Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Remembering Frank Frazetta

Had he not died in 2010, today would have been Frank Frazetta's 93rd birthday. Frazetta's importance to the development of fantasy and science fiction art cannot be understated. From his comic work in the 1950s to his cover paintings for paperback editions of E.R. Burroughs and Robert E. Howard in the 1960s, Frazetta produced some of the most outstanding and immediately recognizable "genre" artwork of all time. His Conan covers in particular deserve special mention, I think, for cementing an image of the Cimmerian in the popular imagination. I won't go so far as to say that, without Frazetta, Conan would not be a household name today, but I think anyone would be remiss in not acknowledging the importance of the amazing paintings he did for the Lancer paperbacks of the 1960s. His career and life are truly worthy of remembrance.

4 comments:

  1. I'm almost certain I'd never have read ERB as a child if it weren't for Frazetta's cover art catching my attention. I'm absolutely certain I didn't get to read Conan until high school because my parents objected to Frank's covers as being "too sexy" and "too violent" for a child.

    My parents were pretty uptight for a pair of Boomers.

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  2. Ave, Frazetta. And Molly. Great works.

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