Bernie Wrightson

Bernard Albert Wrightson was born on October 27, 1948, and spent his career becoming one of American comics' most distinctive horror artists, recognized above all for co-creating Swamp Thing and for his painstaking illustrated edition of Mary Shelley's *Frankenstein*. He died on March 18, 2017.

Wrightson entered professional illustration in 1966 as an artist for *The Baltimore Sun* before DC Comics hired him in 1968, where he became a steady contributor to the anthology horror titles *House of Mystery* and *House of Secrets*. Working alongside writer Len Wein, he co-created Swamp Thing in *House of Secrets* #92 (July 1971). The character quickly earned its own monthly series, and Wrightson drew the first ten issues, establishing the mournful, richly detailed visual language the character would carry for decades.

In 1974, he moved to Warren Publishing, where he adapted prose horror classics — among them Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" and H. P. Lovecraft's "Cool Air" — in the intricate pen-and-brush style that defined his work. A 1982 comic adaptation of Stephen King's *Creepshow* screenplay opened a productive ongoing collaboration with King. His most ambitious single project, an illustrated edition of *Frankenstein*, occupied him for several years before its 1983 release. Later in his career, Wrightson extended his visual storytelling into concept art for film and television productions.