Last
updated 20 August 07. The latest version of this document can always be found
at www.enjolrasworld.com. See last page for legal & © information.
Additions?
Corrections? Contact Richard J. Arndt: rarndt39@hotmail.com.
The Early Independents
witzend was the first of the
independent or “indy” magazines.
Premiering in 1966, it published 13 issues over almost two decades, most
of them between 1966-1971 and provided a welcome link between mainstream comics
and the then-new underground movement.
Although, at times, particularly in the early issues, it seemed to
suffer from the lack of a strong editorial hand at the helm, that was actually
at Wood’s insistence. He made it quite
clear in his original editorial in #1 that this magazine was intended as a
showcase for writers & artists, with little or no editorial direction or
interference. witzend certainly
showcased many important artists of the period and pointed out a direction for
every self-publishing writer/artist to this day. witzend publisher & editor Bill Pearson
has supplied some comments in the notes.
His contributions are in quotes.
witzend
1. cover: collage of panels from interior
stories done by Archie Goodwin/back cover: Frank Frazetta (Summer
1966)
1) Statement Of NO POLICY [Wally
Wood] 1p [text article, frontis]
2) Savage World [Wally Wood/Al
Williamson, Frank Frazetta & Angelo Torres] 8p
3) And In The Offing [Wally
Wood/Gray Morrow, Leo & Diane Dillon, Dan Adkins, Jack Kirby, Steve
Ditko, Gil Kane] 2p [text article]
4) Two Swordsmen [Reed Crandall]
1p
5) And Thereby Hangs A Tale
[Ralph Reese] ?p
6) Sinner [Archie Goodwin] 4p
7) Poems [Wally Wood?/Angelo
Torres] 1p
8) Bucky Ruckus—Dedications And
Credits [Wally Wood] 2p [text article]
9) Animan, part 1 [Wally Wood]
7p
10) Absurd Science Fiction
Stories [Jack Gaughan] 10p
11) Subscription Info And Errata
[Wally Wood] 1p [text article & ad/
on inside back cover]
Notes: Thanks to Emanuel Maris, we
now have credits for this issue! witzend
originated from an idea on Dan Adkin’s part to publish a magazine called
Outlet, then turned into Wally Wood’s Etcetera.
A logo was prepared using that title but when Wood discovered another magazine
with a similar title, the magazine’s title was changed witzend, after it was
solicited but before actual publishing. There
were two printings of witzend and, after selling out rather quickly, a bootleg
copy was produced by unknown characters around 1969-1970. The counterfeit copy has slightly different
paper for the cover—a slight pebble-grain.
Many dealers nowadays are unaware of the existence of the counterfeit. The original appears to have the same type of
paper as #2. ‘Savage World’ was drawn in
1954 and intended for Buster Crabbe Comics.
The comic was cancelled before the story was used and Williamson
accepted the art back instead of payment.
Wood wrote a totally new script for the story for this appearance as the
original was lost. Best story here was
Archie Goodwin’s chilling ‘Sinner’, which was reprinted in Marvel’s B&W
magazine Unknown Worlds Of Science Fiction Special #1 in 1976. Best art is by Wood on ‘Animan’.
2. cover: Wally Wood/back cover: Ralph
Reese (1967)
1) What Is It… [Wally
Wood/Tajana Wood] 1p [text article,
frontis]
2) Orion [Gray Morrow] 6p
3) Hey Look! [Harvey Kurtzman]
1p reprinted from ?
4) Hey Look! [Harvey Kurtzman]
1p reprinted from ?
5) If You Can’t Join ‘em…Beat
‘em! [Warren Sattler] 4p
6) A Reed Crandall ERB Portfolio
[Reed Crandall] 5p [pin-ups]
7) Poetry [Wally Wood, Ralph
Reese & Bill Pearson/Frank Frazetta] 2p
8) Cartoon [Will Elder] 1p
9) A Flash Of Insight, A Cloud
Of Dust And A Hearty Hi-Yo Silver [Art Spiegelman] 3p
10) Midnight Special [Steve
Ditko] 1p
11) …By The Fountain In The
Park… [Don Martin] 2p
12) Animan, part 2 [Wally Wood]
9p
13) Herein, And Furthmore…
[Wally Wood/Al Williamson] 1p [text
article]
14) A Word From Wood…Subscribe!
