Wally's World: The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of the World's Second Best Comic Book Artist

by Steve Starger and J. David Spurlock

Book Overview

Best of 2006: Vanguard published two major books, one focusing on Basil Gogos, and the other, a biography, on the career and sad life of the great Wallace Wood, WALLY's WORLD...a welcome addition to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 188759180X
• ISBN13: 9781887591805
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Vanguard
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.6" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Good Information, Terrible Editing

It always amazes me that two authors and a publisher would go to all the trouble of producing a book, and then neglect to do even the most basic proofreading and editing. There are countless typos in this book. In addition, as the other reviewers have pointed out, the layout makes it difficult to read at times. And finally, someone really needed to go through Starger and Spurlock's prose and remove some of it, or at least get them to make clear why they felt it necessary, for example, to give us pages of Nordic mythology to introduce us to Wood's family history. That said, it is clear that the authors did their research, and have a lot to say about Mr. Wood's professional and personal life. Anyone interested in this master illustrator will learn a lot about the man, and his extraordinary, if troubled, career. I gave the book four stars because it contains so many fascinating details about Mr. Wood.

Genius and Despair

This well-written and entertaining biography offers an excellent overview of the life of Wallace "Wally" Wood. Including dozens of reproductions of Wally's art (comic books, illustrations, ads, animation and more), the book focuses mostly on Wood's early years, and the later-life circumstances which drove him to suicide. A greater emphasis on Wally's prime creative years (for EC, THUNDER Agents, Daredevil, Witzend, etc.) would have been welcome. A fascinating read, but it left me saddened. Why does genius often go hand-in-hand with despair?

An essential pick no collection strong in graphic novel history should be without.

Wally's World: The Brilliant Life and Death of Wally Wood, the World's 2nd-Best Comic Book Artist is a pick for any interested in cartooning history. His life reads like drama - and he was shot in 1981 on Halloween night in a rough neighborhood, ending his life and career - but in his time he was a rebel genius whose works and approach inspired a generation of underground comic artists such as Robert Crumb and Art Spiegelman. Pack color cartoon examples throughout a biography which covers his politics, cartooning skills and influences and you have an essential pick no collection strong in graphic novel history should be without. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch