Woody's Classic Covers # 13

I once saw a small painting of this T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS # 12 cover for sale at a convention. Absolutely stunning. Don't know if it was by Wood or a re-creation by someone else (Adkins?).

Woody's Classic Covers # 12

Martin Kane, Private Eye

Wood's Daredevil Covers

Wally Wood was touted highly by Stan Lee as THE next big thing at Marvel and while he certainly had a lasting impact, his initial stay in 1965 was sadly brief. He did the art for only seven issues of DAREDEVIL (two of those inking Bob Powell who, like Wood, had helped design the MARS ATTACKS cards around the same time). He was even allowed script credit by Lee at one point--always a bone of contention with others such as Ditko and Kirby! Woody also inked the Daredevil figure in the classic FANTASTIC FOUR # 39 over his old SKY MASTERS collaborator Jack Kirby--presumably because Kirby couldn't get the black shadows right. In fact, I recall letters at the time complaining that Wood never drew the blacks in the same place on the costume from one panel to the next. Some fans apparently didn't get that the blacks were SHADOWS, not part of the color scheme! Many years later, the story goes that Wood happened by the Marvel office one day in early 1980. He was already dealing with some of the physical effects of his various health issues but he was given a cover to ink (perhaps for old times' sake)--the cover for DAREDEVIL # 164. Wood's distinctive touch is still evident over Frank Miller's pencils, particularly in the boots. Presented here are ALL of Wood's DD covers. Woodwork on DAREDEVIL was later reprinted in DAREDEVIL ANNUAL # 2 and various issues of MARVEL SUPER HEROES but he did not do the covers.

Potrzebie

If you're a Wood fan, surely you already frequent POTRZEBIE, the unique and often Wood-related pop culture site from former Woodworker (and a bit of a legend in his own right) Bhob Stewart. Several good Wood posts recently include a look at various aural, visual and video versions of Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" including, of course, the classic EC version. Check it all out over at http://potrzebie.blogspot.com/.

Boris the Bear

As stated in an earlier posting, Wally Wood's classic T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS were turning up in all manner of places throughout the eighties, not always authorized and not always well served. One of the more unusual places was 1987's BORIS THE BEAR # 11. BORIS THE BEAR was one of the earliest Dark Horse titles. Possibly designed as a one-shot, the first issue featured Boris as a cute and cuddly little teddy bear (later revealed to be a robot) who took violent vengeance on all of the stupider comics characters then flooding the market. It was amusing. Then came issue two and the need to keep the concept going. Creator/artist James Dean Smith (with input from Mike Richardson and others) actually did a pretty good job of expanding on the essentially one note premise for quite awhile and BORIS THE BEAR lasted a surprising several years on the stands. Smith and his creation still maintain an Internet presence today at http://www.boristhebear.de.vu/ and http://oasiscomics.blogspot.com/.

This issue deals with the ghost of Dynamo (with ethereal angel wings yet) who asks for Boris's help to stop the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. folks from being exploited. It seems the Iron Maiden and her minions are cloning the Agents to flood the market with multiple rip-off comics. Eventually, Boris (as DynamoBear) does what Boris does best and destroys the plan. In the end, he meets Dynamo again, this time for a poignant moment at the grave of Wally Wood.

Inking by former Tower artist and Woodworker Dan Adkins provides a welcome familiarity to some of the art as clones of Dynamo, Menthor and NoMan fight Boris. While it's easy to see the good intentions in the story, I can't help but note that this story contains no indication of John Carbonaro's trademark on the characters who appear and thus, in its own way, BORIS THE BEAR # 11 is guilty of being not so much a parody but an unauthorized exploitation of the characters--the very thing it's ostensibly complaining about!

Unearthly Spectaculars

Found on the 'Net, here's a page of original art from Wood's mid-sixties contribution to Harvey Comics' UNEARTHLY SPECTACULARS. Looks to me like maybe done with Adkins. Kind of a FLASH GORDON feel, don;t you think. Woody never lost his enthusiasm for science-fiction comics.

Woody's Classic Covers # 11