[Wally Wood/Roy G. Krenkel] 1p [text
article, on inside
back cover]
Notes: $1.00 for 36 pages. Gray Morrow’s ‘Orion’ serial would not be
concluded until its printing in Heavy Metal in 1979. Although Wood wanted all the material in
witzend to be original or, at least, appear there for the first time, he broke
his own rule to allow Kurtzman’s ‘Hey Look!’ pages to be reprinted. Ditko’s cute one pager is a reminder that the
guy had a sense of humor, something that is sometimes lost when regarding his
work. Spiegelman’s work was a wordless
strip. Martin’s was probably a rejected
strip for
3. cover: Wally Wood/frontis: Leo &
Diane Dillon/back cover: Al Williamson (1967)
1) Mr. A [Steve Ditko] 5p
2) Poetry [Ralph Reese/Leo & Diane Dillon] 1p
3) Reed Crandall’s ERB Portfolio, part 2 [Reed
Crandall] 4p [pin-ups]
4) Harold Sunshine [Art Spiegelman] 3p
5) Hey Look! [Harvey Kurtzman] 1p reprinted from ?
6) The Invaders! [Richard Bassford] 3p
7) The Chase [Roger Brand] 4½p
8) Poetry [Wally Wood & Bill Pearson] ½p
9) Pipsqueak Papers [Wally Wood] 3p
10) Vanessa [Sam Kobish/Roy G. Krenkel] 1p [text story]
11) Last Chance! [Frank Frazetta] 9p
12) Hey Look! [Harvey Kurtzman] 1p reprinted from ?
13) Contents And Portents And Otherwise Words [Wally
Wood/Al Williamson] 1p [text article,
on inside back cover]
Notes: Williamson’s back cover
featured Flash Gordon, whose comic book he was illustrating during this
period. That same back cover also
promised that witzend #3 would be an Al Williamson SF spectacular, which didn’t
actually happen. This was the debut of
Ditko’s famous {or infamous—depends on your outlook} Mr. A. While not as strident as later strips, it
still clearly depicts Mr. A’s black & white outlook on the world. Whatever you though about the actual story
you couldn’t deny that it was beautiful artwork. Frazetta’s story was a comic strip tryout
from 1950 refashioned into traditional comic pages by Bill Pearson. Roger Brand’s work was very good and shows a
strong Krigstein influence. This is an
excellent issue.
4. cover: Wally Wood/back cover: Frank
Frazetta (1968)
1) Words From Wood [Wally Wood/?
Conroy] 1p [text article, frontis]
2) Pipsqueak Papers [Wally Wood]
4p
3) Mr. A [Steve Ditko] 10p
4) The Rejects [Wally Wood &
Bhob Stewart/Wally Wood] 3p
5) Reed Crandall’s ERB
Portfolio, part 3 [Reed Crandall] 4p
[pin-ups]
6) A Proper Perspective And
Several Strange Viewpoints [Wally Wood & Bill Pearson/Leo &
Diane Dillon] 2p [poetry]
7) The Sneeze [Bill
Pearson/Grass Green] 3p
8) Virtue Ever Triumphant [Roger
Brand] 6p
9) The World Of The Wizard King
[Wally Wood] 5p [text story]
Notes: Frazetta’s back cover was
very good, showing an American Indian being carried off by a pterodacytal. It’s possible it was done for one of the
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books. Wood’s ‘Pipsqueak Papers’ was a cute and oddly
innocent erotic fable. Both Ditko &
Brand delivered strong stories & art and Pearson’s ‘The Sneeze’ was quite
amusing. Wood’s illustrated prose story,
‘The World Of The Wizard King’ would be reworked into traditional comic form
and published as a graphic novel in the late 1970s. Another good issue.
5. cover: photo of an rhinoceros’s
backside/back cover: Ed Paschke (Oct. 1968)
1) Editorial [Bill Pearson/Art
Spiegelman] 1p [text article, frontis]
2) The World Of The Wizard King,
part 2 [Wally Wood] 5p [text story]
3) The Junkwaffel Invasion Of
4) JAF [James Frankfort] 8p [art & story credited to Jaf]
5) A Reed Crandall ERB
Portfolio, part 4 [Reed Crandall] 3p
[pin-ups]
6) Pipsqueak Papers [Wally Wood]
5p
7) Prevue: The Adventures Of
Talon [Jim Steranko] 3p
8) Homesick [Roger Brand] 8p
9) Editorial Matters [Bill
Pearson] 1p [text article, on inside
back cover]
Notes: Publisher & Editor: Bill
Pearson. Wood sold witzend to Pearson
for the sum of $1.00 along with the promises to publish through at least #8
{the issue that Wood had sold subscriptions up to} and to run any story already
accepted by Wood as is. Steranko’s Talon
preview was for a Conanesque barbarian swordsman. The artwork looked great so it was too bad
the promised story never appeared.
