That’s Death Dealer, a classic painting by the great Frank Frazetta, a print of which hangs on the wall of my basement / hobby space / criminal headquarters. You may be familiar with this image (if you’re not, you likely wandered here by mistake), but did you know that there was a series of novels written by James Silke (and Frank Frazetta) that gave this image a full-blown character, with adventures of his own?

First, I am a great admirer of Frazetta. He’s my favorite fantasy artist hands-down, and in a world where Larry Elmore, the late great Keith Parkinson, the Hildebrandt brothers, Denis Beauvais, Michael Whelan and John Howe all exist, that’s saying something (for me, at least). If you ask me who the greatest of the great is, it’s Frazetta. Period. The documentary about his life both before and after his strokes, Painting with Fire, released seven years prior to his death, is fucking phenomenal. In it, Frank is seen drawing with his left hand AFTER suffering a stroke that made it difficult for him to use his right hand, and it still looks amazing. You can (and should) watch it free on YouTube.

But, other than being the guy who envisioned this character and painted him, I am unclear how much influence Frazetta really had on the writing. Likely, not much. James Silke wrote the prose. It spanned a series of four novels, shown here.

These Tor paperbacks came out in the late 1980’s and now go for stupid money on eBay, likely because the rights are tied up in the Frazetta estate and haven’t been reprinted, although I have no firsthand knowledge if that is true. All I know is despite the cover damage to my Book 3, shown here, I could still sell these bad boys for a pretty penny. But I won’t.

So what is the story? Well, let’s see if I can remember, It’s been a while. At a time “before Atlantis”, a guy named Gath of Baal put on a horned helmet and couldn’t take it off. It made him pretty invincible, and let him breathe fire at times, but it was stuck permanently to his head. He fought against a horde of “barbarians” called Kitzaaks, which, IIRC, seemed to be a stand-in for not-Mongols (although if it’s pre-Atlantis, that’s not right…). Gath killed lots of people, and he could maybe get his helmet off if he fell in love. There was a female character named Robin Lakehair (I remember that dumb name to this day) who, again, IIRC (it’s been over 30 years since I read these), was innocent enough to remove his helmet. (Eyeroll). There was something about a super-sexy, almost-naked, voluptuous Frazetta-drawn woman with a big sabretooth tiger in there somewhere, and lots of blood and slaughter throughout. I remember being entertained, but I was also 16 when these came out. Maybe I’m wrong about these details, since it’s been so long. Maybe I should read them again.

Anyway, turns out even before the books, the amazing Frazetta art inspired a sculptor. This is Ral Partha’s classic Super Hero with Axe (01-015). I’m not sure who sculpted it, but it has the Dennis MIze look about it. He has a mounted version, too, which looks (actionably) like the famous Death Dealer painting, above. I don’t have that one.

This was one of Owen’s Miniatures, which, if you may recall, I stored for several years in the hope my friend would return to the miniatures-painting fold. Alas, he is lost to the hobby, so upon his request I transferred his vast collection of miniatures to his niece, now a gamer herself. I did not hesitate to pass the trove of minis on to the next generation, but I did keep a few. And this is one.

Gath of Baal, the Death Dealer.

1976. That’s an early one indeed.

But that’s only part of the story! It’s almost May, and that means MONSTER MAY(HEM) is back!!!

What is Monster May(hem)? Why, it’s the month you paint monsters, of course. Any monster will do, although it should be a proper MONSTER, something big and mean, like this Avatar of the Abyss I did last year. I mean something truly beastly; like an Elder God, a dragon, or even a rust monster. Your monster(s) doesn’t have to be strictly a fantasy miniature, and it may be any scale and from any manufacturer.

How many monsters you paint is up to you. The minimum is one, of course; but feel free to do as many as you like. The only caveat is that they get painted sometime in May. I will link to your stuff throughout the month, and (if it’s not there already) add your blog/website/social media to the blogroll on the side! If you don’t have a site of your own and still want to participate, I’ll happily host your pictures here and ensure you get proper attribution! So if you’re in, let me know in the comments below or reach out on Instagram. I’ll post the list of participants in the next post. Until then, go find some monsters to paint!

I bought a monster especially for Monster May(hem) this year, and I still have one unfinished on my desk from last year. Hope I can get to both!

Let me know if you want to take part by dropping a comment here or emailing me at angrypiper@angrypiper.com. Or, you could always DM me on Instagram @angrypiper.

Paint those monsters!