Bernie Wrightson, a widely admired comic book artist who was known for his lush, intricate, otherworldly visions of horror and who was one of the creators of the popular DC Comics character Swamp Thing, died on March 18 in Austin, Tex. He was 68.

His death, at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, was announced by his wife, Liz Wrightson, on Mr. Wrightson’s website. The cause was brain cancer, which had been diagnosed in 2014.

Besides his comic book work, Mr. Wrightson did illustrations for horror magazines and novels, including Mary Shelley’s 1818 classic, “Frankenstein,” and several by Stephen King. He also contributed character designs for films, including creatures, aliens and ghouls for “The Mist,” “Galaxy Quest” and the original “Ghostbusters.”

But his most famous creation was Swamp Thing, who first appeared in an issue of House of Secrets in 1971. The character was a tragic figure: an early-20th-century man transformed by a chemical explosion, unable to communicate to his wife that her new suitor was a murderer.