Previously I posted part 1 of Short Stories and Tall Tales. Before I present part 2 I thought I should introduce you to William’s lifelong friend and artist Frank Brunner.

Here is his biography taken from wikipedia:

Brunner’s comics career was relatively short, but was very influential on later artists, and his work is highly respected by collectors world wide for its neo-gothic style, beautiful women and attention to detail and design. Brunner broke into comics as a horror artist/writer for Web of Horror, Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella magazines. Brunner is best known for his collaboration with writer Steve Engelhart on Doctor Strange in Marvel Premiere in 1972-3, and in the relaunched Doctor Strange title in 1974. Brunner explored many facets of theology and brought “Cosmic Awareness” to comics. His stint on Dr. Strange was so popular that the title went monthly and established Dr. Strange as a top tier character at Marvel Comics. Brunner then went on to co-create the instant success of new character Howard the Duck with writer Steve Gerber. After Brunner left the book, sales gradually dwindled but Howard remains a Marvel legend! Also for Marvel, Brunner adapted Robert E. Howard’s famous Conan the Barbarian in a 42 page epic “The Scarlet Citadel” and his work on many covers (Man-Thing, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, Red Sonja, Savage Sword of Conan) are very collectible. Brunner then joined talents with novelist Michael Moorcock and brought Elric to Heavy Metal magazine, with a fully hand-painted adaptation of the Albino Prince’s first adventure (reprinted in Star Reach Greatest Hits).


Brunner briefly returned to comics in the mid 1980s, as the artist on the First Comics title Warp! (based on the science fiction stage play of the same name that ran briefly on Broadway in the early 1980s).
He then created his own graphic novel The Seven Samuroid (1984), a science fictional takeoff of the movie classic Seven Samurai. Brunner then moved to Hollywood and began a career in Movies and TV animation, working on many shows at 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 very popular series X-Men. Recently he has devoted most of his time to commissions and fine art painting. Brunner has had a collected works book published, entitled “Eyes Of Light: the fantasy art of Frank Brunner” (Vanguard Publications 2002) and a new full color book: “MYTHOS, The Fantasy Realms of Frank Brunner” is scheduled for 2007 ( Vanguard Publications).

What the bio fails to mention is that Frank contributed artwork to William’s comic in 2010 and is scheduled to appear in the forthcoming second issue. I love Frank’s work as much as my brother William, and his countless other fans worldwide. Visit his official site at Frank Brunner.net.