Early life and career Wallace Wood was born June 17, 1927, in
Menahga, Minnesota. He began reading and drawing comics at an early age. He was strongly influenced by the art styles of
Alex Raymond's
Flash Gordon,
Milton Caniff's
Terry and the Pirates,
Hal Foster's
Prince Valiant,
Will Eisner's
The Spirit and especially
Roy Crane's
Wash Tubbs. Recalling his childhood, Wood said that his dream at age six, about finding a magic pencil that could draw anything, foretold his future as an artist. descent), after his military discharge in July 1948, Wood found employment at
Bickford's restaurant as a busboy. During his time off he carried his thick portfolio of drawings all over midtown Manhattan, visiting every publisher he could find. He briefly attended the
Hogarth School of Art but dropped out after one semester. In 1948, he enrolled in the
Cartoonists and Illustrators School (now known as the School of Visual Arts), staying less than one year (although he made a number of professional contacts which helped him later). By October, after being rejected by every company he visited, Wood met fellow artist
John Severin in the waiting room of a small publisher. After the two shared their experiences attempting to find work, Severin invited Wood to visit his studio, the Charles William Harvey Studio, where Wood met Charlie Stern,
Harvey Kurtzman (who was working for Timely/Marvel) and
Will Elder. At this studio Wood learned that Will Eisner was looking for a
Spirit background artist. He immediately visited Eisner and was hired on the spot. Over the next year, Wood also became an assistant to
George Wunder, who had taken over the Milton Caniff strip
Terry and the Pirates. Wood cited his "first job on my own" as
Chief , a continuing series of strips for a 1949 political newsletter. He entered the comic book field by
lettering, as he recalled in 1981: "The first professional job was lettering for
Fox romance comics in 1948. This lasted about a year. I also started doing backgrounds, then
inking. Most of it was the romance stuff. For complete pages, it was $5 a page ... Twice a week, I would ink ten pages in one day". Artists' representative Renaldo Epworth helped Wood land his early comic-book assignments, making it unclear if that connection led to Wood's lettering or to his comics-art debut, the ten-page story "The Tip Off Woman" in the
Fox Comics Western Women Outlaws No. 4 (cover-dated January 1949, on sale late 1948). Wood's next known comic-book art did not appear until Fox's
My Confession No. 7 (August 1949), at which time he began working almost continuously on the company's similar
My Experience,
My Secret Life,
My Love Story and
My True Love: Thrilling Confession Stories. His first signed work is believed to be in
My Confession #8 (October 1949), with the name "Woody" half-hidden on a theater
marquee. He penciled and inked two stories in that issue: "I Was Unwanted" (nine pages) and "My Tarnished Reputation" (ten pages). Wood began at EC co-penciling and co-inking with
Harry Harrison the story "Too Busy For Love" (
Modern Love #5), and fully penciling the lead story, "I Was Just a Playtime Cowgirl", in
Saddle Romances No. 11 (April 1950), inked by Harrison.
1950s Working from a Manhattan studio at West 64th Street and Columbus Avenue, Wood began to attract attention in 1950 with his science-fiction artwork for EC and
Avon Comics, some in collaboration with
Joe Orlando. During this period, he drew in a wide variety of subjects and genres, including adventure, romance, war and
horror; message stories (for EC's
Shock SuspenStories); and eventually
satirical humor for writer/editor
Harvey Kurtzman in
Mad including a satire of the
lawsuit Superman's publisher
DC filed against
Captain Marvel's publisher
Fawcett called "
Superduperman!" battling Captain Marbles. Wood was instrumental in convincing EC publisher
William Gaines to start a line of science fiction comics,
Weird Science and
Weird Fantasy (later combined under the single title
Weird Science-Fantasy). Wood penciled and inked several dozen EC science fiction stories. Wood also had frequent entries in
Two-Fisted Tales and
Tales from the Crypt, as well as the later EC titles
Valor,
Piracy, and
Aces High. Feiffer, in 2010, recalled Wood's studio, "which was at that time in the very slummy
Upper West Side [of Manhattan] in the [West] 60s, years before it was [the] Lincoln Center [area]. It was a cartoonist and science-fiction writers' ghetto – just a huge room where the walls were knocked down, dark, smelly, roach-infested, and all these cartoonists and writers bent over their tables. One was [science-fiction writer]
Harry Harrison." Between 1957 and 1967, Wood produced both covers and interior illustrations for more than 60 issues of the science-fiction magazine
Galaxy Science Fiction, illustrating stories by such authors as
Isaac Asimov,
Philip K. Dick,
Jack Finney,
C. M. Kornbluth,
Frederik Pohl,
Robert Silverberg,
Robert Sheckley,
Clifford D. Simak and
Jack Vance. He painted six covers for
Galaxy Science Fiction Novels between 1952 and 1958. His gag cartoons appeared in the
men's magazines Dude,
Gent and
Nugget. He
inked the first eight months of the 1958–1961 syndicated comic strip
Sky Masters of the Space Force, penciled by
Jack Kirby. Wood expanded into book illustrations, including for the picture-cover editions (though not the dust-jacket editions) of titles in the 1959 Aladdin Books reissues of Bobbs Merrill's 1947 "Childhood of Famous Americans" series.
