''witzend'', published on an irregular schedule spanning decades, is an
underground comic
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that 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, ...
showcasing contributions by
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
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 to 1985. The title was printed in lower-case.
Bill Spicer
Bill Spicer (born October 1, 1937) 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 Maga ...
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.
Advertisements described ''witzend'' as "intended for fans and collectors of science fiction, comics, satire, S+S and related fields" with "the work of the world's best cartoonists and illustrators", mentioning
Al Williamson
Alfonso Williamson (March 21, 1931 – June 12, 2010) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western, science fiction and fantasy.
Born in New York City, he spent much of his early childhood in ...
,
Jack Gaughan
John Brian Francis "Jack" Gaughan, pronounced like 'gone' (September 24, 1930 – July 21, 1985) was an American science fiction artist and illustrator who won the Hugo Award several times. Working primarily with Donald A. Wollheim at Ace Books, ...
,
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...
. The magazine's first issue had Wood's "Animan" and "Bucky Ruckus", and Williamson's science fiction adventure "Savage World". Crandall illustrated
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, ...
, along with pages by
Steve Ditko
Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...
Angelo Torres
Angelo Torres (born April 14, 1932, in Santurce, Puerto Rico) is an American cartoonist and caricaturist whose work has appeared in many noteworthy comic books, as well as a long-running regular illustrator for '' Mad''.
EC Comics
Torres was f ...
. The issue finished with Frazetta's back cover portrait of
Buster Crabbe
Clarence Linden Crabbe II (; February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983), known professionally as Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimmi ...
.
The second issue displayed a front cover by Wood and a back cover by Reese.
Gray Morrow
Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow (March 7, 1934 – November 6, 2001).e., the Gilberton Company, publisher of the ''Classics Illustrated'' comic-book series of literary adaptations], and I was given a script. One thing led to another and I was soo ...
's "Orion", which began in this issue of ''witzend'', was completed in '' Heavy Metal (magazine), Heavy Metal'' in 1979. Two pages of "Hey, Look!" by
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...
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
Mr. A is a fictional comic book hero created by Steve Ditko. Unlike most of Ditko's work, the character of Mr. A remained the property of Ditko, who wrote and illustrated the stories in which the character appeared entirely himself. The characte ...
" by Ditko, "The Invaders" by
Richard Bassford
Richard Bassford (born 1936) is an American illustrator who has worked in both advertising and comic books.
Born in Manhattan, Bassford lived from age three in the Queens neighborhoods of Maspeth, Corona and Whitestone until his marriage in ...
, 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
Roger Brand (January 5, 1943 – November 23, 1985) was an American cartoonist who created stories for both mainstream and underground comic books. His work showed a fascination with horror and eroticism, often combining the two.
Biography Ea ...
,
Will Eisner
William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was not ...
,
Richard "Grass" Green
Richard Edward "Grass" Green (May 7, 1939Social Security Death Index. – August 5, 2002) 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 (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel '' Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade'' and '' Ra ...
.
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).
Bill Pearson era
After the fourth issue, Wood sold ''witzend'' to Pearson's Wonderful Publishing Company "for the sum of $1.00". Wood remained listed as founder and Editor Emeritus. After editing and publishing #5 (1968) by himself, Pearson co-published the next five issues with various other individuals/entities: #6 with Ed Glaser, #s 7, 8, and 9 with
Phil Seuling
Philip Nicholas Seuling (January 20, 1934 – August 21, 1984) was a comic book fan convention organizer and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. Seuling was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, originally held i ...
(founder of the New York Comic Art Convention in 1968), and #10 with the CPL Gang, a group of artists and writers who were publishing other fanzines such as '' Charlton Bullseye'', and '' CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''); from #11 on, Pearson was sole publisher and editor. These post-Wood issues edited by Pearson continued to explore new avenues with contributions from
Vaughn Bode
Vaughn may refer to:
Places in the United States
*Vaughn, California, former name of Bodfish, California
* Vaughn, Montana
* Vaughn, New Mexico
*Vaughn, Oregon
* Vaughn, Pennsylvania
* Vaughn, Virginia
* Vaughn, Washington
Name
* Vaughn (surname ...
Bernie Wrightson
Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...
, Kenneth Smith,
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...
Mike Hinge
Mike Hinge (born Michael Barry Hinge, Auckland, August 9, 1931 – Philadelphia, August 2003) was an illustrator and graphic designer.
His work included portraits with a pop art influence for the cover of Time magazine: Japanese Emperor Hirohi ...
and many others. Pearson also assembled two theme issues: the final issue #13 (1985) was titled ''Good Girls'' — without the ''witzend'' logo on the front cover — containing diverse drawings of women, and #9 (1973) was a non-comics issue profiling
W.C. Fields
WC or wc may refer to:
* Water closet or flush toilet
Arts and entertainment
* ''W.C.'' (film), an Irish feature film
* WC (band), a Polish punk rock band
* WC (rapper), a rapper from Los Angeles, California
* Westside Connection, former h ...
, due to then co-publisher Seuling's extreme interest in the actor and his film works. In 1989–90, he also published two digest-sized issues of ''Witzend Catalog'', that were only partly editorial content, including unpublished Krenkel art, the other part being original art pieces for sale.
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 Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
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".Spanier, Rick. ''Against the Grain'', TwoMorrows, 2003. /ref>