Artist Profile: Harry Barton (1908 — 2001)

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Dazzling Erin

Harry Barton was born in Seattle. After graduating from Broadway High, Barton got his first job as a commercial artist working in a sign shop. After studying with Art Students League in New York City, Barton painted covers for Argosy and Exciting Westerns. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Barton painted paperback book covers. From the 1970s until his death, Barton specialized in paintings of the Old West, which he sold through the Smith Gallery in New York.

A selection of his paperback work can be found below:

Artist Profile: Dave Johnson

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Arleigh

Dave Johnson has earned the reputation of being one of the comic industry’s preeminent cover illustrator. His work has graced the covers of such titles as Vertigo’s 100 Bullets (where he creates the covers to all one hundred issues and the 11 trade paperback collections) and Marvel Comics’ Punisher MAX series. Dave Johnson’s work as a cover illustrator has won him one of the top awards in the comics industry with his 2002 Eisner Award for “Best Cover Artist”.

Born on April 4, 1966, Dave Johnson continues to work as a cover artist for all the different publishers from DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and a slew of independent houses.

Artist Profile: Drew Struzan (1947– )

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Dazzling Erin

Originally from Oregon City, Oregon, Drew Struzan studied at the Art Center College of Design. Struzan started out his career as an illustrator by designing album covers. He illustrated his first movie poster in 1975 and, since then, he has been responsible for over 150 posters. He has designed posters for everything from the Star Wars to Harry Potter.

Artist Profile: Hector Garrido

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Dazzling Erin

Hector Garrido was a paperback cover artist who was active from 1965 until 1996. Over the course of his career, he illustrated everything from the covers of the Baroness series of pulp novels to romance and horror to Nancy Drew. A selection of his work can be found below.

Artist Profile: Gerald Gregg (1907 — 1985)

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Dazzling Erin

From 1943 to 1950, Gerald Gregg painted 175 paperback cover for Dell Publishing. Gregg prepared almost all of his cover work by airbrush and was distinguished by a style that combined graphic design and stylized realism.

Artist Profile: Joe Chiodo

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Arleigh

Joe Chiodo is a name not unknown to comic book aficionados. The youngest of four boys, Chiodo would grow up to be one of the comic book industry’s most sought after cover illustrators and colorists. His popularity rose during the 1990’s as he contributed cover illustrations for the group of artists who would form the indie publishing, creator-owned company of Image Comics (especially the Wildstorm and Cliffhanger brands).

Chiodo’s pin-up style lends well to the so-called “bad girl” style of comic book characters such as Vampirella, Lady Death, Witchblade and a host of others. His pin-up style was reminiscent of classic pin-up and cheesecake artists such as Dave Stevens and Gil Elvgren. He would add a certain Disney cartoon-style to the mix that would become the unique Chiodo-style fans have come to admire and love.

Joe Chiodo continues to do cover illustrations and coloring for comic book artists and companies. He has also released his own series of artbooks that focuses on his cover works and original art and painting throughout the years.

Here Are The Winners of the 2012 Rondo Awards

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are the winners of the 11th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, honoring the best of 2012. You can find out more about the Rondos by clicking here.

– BEST MOVIE: CABIN IN THE WOODS

— BEST TV: WALKING DEAD

— CLASSIC DVD: A&C MEET FRANKENSTEIN

— CLASSIC COLLECTION: UNIVERSAL MONSTERS ON BLU RAY

— RESTORATION: DRACULA (1931)

— COMMENTARY: David Kalat on Criterion GOJIRA/GODZILLA

— DVD EXTRA: Universal Monsters ORIGINAL HOUSE OF HORRORS booklet

— INDEPENDENT FILM: HOUSE OF GHOSTS

— SHORT FILM: FALL OF HOUSE OF USHER (animated)

