When THE SPIRIT comic strip began to show its age, Wally was
called in to do nine weekly, eight-page episodes of THE OUTER
SPACE SPIRIT. Alongside Wood's EC science fiction, this project
was to produce some Wood's best work. He continued to work for
EC, doing memorable projects for MAD like SUPERDUPERMAN, BLACK
& BLUE HAWKS, BATBOY & RUBIN, TEDDY & THE PIRATES, and SMILIN'
MELVIN. These stories helped the magazine establish its Lampoon
style.
When work in the comics industry began to dry up, Wally did a
number of science fiction book covers and illustrations for men's
magazines such as DUDE, GENT, and NUGGET. Wally was soon inking
Jack Kirby's SKY MASTERS and CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN. The teaming
of Kirby and Wood was absolutely magical--Jack's power blending
perfectly with Wally's elegance.
Wood drew DAREDEVIL for Marvel from 1964-66, then went onto to
create a series of comics for Tower. Thus were born the T.H.U.N.D.E.R
AGENTS. The original plan was for each character to have their
own title: DYNAMO, NOMAN, RAVEN, and LIGHTNING. However, only
DYNAMO and NOMAN actually received their own books. Wally left
the Tower books after two years; a year later the line folded.
In '66, Wood produced a fanzine called WITZEND, which came to
be known as a "prozine." WITZEND featured the works of many popular
professionals in the business and allowed creators to copyright
their own characters. The 1970's brought racy adventure strips
like CANNON and sexy, humorous strips like SALLY FORTH.
Wally's life came to a tragic end in 1981 when he took his own
life. Depression and alcoholism had taken its toll on one of comics'
most gifted talents.
