How did his art become the face of 80s fantasy? of GoldenAxe? of D&D?
Anyone recommend other articles about him?
The origin of the whole style seems to have been Frank Frazetta doing illustrations for pulp serials of Conan and John Carter of Mars, then book covers for Conan, then Gygax reads a whole load of pulp novels including Conan and builds a game system to play the adventures of those novels. Vallejo also did Conan art, and it seems his first book cover was for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Barbarian
There is a "Borisography" online if you want to explore his work.
The 80s had a different approach to nudity and body shapes. It fit in with the zeitgeist.
I never thought I'd ever have the occasion to mention this, but Golden Axe's artwork is due to Dermot Power: https://www.mobygames.com/game/199/golden-axe/promo/group-28...
I wonder if he was influenced by Vallejo.
https://dermotpower.com/