— DOCUMENTARY: BEAST WISHES

— BOOK OF YEAR: RAY HARRYHAUSEN’S FANTASY SCRAPBOOK

— BEST MAGAZINE MODERN: RUE MORGUE

— BEST MAGAZINE CLASSIC: SCARY MONSTERS

— BEST ARTICLE: Christopher Lee: A Career retrospective, by Aaron Christensen, HORROR HOUND #34

— BEST INTERVIEW: Michael Culhane talks with original DARK SHADOWS cast, including Jonathan Frid’s last interview, FAMOUS MONSTERS #261

— BEST COLUMN: It Came from Bowen’s Basement (John Bowen), RUE MORGUE

— BEST THEME ISSUE: Tie, MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #30 (Vincent Price); VIDEO WATCHDOG #169 (Dark Shadows)

— COVER: Jeff Preston’s Phibes cover for LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #29

— WEBSITE: DREAD CENTRAL

— BLOG: COLLINSPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

— CONVENTION: MONSTERPALOOZA

— FAN EVENT: Rick Baker gets star on hollywood Walk of Fame

— HORROR HOST: Svengoolie

— HORROR COMIC: WALKING DEAD

— MULTIMEDIA (Audio/video): FRIGHT BYTES

— SOUNDTRACK/HORROR CD: ROSEMARY’S BABY

— TOY, MODEL OR COLLECTIBLE: Jeff Yagher’s BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN scene

— WRITER OF YEAR: Tim Lucas

— REVIEWER OF YEAR: David-Elijah Nahmod

— ARTIST: DANIEL HORNE

— FAN ARTIST: MARK OWEN

— HENRY ALVAREZ AWARD FOR ARTISTIC DESIGN: RAY SANTOLERI

— INTERNATIONAL MONSTER FAN: Rhonda Steerer (operates Boris Karloff ‘More Than a Monster’ site from Germany)

— MONSTER KID OF THE YEAR: SIMON ROWSON (for work in Japan unearthing lost footage in HORROR OF DRACULA)

— HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES:

— J.D. LEES — Editor/publisher who helped popularize kaiju scholarship with G-FAN, now a giant-sized100 issues old.

— COUNT GORE DE VOL: Still going strong in multimedia, 40 years later.

— TED NEWSOM: Opinionated but with good reason — he was there researching and interviewing long before most others.

— STEVE BISSETTE — Writer’s love of the genre has spread across all genres, from comic books to deep research.

— JESSIE LILLEY: From Scarlet Street to Famous Monsters and Mondo Cult, she has expanded the outlook of fandom.

— And the late GARY DORST: One of fandom’s founding forces, gone far too soon.

Artist Profile: Boris Vallejo (1941– )

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Dazzling Erin

Born in Peru, Boris Vallejo started painting when he was 13 and got his first professional illustration job at the age of 16. He emigrated to the United States in 1964. Vallejo is best known for his fantasy-themed artwork, which often features characters based on both himself and his wife, artist Julie Bell.

A few examples of his work can be found below.

Artist Profile: Gene Colan (1926 — 2011)

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Dazzling Erin

Gene Colan was born in New York and studied art at the Art Students League of New York. Colan joined the Army Air Corps in 1944 and served in the Philippines where he drew for the Manila Times. Upon returning to civilian life in 1946, Colan began to work for Timely Comics, which eventually became Marvel Comics. Over the course of his long career, Colan illustrated everything from super hero to young romance comics. He might be best known for his work in the 70s, when he illustrated two cult comics — Tomb of Dracula and Howard the Duck. In 2005, Colan was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.

Artist Profile: Mort Kunstler (1931– )

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Dazzling Erin

Mort Kunstler studied art at Brooklyn College, UCLA, and the Pratt Institute. After graduating in 1953, he worked as a freelance artist in New York City. Along with drawing covers and illustrations for several “men’s adventures” magazines, Kunstler also painted posters for The Poseidon Adventure and the original The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3. Since the 1980s, Kunstler has specialized in painting dramatic interpretations of key American historical events with an emphasis on the Civil War. He has been called “the foremost Civil War artist of our time.”