Cover Artist, Illustrator Frank Frazetta Dead at 82

We can safely call Frank Frazetta, who passed away at 82 today one of the most important, most influential fantasy illustrators of the 20th century.

(We could even go out on a limb (or a muscle) and say that Frazetta, through his visions of Conan and heroes with more muscles than it's physically possible, made the rise of Schwarzenegger possible.)

In the '70s and '80s Frazetta images became engraved on boys' (and more than a few girls') imaginations as epitomes of "dark ages" heroism and luxury--if Brian Wilson had been a teen in the '80s he would have sung "I wish they all could be/Frank Frazetta girls":

Boing Boing reported on the astonishing (ass-tonishing?) results.

Goodbye, Frank. Your work lives on in our teenage imaginations.