We lost Bernie Wrightson five years ago yesterday. What a talent. What a titan. Within the field of horror art, he simply had no equal. While he was talented enough to do great renditions of Conan and Batman, Bernie’s firstest and truest love was horror.

I became aware of Bernie* as an artist at a very early age. When DC began reprinting his iconic run on Swamp Thing I bought them and was totally floored. Here was a guy who had internalized the Frazetta art for Tarzan and the Castaways and come up with his own, horrific take within a different genre.

I would go on to follow every step of Bernie's career. I bought a copy of his Apparitions portfolio when I could barely afford it. I picked up reprints of his work and also bought a 'Frankenstein' print of his at the Capitol City conference in 1990. Unfortunately, that print didn't survive a debauched night at that gathering. I hope whoever ended up with it has taken good care of it. Considering the floods/etcetera my stuff has gone through in the last thirty years, being 'appropriated' might've been its best fate.

Bernie died of brain cancer on March 18, 2017.

Raise a glass to the shade of a true artist and fan of all things weird and macabre, sword-brothers. Bernie deserves all that and more.

*Bernie spelled his name as such for years, early on. Then, another Bernie Wrightson made a big splash as an Olympic athlete. So, for about a decade, Bernie went by ‘Berni’ to differentiate himself. Here in the twenty-first century, our Bernie has a much wider renown.

Below is a career-spanning gallery of his work.