Just learned that FRANK THORNE passed away at age 90.
Well, this news comes at a spooky moment. Earlier today, I was driving north on Rt. 73 thru Mt. Laurel, right past the motel where I first saw Frank in person (along with Dave Cockrum, Dick Giordano, Joe Staton, and others) back in the late 70s. I always thought it was crazy how that day, I spoke with Joe Staton, but not Frank, who was sitting right next to him at the same table.
Over the next couple years, I saw Frank at conventions in Philly (once or twice, not sure) but still never got into a chat with him.
It wasn't until I started writing him fan letters in the mid-80s-- and he began WRITING BACK-- that we really started to get to know each other.
When Fantagraphics started their Eros Comix line and began knocking out tons of XXX-rated stuff, I once kidded Frank that his stuff seemed "tame" compared to some of these other guys. I've no way of knowing for sure, but I've always suspected I was responsible for him diving into the deep end with THE IRON DEVIL. What a character!
When I published my own X-rated comic back in 2002, I asked Frank if I could come up to see him, he agreed, and on a stunningly-beautiful day in early November, I drove up to north New Jersey and finally got to speak with him face-to-face at his house. I handed him a copy of my book, and got him to sign my copy of RED SONJA #1.
We stayed in touch after that, but I never got to see him again. He was the one who repeatedly urged me to "back away" from too much photo-reference, which turned out to be GREAT advice with some of the commission drawings I've done in the last few years.
During one of our many e-mail exchanges, he told me one of his first professional comic-book jobs was Dell's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. When I mentioned I'd love to see it some day, he floored me by MAILING me what he said was "his last reminaing copy". WHOA!!! I knew I had to do something with it, and wound up scanning the entire comic into my computer, cleaning it up, and posting it ONLINE as part of a year-long JULES VERNE comics blog project. That eventually led to my Edgar Allan Poe blog project, so I think it's safe to say Frank was one of the people responsible for me getting started on that!
He seemed especially proud a few years back when, worried about his faltering eyesight and that it might drive him back to drinking too much, he instead managed to delve into a whole new arena with SURREALISTIC paintings, and had a one-man show that was apparently a rousing success. WHAT A GUY!!
He seemed to be having some technical problems with the internet over the last year, and out e-mails became fewer and father in between. I'd written him a couple times in the last 6 months, but didn't get any response. I guess this sad news today wasn't much of a surprise.
Incidentally, while comic-book fans might remember him for RED SONJA, Frank always said his most-popular creation was MOONSHINE McJUGS, who appeared in PLAYBOY magazine, which certainly had a much-bigger circulation than ANY comic-books in this country in my lifetime. He was also very proud of GHITA OF ALIZARR, which I can attest had FAR-better writing than any of the RED SONJA comics at Marvel. More than once Frank said he didn't care for Jack Kirby's work, but I've often compared their writing. Whereas most comic-book writers will do long serials which feel like "movie serials", each episode feeling like it was made up as they went along, Thorne & Kirby BOTH had a way of doing long stories that, when read in one go, felt like FEATURE FILMS, as if they'd been conceived as ONE piece, regardless of if they were serialized in print or not.
