I know I’m not alone when I say that the late Frank Frazetta will forever be the greatest fantasy artist who ever lived. His illustrations gave new life to marginalized icons of pulp fiction like Conan the Barbarian and John Carter of Mars and inspired countless writers, artists, and filmmakers. Frazetta’s artwork stands out from the rest of the pack for its merging of grungy realism and fantastic visuals; his iconic drawings and paintings depicting brawny warriors and chesty maidens battling horrific mutants and monsters made him a legend in the realm of genre storytelling.

When Frank Frazetta died of a stroke more than two years ago his passing left a great hole in the hearts of geeks the world over, but he left behind a legacy of awe-inspiring visions of the fantastic and the frightening that will continue to influence generations of imaginative storytellers until the end of time. Yeah, Frazetta was that damn good an artist.

Frazetta composed a set of seven illustrations inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy. These drawings offer an unique perspective of a beloved fantasy classic from a legendary artist you wouldn’t typically associate with hobbits and wizards. You can check out Frazetta’s artwork here below.

These illustrations are as lusty and vivid as anything we’ve come to expect from Frazetta, and while there was some creative license taken with a few of the images – in particular the one depicting the showdown between Eowyn and the Witch King from The Return of the King – they are 100 percent Frank Frazetta (with just a dab of Tolkien for extra flavor). In fact, these drawings would have made nifty cover art for a 1970′s Marvel Comics miniseries adaptation of the Rings books.

One thousand sets of the portfolio were printed, with the first plate of each personally signed and numbered by Frazetta. The sets are being sold over at Ebay, but you can expect to pay $425 if you want to avoid the bidding process. The starting bid for each set is $300.

Image Gallery

[Source via io9]