Synopses & Reviews
Who was Wallace Wood? The maddest artist of magazine? The man behind Marvel's ? is an incisive look back at the life and career of one of the greatest and most mythic figures of cartooning. Edited over the course of thirty years by former Wood assistant Bhob Stewart, is a biographical portrait, generously illustrated with Wood's gorgeous art as well as little-seen personal photos and childhood ephemera. Also: remembrances by Wood's friends, colleagues, assistants, and loved ones. This collective biographical and critical portrait explores the humorous spirit, dark detours, and psychological twists of a gifted maverick in American pop culture.
Synopsis
Who was Wallace Wood? The maddest artist of Mad magazine? The man behind Marvel's Daredevil? His World is an incisive look back at the life and career of one of the greatest and most mythic figures of cartooning. Edited over the course of thirty years by former Wood assistant Bhob Stewart, His World is a biographical portrait, generously illustrated with Wood's gorgeous art as well as little-seen personal photos and childhood ephemera. Also: remembrances by Wood's friends, colleagues, assistants, and loved ones. This collective biographical and critical portrait explores the humorous spirit, dark detours, and psychological twists of a gifted maverick in American pop culture.
About the Author
Bhob Stewart (b. 1937, Kirbyville, Texas, d. 2014, Plymouth, Massachusetts) divided his time between mass and fan media. He was chiefly a writer and editor, although he also drew and acted. He is best known for founding one of the first comics fanzines, EC Fan Bulletin, in 1953; for coining the term "underground comics"; and for art-directing the Hugo Award-winning science fiction fanzine Xero. Stewart invented the Wacky Packages trading card series for Topps, and wrote comics for clients such as Marvel and Heavy Metal. He worked in Wallace Wood's studio for a time, and became the de facto steward of the influential EC cartoonist's legacy. Co-author of Scream Queens with Calvin Beck, he edited the Mad Style Guide, and co-edited the seminal underground comics tabloid Gothic Blimp Works
. As an educator, he taught courses in Boston and at the School of Visual Arts in New York.William Maxwell "Bill" Gaines (b. 1922, d. 1992) inherited EC Comics in the 1950s. Under his stewardship, it shifted focus from "educational" to "entertaining." He began publishing and editing (and often, co-plotting the stories in) genre comic books, including Tales from the Crypt, Mad, and more. He hired creators such as Jack Davis, Harvey Kurtzman, Al Feldstein, Wallace Wood, and others; thanks to them, EC comics are considered one of the medium's high water marks. He testified infamously at the Senate Subcommittee for Juvenile Delinquency, which led to the Comics Code and the censorship of many of EC's titles. In response, Gaines turned