We get too soon old and too late smart.

May 19, 2006 12:05 PM

Welcome to the world of Frank Kelly Freas (1922-2005), eleven-time Hugo Award-winning illustrator of book and magazine cover and interior art for science fiction, fantasy, the NASA space program, record albums, advertising, and MAD Magazine.
posted by joe lisboa (8 comments total)

Cool post, thanks.
posted by interrobang at 12:07 PM on May 19, 2006

They showed a nice Freas retrospective documentary at last year's Worldcon. He had a completely unpretentious attitude towards his work, the genre, and himself.
posted by slatternus at 12:22 PM on May 19, 2006

I read much of the Laser Book collection in my teens and have managed to put together the whole collection over time. The collection wasn't known for its literary excellence, although there are a few gems in the rockpile by Tim Powers, Jerry Pournelle, and Dean Koontz. The often silly stories were always overshadowed by Kelly Freas' cover work. I bought the first book because the cover caught my eye. Two of my books have Kelly's autograph...one of which I got in person. Thanks for reminding me...I think I'll pull one of those off the shelf this weekend.
posted by cyclopz at 1:22 PM on May 19, 2006

Damn, Kelly Freas died last year? I didn't know that.

.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:52 PM on May 19, 2006

And he was a hell of a nice guy, too. I had the pleasure of meeting him on a few occasions in relation to a cartoonist's club of which I'm a member. He came in to a meeting to show us a retrospective of his work, and we also honored him at our annual banquet a 3 years ago.

His health wasn't great then, which kinda bummed me out. I'm glad I got to meet him, express my appreciation for his work, and learn a few things from him before he died.

.
posted by zoogleplex at 3:16 PM on May 19, 2006

Back in high school I worked at a barbecue restaurant that encouraged patrons to sign the walls with permanent marker. Kelly Freas drew an awesome self-portrait on the wall there.

That's my story.
posted by zsazsa at 6:06 PM on May 19, 2006

Thanks for the FPP. His art gave me many mischievous smiles as a kid.
posted by nickyskye at 10:57 PM on May 19, 2006

The doctor's expression in "Presenting the Bill—a Great Moment in Medicine" is priceless. Some MAD book I have around here somewhere describes "the doctor's barely concealed glee", which is exactly what it is. A very difficult thing to draw.
posted by interrobang at 9:59 AM on May 20, 2006