Frank Frazetta

Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1928, his talent was so prodigious that he had his first professional comic story, "The Snowman" in Tally-Ho Comics (see panel at left), published in 1944 at the tender age of 16.

In the early 1950's, Frazetta burst upon the mainstream comic scene with an incredible explosion of talent and energy. He did series for DC ("The Shining Knight" in Adventure Comics), ME ("White Indian" in Durango Kid - see image at right), Toby ("John Wayne" in John Wayne Comics, with Al Williamson); covers for Eastern (Heroic Comics), Famous Funnies (Famous Funnies Comics - the classic "Buck Rogers" covers), ME (Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders, Ghost Rider, Straight Arrow, and Tim Holt); and stories (some solo and some with Williamson and friends) for ACG, Avon, DC, Eastern, EC, Standard, and others

In 1953, this amazing powerhouse of energy was harnessed by a combination of laziness, money and his love of goofing off and playing baseball (Frank was scouted by the pros - I'm glad he chose art!).

The 1965 to 1973 period was as explosive for Frazetta the painter as the early '50s were for Frazetta the comic book artist.

The late Seventies and the Eighties saw a series of limited edition portfolios (Kubla Khan, Women of the Ages, Lord of the Rings), a film (Fire & Ice), a five volume series of books devoted to his work (The Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta and Frank Frazetta Books 2-5 from Ballantine), occasional paperback covers, limited edition prints (selling for thousands) taken from the covers of The Writers of the Future paperback series from Bridge Publications, a series of paperbacks featuring his Death Dealer (written with Jim Silke), and little else. His impact was still being felt in the art world as Arthur Suydam and Simon Bisley came under his spell.