Witzend
Encyclopedia
witzend, published on an irregular schedule spanning decades, was an underground comic
showcasing contributions by comic book
professionals, leading illustrators and new artists. witzend was launched in 1966 by the writer-artist Wallace Wood, who handed the reins to Bill Pearson (Wonderful Publishing Company) from 1968–1985. The title was printed in lower-case.
began working at the Wood Studio, he showed Wood pages he had been creating for his planned comics-oriented publication, Outlet. This inspired Wood to become an editor-publisher, and he began assembling art and stories for a magazine he titled et cetera. A front cover paste-up with the et cetera logo was prepared, but when Wood learned of another magazine with a similar title, there was a last-minute title change.
and critic Richard Kyle began promoting and popularizing the terms "graphic novel" and "graphic story", and in 1967 Spicer changed the title of his Fantasy Illustrated to Graphic Story Magazine
. Kyle, Spicer, Wood and Pearson all envisioned an explosion of graphic narratives far afield of the commercial comic book industry.
witzend debuted with Wood's "Animan" and "Bucky Ruckus" while Al Williamson
contributed his science fiction adventure, "Savage World." Reed Crandall
illustrated Edgar Rice Burroughs
, along with a mixed bag of pages by Steve Ditko
, Jack Gaughan
, Gil Kane
, Jack Kirby
, Ralph Reese
, Roy G. Krenkel and Angelo Torres
. The issue wrapped with Frank Frazetta
's back cover portrait of Buster Crabbe
.
The second issue displayed a front cover by Wood and a back cover by Reese. Gray Morrow
's "Orion", which began in this issue of witzend, was completed in Heavy Metal
in 1979. Two pages of "Hey, Look!" by Harvey Kurtzman
were followed by "a feeble fable" from Warren Sattler
, "If You Can't Join 'em... Beat 'em" and more ERB illustrations by Crandall and Frazetta. The center spread presented poems by Wood, Reese and Pearson. Following a Bill Elder cartoon, "Midnight Special" by Ditko and "By the Fountain in the Park" by Don Martin, Wood offered another "Animan" installment.
In the third issue, between a Wood front cover and a Williamson back cover, were Ditko's first "Mr. A
" by Ditko, "The Invaders" by Richard Bassford
, Wood's "Pipsqueak Papers", more "Hey, Look!" pages and "Last Chance," a previously unpublished 1950s EC New Direction story, drawn by Frazetta and rewritten and edited by Bill Pearson. The issue also featured work by Roger Brand, Will Eisner
, Richard "Grass" Green
and Art Spiegelman
.
With witzend number four, Wood began a serialization of his epic fantasy, "The World of the Wizard King." These installments of illustrated prose fiction were co-authored with Pearson. Shifting from illustrated text to a comics format, Wood continued the storyline in his later graphic novel, published in two editions (one b/w, one color)—The Wizard King (1978) and The King of the World (Les Editions du Triton, 1978).
After the fourth issue, Wood sold witzend to Pearson "for the sum of $1.00," and the Pearson-edited issues continued to explore new avenues with contributions from Vaughn Bode
, Eisner, Jeff Jones
, Wood, Bernie Wrightson
and others. Pearson also assembled theme issues—Good Girls (diverse drawings of women in issue 13) and a non-comics issue profiling W.C. Fields (issue nine).
for its collection. After analyzing all 13 issues of witzend and fitting it into the context of alternative publishing of the period, Spanier concluded that witzends "salient point, that comic artists were entitled to more control and ownership of their own work, would eventually be recognized by the publishers of comic books, but it is hard to argue that witzend itself was a key factor in that development. Like so many other visionary endeavors, it may simply have been ahead of its time."
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
showcasing contributions by comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
professionals, leading illustrators and new artists. witzend was launched in 1966 by the writer-artist Wallace Wood, who handed the reins to Bill Pearson (Wonderful Publishing Company) from 1968–1985. The title was printed in lower-case.
Origin
In 1965 when the illustrator Dan AdkinsDan Adkins
Dan Adkins is an American illustrator who worked mainly for comic books and science-fiction magazines.-Early life and career:...
began working at the Wood Studio, he showed Wood pages he had been creating for his planned comics-oriented publication, Outlet. This inspired Wood to become an editor-publisher, and he began assembling art and stories for a magazine he titled et cetera. A front cover paste-up with the et cetera logo was prepared, but when Wood learned of another magazine with a similar title, there was a last-minute title change.
Early issues
Wood launched witzend in the summer of 1966, with a statement of "no policy" and a desire to give his friends in the comics field a creative detour from the formulaic industry mainstream. During this same period, editor Bill SpicerBill Spicer
Bill Spicer is an editor and publisher who spearheaded the 1960s movement away from commercial comics, opening the gateway to underground, alternative and independent comics, notably with his publication Graphic Story Magazine....
and critic Richard Kyle began promoting and popularizing the terms "graphic novel" and "graphic story", and in 1967 Spicer changed the title of his Fantasy Illustrated to Graphic Story Magazine
Graphic Story Magazine
Graphic Story Magazine was an American magazine edited and published by Bill Spicer in the late 1960s and early 1970s.As writer and historian Steve Grant describes the magazine's roots,-Artists and writers:...
