Silke, James R
Entry updated 16 March 2026. Tagged: Author, Comics, Film.
(1931-2025) US costume designer, graphic designer, screenwriter, Comics creator and author whose film script credits include King Solomon's Mines (1985) directed by J Lee Thompson – based on H Rider Haggard's first great success King Solomon's Mines (1885) – and The Barbarians (1987) directed by Ruggero Deodato. Silke wrote the four-volume Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer Sword and Sorcery sequence, inspired by ideas and paintings of Frank Frazetta, specifically his Death Dealer warrior character. The series title including Frazetta's name dominated the paperback covers although the text was entirely by Silke: Prisoner of the Horned Helmet (1988), Lords of Destruction (1989), Tooth and Claw (1989) and Plague of Knives (1990), all as James Silke with no middle initial, although this appeared on a 2005 omnibus volume comprising the first two books [see Checklist below]. There is considerable violence throughout.
Silke also created the sf Comic Rascals in Paradise (3 issues August-December 1994; graph 1995) as Jim Silke, in which a AI-created "copy" of Earth intended as a gigantic holiday resort goes badly wrong: the result is the planet Trash-9, whose hostile jungles and natives provide a setting for conflict as a sexy teenage heroine (frequently depicted in pin-up poses) embarks on a quest. [DRL]
James Robert Silke
born Los Angeles, California: 19 May 1931
died 16 February 2025
works
series
Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer
- Prisoner of the Horned Helmet (New York: Tor, 1988) as James Silke [Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer: pb/Frank Frazetta]
- Lords of Destruction (New York: Tor, 1989) as James Silke [Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer: pb/Frank Frazetta]
- Rise of the Death Dealer (New York: Tor, 2005) [omni of the above two: Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer: pb/Frank Frazetta]
- Tooth and Claw (New York: Tor, 1989) as James Silke [Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer: pb/Frank Frazetta]
- Plague of Knives (New York: Tor, 1990) as James Silke [Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer: pb/Frank Frazetta]
individual titles
- Rascals in Paradise (New York: Dark Horse Comics, 1995) as Jim Silke [graph: first appeared August-December 1994 Rascals in Paradise: pb/Jim Silke]
links
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