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During a career that has spanned 40 years, monster lover and artist Bernie Wrightson has scared comic-book and movie fans around the world with his wild, macabre sense of design.
He co-created the DC Comics' character Swamp Thing, adapted classic horror stories for Creepy and Eerie magazines, developed zombies for "Land of the Dead" and brought to visual life a full novelization of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" with black-and-white inked drawings.
His official return to comics is a bimonthly series, City of Others, that he and Steve Niles are doing for Dark Horse Comics, and it incorporates what he likes best -- yes, more monsters.
The seasoned illustrator recently gave Zadzooks a piece of his mind in the 53rd chapter of an open-ended series that profiles the elite of the comic-book industry.
Why I am an artist: I think it is just compulsive behavior. All little kids draw, and it is a very magical thing, but most everybody grows out of it when they begin to read and go to school. I am one of those unfortunate kids who never grew out of it.
What I read growing up: I read all kinds of comics, but my favorites were EC Comics -- Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear.
What I love: Some people love poetry, some people love cars. I just love monsters. I like to draw all monsters. I cannot pick a favorite. It would be like trying to pick a favorite of my children.
Why I dropped out of comics: Money. Comics are notorious for not paying well. Everybody thinks about Todd McFarlane and how he made a million dollars drawing Spider-Man, but that is like winning the sweepstakes. Everybody I know who does comic books for a living does it because they love it. I could not pay my bills doing comics, so I dropped out.
My creature-design work for movies: It was every bit as fulfilling as comics. If I had an art or production director who left me alone, that was fine. Occasionally I would run into someone who had to have his hands in it all the time, and that was a little stifling.
Artist inspiration: Frank Frazetta, almost exclusively, and, of course, all of the artists from EC Comics.
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