Steranko later used the spelling of the word Prevue as the new title of
his renamed Mediascene magazine {which was itself renamed from the original
Comicscene title}. Thanks to the mystery artist JAF’s daughter Michelle, we’re
happy to announce the identity of JAF.
His real name is James Frankfort who was a successful cartoonist/commercial
artist for a number of years in Greenwich Village and taught at
6. cover: Mike Hinge (Spring 1969) [wraparound cover]
1) Alien [Bill Pearson/Jeff
Jones] 6p
2) An Interview With Will Eisner
[John Benson & Will Eisner/Will Eisner] 5p
[text article w/photo]
3) Subscription Ad [Bill
Pearson/Wally Wood] 2p
4) Qwamb! [Bill Pearson] 7p [credited to Sorrel Garika]
5) The Spawn Of Venus [Al
Feldstein/Wally Wood] 8p
6) The Avenging World [Steve
Ditko] 10p
7) Pin-Up [Gray Morrow] 1p [on inside back cover]
Notes: According to Bill Pearson,
the intricate, detailed cover took a huge amount of time & labor to achieve
in 1969’s pre-computer production days.
‘The Spawn Of Venus’ was a previously unpublished EC story, originally
intended for an EC 3-D Classic issue. Check
out Bill Pearson’s comments for #7 for further information on Ditko’s ‘The Avenging
World’. Benson’s interview with Eisner
is not only well done but provides the interesting information that, as of
Sept. 10, 1968, Eisner had no knowledge whatsoever of the existence of his
future publisher, Warren Publishing. BP:
“Mike Hinge was another overlooked genius.
He was a designer, not a cartoonist, but when he came to me with the
idea for this cover, I was immediately intrigued. Eddie Glasser, my business partner in
Wonderful Publishing Company and the head of the photography dept. at Admaster
Prints where I worked as production manager of the art dept., produced dozens
of intricate cels with overlapping machinery patterns and Mike and I both put
in dozens of hours creating the final wraparound design and logo. The printer had a challenging job too! Except for the printer, not a one of us made
a dime for all the work. In fact, we
lost money that could have been made for freelance work during those hours but
it was worth it. So many people have
told me over the years that something they saw in witzend inspired them, and
there’s no greater reward than that!”
7. cover: Vaughn Bode/back cover: Kenneth
Smith (1970)
1) Editorial [Bill Pearson/Ralph
Reese] 1p [text article, frontis]
2) Cobalt 60 [Vaughn Bode] 10p
3) Letters’ Page [Dan Adkins] 2p
4) Mr. A: The Avenging World,
part 2 [Steve Ditko] 8p
5) The Strange Adventure Of Ike
And His Spoon [Roger Brand] 6p
6) Pin-Up [Ed Paschke] 1p
7) Limpstrel [Berni Wrightson]
1p
8) untitled [Bill Pearson] 1p
9) Mr. E [Bill Pearson/Tim
Brent] 2p
10) Limpstrel [Berni Wrightson]
1p
11) The Journey [Betty
Morrow/Gray Morrow] 8p [Final page is
printed on the inside back
cover]
Notes: $1.50 for 48 pages. Bode’s cover was extremely gruesome. His interior story, ‘Cobalt 60’ was just as
gruesome but it was also his best straight SF tale. Beautifully drawn and powerfully written,
this featured the best story & art in this issue and is a genuine classic
of the comics genre. Ditko’s ‘The
Avenging World’ was not actually a story but a political/philosophical essay
told in comic form. The artwork was some
of his most innovative. Paschke’s pin-up
depicted Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Little Dot, Dennis the Menace, Casper the
Friendly Ghost, Little Lulu and Little Orphan Annie as dope fiends in an opium
den! Bill Pearson’s ‘Mr. E’ strip was a
rather savage satire on Steve Ditko’s Mr. A character. It was also printed sideways and was actually
four pages in length. The third &
last ‘Limpstrel’ story appeared in another fanzine in 1972. BP: “Ditko had been one of the most
supportive contributors to witzend. Even
after I became publisher, he came to my apartment a couple of times and spent
hours with me stuffing envelopes and helping with the other drudge duties
involved in maintaining the subscription files.
This was AFTER his Marvel years with Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. But I HATED publishing that ‘Avenging World’
diatribe of his, and would have preferred to reject it and hope he couldn’t
find another publisher either. I felt
about him just as I did about Wood.
