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Comics 101
Art tips and techniques, reviews and interviews from my studio. Archived here and at World Famous Comics.

Comics 101 Archives

Comics 101 for 10/03/2002
An Interview with Berni Wrightson - Part One (originally taken November 26th, 1994 at Mid-Ohio-Con in Columbus, Ohio)

One of my earliest memories of experiencing Berni Wrightson's art actually came when I'd visit my grandparents house as a child. I'd find copies of 'The Unknown Solider', 'Brave and the Bold', 'House of Mystery', 'Weird War Tales' and other classic DC comics my grandfather would have piled up in the basket near the front door for me to read when I arrived. And occassionally among these piles of comics I'd find an issue of 'Swamp Thing'. There was something about Berni's and Len Wein's tragic, horrific and heroic creation that really left a lasting impression with me moreso than some of the other comics I would read.

I would again discover more of Berni's work from my Saturday art school animation teacher, Gary Barker, while in grade school. Gary himself was a freelance comic book artist having illustrated for Marvel's 'The Incredible Hulk' and one day brought to class a paperback by Stephen King called 'Cycle of the Werewolf'. I remember thinking the markers Berni used for those illustrations must have grown from his fingertips. He mastered those markers to look like paint and my pre-pubescent brain was mesmerized by the horrific scenes of werewolf induced violence and mayhem.

In fact, my fascination with 'Cycle of the Werewolf' was so strong that early in college I provided some original illustration work for someone and as payment in trade I accepted an original first edition copy of this book (that I was never able to find in stores for some reason).

Along with 'Swamp Thing', one of my favorite comic book series that he drew was entitled 'Batman: The Cult', which was released in 1988 by D.C. Comics. The painted covers and pen and ink interiors he rendered were beautiful. With his interpretation of my all time favorite super-hero I had trouble putting those books down for months.

It was Fall of 1994, November 26th to be exact, and the day after Thanksgiving and Mid-Ohio-Con was happening that weekend. I got the chance to meet and spend time with Berni who was there as a featured guest attending the show. I was also still an Illustration major at my art school in Columbus, Ohio and at the time was taking a class called History of Illustration. Each week in this class we discussed artists like Wyeth, Leyendecker, Mucha, Rockwell, Remington and Pyle. We only had one project for this class - to write a detailed final paper/essay on any professional illustrator past or present that has influenced us in our work.

When I found out that Berni Wrightson would be coming to Columbus for the convention, I saw this as my chance to meet one of my favorite artists and hopefully get an interview for my History of Illustration paper.

Wrightson has long been one of my many inspirations in the world of illustration so I felt he would be just as viable as a topic for my paper as any of the other illustrators we previously discussed in class. My teacher must have felt so as well since I got an 'A' for my efforts.

So I'd like to finally thank my teacher for helping my GPA and I want to thank my grandpa, Gary Barker and Berni Wrightson for putting me on the right path at an early age and expanding my horizons to become the horror/sci-fi/comic book votary I am today.

The following interview took place in the lobby at the Hyatt Regency downtown in Columbus, Ohio around 11:00 P.M.:

Joe: Where were you born?

Berni Wrightson: I was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1948 and I grew up there.

J: Did you like it?

BW: Yeah, it was okay.

J: How long did you live there?

BW: Until I was nineteen and then I moved to New York City.

J: So you went to grade school and high school in Baltimore?

BW: I went through twelve years of Catholic school.

J: Yeah, me too. I did the Catholic thing all my life, all the way from kindergarten until my senior year in high school.

BW: Still practicing?

J: Yeah, on occasion. Ever since I got to college I can't...well...it's not that I can't but I kinda gotten away from it.

BW: I stopped going to church when I was about thirteen. I don't know, I kinda figured out...maybe bullshit is too strong a word for it y'know. But I kinda stopped believing in the hocus pocus stuff and everything. I thought God, the afterlife, and morals...it's all a very personal kind of thing.

