This is Berni Wrightson: A Look Back (1991), a retrospective of Bernie Wrightson’s work to that point (he dropped the “e” for a while to differentiate himself from an Olympic diver). Wrightson is probably most famous for his illustrations of Stephen King novels, particularly The Stand (1990) and Cycle of the Werewolf (1983). Neither of those appear in this book, weirdly.

Instead the focus is mainly on his work in horror comics and his various portfolios from the 70s. I’ve said previously that it took me a long time to get into Frazetta – that’s because I was busy obsessing over Wrightson. For me, he’s the embodiment of the old Eerie and Creepy comics, but with the skills of an older generation of illustrator (that sea monster image clearly references Howard Pyle’s pirates). Pretty much if I am picturing “classic” horror (basically, anything that doesn’t involve tentacle monsters), I’m filtering it through Wrightson’s work. Nobody drew corpses better, walking or otherwise. And he had a fantastic control over light. His Poe portfolio made Poe’s stories come alive for me (look at that Red Death!). He nailed werewolves like few others (look at the restraint in that illustration, my goodness). There is just so much skill in every piece, I can’t help but think that Wrightson never quite gained the reputation his talents were due.

Having looked through a bunch of art books for this week’s post, I can say that the color reproductions here aren’t the greatest – little bit fuzzy, a little bit out of registration. That’s OK though. The main reason I loved this book is because it was the only place to easily find Wrightson’s black and white illustrations for Frankenstein for many years (Dark Horse finally put out a definitive version a few years back – get it). Wrightson’s Frankenstein is his magnum opus. They are breathtaking exercises in tone, light and detail. I am more of a Dracula guy, honestly, but Wrightson’s Frankenstein leaves me in absolute awe.