Roy G. Krenkel -- Forty Years Gone
On this date in 1983, Roy G. Krenkel just…faded away. Admired and revered by the likes of Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, Michael Wm. Kaluta and Bernie Wrightson, Roy’s death received little notice. It took some ardent fans years to discover that their idol had died. Shy and self-effacing, Krenkel mentored generations of SFF artists. Despite his aversion to the spotlight, RGK’s legacy and influence continue to this day, four decades after his death.
In regard to Roy's present influence today among living artists, Mark Schultz, Michael Wm. Kaluta, William Stout, Tom Yeates and Charles Vess are all admitted life-long devotees of RGK. There may be other working artists out there who are Krenkel fans. If so, let me know in the comments. If Roy's living defenders number just the five above, that is still a formidable crew.
Krenkel mentored Frank Frazetta and Al Williamson during their EC Comics days. Both would cite him as a major inspiration throughout their careers. After getting Frazetta his first work as a paperback artist and winning a Hugo award for himself the first time out of the gate, Roy slowly began easing out of doing contract work for book publishers. However, he kept himself fully in the SFF scene when it came to conventions and the like.
Attending such events brought Roy into contact with future superstars like Bernie Wrightson, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Stephen Hickman and Jeffrey Jones. He would mentor all of them to one extent or another.
Frazetta, Williamson, Wrightson, Kaluta, Hickman and Jones. That is one hell of a roster of artistic influence.
There is also RGK's own physical legacy, apart from his artistic influence. We have Krenkel artwork spanning over five decades. Much of it has been collected in various volumes over the years. Let's take a look at those.
Cities & Scenes from the Ancient World was published in 1974 by Owlswick Press. Roy was a master at depicting cities of the ancient world. This would include both panoramic views of such cities along with more localized street/crowd scenes. RGK was also amazing at depicting more fantastic, otherworldly cities, a knack he picked up from one of his idols, Franklin Booth.
There was a fifteen-year gap before Eclipse Books published Swordsmen and Saurians in 1989. Intended as a tribute to Krenkel's entire career, the editors at Eclipse--George Scithers and Tom Yeates--did a fine job and the book is worth seeking out. The foreword by William Stout is excellent.
Yet another fifteen years would pass before Vanguard would publish RGK: The Art of Roy G. Krenkel in 2004. This is another nicely done volume, with good scans of the art, as well as great essays from Williamson, Stout, Kaluta, Yeates and Frazetta.
Most recently, Roy G. Krenkel: Father of Heroic Fantasy - A Centennial Celebration was published in 2019. This one is a treasure trove of previously unpublished Krenkel art. Great production values. Hardcore RGK fans should hunt this down. However, I must say that I find the title a little unfortunate. By no stretch of the imagination could Roy be considered the ‘father of heroic fantasy’.
Roy G. Krenkel was no 'mere doodler' as he so often claimed. Far from it. ‘Mere doodlers’ do not inspire artists like Frank Frazetta and Jeffrey Jones.
Raise a glass to the shade of RGK, sword-brothers. He strode into the spotlight for a few years and then walked away, leaving behind a legacy that few can match.
My previous posts on Mr. Krenkel:
Roy G. Krenkel: A Centennial Remembrance, Part One