. Kyle, Spicer, Wood and Pearson all envisioned an explosion of graphic narratives far afield of the commercial comic book industry.
witzend debuted with Wood's "Animan" and "Bucky Ruckus" while Al Williamson
Al Williamson
Alfonso "Al" Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western and science-fiction/fantasy...
contributed his science fiction adventure, "Savage World." Reed Crandall
Reed Crandall
Reed Crandall was an American illustrator and penciller of comic books and magazines. He was best known for the Quality Comics character Blackhawk and for stories in the critically acclaimed EC Comics of the 1950s.Crandall was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009.-Early...
illustrated Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
, along with a mixed bag of pages by Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
, Jack Gaughan
Jack Gaughan
Jack Gaughan was an American science fiction artist and illustrator who won the Hugo Award several times. Working primarily with Donald A...
, Gil Kane
Gil Kane
Eli Katz who worked under the name Gil Kane and in one instance Scott Edward, was a comic book artist whose career spanned the 1940s to 1990s and every major comics company and character.Kane co-created the modern-day versions of the superheroes Green Lantern and the Atom for DC Comics, and...
, Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, Ralph Reese
Ralph Reese
Ralph Reese is an American artist who has illustrated for books, magazines, trading cards, comic books and comic strips, including a year drawing the Flash Gordon strip for King Features...
, Roy G. Krenkel and Angelo Torres
Angelo Torres
Angelo Torres is an American cartoonist and caricaturist whose work has appeared in many comic books, as well as a long-running regular slot in Mad magazine, typically film or television parodies.-Biography:...
. The issue wrapped with Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...
's back cover portrait of Buster Crabbe
Buster Crabbe
Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
.
The second issue displayed a front cover by Wood and a back cover by Reese. Gray Morrow
Gray Morrow
Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow was an American illustrator of paperback books and comics.-Biography:Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Morrow is best known as art director of Spider-Man between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant comic...
's "Orion", which began in this issue of witzend, was completed in Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal (magazine)
Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon, he discovered the French...
in 1979. Two pages of "Hey, Look!" by Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
were followed by "a feeble fable" from Warren Sattler
Warren Sattler
Warren Sattler is an American artist and cartoonist, who contributed work to many popular publications from the early 1960s through the 1990s....
, "If You Can't Join 'em... Beat 'em" and more ERB illustrations by Crandall and Frazetta. The center spread presented poems by Wood, Reese and Pearson. Following a Bill Elder cartoon, "Midnight Special" by Ditko and "By the Fountain in the Park" by Don Martin, Wood offered another "Animan" installment.
In the third issue, between a Wood front cover and a Williamson back cover, were Ditko's first "Mr. A
Mr. A
Mr. A is a fictional comic book hero created by Steve Ditko. Unlike most of his work, the character of Mr. A and the Mr. A stories remain the property of Ditko, all of which were written and illustrated by himself. The character first appeared in Witzend #3, 1967. Mr. A's name comes from "A is A",...
" by Ditko, "The Invaders" by Richard Bassford
Richard Bassford
Richard Bassford is an American illustrator who has worked in both advertising and comic books.- Biography :Raised in the New York City borough of Queens from age three, he lived successively in the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Corona and Whitestone until his marriage in 1961, when he moved to Flushing...
, Wood's "Pipsqueak Papers", more "Hey, Look!" pages and "Last Chance," a previously unpublished 1950s EC New Direction story, drawn by Frazetta and rewritten and edited by Bill Pearson. The issue also featured work by Roger Brand, Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, Richard "Grass" Green
Grass Green
Richard Eugene "Grass" Green was an African American cartoonist notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s fan art movement and the 1970s underground comics movement...
and Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
.
With witzend number four, Wood began a serialization of his epic fantasy, "The World of the Wizard King." These installments of illustrated prose fiction were co-authored with Pearson. Shifting from illustrated text to a comics format, Wood continued the storyline in his later graphic novel, published in two editions (one b/w, one color)—The Wizard King (1978) and The King of the World (Les Editions du Triton, 1978).
After the fourth issue, Wood sold witzend to Pearson "for the sum of $1.00," and the Pearson-edited issues continued to explore new avenues with contributions from Vaughn Bode
Vaughn Bodé
Vaughn Bodē was an artist involved in underground comics, graphic design and graffiti. He is perhaps best known for his comic strip character Cheech Wizard and artwork depicting voluptuous women. His works are noted for their psychedelic look and feel...
, Eisner, Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones (artist)
Jeffrey Catherine Jones was an American artist whose work is best known from the late 1960s through 2000s. Jones provided over 150 covers for many different types of books through 1976, as well as venturing into fine art during and after this time...
, Wood, Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson
Bernie "Berni" Wrightson is an American artist known for his horror illustrations and comic books.-Biography:...
and others. Pearson also assembled theme issues—Good Girls (diverse drawings of women in issue 13) and a non-comics issue profiling W.C. Fields (issue nine).
Reception
A critical survey of the magazine, "Wood at His witzend" by Rick Spanier, appears in Bhob Stewart's biographical anthology, Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood (TwoMorrows, 2003). Designer-typographer Spanier once edited a similar graphic story publication, Picture Story Magazine, requested by the Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
for its collection. After analyzing all 13 issues of witzend and fitting it into the context of alternative publishing of the period, Spanier concluded that witzends "salient point, that comic artists were entitled to more control and ownership of their own work, would eventually be recognized by the publishers of comic books, but it is hard to argue that witzend itself was a key factor in that development. Like so many other visionary endeavors, it may simply have been ahead of its time."