Wally Wood

	It was 1990 in the Newbury Comics in Burlington, Mass where I first encountered Wally Wood. It was the Outer Space Spirit book that I cannot find now. Something about combining the visuals of the super hero detective with the mad tubes and dark reflections of his sci-fi space suit (which still look like nothing I've ever seen) got me hooked. I spotted his drawings in the strange Bud Plant catalogs I received in the mail and was shocked to find out he'd worked at Marvel... and DC... and started his own line of comics at book publisher Tower. This was a man I needed to know more about. Wally worked as an assistant on Terry and the Pirates before graduating to EC's Weird Fantasy and Weird Science. He was heavily influenced by B-Movies and not a stranger to the shape of the female body as his pinups show. At 25 he worked as Will Eisner's assistant on the Spirit, a weekly cartoon strip that forever changed the science and technique of graphic storytelling. Eisner was stymied when his editor demaned Wood off the strip. Eisner insisted it was the most impressive comic art to ever grace the comic, but the editor didn't care. It didn't look like Eisner. Wally was off the Spirit... not that he cared much. He had made a monumental impact on the readers and had plenty of other stories to draw.
	Not restricted to one style or genre, Wally went on to work for Mad Magazine where he drew numerous strips lampooning pop culture and often his own work. He was featured in every issue from 4-86. After a stint at Marvel where he redesigned the Daredevil costume into the classic red long johns we know today, Wood decided that he didn't need a Bullpen or a ringmaster telling him what to do. He wanted his own venue and that's what he got.
	At Tower, he created the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, featuring Dynamo, Noman, Lightning, the Raven and many others. This was a one book Marvel Universe in action. With the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Wally had created a series where the main character had the power to level a mountain but got chewed out by his boss on a regular basis. He was joined by the AE Van Vogt-inspired No-Man who was a disembodied intelligence that hopped android bodies and Lightning who died a little more quickly every time he ran. He broke the mold with Menthor, a devious double-agent who ended up dying to save the team when push came to shove (a dramatic twist to a readership not as experienced with death as they are today). Then there was the Mission-Impossible style T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad consisting of regular joes who operated in situations where a pair of tights would be too conspicuous. I envy the kids who got to read T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents when it came out. Imagine such a wild book full of super heroes and super spies fighting robots and tanks drawn by such marvels as Wood, Gil Kane and Mike Sekowsky! Amazing stuff. The series spawned three spin-offs and ran for three years (though it ended mostly as a reprint series). If you've never read the book, go search it out. It's without a doubt one of the most important comics produced. Wally Wood went on to create the magazine Witzend which was the first publication to vehemently support creative rights in the comic scene, something we know today as the CBLDF. Wood created Witzend as a publication where new artists could copyright their work and get it into print but also to tell the his own beautiful tale of the Wizard King, a story that was later collected in hardcover in two volumes. In 1981, faced with a depressing future hooked up to a dialysis machine, Wally shot himself. He was an inspiration and true visionary in the comic medium. Go pick up one of his comics and meet him.

For more on his life and work, check out these books:

The Who's Who of American Comic Books Jerry Bails & Hames Ware, 1976
The Wallace Wood Treasury Greg Theakston, 1980 Pure Imagination
The Comics Journal #197 - Wallace Wood Bhob Stewart, 1997 Fantagraphics
The Vadeboncoeur Collection of Knowledge Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. 1998

Below is the "22 Panels That Always Work" document that every artist should have.
In my limited capacity as an artist, even I've used it!

website

Werehouse
Far hipper and prettier than I, Aleksander Wasilewski runs a fun site of comics (including the very funny 1001 Tips on What To Do In Case of a Zombie Holocaust), illustration and animation that has reached festivals all around the world, including Poland, Germany, UK, Hong Kong, Australia or Massachusetts and California, USA.

Check it out!

music

Convoj

I feel very old. These guys do not have a record deal so I have to direct you to MySpace where you can listen to their music for free and tell people about it, building up a momentum to where they are up on the rack at your local Newbury Comics. Very raw and rockin', thus is great stuff from these lads from Sweden.

link to us!

If you like our site, just copy the banner below and post it to yours.