LUGOSI'S PRIVATE PHOTOS

Bela Lugosi saved a considerable amount of memorabilia from his career and even amassed at least three large scrapbooks which sold at auction on August 10, 2013 for $5,000.

The two photographs below were sold separately last week by Heritage Auctions headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The WHITE ZOMBIE photo sold for $275.00 and THE MYSTERIOUS MR. WONG photo sold for $154.00. Lugosi's Mr. Wong (a villain) was a different character than Karloff's Mr. Wong (a detective).

The stamp on the back indicates they were given to Lugosi by the Don Marlowe Agency. Marlowe had the reputation as an unscrupulous and downright flaky talent agent. For example, in September 1970 he placed an ad in CLASSIC FILM COLLECTOR that read:

Bela Lugosi – For Sale: Screen test Bela Lugosi made for the original Frankenstein. 35mm sound, running time 21 minutes; same scene is shown twice with change in lighting, etc. Between scenes camera was left running and Carl Laemmle Junior, James Whale, Colin Clive and Lugosi can be seen and heard discussing test and wardrobe Lugosi was wearing. Film can be examined and screened before purchase is made. Price: $4,000. Don Marlowe. Hollywood, Calif. 90028

What really makes this stand out as specious is that James Whale was out of the picture when this test shot is made under the direction of Robert Florey. One wonders if this was a flim-flam on the part of Marlowe.

Marlowe is nevertheless is credited with reviving Lugosi's career in the late 1940s. Among other jobs, in one roadshow, before a screening of DRACULA, Lugosi would perform a live reading of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart".

VAMPIRELLA LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN HER BEFORE

Last month, yet another Frazetta painting was sold for big bucks. This time, it was his original painting of Vampirella used on the cover of Warren's VAMPIRELLA #1.

Frazetta created the iconic image in collaboration with Warren and her costume was designed by the late artist and historian Trina Robbins. He wasn't thrilled with it and after it was photographed for publication, he got it back and painted over it. What you see here is the result and it's pretty startling to see Vampi sans costume!

When the gavel dropped at Dallas' Heritage Auctions on February 27, 2026. it sold for $3,125,000.

Click on image for larger size.

Lot Description:

Frank Frazetta Vampirella #1 Cover Painting Original Art (Warren, 1969). The definitive image of the Drakulon Queen, straight from the master's brush. Frank Frazetta's painting for Vampirella #1 wasn't just a cover, it was the first glimpse fans ever got on the stands, and it hit like a lightning bolt. In one glance, Vampirella arrived fully formed: dangerous, alluring, and impossible to ignore. The image has since become one of the era's most recognizable horror-comics icons.

By the late 1960s, Warren Publishing's momentum from Famous Monsters, Creepy, and Eerie had started to cool, and James Warren wanted a jolt. With the pop-culture buzz around Barbarella still fresh, he set out to create a sexy new kind of horror figure, one who could tempt you into picking up the magazine and still dispatch the monsters once you opened it. Warren put it best: "When Frank portrays a woman he injects a certain mystique... I wanted my Vampirella to have that same mystique." Vampirella would be more than a hostess, she would headline her own continuing feature.

Her look came together through a perfect storm of ideas. Warren and Frazetta shaped the concept, with Trina Robbins offering key design input as the costume took form. Warren even commissioned an alternate cover from a French artist, then walked away from it and turned back to Frazetta. Frazetta finished the published painting in only a few hours, a detail that still feels unreal when you see how effortlessly it commands attention.

The result is pure Frazetta theater: Vampirella framed against a looming moon, her silhouette cutting the night like a blade. Shadows hint at something not quite human, a quiet nod to her vampiric origins before the stories even begin. Frazetta himself never warmed to the costume, and years later, in 1991, he revised the original painting in a way he sometimes did with select works, painting out the outfit and boots before it went to auction. Even so, the essential image remains unmistakable, down to the brushwork and the faint trace of her iconic collar.

Vampirella went on to an uninterrupted Warren run through 1983, leaning into more mature horror and cementing her place as a pin-up legend with fangs. Decades later, she's still thriving, and it's hard not to circle back to the same source: that first cover, that first look, and Frazetta making a new icon in a single moonlit frame.

Created in oil on Masonite board with a matted image area of 21" x 15.25", Plexiglas-front framed to 24.25" x 30.25". Very light edgewear, extremely faint craquelure to the upper background visible only under raking light, faint horizontal lines from prior matting, small faint scuff at lower center, pinpoint abrasions in the upper background, UV examination reveals a yellowed varnish drip near the lower edge, none affecting the central image or figure. Signed and dated 1991 by Frazetta, when the alterations were made. In Very Good condition.

FRAZETTA'S CONAN COVER SETS RECORD

Need a few extra mil? If you're the Frazetta family, just put one of his paintings up for auction. Last week bidding closed at Heritage on Frazetta's original for the Lancer paperback, CONAN. The scene depicts a scene from the story "Rogues in the House", first published in WEIRD TALES (January 1934). When the gavel dropped it sold for $13,500,000, instantly becoming, as Heritage puts it, "currently the highest auction result for any Frazetta work and any Comic or Fantasy artwork globally".

NOTE: There is one minor error in the following description: CONAN is a collection of short stories and not a full-length novel.

