Just Some Artwork. Well, maybe some other stuff, too.

I was working in a pornographic bookstore in New Haven in 1975, when in walked Wally Wood. I knew him from the local science fiction club, NHSFFA -- the New Haven Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, commonly known as "Fred," because NHSFFA isn't pronounceable. In fact, I met him at one of our members' home. I had never seen Woody, so when I noticed a stranger sitting in a chair off to one side, smoking a cigarette, I thought he was the fellow's father -- so I introduced myself. He said, "I'm Wally Wood."

I had already sold my first two short stories, and I had been working on doing some comic art for a friend's self-published zine. But I had had no training outside of a couple of years of college. I knew Woody was in the area, because I'd heard he had moved to West Haven, the town south of New Haven. So meeting him as it were out of the blue was pretty surprising.

Not being the fanboy type, all I did was shake his hand and say something to the effect that I was pleased to meet him and was a long-time admirer of his work.

This was true. In fact, I had learned how to draw partly by copying his stuff out of old MAD paperbacks. It had always seemed to me that his way of doing comics was the "right" way. I wasn't using a brush at that time, and didn't know that it was his main tool -- or indeed, the main tool of many other comic book artists.

Anyway, long story short, a few weeks later he sauntered into the bookstore where I was working and asked me if I wanted a job as his assistant.

To say I was astonished would be something of an understatement. After I got over my surprise, I said, "Of course, yes. Are you sure?"

Because, you see, I knew I was in no way a pro. I liked to draw, did a lot of it, and was reckoned as a good artist by my friends -- but that's a far cry from being a professional. Woody had seen some of my stuff, or someone showed him (probably Muriel van Sweringen, one of the other members of Fred), and I guess he recognized some talent.

Anyway, I immediately quit the bookstore and went to work for him. (It was a job I was glad to leave. A new owner had taken over from the rather doofy guy who previously ran it, and the new guy was a real hard-ass, a small-time operator who wanted to be a Big Cheese. We got along fairly well, but I didn't like him.) Every day I took the bus from the New Haven Green to West Haven, where he picked me up in his car and drove me to his apartment. At first he wouldn't let me do anything more than rule lines and fill in black areas, places in the art marked by an X.

I practiced feathering (think cross-hatching without the cross) with a brush for hours on my own time, being highly motivated. In those days I lived in a railroad flat near Wooster Square with a friend of mine who had also been a roommate in Bridgeport. It wasn't an ideal situation, but you know how it is when you're young -- you can deal with almost anything. Besides, we got along well.

Woody and I also got along pretty well. I was very focused on improving my artwork. In those days I was a smoker, too, which was good because Woody smoked a lot. My responsibilities also included making tea for him, and occasionally cooking.

The first book I remember working on were a Jack Kirby-pencilled SANDMAN. Early on we also did the Steve Ditko penciled STALKER and HERCULES UNBOUND, penciled by then newcomer Jose Garcia Lopez. Plus some one-off stories, and KUNG FU FIGHTER penciled (if you can call it that) by Ric Estrada.

Woody didn't work on the comic stuff steadily. He'd bang away at the pages, but sometimes he'd take a break and go shooting with Wayne Howard, who lived in the next building. Sometimes other artists and/or former assistants would stop by, which is how I met Larry Hama, Ralph Reese, and Paul Kirchner. At other times Woody would play his guitar and sing. I was playing guitar, too, in those days, so sometimes I'd play along. He sang pretty well, which was a bit of a surprise because he was so very soft-spoken.

I had been playing drums in Yalie bands around that time, usually the only "townie" in the lineup. So music was still a big part of my life. I had moved to New Haven in the first place to join a band of Yale students.

Well, I have probably overstayed my welcome by now, so I'll close and maybe pick up here next time (Sunday; I update this thing on Wednesdays and Sundays, kids). Ta for now.

I should probably also mention some books I've been reading, but I'll do that next time, too.

Today's art is a page from All Star Comics, penciled by Keith Giffen. I happen to own this page of art. (Click to embiggen.)