Wally Wood was one of comicdom's most curious, provocative and fascinating figures. His work for EC early in his career showed an ability to create deeply textured worlds filled with adventure or humor or whatever was called for. He worked for many of the smaller publishers of the time turning out lots of work, some of it a little less impressive than his best. He was one of those mavericks in the field who tried to make a go of the business side of comics and did so for a time with his work for the overseas military markets. He was the featured artist for a little company called Tower which tried to make a way into the burgeoning Silver Age marketplace and produced some of the most admired work of that era in the THUNDER Agents. He then worked for Marvel and DC, both as a pencil artist and as an inker with a cadre of talented men under him and sometimes the name of Wally Wood really mean Dan Adkins or Ralph Reese. He gave us the stunning red costume of Daredevil and he drew the earliest solo misadventures of a dictator dubbed Doom. He drew some exquisite entries in the revived All Star Comics which showcased the Justice Society of America. Wood drew for sci-fi magazines and he released delightful and decadent and sometimes delightfully decadent portfolios filled with naked dames and handsome dudes and often both doing what comes most naturally. Wally Wood is the artist I most associate with the First Amendment because he drew what he wanted and put it into the marketplace to find a home. He's infamous for his dirty comics which took us to lusty corners of Wonderland and offered a skewed viewed of Disneyland. Wally Wood famously swiped, most often from himself and dared the audience to give a care. He drew stories that demanded our attention, almost always got it and then directed us to rethink what we thought we knew. He was a troubled man with darkness at this shoulder and when he took his own life, he decided he'd had enough of life, but his fans can never get enough of Wally Wood.
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My first memory of Wally Woods art, although I never knew his name at that time,was of the Topps Foldess which were collected by almost everyone at my Primary school (under 11/12 year olds).I seem to recall other similar chewing gum based cards where I recognised his art on as well. It was a few years later I saw his comic art reprinted in a UK comic (Alan Class comics in UK Creepy Worlds) of his THUNDER Agents with his name. Always loved his funny/cartoon art. Wasn't he one of the few artists that Marvel named on their covers?His Daredevil art was wonderful. A great if sadly damaged artist.
ReplyDeleteI'd seen a few THUNDER Agent books, but my first remembrance of seeing a Wally Wood page and knowing it was him was when he was doing Doc Doom for Astonishing Tales. God those were good -- but like all Wood it didn't last long.
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