Alex Grand

Comic Book Historians Presents...: Frank Thorne the Blue, Wizard of the Comic Arts Alex Grand

Comic Book Historians, Alex Grand and Jim Thompson provide historical insight into the comic book legend Frank Thorne with essays and a one of a kind interview shortly before his death, discussing his works. Born in 1930, Thorne's career spans from the late 1940s where he utilized and expanded on inspirations like Alex Raymond, Hal Foster, and Neil O'Keefe. As a late 1940s graduate of the Art Career School in Manhattan, Thorne has worked at Dell, Gold Key, and DC Comics. He received an explosion of fan activity in the 1970s and 80s with his comic work centered around strong beautiful female characters like Red Sonja and other famous femme fatales like Ghita, Lann for Heavy Metal, Ribit for Comico, Danger Rangerette for National Lampoon, and Moonshine McJugs for Playboy. During his career, he had a working relationship with Hugh Hefner as well as frequent interactions with other prominent comic figures like Alex Toth, Gary Groth, Jim Steranko, and Neal Adams.