INALIENABLE WRIGHTSON

RIP to a true master of the macabre: the great horror and fantasy artist Berni Wrightson has passed on, at 68. Among many achievements, Wrightson is known for his superb illustrated edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1983) and as the creator (with writer Len Wein) of the DC Comics hero-monster Swamp Thing in 1972 (a character later brilliantly expanded upon by my fellow Erie-ite and pal John Totleben, in collaboration with Stephen Bissette and Alan Moore).

Obviously…

Monster-of-the-Week: …a Wrightson creation is in order, so how about…

…the lycanthrope from Cycle of the Werewolf, the Wrightson-illustrated Stephen King tale from 1983.

MARSH APPEAL

In memory of the great Wes Craven, passed on this week at 76…

Monster-of-the-Week: …the title character...

…from his 1982 movie version of Swamp Thing. This Swampy is not as good as the one in the DC Comics scripted by Alan Moore and drawn by Steven Bissette and my fellow Erieite John Totleben back in the ‘80s…

…but he’s still pretty enjoyable.

LOUIS, LOUIS

Last week we remembered Louis Jourdan as a top-notch Dracula on the BBC. Let’s give him one more week of acknowledgement… 

Monster-of-the-Week: …this time for the sword-wielding monster into which his character, Dr. Arcane, is transformed…

…at the end of Wes Craven’s 1982 Swamp Thing. I love the moment after his transformation, when he looks around with an air of “OK, I’m a monster, what should I do?” before he starts smashing lab equipment.