Saturday, October 31, 2009

Creepy Beginnings

The early issues of Warren's CREEPY mag in the mid-sixties tried hard to achieve the tongue-in-cheek feel the EC's had presented a decade earlier with a horror host, humorous answers to letters and, beginning in the Archie Goodwin-edited issues, a Creepy Fan Club Page. A regular feature was scary art sent in by readers, Here, from 1965 and '66, are two examples by a fan named Frank Brunner and one by a Berni Wrightson. Oddly, although seemingly a good fit, both men would build their initial reputations away from Warren--Brunner at the rival CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN and Wrightson in the upstart WEB OF HORROR. Later Brunner would become known for his short-lived but memorable runs on Marvel's DOCTOR STRANGE and HOWARD THE DUCK while Berni would later become chief cover artist for DC's mystery books and later Stephen King's favorite illustrator.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for posting, Steve. It's always interesting to see the work of artists "before they were famous".
    Berni's style in particular seems almost fully formed at this early stage.
    Great stuff!

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