Vaughns (Primarily) Wrightson Gallery :: My Primarily Wrightson Gallery

Wrightson - Heart of a Vampire - Detective Comics 455 Page 3 - Concept Art

Artist: Bernie Wrightson (Penciller)

8 Comments - 1,028 Views - 2 Likes

Wrightson - Heart of a Vampire - Detective Comics 455 Page 3 - Concept Art Comic Art

Additional Images:

Mike Grell�s version

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Artwork Details

Title:	Wrightson - Heart of a Vampire - Detective Comics 455 Page 3 - Concept Art
Artist:	Bernie Wrightson (Penciller)
Media Type:	Pencil
Art Type:	Prelim
For Sale Status:	Offers Considered
Views:	1,028
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	8
Added to Site:	10/24/2013
Comic Art Archive:

Description

This is yet another page I worked with Steve towards and am just astounded by the detail in the pencils for this page. Would have loved to have seen the finished (inked) page, but alas... appears this will not be making it to the publisher.

This was the backstory Steve was kind enough to provide: "The Bat/Drac I purchased directly from Bernie two or three years ago. He told me it was a pitch piece/tryout for a proposed miniseries which never materialized. I thought the pencils were awesome
(you will see what I mean when you see it in the flesh) so I bought it."

I couldn't agree more, the detail Wrightson brings out with just a pencil are astounding.

If anyone knows where any of the other pages are, specifically any pictures, I'd love to see how this page fit into the story!

Update 1/24/24

I added a Mike Grell image from Detective Comics 455 which shows Bernie provided some of the concept pages in full illustration, though he received no credit in the issue� Dracula opening his casket is an interesting panel piece as imagined by Bernie! RIP

Thanks for the Comic Detective work John!

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About the Owner

	Joseph Vaughn
Joined:	September 2012
Last Login:	June 2025
Ebay Id:	Cheechwizard
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Joseph's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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David K
Member Since 2008

Posted on 10/24/2013

Very cool Joseph! I especially dig that 4th panel. Wrightson's pencils are so amazing.

steve staszower
Member Since 2005

Posted on 10/24/2013

Ah yes, that fourth panel!!!!

Brian Boggs
Member Since 2003

Posted on 10/25/2013

nice tight pencils by Berni. nice to see another Wrightson fan out there.

John Kelly
Member Since 2015

Posted on 1/24/2024

This piece intriugued me so I put on my "Detective" hat, pun inteneded and I think I have figured out what this page is. I believe this was done in 1975 by Berni Wrightson as a page for Mike Grell to study, or use for his story from Detective Comics #455 called Heart of a Vampire. This was Mike Grell's first stab at Batman, so I guess Berni helped him out by doing this page and there may be others. You can find the whole issue online and if you see page #5 you'll see the layout is exactly like this, except drawn by Mike Grell. Grell said the story was plotted and broken down by Berni Wrightson. Part of the story is told at Comic Book Resources, but Grell's memory fails him as he says Berni did 2" by 3" thumbnail breakdowns. Possibly the other pages were thumbnails, but this page is obviously finished and large. Interesting piece of comic art history.

Joseph Vaughn
Member Since 2012

Posted on 1/24/2024

John Kelly wrote:

This piece intriugued me so I put on my "Detective" hat, pun inteneded and I think I have figured out what this page is. I believe this was done in 1975 by Berni Wrightson as a page for Mike Grell to study, or use for his story from Detective Comics #455 called Heart of a Vampire. This was Mike Grell's first stab at Batman, so I guess Berni helped him out by doing this page and there may be others. You can find�the whole issue online and if you see page #5 you'll see the layout is exactly like this, except drawn by Mike Grell. Grell said the story was plotted and broken down by Berni Wrightson. Part of the story is told at Comic Book Resources, but Grell's memory fails him as he says Berni did 2" by 3" thumbnail breakdowns. Possibly the other pages were thumbnails, but this page is obviously finished and large. Interesting piece of comic art history.

Thanks for the detective work John, I added an image of Mike Grell's finished Page 3 version of Wrightson's concept art, and altered the listing accordingly.

steve staszower
Member Since 2005

Posted on 1/25/2024

John Kelly wrote:

This piece intriugued me so I put on my "Detective" hat, pun inteneded and I think I have figured out what this page is. I believe this was done in 1975 by Berni Wrightson as a page for Mike Grell to study, or use for his story from Detective Comics #455 called Heart of a Vampire. This was Mike Grell's first stab at Batman, so I guess Berni helped him out by doing this page and there may be others. You can find�the whole issue online and if you see page #5 you'll see the layout is exactly like this, except drawn by Mike Grell. Grell said the story was plotted and broken down by Berni Wrightson. Part of the story is told at Comic Book Resources, but Grell's memory fails him as he says Berni did 2" by 3" thumbnail breakdowns. Possibly the other pages were thumbnails, but this page is obviously finished and large. Interesting piece of comic art history.

John, thanks for the info - very interesting and enlightening. I obtained this directly from Bernie circa 2011 and sold it to Vaughn. BTW, if you are the John Kelly who lived in New Jersey in the 1980's - in 1987 or so you met up with me in Staten Island to discuss the Studio artists and we looked at the Night portfolio and some other art : )

steve staszower
Member Since 2005

Posted on 1/25/2024

Joseph Vaughn wrote:

Thanks for the detective work John, I added an image of Mike Grell's finished Page 3 version of Wrightson's concept art, and altered the listing accordingly.

Thanks for that! Great to see the interpretation : )

John Kelly
Member Since 2015

1 - Posted on 1/26/2024

steve staszower wrote:

John, thanks for the info - very interesting and enlightening.� I obtained this directly from Bernie circa 2011 and sold it to Vaughn.� BTW, if you are the John Kelly who lived in New Jersey in the 1980's - in 1987 or so you met up with me in Staten Island to discuss the Studio artists and we looked at the Night portfolio and some other art� : )

Steve, yes, that was me. The Studio was a cool time in comic art, lost to the mists of time. Panta rei as Heraclitus said. It was fun figuring this out. Berni was such a truly great artist, esp. That 70s horror heyday.

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