Silver Age and Bronze Age Wood additionally did art and stories for many different comic-book companies – including
Marvel (and its 1950s iteration
Atlas Comics),
DC (including
House of Mystery and
Jack Kirby's
Challengers of the Unknown), and
Warren (
Creepy,
Eerie,
1984),
Avon (
Eerie,
Strange Worlds),
Charlton (
War and Attack,
Jungle Jim),
Fox (
Martin Kane, Private Eye),
Gold Key (
M.A.R.S. Patrol Total War,
Fantastic Voyage),
Harvey (
Unearthly Spectaculars),
King Comics (
Jungle Jim),
Atlas/Seaboard (
The Destructor),
Youthful (
Captain Science) and the toy company
Wham-O (
Wham-O Giant Comics). created
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents for
Tower Comics. He wrote and drew the 1967
syndicated Christmas comic strip ''Bucky's Christmas Caper''. During the 1960s, Wood did many
trading cards and humor products for
Topps Chewing Gum, including concept roughs for Topps' famed 1962
Mars Attacks cards prior to the final art by
Bob Powell and
Norman Saunders. '' #7 (April 1964): Wood's best-known work for Marvel, debuting Daredevil's modern red costume. For Marvel during the
Silver Age of Comic Books, Wood's work as penciler-inker of
Daredevil #5–8 and inker over Bob Powell of issues #9-11 established the title character's distinctive red costume (in issue #7). Wood and
Stan Lee introduced the
Stilt-Man in
Daredevil #8 (June 1965). When Daredevil guest-starred in
Fantastic Four #39–40, Wood inked that character, over Jack Kirby pencils, on the covers and throughout the interior. Wood penciled and inked the first four 10-page installments of the company's "
Dr. Doom" feature in
Astonishing Tales #1–4 (Aug. 1970-Feb. 1971), and both wrote and drew self-contained horror/suspense tales in
Tower of Shadows #5–8 (May–Nov. 1970), as well as sporadic other work. Wood is known as the artist of the unsigned
satirical Disneyland Memorial Orgy poster, which first appeared in
Paul Krassner's magazine
The Realist. The poster depicts a number of
copyrighted Disney characters in various unsavory activities (including sex acts and drug use), with huge dollar signs radiating from
Cinderella's Castle. Wood himself, as late as 1981, when asked who did that drawing, said only, "I'd rather not say anything about that! It was the most pirated drawing in history! Everyone was printing copies of that. I understand some people got busted for selling it. I always thought Disney stuff was pretty sexy ...
Snow White, etc." Disney took no legal action against either Krassner or
The Realist but did sue a publisher of a "
blacklight" version of the poster, who used the image without Krassner's permission. The case was settled out of court. At DC Comics, he and writer
Jim Shooter launched the
Captain Action comic book series in 1968. The following year, Wood briefly served as inker of the
Superboy series. Discovering from
Roy Thomas that Jack Kirby had returned to DC in 1970, Wood called editor
Joe Orlando in an attempt to get the assignment to ink Kirby's new work, but that role was already filled by
Vince Colletta. That same year, Wood was a ghost artist for an episode of
Prince Valiant. Wood worked on various series for DC between 1975 and 1977, producing several covers for
Plop! and inking the pencil artwork of
Steve Ditko on
Stalker and Jack Kirby on
The Sandman. and
Walt Simonson. Wood inked and sometimes also pencilled
All Star Comics, where, according to Mark Evanier, he made a point of expanding the bust-line of the heroine
Power Girl by a half-inch every issue. Active with the 1970s
Academy of Comic Book Arts, Wood contributed to several editions of the annual
ACBA Sketchbook. In one of his final assignments, Wood returned to a character he helped define, inking
Frank Miller's cover of
Daredevil #164 (May 1980). His last known mainstream credit was inking
Wonder Woman #269 (July 1980).
Richard Bassford,
Howard Chaykin, Tony Coleman,
Nick Cuti,
Leo and Diane Dillon,
Larry Hama,
Russ Jones,
Wayne Howard,
Paul Kirchner, Joe Orlando,
Bill Pearson, Al Sirois,
Ralph Reese,
Bhob Stewart,
Tatjana Wood, In 1969, Wood created another independent comic,
Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon, intended for his "Sally Forth" military readership as indicated in the ads and indicia. Artists
Steve Ditko and
Ralph Reese and writer
Ron Whyte are credited with primary writer-artist Wood on three features: "Cannon", "The Misfits", and "Dragonella". A second magazine-format issue was published in 1976 by Wood and
CPL Gang Publications.