Throughout our long association I tried, sometimes successfully,
sometimes not, to keep him from publishing personal revelations that betrayed
flaws in his character or deficits in his intellect. BOTH of these men were master cartoonists,
genius talents, but they DID need editors.
I really debated with myself about running ‘Mr. E’, but just had to
offset Ditko’s strong positions.” As
mentioned in the notes for #5, Pearson’s agreement with Wood prevented him from
rejecting any Ditko stories that Wood had accepted and that agreement apparently
covered ‘Avenging World’. The Morrows’
strip was blessed with a good story and downright stunning erotic art. One of witzend’s best issues.
8. cover: Ralph Reese/Bill Pearson (1971)
1) Why, It’s…witzend [Bill
Pearson] 1p [text article, frontis]
2) The World Of The Wizard King,
part 3 [Wally Wood] 5p [text story]
3) untitled [Bhob Stewart] 1p
4) Barf The Insurance Salesman
[Bill Pearson/Ralph Reese] 7p
5) Foxtale [Nicola Cuti/Bill
Stillwell] 2p
6) Holding The Bag [Dr. Seuss]
1p reprinted from Judge Magazine (?
1932)
7) The City In The Sea [Edgar
Allan Poe/Frank Frazetta] 10p [poem]
8) The Break-Out! [Steve Ditko]
1p
9) The Hunting Of The Snark
[John Richardson] 8p from the poem by
Lewis Carroll
Notes: The title logo appeared in
the mouth of the devil depicted on the back cover. Reese’s cover was a panel blowup from the
interior story. Frazetta’s artwork for
‘The City In The Sea’ was originally done in 1960 {or earlier} for an
unpublished one page adventure Sunday comic strip. It was reformatted {similar to what was done
for Last Chance!} by Bill Pearson and combined with the Poe poem. According to Bill Pearson, the actual artwork
was very large, the same size that Hal Foster used to illustrate the Prince
Valiant Sunday pages. One panel from the
original page was not used. It easily
has the best art & poetry for this issue.
Perhaps someday the original tryout page will be printed. Cuti’s ‘Foxtale’ was somewhat of a preview or
prototype for his 1980-1982 series for
9. cover: Jeff Jones/titlepage & back
cover: Bill Pearson (1973)
1) The Films Of Charles Bogle
[Bill Pearson] 7p [text article
w/photos]
2) The Bank Dick: His Very Own
Photo-Story [Bill Pearson] 4p
[fumetti-style strip]
3) The Films Of Otis
Criblecoblis [Bill Pearson] 2p [text
article w/photos]
4) Complete Filmography Of W. C.
Fields [Bill Pearson] 1p [text article]
5) Adversity: The W. C. Fields
Game [Bill Pearson] 12p [game]
6) Between The Scenes/A Fussy
Old Man In The Movies [photo display] 13p
7) Alan Wood, On Stage With W.
C. Fields [Allen Wood] 1p [text article
w/photo]
8) W. C. Fields Pin-Up [Bill Pearson]
1p [on inside back cover]
Notes: This was a W. C. Fields
special. Publisher: Phil Seuling. Editor: Bill Pearson. $1.50 for 38 pages. No comics in this issue whatsoever. BP: ‘The printer screwed up the cover by
Jeff Jones, so I hastily had some full color prints of the painting made, and
included them with the magazine. This
issue got almost no distribution {I hadn’t solicited subscriptions beyond #8}
and Phil Seuling and I dissolved our business partnership soon after
publication. He financed #8 &
#9. I had HUNDREDS of copies, but it
became known as the ‘missing’ issue of witzend.
They were all destroyed in my house fire, so now it really IS a rare
publication.”
10. cover: Wally Wood (1976) [wraparound cover]
1) Kym: Lost In A Dream! [Bill Pearson/Dick
Giordano] 8p
2) 39/74 [Guyla & Alex Toth/Alex Toth] 10p
3) On March 17, 1969… [Howard Chaykin] 3p
4) Pin-Up [Terry Austin] 1p
5) Sally Forth [Wally Wood] 6p
6) Pin-Up [P. Craig Russell] 1p
7) The Avenging Dodo [Bill Pearson/Mike Zeck] 8p
8) Pin-Up [Walt Simonson] 1p
9) My Furry World And Welcome To It! [Nicola
Cuti/Joe Staton] 10p
Notes: Publishers & editors:
Bob Layton & Bill Pearson. $3.00 for
48 pages. Printed in conjunction with
CPL/Gang Publications. ‘Kym’ was a three
part dream sequence that would take 6 years to conclude. Based on the November completion date noted
in Chaykin’s artwork, this book had to come out in Dec. 1976. ‘39/74’ is copyrighted by Marvel Publications
so it must, at one time, been intended for a Marvel magazine. It’s well drawn, but the story itself is not
particularly interesting. Wood’s ‘Sally
Forth’ story had the appearance of being a reformatted comic strip. Russell’s pin-up appeared to be a slightly
redrawn Dr. Strange cover or splash page.
