The Warren years…
By PETER BOSCH
Like many other baby boomers, I discovered the works of Frank Frazetta (born February 9, 1928) through his covers for the Warren magazines in the 1960s.
Those paintings for Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella and Blazing Combat were incredible to my young eyes. They made buying the magazine an absolute “YES!” decision just for that. Then came the realization he was also painting covers for paperback reprints of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard novels — and EC comics! And then posters of those cover paintings became my next collectible — and then movie posters (covered here in my previous appreciation of his work).
So, let’s take the WABAC Machine to the 1960s and 1970s and revisit 13 of those great Warren issues that started my Frazetta frenzy:
Creepy #3 (1965)
Creepy #4 (1965)
Creepy #7 (Feb. 1966)
Creepy #9 (June 1966)
Creepy #16 (Aug. 1967)
Eerie #3 (May 1966)
Eerie #7 (Jan. 1967)
Eerie #23 (Sept. 1969)
Eerie #81 (Feb. 1977)
Blazing Combat #4 (July 1966)
Vampirella #1 (Sept. 1969)
Vampirella #5 (June 1970)
Vampirella #7 (Sept. 1970)
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MORE
— NEAL ADAMS AND FRANK FRAZETTA: Creative Powerhouses Forever in Competition. Click here.
— PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite FRANK FRAZETTA 1960s ACE Paperback Covers. Click here.
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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. (You can buy it here.) A sequel, American Movie Comic Books: 1930s-1970s — From the Silver Screen to the Printed Page, is due in 2025. (You can pre-order here.) Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.
February 9, 2025
I remember well the illustration of a scubadiver opened a treasure chest and a sea monster confronts him. Great painting! I remember Vamirella #1. Had to hide a tent pole seeing that! The Sea Witch, Sherlock Holmes v. Werewolf, Egyptian princess, the other Vampirella covers. That made me a fan of Frazzetta for long time.
February 10, 2025
I remember seeing the magazines and paperbacks. Then I found out his name and checked out a book of his art from the library. Wow! (Am I the only one getting “Dark Shadows” vibes from Creepy #4 with the werewolf and Holmes’ slicked black hair and inverness cape that looks black to me? Even if it’s a few years before Dark Shadows?)
February 15, 2025
I wonder if that Eerie # 3 cover inspired Kelley Jones when drawing the Bane-centric Detective #666?