thanks so much for watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> muscle-bound heroes... >> my dad said, "if i'm gonna do conan, it's gonna be done my way." >> curvy vixens... >> when i look at the female characters that dad did, mom was okay with that? >> the da vinci of fantasy art. >> this entire visual genre traces back to this one artist. >> how much did it sell for? >> about $1.1 million. >> but when he's gone, a real battle takes shape. >> how bad did it get? >> i'm not close to my brother anymore. even today we don't talk. >> can the next generation save the family and its fortune? >> i think i was like their last hope. >> my grandfather deserves to live on, and what better place than comic-con? [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, driving through east stroudsburg, pennsylvania, about 100 miles north of philadelphia. i'm headed to a fantasy world that sprang from the mind of an artist whose name you may not know, but whose work you've surely seen. >> my name is bill frazetta. my father was an incredibly successful artist and a great dad, but not such a great estate planner, so when he died, he left my siblings and me a valuable inheritance that nearly tore us apart. >> i'm jamie. >> hi, jamie. how are you? bill frazetta. >> i meet bill in front of the costume shop he's been running for 36 years. can we go in? >> come on in. >> on the third floor, bill leads me to what he calls his private horror bar. >> i'd like to show you a couple of oil paintings that my dad did. these were done back

in the '60s. you got "wolf moon" here. this was the "sea monster." >> what do you call these? i've never seen art like this. >> this is science-fiction art, fantasy art. >> the true story of this fantasy art begins in the sheepshead bay section of brooklyn, new york, where frank frazetta is born in 1928. what do you know about his childhood? >> he loved sports, loved playing stickball. he loved the streets of brooklyn. >> when he's not playing ball, little frank enjoys drawing and coloring. >> from the time he picked up a crayon, it was just a god-given talent. >> holly frazetta-taylor is frank's eldest daughter. >> his grandma would give him a penny every time, and he would draw on toilet paper. whatever there was he could find, he would draw on it. >> in grade school, frank shows off for classmates by sketching his favorite comic-book heroes. >> one of his teachers actually got mad at his father -- "why aren't you doing something with this boy?" they couldn't believe how good

he was, and that's when they put him into art school. >> so young frank studies pencil sketching, oil painting, and watercolors. but when the art school shuts down, frank, now 16, strikes out on his own. he creates this original comic story about an ax-wielding snowman. his work's good enough to land him a job at a bustling comic-strip production house in manhattan. frank gets his "snowman" comic published his first year in the biz. >> he was very versatile. he could do realistic war stories, crime stories. he could do westerns. >> in 1952, a neighborhood cutie with a comic-book name -- ellie kelly -- takes an interest in the 24-year-old artist. and who can blame her? with this physique, the kid could have been his own model. they get married in 1956... >> they had movie-star good looks, both of them. they were a really, really handsome couple.

>> ...with, in due course, four gorgeous kids, including holly and bill. >> the great thing about being an artist, you can work from home. he loved playing with us all the time and drew at night a lot of times when we'd go to bed. >> frank contributes to big-name titles like "buck rogers" and "flash gordon"... then as a ghost illustrator on the weekly strip "li'l abner." >> it was a really good paycheck for the day, but he just got tired of doing the same. there was no creativity in it, and he just wanted to do something else. >> so frank leaves his salary job with "li'l abner" in 1961 and takes a shot at freelancing. banking on his reputation, he waits for the phone to ring. it doesn't. wow. what happens when you have kids at home, and you go from being very successful with a nice paycheck to nothing? >> mom was furious. i'm sure there was a lot of fighting going on. [ laughs ] but, you know, i mean, then it turned around. >> what happened next?

>> he did an ad in a mad magazine. >> on the back cover of mad magazine, frank creates a parody ad for a men's shampoo called "blecch," featuring the famous beatle, ringo starr. >> that nice full head of hair that ringo had, big full lips, the nose was -- you know, everything was a little over-exaggerated. >> that was mad magazine. >> that was. >> somebody in hollywood saw it and loved it and immediately hired him to start doing movie posters. >> frazetta's first go is this poster for the 1965 comedy "what's new pussycat?," starring peter o'toole and woody allen. it's a hit. dozens more follow, including "hotel paradiso" and "the secret of my success." >> the movie posters started really setting his career off. >> next thing you know, frank is creating a new world of barbarians, blades, and babes -- many we wouldn't think of airing on a family program.

