It was there at a horror film screening that Pullin
first met the publishers of Rue Morgue magazine.
“They were selling the first three issues in
the lobby and I couldn't believe there was a
horror film magazine published in Toronto;
I had to get involved,” said Pullin. “I hit it off
with the publisher, Rodrigo Gudino and before
I knew it, I was their in-house artist.”
Pullin continued working at his day job at
the design firm, stopping at the end of each
workday only to pick up his freelance work for
Rue Morgue in his free time. As the magazine
continued to gain popularity, Pullin was hired
as the full-time art director in 2001, illustrating
many of their covers and helping to establish
the brand. He left the corporate world behind
and never looked back.
Pullin’s inspiration as an artist comes from
a variety of sources, but mainly focuses on
comic book artists and painters from the
1950s through the 1980s. Tales from the Crypt
artists, Ghastly Graham Ingles and Jack Davis,
illustrators like Bernie Wrightson (Swamp
Thing, Creepshow) and Charles Burns (Black
Hole), and painters like Basil Gogos, were all
major influences on Pullin’s style.
“Gogos’ vivid portraits of classic movie
monsters that beamed off the covers for
Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine will
always inspire me.”
Pullin was also influenced by his love of
poster art. Robert Kastle, who painted the
iconic JAWS poster, Saul Bass who created
posters for The Shining, Vertigo and Psycho, and
Bob Peak’s work, including Apocalypse Now,
62
inspadesmag.com