Best story & art goes to Chaykin’s rather chilling solo effort but
both ‘The Avenging Dodo’ and ‘My Furry World And Welcome To It!’ were amusing
and well drawn. BP: “By this time, I
wasn’t making much money, but coerced Bob Layton into financing what I think is
a pretty nice issue.”
11. cover, frontis & back cover: Bill
Pearson (1978)
1) Introduction [Bill Pearson]
1p [pin-up and brief intro]
2) Kym Pin-Up [Bill Pearson] 1p
3) Spurt Starling [Bill Pearson]
1p
4) A Portfolio: The Wicked World
Of The Wizard King [Wally Wood] 12p
5) Early Poop [Bill Pearson]
1p [credited to Q. P. Hamstrung]
6) The Care And Feeding Of Geks
[Nicola Cuti/Mike Zeck] 8p
7) Spurt Starling II [Bill
Pearson] 1p
8) The Enormous Slug Suckers
From The Planet Mars!! [Bill Pearson] 8p
9) The Slugsucker Diagram [Bill
Pearson] 1p [diagram]
10) Kym: Encounter [Bill
Pearson/Ruben Yandoc] 8p
11) Early Poop II [Bill Pearson]
1p [credited to Q. P. Hamstrung]
12) Spurt Starling III [Bill
Pearson] 1p
13) Kym Pin-Up [Dan Adkins] 1p
14) Pin-Ups [Bill Pearson]
3p [last pin-up on inside back cover]
Notes: $4.00 for 48 pages. The Wally Wood material consisted of unused
panels or sketches intended for his Wizard King graphic novel, which itself was
a reworking of the earlier text story that had appeared in witzend. The portfolio pages included here were
considered too erotic for the graphic novel itself. ‘Early Poop’ was an X-rated spoof of ‘Alley
Oop’. ‘Spurt Starling’ was a spoof of ‘Flash
Gordon’. Best story here was the
delightful ‘The Care And Feeding Of Geks’ by Cuti & Zeck although Pearson’s
‘Early Poop’ and ‘Spurt Starling’ are funny.
BP: ‘I thought I was producing a spoof of underground comix, but lost
all editorial judgement and used too much of my own art…and the reaction was
silent embarrassment. I conned Bill
Black into co-financing this issue {sight unseen} and I suspect he junked his
half of the print run.” This, along with
#9, are the hardest issues to find.
12. cover: George Bush/frontis & inside back
cover: Jerry Bingham/back cover: photo of woman posing
as Kym (1982)
1) Editorial [Bill Pearson]
1p [text article]
2) My Ship Of Dreams [Henry C.
Pitz] 1p [poem]
3) Stargazer [J. R. Blevins & Dennis
Janke/Dennis Janke] 12p [Janke’s story
& art credited to Z.
Capistance]
4) Bugs In The System [Al Sirois & David
Stone/Al Sirois] 4p
5) The Phantom Pin-Up [Gray Morrow] 1p
6) The Real World [Bhob Stewart/John Norton] 4p
7) untitled [Don Martin] 2p
8) Booby Trap [Steve Ditko] 1p
9) Kym: The Awakening [Bill Pearson/Mike Zeck &
Ruben Yandoc] 9p
10) Lunar Tunes [Wally Wood] 12p
11) Wallace Wood 1927-1981 [Richard Bassford] 1p
Notes: $3.50 for 48 pages. Bush’s cover was a rendering of Humphrey
Bogart based on a photo still of his character from The Treasure Of The Sierra
Madre. This was the 3rd and
last installment of the dreams of ‘Kym’
‘Lunar Tunes’ must have been one of Wally Wood’s final stories. Jerry Bingham’s pin-ups were quite well drawn
but the barbarian theme seemed a little out of place in this bunch of
stories. Some interesting alternative
work here. BP: “This is a nice issue, I
thought. I conned a gangster {well, he
was a major league drug dealer} into financing this issue, and he too kept half
{2500 copies} of the print run. You
better believe I paid him back as soon as I sold my 2500 copies! He surely eventually junked his 2500 copies.”
