He was eventually upgraded to background artist and inker for artists like Martin Rosenthal. By then, Wood had already had work obtained through the agent Rinaldo Epworth as a letterer for the romance comic books published by Victor Fox. In 1949, Wood made his first solo strips for a political newsletter of the Union Party of Mount Kisco, starring a "Woeful Indian" called 'Chief Ob-stacle'. Shortly afterwards, he was also assisting George Wunder on 'Terry and the Pirates', one of his favorite childhood comics. ![]() One of them was Will Eisner, who hired Wood as a background artist for his newspaper comic 'The Spirit' in October 1948. Initially unsuccessful in finding art assignments, his luck changed after meeting John Severin, who introduced him to several artists in the field. 'He Promised Me Marriage' (My Love Memoires #12, Fox Comics 1950). ![]() Back in civilian life, he spent one term at the Minneapolis School of Art in 1947 and, after settling in New York City in the following year, one semester at Burne Hogarth's Cartoonists and Illustrators School on the G.I. He later served as a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division at the island of Hokkaido in occupied Japan during World War II. Although he was still under-age, he managed to enlist in the military, serving in the US Merchant Marine in the Philippines, Guam, South America and Italy. Before embarking upon his career as an artist, Wood kicked around in a series of odd jobs, including busboy, factory worker, pin boy in a bowling alley, truck loader, dental lab assistant and, like his father, lumberjack. While his father didn't support his artistic ambitions, the young Wood made several comic books as a kid, varying from funny to surreal and violent, which his mother would lovingly bind with her sewing machine. He showed an early ambition to become an artist as well, according to himself after dreaming he found a magic pencil that could draw like Alex Raymond. As a child, Wallace enjoyed reading comics by classic newspaper artists such as Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff, Hal Foster, Will Eisner and Roy Crane. He grew up in Wisconsin and Michigan, as his father regularly had to relocate to different logging camps for his work. Wallace Allan Wood was born in 1927 in Menagha, Minnesota, the son of a lumberjack and a schoolteacher. A troubled man, Wood eventually commited suicide at the age of 54. People in the comic industry also praise Wood for his helpful treatise, 'Panels That Always Work' (1980), an instruction to make the lay-out of comic book pages more interesting. He is notorious for creating the infamous Disney parody, 'The Disney Memorial Orgy' (1966), as well as establishing his own alternative comic magazine Witzend (1966). He has left his mark on superhero comics with his run on Marvel's 'Daredevil' (1964-1965) and his own co-creation 'T.H.U.N.D.E.R. ![]() Wood is legendary for drawing in practically every genre, and was a master in both realistic and cartoonish drawing styles. Wood was active as an inker and illustrator for many other comic book companies, including Fox, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Charlton Comics and Gold Key, while also drawing for books, packaging material and trading cards. He was also one of the pioneers of Mad's first issues and remained present in its pages until the early 1960s. ![]() His work for EC "New Trend" comic books such as 'Weird Science' and 'Weird Fantasy' earned him the title "The Dean of Science Fiction Artists". He is also referred to as "Wally Wood" (although he disliked being called "Wally"), and signed some of his work as "Woody". Wallace Wood was a versatile American comic artist, who excelled in high-tech science fiction artwork and humorous satire.
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