Bernie Wrightson (1948–2017)
Author of Creepshow
About the Author
Bernard Albert Wrightson was born in Dundalk, Maryland on October 27, 1948. He learned comic book art from studying comics and from correspondence courses. His first published work, The Man Who Murdered Himself, appeared in House of Mystery, from DC, in 1969. He helped create the popular DC Comics show more character Swamp Thing, who first appeared in an issue of House of Secrets in 1971. Swamp Thing was promoted to his own series in 1972. In 1974, Wrightson began working at Warren Publishing, where his work, including original material and adaptations of stories by Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, appeared in Creepy and Eerie magazines. In 1983, he adapted Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for Marvel Comics. He also contributed character designs for films, including creatures, aliens and ghouls for The Mist, Galaxy Quest, and the original Ghostbusters. He died from brain cancer on March 18, 2017 at the age of 68. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Wrightson began spelling his name "Berni" in his professional work to distinguish himself from an Olympic diver named Bernie Wrightson, but later restored the final E to his name.
Image credit: Centipede Press (publisher)
Series
Works by Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein (A Marvel Illustrated Novel) (1983) — Illustrator — 273 copies, 6 reviews
Bad Doings & Big Ideas: A Bill Willingham Deluxe Edition (2011) — Illustrator — 48 copies, 3 reviews
Chamber of Darkness #7 3 copies
Showcase [1956] #84 (Nightmaster) — Illustrator — 3 copies
Stephen King's The Stand Portfolio (Black Cover) Limited Edition 1200 signed copies. 1991 1 copy, 1 review
ACBA Sketchbook. 1975 1 copy
Frankenstein Portfolio #2, by Berni Wrigtson. Signed and numbered 2000 printings. 1978 1 copy, 1 review
Frankenstein Portfolio #1, by Berni Wrightson. Signed and numbered 1000 printings. 1977. 1 copy, 1 review
Look Back, A 1 copy
Swamp Thing 1 copy
Scream Door #1 1 copy
Abyss Portfolio 1 copy
Swamp Thing #4 Il rito della primavera — Illustrator — 1 copy
Creepy Archives vol. 15 1 copy
The Stand 1 copy
Enfer blanc. 3. evasion (.) — Author — 1 copy
Enfer blanc. 2. capture (.) — Author — 1 copy
Годината на върколака 1 copy
Kull: The Skull Of Silence 1 copy
Associated Works
The Stephen King Companion: Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror (2015) — Contributor, some editions — 636 copies, 5 reviews
House of Mystery Vol. 2 # 09 — Illustrator — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Wrightson, Bernie
- Legal name
- Wrightson, Bernie
- Other names
- Wrightson, Berni
Master of the Macabre - Birthdate
- 1948-10-27
- Date of death
- 2017-03-18
- Gender
- male
- Education
- self taught
Correspondence courses - Occupations
- fantasy artist
illustrator
inker
painter - Organizations
- The Studio (1975)
- Awards and honors
- Shazam Award (1972, for Best Penciller, Dramatic Division, for Swamp Thing)
Shazam Award (1972, Best Individual Story [Dramatic] for Swamp Thing #1, with Len Wein)
Shazam Award (1973, for Best Penciller, Dramatic Division, for Swamp Thing)
Shazam Award (1973, Best Inker for Swamp Thing)
Shazam Award (1974, Best Penciller, Dramatic Division)
H.P. Lovecraft Award (2007, at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon) - Short biography
- Co-Creator of the Swamp Thing with Len Wein.
Creator of Captain Sternn - also used in the Animated film "Heavy Metal". Illustrated Mary Shelly's Frankenstein story which is considered one of the most beautifully detailed works of the 20th century. Has illustrated several books by Stephen King. Contributed to many comic book covers and interiors of the Bronze age such as House of Secrets, House of Mystery, Plop! for Marvel Comics Group and DC Comics.
