5/22/2023 0 Comments Wrightson a look backI flipped to the credits page, something I’d never done before. My whole opinion changed and that’s when it happened. Swamp Thing #2 bothered me, so two hours or so later I went back and reread it. The Un-Men, creepy Arcane, the strange architecture of the castle and deep-shadowed forests, and Swamp Thing himself. Pretty dramatic to say, you think, then consider: I read Swamp Thing #2 when I was 12. That’s because it’s still influencing me to this day… to this very hour. I contacted Kelley and he graciously agreed to write this moving tribute to his hero, an artist for all time: Bernie Wrightson. For my money, there’s no artist working today whose work unsettles in the same way as Wrightson’s, who can make a printed page come alive with the creeps in such an evocative way. And when I thought of his spiritual descendants, the artists who carry his torch highest and brightest, I immediately thought of Kelley Jones. When I heard last weekend that Bernie Wrightson died, I thought not just of his considerable body of work (some of which you can enjoy here and here) but also his considerable impact, his influence. This first ran in 2017 when Wrightson died and I’m deeply proud to present it again in honor of his birthday. UPDATED 10/27/19: The late Bernie Wrightson was born 71 years ago.
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