13. cover: Dennis Janke/frontis & inside
back cover: Victor Perard/titlepage: Bill Pearson & Wally
Wood/back cover: Bob McLeod
(1985)
1) Good Girl Pin-Ups [Rich
Chidlaw; Bill Pearson ; Frank Frazetta; Roy G. Krenkel; Willy
Pogany; Zolne Rowich; Norman
Price; ? Bauer; Stan Drake; Kenneth Smith; Hannes
Bok; ?; Vince
Alascia-Charles Nicholas; Jack Gaughan; Bruce Miller; John Beatty;
Richard Bassford; David
Karbonik; Brad Foster; Wally Wood; Ed Paschke; Frank
Godwin; Trina Robbins; V. T.
Hamlin; Mike Zeck; Heinrich Kley] 36p
Notes: Final issue. $3.00 for 36 pages. An all ‘good girl’ pin-up issue. No comic stories at all. Some beautiful pin-ups and sketches here with
great artwork from everybody involved. I
particularly liked the Wally Wood witzend cover mockup; Bill Pearson’s efforts,
Bob McLeod’s back cover , the Krenkel sketchbook art and Heinrich Kley’s {a
Jewish artist who disappeared during Hitler’s regime} artwork but all of the
artwork is of high quality. If you like
pin-up art {especially of mostly naked babes} this is a pretty good book. Rowich’s art was a drawing of Sheena of the
Jungle from the cover of Jumbo Comics #46.
BP: “I think I somehow financed this issue myself, and it was the most
popular number of the entire series. Bud
Plant kept reordering for years. Not
counting the hundreds of man-hours I put into it, this issue actually broke
even! Also destroyed in [my] house fire
were approximately 140 pages of what I hoped would be the ultimate issue of
witzend, many years in the making, an eclectic mix of some really fabulous
material. But it wasn’t to be.”
1. cover & back cover:
Wally Wood (1980)
1) Statement Of Policy [Wally Wood] 1p [frontis]
reprinted from witzend #1 (Summer 1966)
2) witzend #3 cover [Wally Wood] 1p [pin-up]
3) The witzend Story [Bill Pearson/Wally Wood]
2p [text story]
4) Pipsqueak Papers [Wally Wood] 3p reprinted from witzend #3 (1967)
5) Pipsqueak Papers [Wally Wood] 3p reprinted from witzend #4 (1968)
6) Pipsqueak Papers [Wally Wood] 5p reprinted from witzend #5 (Oct. 1968)
7) The World Of The Wizard King [Wally Wood]
15p [text story] reprinted from witzend #4-6
& 8 (1968-1971)
8) witzend #2 cover [Wally Wood] 1p [pin-up]
9) The Rejects [Wally Wood &
Bhob Stewart/Wally Wood] 3p reprinted
from witzend #4 (1968)
10) Animan [Wally Wood] 15p reprinted from witzend #1-2 (1966-1967) [one page from part 2
deleted.]
11) witzend #4 cover [Wally
Wood] 1p [pin-up, on inside back cover]
Notes: Although not officially an
issue of witzend, this reprint volume {not to be confused with the 1970s Wood
newsletter of the same name} of Wood’s work for witzend came out in 1980 and was,
in effect, an issue of witzend. The back
cover was actually the splash page from the second part of Animan.
1. cover: Frank Frazetta/titlepage: ?
(1970)
1) Pin-Ups [Kenneth Smith] 1p
2) Introduction [Mark Feldman/Jim? Miller] 3p [text article]
3) Dr. Demono [Jim Miller] 5p
4) Michael Kaluta Interview
[Mark Feldman & Michael Kaluta/Michael Kaluta & Roy G. Krenkel] 5p
[text article]
5) Cheech Wizard: Race To The
Moon [Vaughn Bode] 6p
6) Vaughn Bode Interview [Mark
Feldman & Vaughn Bode] 2p [text
article]
7) Vampires Of The Mind [Steve
Hickman & Mike Cody] 6p
8) Pin-Up [Robert L. Kline] 1p
9) The E.C. Answer To Comic Book
Originality [Meade Frierson III] 3p
[text article]
10) Next Issue Previews [Michael
Kaluta, Tom Sutton & Berni Wrightson] 2p
11) Portfolio [Kenneth Smith]
4p [pin-ups]
12) John Severin Interview [Mark
Feldman? & John Severin/John Severin] 5p
[text article]
13) Pin-Ups [Steve Hickman &
Steve Harper] 2p
14) Tom Sutton Interview [Mark
Feldman? & Tom Sutton] 2p [text
article]
15) Pin-Ups [Frank Frazetta
& Berni Wrightson] 2p
16) Berni Wrightson Interview
[Mark Feldman & Berni Wrightson/Berni Wrightson] 1p [text article]
17) Nick Fury & the Yellow
Claw Pin-Up [Jim Steranko] 1p
18) Da-Kar [Mike Miller] 3p
19) Pin-Up [Steve Hickman] 1p
20) Jeff Jones Interview [Mark
Feldman? & Jeff Jones/Jeff Jones & Sal Buscema] 3p [text article]
21) Pin-Ups [Steve Hickman, Jeff
Fantuccio, Richard Corben, Dave Cockrum] 4p
Notes: All information for this
issue was provided by Jeffrey Clem. It’s
much appreciated, Jeff! Publisher &
editor: Mark Feldman? $? For 72
pages. Frazetta’s cover was repeated on
the back cover sans copy. Sal Buscema’s
sketch in the Jeff Jones interview featured the Avengers battling Ultron and
had nothing to do with Jeff Jones at all.