Contributed to numerous movies such as Ghost Busters, Creepshow, the Myst, among others. Married with two sons. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Dundalk, Maryland, USA
- Places of residence
- California, USA
- Place of death
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Disambiguation notice
- Wrightson began spelling his name "Berni" in his professional work to distinguish himself from an Olympic diver named Bernie Wrightson, but later restored the final E to his name.
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Discussions
December's SK Flavor(s) of the Month - Creepshow and Cycle of the Werewolf in King's Dear Constant Readers (April 2020)
Legendary Horrr artist Bernie Wrightson passes away in Comics (March 2017)
Reviews
For the last forty years, I go time travelling every half-decade or so. I chose this edition to review, but I'm actually re-reading the 10-issue Wein/Wrightson run collected in four issues that were released from the summer of 1977 to Feb of 1980.
In 1977, my family had literally uprooted our lives and moved three hours away to a very small town where I knew absolutely no one beside my immediate family. I was a shy, introverted 15-year-old kid who'd been bullied for the past four or five show more years and didn't make friends easily. My escape was reading. I read everything.
And that summer, as I waited for my mother to get something done in town, I grew bored and asked if I could get a dollar to grab a snack or something. I walked across the street to the variety store, a charming place with wooden plank floors and that wonderful small town smell of fresh bakery products, paperback books and...comics.
I checked out the spinner rack--remember those? --and I don't remember anything other than the comic I eventually picked up, which was the first collection. Sixty cents bought me 48 pages, a collection of issues 1 and 2 of the original Swamp Thing saga.
I went back to where I was waiting for my mother and sat down, opened the glossy cover and began reading a comic that would, over the next twenty minutes or so, blow my mind. Len Wein's wonderful words...yes, a little overwritten, a little overly earnest, but setting the perfect tone for Wrightson's murky--shall we say swampy? --images. I finished the issue, then immediately turned back to the front and re-read it, slower this time, savouring each image, rolling each word over and around on my tongue.
And over the next three years, I picked up the next three collections, wrapping the entire Wrightson run.
Are these stories a little corny? Hell yes. Do they rely on a ridiculous amount of coincidence? God, yes. But are they magical? My God, yes.
Each story, whether treading the gothic path of Frankenstein or werewolves or mad scientists, or slipping closer to the science fiction of aliens and clockmakers who fashion humans from mechanics, or dipping a toe into Lovecraftian horror, or even bringing Batman--the best looking Batman this side of Neal Adams, by the way--into the story, Wein ensures that each story is infused with a melancholy humanity, solidly backed up by Wrightson's moody, empathetic line work.
Every five years or so, I pull out those four collections and think, yeah, I'm too old for this now. I won't enjoy them this time. And every time, for a couple of glorious hours, I'm that fifteen-year-old kid, sitting in a strange store in a strange new town, discovering an entirely new world in the wonderful smelling pages of a 60-cent comic book.
Magic. show less
In 1977, my family had literally uprooted our lives and moved three hours away to a very small town where I knew absolutely no one beside my immediate family. I was a shy, introverted 15-year-old kid who'd been bullied for the past four or five show more years and didn't make friends easily. My escape was reading. I read everything.
And that summer, as I waited for my mother to get something done in town, I grew bored and asked if I could get a dollar to grab a snack or something. I walked across the street to the variety store, a charming place with wooden plank floors and that wonderful small town smell of fresh bakery products, paperback books and...comics.
I checked out the spinner rack--remember those? --and I don't remember anything other than the comic I eventually picked up, which was the first collection. Sixty cents bought me 48 pages, a collection of issues 1 and 2 of the original Swamp Thing saga.
I went back to where I was waiting for my mother and sat down, opened the glossy cover and began reading a comic that would, over the next twenty minutes or so, blow my mind. Len Wein's wonderful words...yes, a little overwritten, a little overly earnest, but setting the perfect tone for Wrightson's murky--shall we say swampy? --images. I finished the issue, then immediately turned back to the front and re-read it, slower this time, savouring each image, rolling each word over and around on my tongue.
