Dec 13th 2020 Advent Calendar

  With looks of utter terror on their faces the two men stare helplessly at their fate--

Watching from the shadows are the cold, inanimate, leering visages of stone gargoyles--

And standing before them a demonic figure straight from a romantic poet's fever dream which homes in on them and announces their inevitable demise--

Today's Advent Calendar post is a look at Berni Wrightson's cover for Marvel's short-lived Horror Anthology CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #7. The cover image, which wrong-foots the reader about the outcome of the story it's based on, shows a huge golden gargoyle springing to live and confronting a pair of would-be thieves.  The rippling sinews and muscles of the monstrous creature contrast sharply with the slim figures of the crooks, and its large thick-necked head with leering demonic features is in opposition to the men's weasly faces and terrified expressions. Wrightson imbues the image with a great sense of movement through the fluid curving lines- most notably the shape of the gargoyle's head, shoulders and back, the creature's huge arching wings and the way the green-suited villain's stumbling leg curves helplessly round under him towards the corner of the page.

I couldn't help thinking of the paintings of William Blake when I saw this cover-- most notably the hulking spectacle of the creature labelled GHOST OF A FLEA (surely an influence on Swamp Thing?) in which the artist also creates a sense of forward motion by the curve from the head down the shoulder, back and arm and the thick, muscular, striding legs.

In fact for this cover image it's as if Wrightson has married together GHOST OF A FLEA with another Blake painting, THE GREAT RED DRAGON, with its vast curving wings, too big for the frame to contain.

In the story itself, GARGOYLE EVERY NIGHT, Wrightson depicts another sinister creature, this time a slender, black, almost featureless horned figure with blank yellow eyes and leering mouth. It's an altogether more chilling representation of evil than the golden creature on the cover, which the story reveals actually to be more of an angel than a devilish demon such as this is.

This wasn't the only time Wrightson portrayed such a figure as this painting reveals--

And is there really any excuse needed to also include this wondrous Wrightson portrait of a similar diabolic creature and a couple of his closest friends?

If you haven't read GARGOYLE EVRY NIGHT you'll also have missed out on this glorious opening splash page of the elderly sculptor surrounded by his fearsome creations. You'll have not seen the added detail of Berni Wrightson himself perched on a stool observing the action and introducing both himself and the story's protagonist. 

It's a nice touch which other CHAMBER OF DARKNESS stories occasionally employ as do stories in other Horror anthogies like TOWER OF SHADOWS. Fans of Sal Buscema should check out my thoughts on CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #6 in which he also drew himself at the story's opening. You can find it by clicking here. Wrightson also includes an image of himself at the story's conclusion, writer Roy Thomas awarding him a final corny one-liner.

As far as I can make out, this comic marks Berni Wrightson's first cover art for either of the Big Two. He also provided the following cover for the subsequent issue and a handful of other pieces for Marvel before working exclusively for DC until 1975 when he shared cover duties between the two rival publishers--

For Day 12 of my Advent Calendar click here--

For more Berni Wrightson magic click here--

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