Most illustrators creating genre book covers know Frank Frazetta and his beautiful artwork. More than a few book cover artists have been influenced to at least some extent by his work.

Born in Brooklyn in 1928, Frazetta started his art career at the ripe old age of 16, illustrating comic books, eventually working for a number of comic book publishers over the next few years including DC, New Heroic Comics, EC and others.

For many of us it is his work that started appearing on the covers of paperback books and movie posters in the mid-1960s through the 1980s that exerted the most influence as he brought to life everyone from John Carter of Mars (and the lovely maidens who fought alongside the hero), to Tarzan, to Conan, to the horrifying characters depicted on the covers of Creepy and Vampirella.

If you noticed an amazing cover on a science fiction, horror, or fantasy paperback or magazine during those years, chances were good that Frazetta had done the work — or caused some artist to ham his style (something that more than a few illustrators have done — and still do to this day).

On May 10th I received word that Frazetta had passed away after he had suffered a stroke, dying at age 82 in a hospital near his studio in Boca Grande, FL.

Frazetta brought the characters of untold stories to life for many readers, and inspired several generations of illustrators — including me.

He will be sorely missed.

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Duncan Long is a fan of Frazetta. Today Long works as a freelance illustrator and has created book covers for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his book cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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