Artist. Writer. Illustrator. Painter. Legend.
All of these in their own way describe Bernie Wrightson and his esteem amongst fandom and the art community at large. Not many artists have had the kind of impact and influence that he's had over the last 35 years. Friends of his like Mike Kaluta, Barry Windsor-Smith or Jeff Jones can maybe relate, but that's probably about it.
Bernie was in our fair city recently as a guest of Dragon Con and spent his Labor Day weekend greeting fans, selling prints, signing things, and being an all-around wonderful guest. For me, even though he was super kind and gracious, it was still a little hard to not be intimidated. I started to think about, ohh...Swamp Thing and those incredible House of Mystery covers. Or The Studio and dare I say it—Frankenstein! I mean, c'mon...this was the first guy to draw Batman with the long ears, for Pete's sake! That's enough to bring the nervous fanboy out of anyone...
Mrs. Wrightson (Liz we were told to call her) was our facilitator with the man and she too was just as nice as could be. Trust when I say, Bernie had droves of people lining up at his tables, but Liz still managed to carve out some time for the three of us to sit down. And for that, Dwight and I are grateful.
Our chat was relatively short (for us, that is), but chocked full of interesting stories and tidbits. We realize Bernie gets asked to do things all the time and tried to honor the few minutes we had to spend with him. After all, he's given us so much over the years through his fantastic art and stories. And you know what? He's still givin'.
Thanks, Bernie!
Click here to download the show.
Amazing! One of the best ones yet. I really love it when the artists give a bit away about their work, like Mr. Wrightson saying he had to work on smaller paper. I went and pulled out my Jeffery Jones portfolio. Really wish they still made those. Love to have a Jon Foster one...
Another amazing interview guys!
Posted by: eric orchard | September 22, 2008 at 06:42