Horse Comics.
Yesterday however was a monumental day. Wrightson’s cover art for the Marvel Comics release of Frankenstein went up for auction at Profiles in History in Los Angeles and sold for $1.2 million dollars. It was part of a private collection that also included work by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and John Byrne.
Let’s just hope that Bernie knew how much his tireless work meant to everyone in the horror world.
Check out the art below:
