A legend of magazines, Oliver Frey passed away over the weekend, leaving an incredible legacy of his artwork behind.
This isn’t a movie story or anything, but I wanted to acknowledge the passing of Oliver Frey, who died over the weekend at the age of 74. I was someone who grew up with computer game magazines (we didn’t call them videogames back then) in the UK back in the 1980s. And my love of magazines came in large part from titles such as Crash, Zzap 64! (even though I was a Spectrum kid!), The Games Machine and more. These were all published by Ludlow-based Newsfield Publications, and adorned with the art of Oliver Frey.
If magazines now are all about hi-res art, that certainly wasn’t the case in the 1980s, where a game’s theme and character was sometimes a starting point, but the main ingredient was Oliver Frey’s imagination and talent. He painted hundreds of covers, and has been – along with his partner Roger Kean – heavily involved in the recent revivals of the magazines, overseen by the wonderful Chris Wilkins.
Frey also worked under the pen name Zack, illustrating gay erotica and comics around the 1970s and 1980s too. In fact, he’s reference in and around Russell T Davies’ wonderful TV drama It’s A Sin too.
It’s a hell of a legacy he leaves behinds. My eternal gratitude to him, for helping inspiring me into a career and lifelong love of magazines. The very, very best to Roger Kean, and sending love and hugs to his friends and family. Rest in peace, Oliver Frey. And thank you.
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