Frank Frazetta(1928-2010)

Frank Frazetta is one of the most prolific and well-known illustrators of the 20th century. This is due in part to the variety of media in which his art has appeared (comics, posters, album covers, books, etc.), but also to his very recognizable style. Frazetta was a very precocious artist, claiming to have begun drawing at the age of three, and selling a drawing at the age of eight. He received formal art training at the Brooklyn Academy of Fine Arts. He entered into the world of comic book illustration at the age of 16, with work on "Shining Knight" comics. His early work was for DC, but he later did work for Timely (Marvel), Standard, and Toby. His more famous early work was done for EC Comics, where he illustrated a number of horror and suspense stories. In 1952, he worked as an assistant for Al Capp ("L'il Abner"), but quit in 1960 after disagreement over salary cuts. He turned to paperback cover illustrating to pay the bills. While not very lucrative at the time, the illustrations are today sought by many collectors, especially his work on the Edgar Rice Burroughs titles (Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, and others). In the mid 60s, Frazetta joined other former EC cartoonists at Warren Publications, where he worked on "Creepy", "Eerie", and helped design "Vampirella". Frazetta's work was probably at its most popular in the 1970s, where it could seen almost everywhere. His drawings were and are instantly recognizable - the men are impossibly muscular, the women are supernaturally beautiful, and the monsters are indescribably hideous. Many of his illustrations have been collected into handsome, oversized volumes, or can still be found decorating teenagers' walls.