>> he brought the sex and violence of the pulps of his youth to a whole new level. >> the most bruising fight, however, won't be fought on frank's canvases, but over them. how bad did it get? >> this whole story, it brings back a lot of bad memories. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question... the answer after the break. ♪ it's a highly contagious disease that can be really serious... especially for my precious new grandchild. it's whooping cough. every family member, including those around new babies, should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. ♪ the great beauty of owning a property is that you can create wealth through capital appreciation,

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♪ >> so, which bikini was inspired by frank frazetta's work? it's "b." princess leia's slave costume is recognized as being influenced by this frazetta book cover. >> it's 1966, and 38-year-old artist frank frazetta is creating movie posters for hollywood. a new york publisher approaches him to do original cover art for the release of a paperback book series featuring conan the barbarian. >> my dad said, "if i'm gonna do conan, it's gonna be done my way." >> with oil on canvas, a hulking hero emerges, conan the adventurer. >> when he did this first conan here, that's when he was put on the map, and it's almost like

everything's jumping off the canvas at you. >> it's got everything -- weaponry, chains, the damsel in distress. >> this is everything that came right out of his mind. he was so powerful as a person that he put himself into a lot of his barbarians. >> with conan, he saw a great potential to put himself into it, the wilder side of frank. >> frank goes on to do seven more conan covers, including "conan the conqueror," "the buccaneer, and "the avenger" -- a mix of of muscles, gore, and girls. the frazetta covers help sell more than 10 million copies and spawn a whole new style of fantasy art. >> younger people today have no idea that this entire visual genre traces back to this one artist. >> frank's so in demand, that ellie, who runs the business, is able to insist that they only accept projects where they hold on to the original artwork,

including the rights to reproduce prints. >> my dad and my mother loved the art pretty much the same. my dad didn't want to give up any of his art and neither did mom. >> you know, when i look at the female characters that dad did, they're like, uh, buxom and pretty sexy, curvy girls. mom was okay with that? >> she did not mind that at all. she thought the body was beautiful to see on canvas the way he painted it. >> in 1971, frank decides to pack up the family in brooklyn and head to the country for some space and serenity. they land near east stroudsburg, pennsylvania, and buy an old farmhouse on 80 acres. what was it like growing up in the country? >> oh, it was so nice 'cause we had like no neighbors, so it was just a big play land out there. >> nestled in the pocono mountains, frank churns out more otherworldly scenes. his influence keeps creeping across american culture.

tv series like "battlestar galactica" commission his work for their advertisements. and in 1983, his art hits the big screen in the animated adventure film "fire and ice." then, in 1986, the army iii corps, nicknamed the phantom warriors, adopt his "death dealer" character as their symbol. they even erect a bronze statue outside their fort hood headquarters in texas. with an inventory of about 170 oil paintings on hand, ellie frazetta opens a frazetta museum in 2000 on the grounds of the family estate in the poconos. >> you would get people with phd's, and you would get bikers, and everything in between, and they just had an absolute reverence for seeing these originals. >> but frank's professional career comes to an end when, in his late 60s, he suffers

a series of debilitating strokes. >> it was horrible. i lost part of him. he was never the same -- you know, not being able to get the right words out and speak, and it would frustrate him. >> then frank's wife of 53 years loses her battle with cancer. in 2009, ellie frazetta dies at 74. but even as the family mourns mom's death, a feud begins brewing. it will flare up into a fight as fierce as anything on frank's canvases. >> billy called, and he's like, "oh, my gosh. the alarm's going off at the museum." >> what happened? that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. who used frank frazetta's "the brain" as an album cover? the answer when we return. potsch: you each drive a ford pickup, right?

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♪ so, who used "the brain" as an album cover? it's "b," nazareth. the group's 1977 release, "expect no mercy," was one of many albums that featured frazetta's work. >> legendary fantasy artist frank frazetta depicted hundreds of epic, otherworldly battles. but in 2009, the conflict comes home. after his wife's death, and with frank recovering from a series of strokes, his kids begin feuding over the rights to his valuable paintings. did mom leave instructions of what she would want to happen to dad's art if she passed? >> i wish i could say yes, but she didn't. she really kind of left us a little clueless. >> there was no communication going on amongst us. it was a really bad, dark, dark time.

>> for more than a decade, bill and holly's older brother, frank jr., who declined to be interviewed for this program, had been working with their mother, running the frazetta fantasy empire. >> she let junior run the business with her because i think it was old school, firstborn, and we all wanted to have a part of it. i think that's where frankie felt entitlement because he did it so long with mom that it was his. and, of course, you know, "sure, frankie, you can have the art." [ laughs ] i don't think so. >> in despair over the family strife, 81-year-old frank frazetta steps in, creating a trust so that all his children will benefit from his art and the business. but that settles nothing. how bad did it get? >> well, there's so much i could tell you, i could make a movie out of this. >> on december 9, 2009, bill receives a phone call from a security company. the alarm had been tripped

at his father's museum. as bill drives onto the scene, he comes upon his older brother, frank jr., leaving the museum in his truck pulling a trailer. he was coming towards you? >> coming towards me. >> what'd you do? >> put a stop to it. >> how? >> blocking him. i kind of met him head on. it was just a tap, but enough for me to wave to him, "you're not going nowhere." >> police look inside the trailer and discover that frank jr. took about 90 paintings from the museum. he's arrested and charged with burglary and trespassing. >> it was just a tough time in my life, i'll tell you. [ sniffles, sighs ] >> i bet really hard to tell your dad, too. >> it was. [ sniffles ] it's hard sometimes to talk about it because, you know, i'm not close to my brother anymore, you know, and we don't talk, and family is supposed to be everything, and it's just sad when it -- things fall

