Blimey! Vampires by Wood?

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

How cute is that Wally Wood art? With just a tweak and a nudge, he could swing from humor to science fiction to horror, and yet still have that instantly recognizable Woodness. This sample is from MAD# 3, February 1953. I love the trail of footsteps click-clicking behind Godiva like footprints. Can you tell Wood worked with Will Eisner on THE SPIRIT? This might be better if they had played up the dialect more; maybe you can't tell from the way the characters are talking but this is supposed to be in England. (Script is by Harvey Kurtzman, natch.)

creator: harvey kurtzman, creator: wally wood

Comments

[noahbrand.insanejournal.com]

If nothing else, you can tell it's Wood by the tits. He really loved drawing him some boobies, did Wally.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

What I always liked was his use of a secondary light source. The middle panel on the bottom of the first page is an example. Well, the boobs too, of course.

[hyaroo.insanejournal.com]

Wally Wood (much like Walt Kelly, whose style Wood was great at imitating) was a master of the brush and ink... Every time I think I have the inking technique down, I can just pull up a Wally Wood comic and discover just how wrong I am. ^_^

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

Aw, it could just be that you're going in your own direction. It's always interesting to read interviews where Woody said he was in awe of Roy Crane, and Milton Caniff says he only wishes he could get the effects Eisner does and Alex Raymond swears he would kill to have Hal Foster's technique. The masters always seem to have their own idols.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

And knowing that there is someone out there they feel is BETTER than they are, despite their own genius, is part of what makes them the masters!

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

And, though this is less remarked on and subtler, his teeth. In a lot of ways, it's the degree of overbite he would give his female characters that was the difference between "serious" and "cartoony." Also, when he did humor, the men would often become much shorter than the women.

[escherichiacola.insanejournal.com]

This makes me miss my old Mad issues.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

I regret selling my original 1950s MAD comics years and years ago. Reprints are fine but there's something about the bouquet of musty old old comics...