My problem with Catholicism is that it's all too regimented. Every body seems real eager to tell you what to do and what not to do. This is right and this is wrong. I kinda figured what is the problem with doing what you want to do as long as nobody gets hurt, y'know. I don't know how that sounds but...

J: Don't worry. I follow you completely.

BW: I always thought that the ten commandments were a good set of guidelines. I put the ten commandments up there as a rule book and if you live according to that ...you'll be okay.

J: After high school in Baltimore what did you do?

BW: Nothing, just went to work...a series of jobs, stockroom clerk, a shipping clerk,...a lot of clerk jobs. The last real job I had then, I ended up as an editorial cartoonist for the Baltimore Sun newspaper and I worked there for about nine months.

J: Why only nine months?

BW: A friend of mine took me to a science fiction convention. This would of been 1967 I think and I only went because Frank Frazetta was going to be there. He was a hero of mine and I just wanted to meet him. I met him, showed him some of my work, and he really liked my work...he had a private show of his paintings in his hotel room and I got invited along with Mike Kaluta, whom I met for the first time, and Jeff Jones...we all became friends. In the following summer in 1968, I went to my first comic book convention.

J: Where was that at?

BW: That was in New York also. It was one of the Phil Seuling shows. I don't know if you heard of Phil. He was like the godfather of comic book conventions. He was the guy who really started putting them on in a big way.

I took some comic book work I did for fanzines and things and I showed it to Mike Kaluta who showed it to Al Williamson who showed it to Dick Giordano, who was still just inking at the time. I don't believe he was in the editorial division yet...and he showed it to Carmine Infantino, who was Editor- in -Chief or publisher at D.C. They really liked my work and they said if I moved to New York they would give me work.

J: Why did you have to move to New York?

BW: Well, this was 1968. This was before overnight delivery, fed-ex, and fax machines. You really had to be there. They expected you to bring your work into the office and at the time it was the only way to do it. Now, you don't have to leave home. You don't have to live in the city.

But y'know, for me, I was nineteen, I never been away from home, it was a big adventure, so I moved to New York. I knew some people there. I knew Jeff Jones, I knew Larry Ivey...he used to do a magazine called "Monsters and Heroes".

I was living there a month or two when Kaluta moved up. We roomed together for a while and then I started working for D.C. I started doing three page fillers for the "Mystery" books ...working for thirty dollars a page, pencils and inks, which at the time was great. It was enough to get by on. If I got three pages done a week, I was set for the month.

We had a little hole in the wall place on 77th street that cost us 23 dollars a week and we split the cost between us. We managed to survive in New York.

J: What was your first published work?

BW: It was a drawing on the letters page of Creepy #9 which would have been about 1966.

J: Besides Frazetta, who were some of your other influences?

BW: Uhm..Gee, E.C. artists, Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Al Williamson, Johnny Craig, George Evans, Wally Wood.

J: Can you tell me anything about your parents? Were they supportive?

BW: They weren't terribly supportive. For years they thought this was just a phase I was going through. They didn't know I was really serious until one time on television we saw this ad for Famous Artists Correspondence Group. It was like a half-hour infomercial thing. They tell you all about the school, the instructors, and how it works. It was the kind deal where it was all done through the mail. You got these lesson books that were all about composition, line and stuff. You would do your assignment based on the lesson, you would then send it in and they would correct it with tracing paper overlays then send it back to you. Then you would go to the next lesson.

I got really excited about this...I did this whole thing and sent it back and they sent a representative...and I think it cost about 600 dollars, which at the time was alot of money. This was about 1966 or 1967. But my parents finally put the money together and got me this as a gift for my 18th birthday.

I've met people since who have taken this course...it's a really good course. Everybody I know who has taken the course hasn't finished it because they got work as professional artists somewhere in the middle and just never finished. I've never met a graduate of the course.

End Part One

Next week in Comics 101 and part two of the interview, Bernie discusses in-depth his illustration work for film, his collaborations with Stephen King and his labor of love, the illustrated 'Frankenstein'.

See ya next week!

-Joe

<< 09/26/2002 | 10/03/2002 | 10/10/2002 >>

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