And over the next three years, I picked up the next three collections, wrapping the entire Wrightson run.
Are these stories a little corny? Hell yes. Do they rely on a ridiculous amount of coincidence? God, yes. But are they magical? My God, yes.
Each story, whether treading the gothic path of Frankenstein or werewolves or mad scientists, or slipping closer to the science fiction of aliens and clockmakers who fashion humans from mechanics, or dipping a toe into Lovecraftian horror, or even bringing Batman--the best looking Batman this side of Neal Adams, by the way--into the story, Wein ensures that each story is infused with a melancholy humanity, solidly backed up by Wrightson's moody, empathetic line work.
Every five years or so, I pull out those four collections and think, yeah, I'm too old for this now. I won't enjoy them this time. And every time, for a couple of glorious hours, I'm that fifteen-year-old kid, sitting in a strange store in a strange new town, discovering an entirely new world in the wonderful smelling pages of a 60-cent comic book.
Magic. show less
As far as I know, my discovery of Berni (or, eventually, "Bernie") Wrightson began back around 1977 when, bored, I shelled out sixty cents for The Original Swamp Thing Saga that reprinted the first two issues of the comic. And, while I loved the story, it was easily Wrightson's art that blew me away. I read it, then I read it again, then I would go back and just stare at the artwork, page by page, panel by panel.
I'd never seen anything like it.
Five years later, I rediscovered him with his show more collaboration with Stephen King on his CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF.
By then, I was an absolute fan, and anywhere I could find something of his, I grabbed it. I still believe his best work is his illustrations for FRANKENSTEIN.
Interestingly, I had, until a few months ago, been completely unaware of this book, until I discovered it in the library of a friend. This book is mindblowing in so many ways.
First, this is literally only the first ten years of Wrightson's output—so he hadn't even gotten to that Stephen King book yet. And second, as I read this, eight years since he passed away, and something like 47 years since this book was published, it's mind-blowing to know what he accomplished after this.
There's so much of his art here! And what's better, almost all of it has some sort of commentary from him...whether what he was thinking, or why he abandoned it (and some of those are wonderful, even only half completed).
Just a gorgeous book by one of the premier talents of my generation. show less
I'd never seen anything like it.
Five years later, I rediscovered him with his show more collaboration with Stephen King on his CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF.
By then, I was an absolute fan, and anywhere I could find something of his, I grabbed it. I still believe his best work is his illustrations for FRANKENSTEIN.
Interestingly, I had, until a few months ago, been completely unaware of this book, until I discovered it in the library of a friend. This book is mindblowing in so many ways.
First, this is literally only the first ten years of Wrightson's output—so he hadn't even gotten to that Stephen King book yet. And second, as I read this, eight years since he passed away, and something like 47 years since this book was published, it's mind-blowing to know what he accomplished after this.
There's so much of his art here! And what's better, almost all of it has some sort of commentary from him...whether what he was thinking, or why he abandoned it (and some of those are wonderful, even only half completed).
Just a gorgeous book by one of the premier talents of my generation. show less
Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.
This is my last Jason Todd story prior to his death. The Cult concerns the rise of a charismatic speaker in Gotham City, who organizes the underclass and seals the city off from the outside world; large parts of this plot were adapted for the film The Dark Knight Rises, though instead of Batman being gone while this happens, Batman is being broken. Not physically, but emotionally. The book opens with Batman already captured show more by Deacon Blackfire and his cult, and the brainwashing well underway.
What makes this book works so well is Bernie Wrightson. I primarily know Wrightson from his contributions to DC horror comics like The House of Mystery, The House of Secrets, and The Witching Hour!, and The Cult puts him to good use depicting the existential horror that is Batman's mental breakdown, as well as the collapse of all Gotham society. His Batman is a devastated man, and despite the fact that a cowl covers half his face, his Batman communicates the anguish he is experiencing quite well. Panel transitions are used quite well, too, to show how Batman is flickering back and forth between different mental states: we'll jump between the world-as-it-is and the world-as-Batman-sees-it quite rapidly, showing his struggle. Wrightson's art (especially aided by colorist Bill Wray) is grotesque when it needs to be. I hate to complain about someone with the skills of Jim Aparo, but Wrightson is clearly a much better match for Jim Starlin's Batman sensibilities, and it's a shame there's not much more Batman work from him.
