Frazetta Family Squabbles Over Papa Frank's Artwork

Legendary illustrator Frank Frazetta -- best known for his fantasy/sci-fi/action paintings and comic book art of Conan the Barbarian and similar fare -- may or may not have given his eldest son, Frank Jr., permission to secure dozens of original paintings from the Frazetta Museum adjacent to Frazetta's home in rural Massachusetts.

And by "secure" we mean steal with a backhoe.

The Beat, a comics blog from Publisher's Weekly, has all the details and bizarre updates.

As a more immediately digestible but no less sad footnote: This all comes less than six months after the death of Frank's wife Ellie, by all accounts a kind woman who inspired and urged her husband on to greater success. Perhaps it's best she's not around to see her family behaving so poorly.