Wally Wood, or Wallace
Allan Wood, (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981)[1] was
an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known
for his work on EC Comics's titles such as Weird Science, Weird
Fantasy, and MAD
Magazine from its inception in 1952 until 1964, as well as work
for Warren Publishing's Creepy.
He wrote, drew, and
self-published two of the three graphic
novels of his magnum opus, The Wizard King trilogy,
about Odkin son of Odkin before his (Wood’s) death by suicide.
EC publisher William
Gaines once stated, "Wally may have been our most troubled artist
... I'm not suggesting any connection, but he may have been our most
brilliant". - Wikipedia
I
was most familiar with Wood from his work in Plop!; I remember Scott
Bate, after I expressed my admiration for The Lord of the Rings in Mrs.
Hardcastle’s class, brought an issue of Plop! that had Wood’s The
King of the Ring in it. I desperately tried to buy it from him, but it was
a while before we could find our own copy. It also appeared in a Plop! Digest
years later. Wood could mimic the style of art from Milt Caniff (Steve Canyon)
to Walt Disney house style, but I always liked this kind of fusion; I think of
it as somehow ‘his’ style. I used to have a volume of Woodwork #1 in the
Archive, (a magazine/book) dedicated to his memory and work. Where it is now, I
have no idea, but here it’s not.
He disliked the nickname ‘Wally,’ but I’m afraid that’s how he’ll go down in history.
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