Witchcraft Inside Cover Art

The Index says this is Woodwork and as ever I bow to Bhob's superior knowledge but I have to say I barely see it. Not the Wood of 1952 anyway, I detect what seems to me like Orlando so I guess it could be some combination of the Orlando/Wood team. The screening gives it a Wood feel but the shadows and particularly the faces seem wrong. What's your opinion?

The Mummy

I just this morning discovered that writer/artist/editor Russ Jones has a site where he reprints a number of comics horror stories with which he was involved over the years including an adaptation of THE HORROR OF DRACULA done with former Woodworker (and later DC editor) Joe Orlando as well as the famous adaptation of Karloff's version of THE MUMMY done with Wallace Wood himself. THE MUMMY originally appeared in Warren's MONSTER WORLD in 1964. Read the whole thing here:
http://popfiction.com/hotad/html/monstermania/2001/comics/wood/index.html

Paul Kirchner from Heavy Metal

THE TEMPLE OF KARVUL. Some more of former Woodworker Paul Kirchner's surreal non-Wood solo work courtesy of Thom Buchanan over at
http://mydelineatedlife.blogspot.com/2009/09/temple-of-karvul.html

Red Wolf (Updated)

As often stated, Wally Wood's inking tended to just naturally overwhelm pretty much any penciller's work and this was pretty much always a good thing! Even such highly stylized comics artists as Kirby and Ditko were enhanced by Woodwork. One pairing that never worked that well for me was that of veteran Syd Shores and Wood on Marvel's 1971 RED WOLF.

Don't get me wrong. The art is quite good. I've heard Shores (in the late forties Marvel's art director) described as a weak point in the company's late sixties bullpen and that Stan just kept giving him work out of loyalty but I don't get that. Whether his softening inks on Kirby's CAPTAIN AMERICA--a character he himself actually drew far more often than Kirby in the Golden Age!--or his self-inked westerns of a quarter century later, I love his lush style and beautiful, detailed layouts. I just don't feel the combination with Wood worked all that well.

RED WOLF had been a minor antagonist in a "relative" issue of THE AVENGERS from a year earlier when Marvel decided to revamp the character into an equally relevant old western hero. Western comics were having a comeback at the time (or at least the publishers seemed to think so. With rare exception, I never knew anyone who bought any of them new) so a western super hero seemed a sure thing. The character was chosen to be the first to appear in a new SHOWCASE-like title to be called MARVEL SPOTLIGHT.

A Neal Adams cover ensured fanboy sales but the inside was Shores and Wood. Probably a better choice for this type of material than Neal anyway. The story is good, re-establishing a variation on the modern-day origin the character had been given previously as well as a variation on the same enemy.

The problem is--and again it's only really a problem in that it seems like it should have been better--the art is just okay. Without Shores' own sometimes sketchy inking style, his work comes across as lacking somehow. What should have made up for that was Wood's inking which instead seems to try to ape Shores style but only half-heartedly. Thus overall, a fairly pedestrian job. Seen here are the panels where Wood's contribution seems to best shine through.

When the character was given his own title, Shores was allowed to self-ink again and the result was better. Soon enough, Wood would stop accepting work from Marvel yet again.

UPDATE 9-27-- Wood Fan Number One, Greg Firmin, sends along this Syd Shores photo and profile from Al Hewetson's book, THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE SKYWALD HORROR MOOD. Note the quote from Wood and take it as you will considering that this RED WOLF story seems the only time they ever worked together.

Kull

In 1971, Wallace Wood was still doing some work for Marvel Comics. One notable effort was his inking of the apparently notoriously hard to ink Ross Andru on KULL THE CONQUERER # 1. Here's a stunning page from that one-off collaboration that clearly shows Wood's extensive influence on the overall look of the page. If I didn't know better, I'd almost swear this was pure Wood.

Ralph Reese From Web of Horror

WEB OF HORROR was a short-lived CREEPY-style black and white mag/comic in the late sixties/early seventies that served as a training ground for "the new guys." Jones, Kaluta, Wrightson and, in this example, former Woodworker Ralph Reese. Featured at the always enjoyable COMIC BOOK CATACOMBS is Reese's story (written by Terry Bisson) from the first issue in late 1969. Note that while it is very much in the artist's unique style, there are still Wood-like touches that creep in throughout as the machinery in this panel's background.

http://comicbookcatacombs.blogspot.com/2009/09/skin-eaters-web-of-horror-1-dec-1969.html

Stalker

Here's the first issue of DC's STALKER over at THE BRONZE AGE OF BLOGS today. This short-lived but fun series from Woody's seventies run at DC is written by recently in the news Paul Levitz and drawn by the ever-popular team of Ditko and Wood.

http://bronzeageofblogs.blogspot.com/2009/09/stalker.html