Dave Cockrum’s pin-up also featured many Marvel characters in a
“bigfoot” art style. Severin’s interview
art featured his work on Cracked’s mascot logo.
Sutton’s interview featured no art at all. The next issue ad included artwork for
Michael Kaluta’s story ‘Hey, Buddy, Can You Lend Me…?’, which ended up in the
fanzine Scream Door {see below}.
2. cover, titlepage & back cover:
Kenneth Smith (July 1970)
1) Nest Egg [Alan Simons/Steve
Hickman & Robert L. Kline] 3p
2) Pilgrim [Tom Sutton] 5p
3) Stake-Out [Berni Wrightson]
4p
Notes: Publisher & Editor: Mark
Feldman. $.35 for 12 pages. Very thin, magazine-sized fanzine. Wrightson’s strip featured the Old Witch, the
Vault Keeper & the Crypt Keeper from EC comics. Both ‘Nest Egg’ & ‘Pilgrim’ were serials
{and, to my knowledge, neither were ever concluded}. ‘Pilgrim’, in particular, appeared to have
promise.
3. Never Published (see notes for Scream Door
#1)
4. cover & frontis: Berni
Wrightson/back cover: Frank Brunner (Jan. 1971)
1) Out On A Limb! [Berni
Wrightson] 6p
2) Pilgrim, part 2 [Tom Sutton]
5p
3) Pin-Ups [Frank Brunner &
Gray Morrow] 2p
5) Frankenstein Pin-Up [Tom
Sutton] 1p
Notes: Final issue. Wrightson’s ‘Out On A Limb!’ was originally
intended as the cover story for the never published Web Of Horror #4. Sutton’s Frankenstein pin-up was done just
before he began writing & illustrating the character for Skywald. Brunner’s back cover was a preview page for a
proposed series that was to have been called ‘Red Man’s Burden’. Wrightson’s cover showed the same frontier
coot that would headline the story ‘King Of The Mountain, Man’ from his early
collection Badtime Stories while his frontispiece was a try-out page dealing
with Frankenstein. Another page from the
same try-out appeared as the cover to Scream Door #1. Good issue & art.
1. cover:
Notes: At this time, information is
not available for this issue. Infinity
was somewhat of a hybrid fanzine, combining articles which featured a great deal
of artwork as well as the occasional comic story.
2. cover: Frank Brunner/frontis & titlepage: Roy
G. Krenkel/back cover: Jeff Jones (197?)
1)
Pin-Up [Frank Brunner] 1p
2)
Editorial [?] 1p [text article]
3)
Pin-Ups [Virgil Finlay] 2p
4)
Berni Wrightson Interview [? & Berni Wrightson/Berni Wrightson, Jim
Steranko & Gray Morrow] 10p
[text article]
5)
Pin-Up [Joe Schenkman] 1p
6)
Frank Frazetta Interview [? & Frank Frazetta/Frank Frazetta, Frank Brunner
& Steve Hickman] 4p [text
article]
7)
8) Richard M. Nixon Illustration
[Gray Morrow] 1p
9) Letter’s Page [illo by Dave
Berg] 5p
10) Pin-Ups [Jim Steranko, Roy
G. Krenkel & Michael Kaluta] 3p
11) Editorial [?/Ed Eschweller]
2p [text article]
12) Pin-Up [John Fantuccio] 1p
13) Editorial [?/Robert Kline]
1p [text article]
14) Pin-Up [Joe Schenkman]
1p [on inside back cover]
Notes: $1.50 for 48 pages. The Steranko illo that appeared in the
Wrightson interview depicts Marvel’s Black Panther character. Information on this issue provided by Jeffrey
Clem. There were at least two printings
of Infinity #2 with a few of the illustrations dropped and new ones added in
their place.
