Veteran comic book/strip artist Frank Thorne has died at the age of 90 and change. Thorne, who claimed he wanted to be an illustrator "as far back as I can remember" became one while still in his teen years. His earliest known work in comics was for the company Standard Comics in 1948 but he had been selling occasional drawings to pulp magazines before that.
His heroes were Alex Raymond (who drew Flash Gordon, among other strips) and Hal Foster (who drew Prince Valiant) and he described his own art at the time as in their tradition, only nowhere near as good. But it was good enough that in 1951, King Features Syndicate — which handled Raymond and Foster — hired Frank to draw the Perry Mason newspaper strip. When that ended, he had no trouble securing work in comic books, mainly for Western Publishing's Dell and Gold Key titles. Among the comics that featured his work were Mighty Samson, The Twilight Zone, Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery, Jungle Jim and many, many TV and movie adaptations.
In 1968, he began working for DC Comics with work in Son of Tomahawk, Our Fighting Forces (and all their war comics), The Spectre and Korak, Son of Tarzan among others. His work was professional and popular but he didn't become a fan-favorite until 1975 when Marvel connected him with the character Red Sonja, a spin-off from the popular Conan the Barbarian series.
At age 45, Frank Thorne blossomed into a whole new artist — bold, experimental and brilliantly-imaginative. He became known for his drawings not only of her but of many warrior women, and he also appeared often at comic conventions in the guise of "The Wizard," a companion to Red Sonja, appearing in live shows with women costumed as her and judging Red Sonja look-alike contests. His flair for drawing outrageous and sexy female characters led to work for Playboy and more adult publications and graphic novels like his own Ghita of Alizarr.
This is the spot in an obit where I would ordinarily tell you that it was a pleasure to meet and know the man but the truth is that I never met him. I was around him a lot but he was always mobbed by fans (and cosplaying ladies) seeking autographs and commissions. It was a joy though to see this man segue from realistic, somewhat staid illustration work to a style and vision all his own. I'm sure his work will be reprinted and devoured for a long time.