Auction Lot Description:

Frank Frazetta Conan Novel Cover Painting Original Art (Lancer/Ace, 1967). This quintessential image of Robert E. Howard's famed barbarian is easily one of the (if not the) most desirable of Frazetta's Conan-related covers, and one of the small handful of greatest paintings ever created by the towering artist. "This painting by Frank Frazetta is one of the most recognizable and iconic images of Conan the Cimmerian", according to noted Robert E. Howard historian Mark Finn, who went on to say, "This scene is from the story 'Rogues in the House' wherein Conan fights the man-ape Thak." In addition to the definitive image of Conan, which went on to serve as the template for the pop culture figure, the dynamic composition and bold, inventive palette are Frazetta at his peak. The artist frequently brought up his emphasis on creating movement through an image, which both leads the eye to the focal point and provides a visual narrative that continues to resonate after multiple viewings -- a key to the artist's enduring popularity and acclaim and as aspect perhaps more evident in this painting than any ever created throughout his storied oeuvre. The blood red of the creature's cape is a brilliant device that lodges the image into a viewer's mind, one that is never forgotten.

"Man Ape," as it has also come to be known, was completed in 1966 and published as the cover for Conan of the 1967 Lancer/Ace Books reprints, which were immediately a huge hit due in huge part to Frazetta's powerful cover paintings. Beginning with this series the artist completely reinvented fantasy illustration for an entire generation. The Conan paintings serves as the lightning bolt of an opening - and in our minds most important and revolutionary - salvo. This imagery defined the character and was instrumental in making the Conan resurgence of the late 1960s a mass market success, which ultimately lead to the Marvel Comics book series and the later series of feature films. As such the pop cultural impact can't be overstated. Frazetta masterfully personified elements of the Howard's now classic tales to create absolutely indelible images, none more so than Man Ape, which was subsequently reproduced almost endlessly as a poster as well as on comic book covers. Created in oil on a 16" x 20" canvas wrapped board. Open-front framed to 22.5" x 26.5". The piece is signed and noted "© 74" in the mid-to-lower left. The reverse side of the board is dated "Nov. 1967", which looks to be a production notation from a publisher.

The painting presents absolutely beautifully, and aside from some minor evidence of handling and faint surface wear commensurate with age, as well as a few minor touches of inpaint visible only under blacklight, the painting is in overall stunning Excellent condition, reflecting the fact that this masterpiece has remained with the artist and his family since its creation.

"Rogues in the House" by Robert E. Howard (WEIRD TALES, January 1934)

Cover art by Margaret Brundage.

SPECTACULAR LARGE SCALE VAMPIRELLA STATUE

Coming from Premium Collectibles Studio is this incredible 1:2 scale statue of Vampirella. In this version our favorite vampiress from Drakulon stands an amazing 44" tall!

If you've got a couple grand to spare and wait for a year before release, she's all yours!

Click to enlarge image.

PRODUCT DETAILS:

Vampirella 1/2 Scale Statue 44 Inches Tall

$1,954.99

We present the Vampirella 1:2 Scale Statue, an exciting new collectible depicting the terrifying temptress as she looked in some of her earliest appearances.

Inspired by the pulpy posters of the 1970’s, the Vampirella 1:2 Statue stands 44” tall, perfectly capturing her supernatural proportions and otherworldly charm. This fully sculpted collectible is beautifully detailed capturing her lean musculature and confident relaxed posture. Her deep red costume is painted with a glossy finish that ties in with the bloody skulls that litter the ground beneath her black stiletto boots.

The impressive paint work continues with lifelike skin detailing emphasizing the excellent sculpt as well as dramatic make up and nail details that add an extra layer of realism to this macabre mistress. Beautiful gold jewelry and a charming bat companion perched on her outstretched hand complete the look of this stunning creature of the night.

Product Size: 44" H (1117.6mm) x 17" W (431.8mm) x 25" L (635mm)

Click to enlarge image.

Vampi has come a long way since her intro story by Forrest J Ackerman and Tom Sutton in VAMPIRELLA #1 (Warren, September 1969):

EXTRA! VAMPIRELLA BY JOE JUSKO

A pair of Vampirella signed, limited-edition prints by the very talented Joe Jusko were up for auction at Heritage. Released in 1996 they are both 12" x 17". At the close of auction, they sold for $114.

VINTAGE UNIVERSAL MONSTER WALLETS & WALL PLAQUE ART

Talk about a blast of nostalgia! Up for bid at Heritage Auctions are these original paintings used for the art on those monster wallets and vacuform plaques we saw ads for (and maybe even some of you purchased them) in FAMOUS MONSTER OF FILMLAND way back in the 1960's. They were manufactured by Standard Plastics Products, Inc., based in South Plainfield, New Jersey, apparently now a Superfund Site!

Each piece is painted on 8.5" x 12" illustration board (maybe gouache or acrylics?) with the image measuring  6.75" x 9". Unfortunately, the artist is not identified, but whoever it was took inspiration from a certain Aurora model box painter. Being auctioned singly, at the time of this writing, each one has bids over $1,000.

Note: As mentioned, if you take a closer look at these, you'll notice that they come pretty close to the images painted by James Bama for the Aurora monster model kit box art, especially The Wolfman!