This is one of those books that succeeds if it makes you feel the struggle of its protagonist, and this one does: not just in Batman's travails, but in those of Robin, Jim Gordon, and the city of Gotham itself. Jason Todd acquits himself really well here, refusing to give up even when Batman himself has given up. The only thing one might wish for is a little more sympathy, given that Robin himself was once a homeless street kids like many that Deacon Blackfire brings into his army. (Like The Dark Knight Rises, The Cult posits armed insurrection as a disproportionate response to a very real problem.) Gordon is the same as always: the hard, dedicated cop, and it shocks when he's attacked, even though intellectually you know they can't kill him off here. And finally, Starlin and Wrightson use Miller-esque television broadcasts to good effect to show the deterioration of Gotham society.
Of everything I've read, The Cult reads the most like a mission statement for Jim Starlin's Batman. It's an excellent read of what it would take for you to break Batman-- and how Batman will always break you right back.
Batman "Year One" Stories: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less
This is my last Jason Todd story prior to his death. The Cult concerns the rise of a charismatic speaker in Gotham City, who organizes the underclass and seals the city off from the outside world; large parts of this plot were adapted for the film The Dark Knight Rises, though instead of Batman being gone while this happens, Batman is being broken. Not physically, but emotionally. The book opens with Batman already captured show more by Deacon Blackfire and his cult, and the brainwashing well underway.
What makes this book works so well is Bernie Wrightson. I primarily know Wrightson from his contributions to DC horror comics like The House of Mystery, The House of Secrets, and The Witching Hour!, and The Cult puts him to good use depicting the existential horror that is Batman's mental breakdown, as well as the collapse of all Gotham society. His Batman is a devastated man, and despite the fact that a cowl covers half his face, his Batman communicates the anguish he is experiencing quite well. Panel transitions are used quite well, too, to show how Batman is flickering back and forth between different mental states: we'll jump between the world-as-it-is and the world-as-Batman-sees-it quite rapidly, showing his struggle. Wrightson's art (especially aided by colorist Bill Wray) is grotesque when it needs to be. I hate to complain about someone with the skills of Jim Aparo, but Wrightson is clearly a much better match for Jim Starlin's Batman sensibilities, and it's a shame there's not much more Batman work from him.
This is one of those books that succeeds if it makes you feel the struggle of its protagonist, and this one does: not just in Batman's travails, but in those of Robin, Jim Gordon, and the city of Gotham itself. Jason Todd acquits himself really well here, refusing to give up even when Batman himself has given up. The only thing one might wish for is a little more sympathy, given that Robin himself was once a homeless street kids like many that Deacon Blackfire brings into his army. (Like The Dark Knight Rises, The Cult posits armed insurrection as a disproportionate response to a very real problem.) Gordon is the same as always: the hard, dedicated cop, and it shocks when he's attacked, even though intellectually you know they can't kill him off here. And finally, Starlin and Wrightson use Miller-esque television broadcasts to good effect to show the deterioration of Gotham society.
Of everything I've read, The Cult reads the most like a mission statement for Jim Starlin's Batman. It's an excellent read of what it would take for you to break Batman-- and how Batman will always break you right back.
Batman "Year One" Stories: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less
This was alright. Somewhat better than Superman/Aliens, but sadly not as good as Batman vs. Predator. Setting it in the Mayan ruins was kind of a weird choice, but I suppose unexamined exotification was all the rage at the time. The art was awesome at times, though, so it had that going for it.
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Statistics
- Works
- 205
- Also by
- 54
- Members
- 2,828
- Popularity
- #9,070
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 154
- ISBNs
- 106
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
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