Frank Brunner (born February 21, 1949) is an American comic book artist best known for his work at Marvel Comics in the 1970s.
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Biography
Career
Brunner broke into comics as a horror writer-artist for the black-and-white comics magazines Web of Horror, Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella. His best-known color-comics work is his Marvel Comics collaboration with writer Steve Engelhart on the supernatural hero Doctor Strange in Marvel Premiere from 1972 to 1973, and in Doctor Strange vol. 2, in 1974. Other Marvel credits include the anthologies Chamber of Chills, Haunt of Horror, and Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction; the supernatural series Tomb of Dracula; the swamp-monster series Man-Thing; and the science fiction series Silver Surfer. Also for Marvel, Brunner adapted Robert E. Howard's sword-and-sorcery pulp fiction hero Conan the Barbarian in the 42-page story "The Scarlet Citadel", and drew many covers for the similar series Red Sonja and Savage Sword of Conan. Brunner and novelist Michael Moorcock collaborated on a comics adaptation of Moorcock's sword-and-sorcery hero Elric in Heavy Metal magazine. It was reprinted in publisher Mike Friedrich's Star Reach Greatest Hits. Brunner briefly returned to comics in the mid-1980s as artist on the First Comics title Warp!, based on the science-fiction play that ran briefly on Broadway in the 1970s. He then wrote and drew the graphic novel The Seven Samuroid (1984), a science-fiction takeoff of the movie classic Seven Samurai. Brunner then moved to Hollywood and began a career in movie and television animation, working on projects for Hanna-Barbera (Jonny Quest), Walt Disney Imagineering (Euro Tomorrowland movie), Warner Bros. (preproduction Batman design) and DreamWorks (Invasion USA). He was the head of character design for the Fox animated series X-Men.
Books
- "Eyes Of Light: the fantasy art of Frank Brunner" (Vanguard Publications, 2002)
- "Mythos: The Fantasy Realms of Frank Brunner" ( Vanguard Publications, is scheduled for 2007)
Other work
- Comics and magazines: Crawdaddy!, The Monster Times, Castle of Frankenstein, Star Reach, Quack, Alien Worlds (Pacific Comics), Unknown Worlds of Frank Brunner (Eclipse Comics). Covers for: Wild Stars #1-6 (Little Rocket); Flare Adventures #13,15,16,17,18,19, Flare #29 (Heroic Comics); Witchgirls Inc. #1,2,3,5 (plus scripts beginning #3), Adventures of Chrissie Claus #31, Silver Comics #1 (Silver Comics); Red Sonja #2 (Dynamite Entertainment); War of The Worlds (Best Sellers Illustrated), Brunner's Carnal Delights #1 (Carnal Comics)
- Art portfolios: Flesh & Fantasy, Bran Mak Morn, Elric, Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass (Alice II), Stormbringer (Elric II), Flesh & Fantasy II, Legends of Arzack
- Trading cards (Topps): Jurassic Park, Star Wars Galaxy, Vampirella, Mars Attacks, Satan's Six
- Live-action movies: Cellar Dweller, From Time To Time (Disney), Doctor Strange (ABC TV), Dinosaur Valley Girls
- Animation: Jonny Quest (season two, 1990s), Sky Commanders, Dark Water, Dino-Riders, Once Upon a Forest (feature), X-Men (1992-95), Darkstalkers, Skeleton Warriors, Extreme Ghostbusters
- Record-album covers: Mandator, Faithful Breath, Necronomicon (German Heavy Metal bands), Veto (German Punk rock band)
- Poster Prints: The Faerie Princess (Dreamweaver Studios), Four Queens Of The Tarot (Color), Dreamtide (Dreamweaver), Go Ask Alice (Dreamweaver), Raiders Of The Lost Egg (Vanguard)
References
- Frank Brunner official site
- Grand Comics Database
- Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide
- "Brunner Mystique", interview: Spectrum Magazine #3
- Star Reach information referenced from Comic Book Artist #2