Larry Hama, one of Wood's assistants, said, "I did script about three
Sally Forth stories and a few of the
Cannon's. I wrote the main
Sally Forth story in the first reprint book, which is actually dedicated to me, mostly because I lent Woody the money to publish it". In 1980 and 1981, Wood did two issues of a pornographic comic book titled
Gang Bang. It featured two sexually explicit
Sally Forth stories, and sexually explicit satirical versions of
Disney's
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, titled
So White and the Six Dorks;
Terry and the Pirates, titled
Perry and the Privates;
Prince Valiant, titled
Prince Violate;
Superman and
Wonder Woman, titled
Stuporman Meets Blunder Woman;
Flash Gordon, titled
Flasher Gordon; and
Tarzan titled
Starzan. A third volume, published in 1983, contained three more sexually explicit parodies of
Alice in Wonderland, titled
Malice in Blunderland; a second Flash Gordon sendup titled ''Flesh Fucker Meets Women's Lib!
; and The Wizard of Oz, titled The Blizzard of Ooze''.
"Panels That Always Work" Wood struggled to be as efficient as possible in the often low-paying comics industry. Over time he created a series of layout techniques sketched on pieces of paper which he taped up near his drawing table. These "visual notes," collected on three pages, In 1980, Wood's original, three-page, 24-panel (not 22) version of "Panels" was published with the proper copyright notice in
The Wallace Wood Sketchbook (Crouch/Wood 1980). Around 1981, to artists in the Marvel bullpen, who in turn passed them on to their friends and associates. Eventually, "22 Panels" made the rounds of just about every cartoonist or aspiring comic book artist in the industry and achieved its own iconic status.
Homages and tributes to "22 Panels" In 1986, Tom Christopher, who had been given a copy by Larry Hama at the DC office in 1978 light-boxed the pages, incorporating a non-linear dialogue, and asked Par Holman to ink it. Holman inked and lettered the piece, and the completed art was distributed through
Clay Geerdes' Comics World Co-Op, whose members produced mini- and digest-sized comics. In 2006, writer/artist Joel Johnson bought the Larry Hama paste-up of photocopies at auction and made it available for wide distribution on the Internet. Artist
Rafael Kayanan created a revised version of "22 Panels" that used actual art from published Wood comics to illustrate each frame. In 2006, cartoonist and publisher Cheese Hasselberger created "Cheese's 22 Panels That Never Work," featuring bizarre situations and generally poor storytelling techniques. In 2012,
Michael Avon Oeming created a
Powers-themed update/homage to "22 Panels," making it available for distribution. In July 2012,
Cerebus TV producer Max Southall brought together materials and released a documentary that featured
Dave Sim's homage to Wallace Wood and a focus on his 22 Panels, including a tribute that features a creation using the motif of one of them, depicting Daredevil and Wood himself, in Wallace Wood style – and the Wallace Wood Estate's official print of the panels.
Personal life and final years Wood was married three times. His first marriage was to artist
Tatjana Wood, who later did extensive work as a comic-book
colorist. Their marriage ended in the late 1960s. His second marriage, to Marilyn Silver, also ended in divorce. For much of his adult life, Wood had chronic, unexplainable headaches. In the 1970s, following bouts with
alcoholism, Wood had
kidney failure. A stroke in 1978 caused a loss of
vision in one eye. Faced with declining health and career prospects, he shot and killed himself in Los Angeles on November 2, 1981.
Biographies, criticism, collections ''Wally's World: The Brilliant Life & Tragic Death of Wally Wood, the World's 2nd Best Comic Book Artist'' by Steve Starger &
J. David Spurlock, is a comprehensive biography. It was published in 2006 by
Vanguard, which also publishes collections of Wood's comic book work, including
Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction,
Wally Wood: Eerie Tales of Crime & Horror,
Wally Wood: Dare-Devil Aces,
Wally Wood: Jungle Adventures,
Wally Wood: Torrid Tales of Romance, new editions of
The Wizard King books, and the
Wally Wood Sketchbook. In 2017 and 2018,
Fantagraphics Books published
The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood, a set of two hardcover books (, ), mainly compiled by his former assistant
Bhob Stewart over a 30-year period. It is a revised, expanded, and uncensored version of his previous Wood book
Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood (
TwoMorrows, 2003). It features personal recollections of Wood's friends, colleagues, and assistants, including
John Severin,
Al Williamson,
Paul Krassner,
Trina Robbins,
Larry Hama, and
Paul Levitz; previously unpublished artwork and photographs; and a detailed examination of his life and career. It was Stewart's last publishing project, but he did not live to see it in print. ==Awards==