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| Bernie Wrightson |
2. House of Secrets v1 #92, 1971 - A young scientist dies tragically in an explosion, leaving his young wife to mourn his loss. This issue marks the first appearance and origin of the Swamp Thing. Bernie Wrightson's art is permeated with heavy areas of darkness and shadow, perfectly setting a macabre tone. The artist draws and composes the pages with uncommon beauty and grace, aided by colleagues Jeff Jones, Alan Weiss and Mike Kaluta. On Wrightson's breathtaking cover, a woman prepares for bed as the swamp creature enters her room. The figures are illuminated by moonlight and are softened through a textural effect. On the mirror's hard-carved frame, a dragon adds a gothic quality to the scene. This Len Wein story was later reprinted in Roots of the Swamp Thing #5 and DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #9. Other artists in this issue include Bill Draut and Alan Weiss. This is 1 of 11 House of Secrets issues by Wrightson and 1 of 1 House of Secrets issues by Jones. Swamp Thing would next debut his own self-titled series. /// key 1st appearance, 1st cover, 1st origin Alec (Alex) Holland as Swamp Thing / Top 10 Wrightson / Wrightson gallery- - - - - - - - - -
Wrightson cover pencils and inks = *****
Wrightson intro page pencils and inks = ***
"Swamp Thing" Wrightson story pencils and partial inks / Jones, Kaluta, Weiss partial inks 8 pages = ****
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| Bernie Wrightson |
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House of Secrets #92 – Bernie Wrightson art & cover, Jeff Jones art + 1st Swamp Thing
Reviewed by Ted F
on
9:53 AM
Rating:
Reviewed by Ted F
on
9:53 AM
Rating:
4 comments:
It wasn't stippled; he used coquille board and a soft lead pencil. The paper is textured, and a single swipe of a grease pencil across it will leave many dots, looking like stippling, in its wake. Look at Bill Gallo's sports cartoons for more examples of coquille board, or the figures in Andrew Loomis' FIGURE DRAWING FOR ALL ITS WORTH.
I've corrected it. Thanks for the info!
That's not right either. HOUSE OF SECRETS #92 was done in india ink and wash (ink diluted with water). See this link to a scan of the original cover art:
http://tinyurl.com/4vztx7
What happened is that DC Comics' production department did a velox (or silver print) of the cover which was 'high tech' in those days. This velox turns the wash into tiny black dots which still look like half tones, but are not; it's line art. In this case, the art was also run through a filter to get the stippled look. I wonder how Wrightson felt about this. The result is the atmospheric classic we all love and remember, but as you can see from the original, it was not necessarily what he intended.
I used to think this was done on coquille board as well, but it wasn't.
It was called a mezzotint screen process which made the ink wash cover look like stippling. DC did the same with an early '70s WITCHING HOUR cover by Neal Adams which made it look like it was entirely crosshatched when it was all done in ink wash!
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