Frank Frazetta: The Underwood retrospectives
Icon - A Retrospective By The Grand Master Of Fantastic Art
Legacy - Selected Paintings & Drawings By Frank Frazetta
Testament - The Life & Art Of Frank Frazetta
(1999 / 2001 - Underwood)

Edited by Cathy & Arnie Fenner. These books were conceived to gather almost all of Frazetta's works of note. The man's output would then dictate that the three of them would not be slim volumes, but they are not unwieldy. Together, their design and comprehensiveness have made them nearly the end-all-be-all collection of the work of this artist, still the most widely well-regarded practioner of fantasy art. More recently, the Vanguard Productions release of their FANTASTIC PAINTINGS OF FRAZETTA has slightly outscored each of these volumes as the best single volume of the artist's works.

Right upfront I need to advise the interested buyer to make sure and get the 2003 'revised' edition, the one with Conan on the cover, as its additional 32 pages just pile the material on to what was already an impressive heap. In addition to the increased page-count, the decision was made to exploit most of the display area left as white-space in the original. Though a handful of the images originally appearing were excised altogether, 23 of them get larger reproductions and 28 new 'well-presented' pieces get added, along with 45 new smaller ones. So, this book's 208 pages yields 169 dominated by the art (131 of those focused on a single 'well-presented' piece. There are 11 double-page spreads and nearly every one is so skillfully handled, as to still look beautiful, even with the book's gutter. The text contains a healthy biography, along with a extensive chapter on Frazetta's promotional work for film & TV. There's also several pages from another highly respected artist, James Bama, giving context by relating the book cover-art & illustration milieu of the 1960s (which contains among the examples, a 'well-presented' drawing by Alex Raymond (there's also a large example of Roy Krenkel's work present in the book)). The gallery section provides commentary and/or an anecdote regarding each of the featured works and all are captioned with their titles, original appearences, sizes and frequently mediums. The fantasy work, including seminal pieces and those previously uncollected, displays his images of dinosaurs, mammoths & sabertooths, cavemen & savage girls, wizards & witches, robots & spacemen, aliens & fantastic creatures, all roaming through vistas of swamps, jungles, lost empires, ruined castles and wasted cities. Also found are multiple renditions of the 'celebrities', Dejah Thoris, John Carter, Tarzan, Conan, Vampirella, King Kong, and Frazetta's own Death Dealer. A number of nudes gambol throughout. Know that 21 of the works here are repeated from the exhibits in the higher recommended FANTASTIC PAINTINGS OF FRAZETTA.

After the introduction and a reprinted romance-comic story, the rest of LEGACY's 189 pages are laid out with a full page presentation on the right side and on the left is one, or more, smaller related works (sometimes a rough version or another sketch), along with the captions and an anecdote. (The captions include title and the work's original use, as well as the size & medium). The full-pages are almost all paintings, as are the nine double-page spreads. The many paintings canvas a large number of his Edgar Rice Burroughs, Buck Rogers and horror magazines covers. You'll see depictions of Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula & Tarzan, along with cowboys, indians and an assortment of barbarians & monsters. Included are a number of nudes both male and female. To accompany commentary about art comparisons, there is also displayed a painting each by Arthur Barbosa and J. Allen St. John*. Know that 15 of the works here are repeated from the exhibits in the higher recommended FANTASTIC PAINTINGS OF FRAZETTA.

* - Note that St. John's piece is found better presented in his own collection on The List.

Almost every piece of art is given its own page, 124 of them out of TESTAMENT's 160. While predominantly packed with gorgeous paintings (and five double-page-spreads), full-page drawings are well represented here too. The text is a number of testimonials about prominent artists' encounters with Frazetta and his work, along with autobiographical notes by this painter himself. There are short features about his wife & her support (one of Ellie's own paintings is 'well-presented' here) and on piratical publications that made use of his art without authorization or making compensation. Enjoyably, a number of the pieces are captioned with anecdotes about them. Featured is an incredible diversity of subjects, including Jesus, Conan & other barbarians, Dracula & other vampires, wolfmen, monsters, aliens, dinosaurs, dragons, cowboys, natives, bikers, futuristic cities, swampland, castles & ruins, sailing ships and spaceships. While many of the depicted men are barely dressed, there are also a large number of shapely female nudes. This book seems to act as a catch-all for this grand 550-page project, but note that on my own presentation-focused scale it slightly edged out the other two. Also note that 3 paintings found here are repeats from the exhibits in the higher recommended FANTASTIC PAINTINGS OF FRAZETTA.