3a. cover: Frank Brunner/frontis: Michael
Kaluta/titlepage: ?/back cover: Robert L. Kline (1971)
1) Introduction [Alan Malin
& Gary Berman/Kenneth Smith] 2p
[text article]
2) Pin-Up [Michael Kaluta] 1p
3) Wrightson Portfolio [Berni
Wrightson] 3p
4) Jeff Jones Interview [? &
Jeff Jones/Jeff Jones] 6p [text
article]
5) Pin-Up [?] 2p
6) Virgil Finlay [Doug
Murray/Virgil Finlay] 2p [text article]
7) Frank Brunner Interview [?
& Frank Brunner/Frank Brunner] 9p
[text article]
8) As Night Falls: Cheryl’s Song
[Michael Kaluta] 2p
9) Pin-Up [Jeff Jones] 1p [on inside back cover]
Notes: Publishers & editors:
Gary Berman & Adam Malin. $1.50 for 28
pages. Brunner’s cover was originally
intended for the never published This Is Legend #2. This issue was split into two separate
magazines, with an additional supplement of six sketch pages given to
subscribers. The supplement features
sketches by Al Williamson {Flash Gordon}, Jack Kirby {Captain
3b. cover: Jeff Jones/frontis: Gray
Morrow/titlepage: Kenneth Smith/back cover: Berni Wrightson
(1971)
1) The Mating [Bruce Jones]
2p [story never concluded?]
2) Bruce Jones Interview [?
& Bruce Jones/Bruce Jones] 4p [text
article w/photo]
3) A Portfolio By Roy G. Krenkel
[Roy G. Krenkel] 10p
4) Life Among The Beetles, Boners,
And Hi And Lois [Mort Walker] 2p [text
article w/ cartoon
strips]
5) Mr. Wizzy… [Mort Drucker] 1p
6) Candy Camera… [Mort Drucker]
1p
7) Pin-Up [Frank Brunner] 1p
8) Reality Ad [Michael Kaluta]
1p
9) Wallace Wood page [Wally
Wood?] 1p [on inside back cover]
Notes: The second half of #3. This issue included a lengthy letters’ page
with artwork by Kenneth Smith, Al Williamson & Randy Yeates. Robert L. Kline, Gordon Love, Kenneth Smith
& Randy Yeates sent in letters.
Jones’ little two-page strip was the first part of a intended serial but
it was never concluded. Wrightson’s back
cover was a depiction of Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater. A similar page appeared in the portfolio
section of #3, part 1. These may have
been try-out pages for the adaptation of that nursery rhyme that appeared in
Abyss #1.
4. cover: Richard Corben/frontis: Joe Schuster/titlepage:
Al Williamson/inside back cover: Berni
Wrightson/back cover: Larry
Todd (1972)
1) Editorial [Adam Malin &
Gary Berman/Kenneth Smith] 1p [text
article]
2) Pin-Up [Jeff Jones & Joe
Sinnott] 1p
3) Fastest Gun In The West [?
Mooney] 2p
4) Comix!: A Phenonemon [Jack
Jackson/Jack Jackson, Gilbert Shelton, Roy Crumb, ?, Roy G. Krenkel,
Richard Corben & more] 11p [text article]
5) Jimi Hendrix Pin-Up [Tom
Yeates] 1p
6) Frank Brunner Portfolio
[Frank Brunner] 5p
7) Creation: The 1971 Art
Convention [Adam Malin/Roy G. Krenkel] 5p
[text article w/photos]
8) Michael Kaluta Interview
[Adam Malin, Doug Murray & Michael Kaluta/Michael Kaluta] 6p [text
article w/photos]
9) Mr. Odd [Mort Drucker] 1p
10) The Artist’s Corner [Roy G.
Krenkel, Jeff Jones, Gray Morrow, M. Serignt] 4p
11) The Deer [Michael Kaluta] 3p
12) Pin-Ups [
Williamson & Frank
Frazetta] 8p
13) Steve Harper Interview [Adam Malin, Doug Murray,
Dave Kaskove, Mike Kaluta & Steve
Harper/Steve Harper] 5p [text article]
14) Phase Ad [Ken Barr] 1p
15) A New Beginning [Al Feldstein/Al Williamson] 6p