Seen on eBay and forwarded by Ronn S, here's Woody's early sketch of Marvel's Cat character.
"This is Wally Wood's Character Design and workup of The CAT for the cover of the first issue in 1972. It's drawn in pencils, brush, white paint and india ink on tracing paper and taped to 8 1/2" x 11" typing paper by Woody.
"She has Woody's classic double-lighting effect, even down to the CAT's nipples and areola on the breasts! She looks even better here on the character sketch than on the cover itself!
"This is a complete 8" figure in a 9 1/2" high panel of the CAT with Woody's lettering, full shadow. Pure Woody Magic!
"Woody designed the costume, pencilled & inked the cover of the book by himself. The cover was drawn a couple of months before the rest of the book was pencilled, in early 1972. He inked the rest of the book over Marie Severin's pencils."
"She has Woody's classic double-lighting effect, even down to the CAT's nipples and areola on the breasts! She looks even better here on the character sketch than on the cover itself!
"This is a complete 8" figure in a 9 1/2" high panel of the CAT with Woody's lettering, full shadow. Pure Woody Magic!
"Woody designed the costume, pencilled & inked the cover of the book by himself. The cover was drawn a couple of months before the rest of the book was pencilled, in early 1972. He inked the rest of the book over Marie Severin's pencils."
Check out Ron's website at http://ronnsutton.com/
Here's the answer to my query back on Sept. 15, 2009. Thanks for letting us know about this original art.
ReplyDeleteDarci
Wow! I'd read somewhere that Wood's original for The Cat had her in the nude for all practical purposes and it's interesting to see this sketch to see it was true.
ReplyDeleteRip Off
Dewey Cassell asked, "I thought Marie designed the character?" Is there a date on the art that establishes it's from early 1972?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Darci
If I recall correctly the Bullpen Bulletins Page art announcing the character looked like John Romita's work!
ReplyDeleteI've long said I thought Woody was an odd choice for the title since the character was supposed to be a nod to feminism and Woody had the reputation for overtly sexy heroines.
At the same time, the art in issue one is an odd mix in that much of it looks like straight Marie Severin without Woody's generally overpowering inks. Other panels look to me like pure Wood layouts.
Any of you Wood cohorts out there know any specifics on the creation of THE CAT?