Ken Kelly – Famous Monsters of Filmland #91 Frogs Cover Original Art, 1972

Year: 1972

Artist: Ken Kelly

Publication: Famous Monsters of Filmland #91, July 1972

Publisher: Warren Publishing

Medium: Oil on board

Condition: Water damage and surface wear along one side, predominantly affecting the black-painted background. The principal painted image remains largely unaffected.

A wonderfully grotesque and instantly memorable original Ken Kelly cover painting for Famous Monsters of Filmland #91, published by Warren in July 1972. Created to accompany the magazine's coverage of the 1972 horror movie Frogs, Kelly depicts an enormous, brilliantly colored frog-like monster swallowing a human, with only the victim's arm and hand left protruding from its mouth.

Against the almost completely black background, the vivid greens, yellows and oranges make the creature leap from the surface. Its bulging eyes, dripping mouth and almost comically horrific expression perfectly capture the combination of horror, fantasy and dark humor for which Famous Monsters became famous. The giant man-eating creature is far more fantastic than anything actually seen in Frogs, making Kelly's image arguably more memorable than the movie it accompanied.

As an original painted cover for Famous Monsters of Filmland, it comes from one of the most important and collectible monster magazines of the 20th century. Kelly was one of the notable artists who followed the extraordinary tradition established by Basil Gogos, producing a series of memorable covers for Warren during the 1970s.

Artist: Ken Kelly

Ken Kelly (1946–2022) was one of America's leading fantasy and horror illustrators. His career began with Warren Publishing, producing artwork for Famous Monsters of Filmland, Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella before becoming widely known for his powerful paintings of monsters, warriors and heroic fantasy.

A relative of Frank Frazetta by marriage, Kelly developed a distinctive style of his own and went on to create celebrated imagery for Conan, Gor and Horseclans. He also reached an enormous mainstream audience through his legendary album covers for KISS's Destroyer and Love Gun. His Warren covers represent an important early period in the career of an artist who became one of the defining fantasy painters of his generation.