apart. >> frank jr. claims his father gave him written instructions to remove the paintings from the museum. >> my goal was to hopefully get my father back control to protect him, and that's all -- simple as that. i love my father dearly. i wish i could see him. >> it's painful for any father to go through something like this, you know, but, once again, hopefully, somehow we can work things out. >> charges are eventually dropped by the family. five months after the incident, frank frazetta sr. dies of a stroke. he's 82. >> the pouring out of the fans, it was overwhelming. i knew how much he inspired millions of people out there. he was a gift to all of us. >> in the months following his death, the frazetta family infighting only intensifies. each sibling has a different idea of how to capitalize on their father's lucrative legacy. >> tension was very thick. >> sara frazetta-taylor is

frank frazetta's oldest grandchild and holly's daughter. >> there was a little bit of rivalry between the boys and the girls because of different beliefs on how the art should be handled. >> what was the issue with each one? >> there was no way that all four siblings could agree to do a business together, licensing, merchandising, selling the artwork. >> in july 2010, with legal costs mounting, the family decides to sell one oil painting -- "conan the destroyer." the private sale brings in one and a half million dollars, a record price for fantasy art. unfortunately, bill says the family sees very little of the proceeds. >> sadly to say, a lot of it ended up going towards lawyers. so granddaughter sara says she volunteers to try and broker a peace among her warring elders. >> i wasn't a lawyer, and i think i was like their last hope to some kind of resolution.

>> what made you want to get involved in what had become a real family mess? >> i've always been a natural mediator. i've always seen both sides of every argument, and i could remain neutral. >> the assumption was always they'd keep the collection together, but maybe it's best for frank's kids to divvy up the 160 artworks equally. what's step one? >> there was a lot of confusion. how do you split pieces of art that are worth so much money, and how do you even put a value to them? >> sara consults with each family member individually. using a tier system, the heirs take turns picking their favorites, from the high-end "conan" and "death dealer" oil paintings all the way down to lesser-known pen-and-ink drawings. how'd that go? >> well, the process caused me to be in extreme adrenal fatigue because of so much stress. so, if the picks were conflicting, and they both wanted the same thing, that's

when there would be a little bit of turmoil, and we would have to decide what was fair. >> when the dust settles, each frazetta heir walks away with about 40 artworks, including oil paintings, pencil sketches, and ink drawings. >> no one wanted to fight anymore. that was the truth of it. >> were you satisfied? >> i was very satisfied because the pain wasn't worth what we were going through. >> now everyone's free to do as they wish with their strange inheritances. hold them... hang them... even sell. and they know just where the buyers are. tell me about the deals that you've done for the family. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. parodontax, the toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. if you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse.

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♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> it's 2016, and frank frazetta's catalog of 160 art pieces has been split up

among his four children. the epic family feud has subsided. so frazetta's heirs can really find out what it's all worth. ♪ today i'm at one of the world's largest comic conventions, new york comic-con, and catch up with vincent zurzolo, co-owner of metropolis collectibles. he tells me that frazetta's art is still influential, popular, and very valuable. this is spectacular. what's this one called? >> this is called "warrior with ball and chain." >> tell me about the deals that you've done for the family. >> one of the pieces i recently sold was the painting called "spider man, and it's not the amazing spider-man, it's a barbarian killing a spider, and we recently sold that for $350,000. i've also sold the "battlestar galactica" painting for about $150,000.

>> then there's frank's 1974 piece, "at the earth's core," sold by holly frazetta-taylor through heritage auctions. and how much did it sell for? >> about $1.1 million. >> another recent sale, bill frazetta's "sea witch" brings in 750 grand. the next generation of frazettas, meantime, is promoting their grandfather's work. what are you doing exactly with your mom now? >> well, five years ago we decided that we were going to start frazetta girls, llc. we're making tons of different prints like canvas prints, textured art prints, patches, pins -- just my goal is for everyone to know who frank frazetta is, the godfather of fantasy art. >> at a booth here at comic-con, i meet with danielle frazetta, bill's daughter and sara's cousin. she, too, runs her own business, selling her grandfather's art. do younger people recognize this as a frazetta? >> either they know who he was, and they're just like,

"this is the master," or they don't, and they're just like in complete awe. >> what is your dad's legacy? >> just being the greatest fantasy illustrator that ever walked the face of the earth. i think he's gonna be remembered as someone that just touched the world with his art. >> the family tells me that amid the fighting and bickering over the division of their father's art, one piece stood apart -- his self-portrait. back in 1962, frustrated and unable to find work, 34-year-old frank channeled his anger and put it to the canvas. what emerged was a portrait of determination, a precursor of his success to come. today holly frazetta owns the original portrait, and she guarantees it's one that will never go up for sale. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching

"strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> beauty's in the eye of the beholder. so meet the beholders. >> these paintings just did not appeal to me. and i don't think they appealed to my wife, either. >> i said, well, i guess the salvation army is as good as anyplace. we don't want them. >> but one man's trash... >> it just knocked my socks off. >> we have $50,000. >> within a few weeks, everybody knew about it. >> ...is another's treasure. >> did you ever consider stopping? >> there is a point we all have to stop. but no.