RIP Frank Frazetta

Oh dear, another childhood hero has taken to soaring amongst the stars… yes, the genius of Frank Frazetta has passed on.

This man’s art was, from the very second I first saw it… and remaining so to this day -  a very powerful influence on yours truly. He helped shape and amplify my sense of wonder, my quest for truth.

He ripped the blinders from my mind in a way that still stops me dead in my tracks whenever a Frazetta appears within eyeshot…

I will miss you Sir.

Richard Metzger, a friend of WATT, who lives over at Dangerous Minds, has posted an excellent quote that I will repeat here, because, well, it’s true…

Jason Louv says, “Deep down, all that (even nominally straight) men really want to do is kill everything that moves and then fly away on a badass wyvern with all of the naked barbarian maidens in sight, likely while “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin plays in the background. This was the great revelation that drove Frank Frazetta, god rest his soul, to the top of the world of fantasy art. His style has been imitated by every fantasy book cover artist and prison punk trying to draw some art to trade for cigarettes since. For his work perfectly captured the pure essence of the teenage male libido in as unvarnished of a form as “Dirty Dancing” did for the teenage female libido. Jah bless.”

Mr. Frazetta’s obituary in the LA Times.