Available in DX slipcased Previews Exclusive edition ($74.95 msr) with 16 Bonus Pages and reg HC (160 pages ISBN-13 : 978-1934331910 $39.95 msr), this unique instant-classic originally planned for August, has been enhanced for release October 23.
GOOD NEWS: In making sure Vanguard included ALL Wood from the entire Witzend run plus lots of bonuses, they reached out to EC Comics and the William Gaines estate to get their blessing to including the ULTRA RARE Wood EC story, “Spawn of Venus.”
Originally created for EC’s cancelled EC 3-D Classics #3 (1953), at Wood’s request EC/MAD publisher Bill Gaines gave Wood his blessing to premier the unpublished masterwork in Wood’s Witzend #6 (1969) with touch-ups by Wood to adapt the multi-layered 3-D art to run as traditional 2-D art.
In the decades since Wood premiered the story in Witzend, the layered version ran as color scans in the Wood Artist Edition (IDW). But unlike other stories for EC’s aborted 1953 3-D issue 3, Wood’s “Spawn of Venus” has not run in other EC collections including not in the current Fantagraphics’ series of EC hardcovers. All of which means Wood’s “Spawn of Venus” may still be the rarest EC comic-book story and, it is by EC’s biggest fan-favorite star talent.
After various emails and a break for a Gaines family member’s around-the-world, off-the-grid adventure, EC/Gaines’ blessings were secured so the full story could appear with all the other original Witzend material plus, bonus goodies including other EC-related content (a new essay on Frazetta and Wood, insights into the 1972 EC Convention, etc), as well as Witzend-related science fiction, fantasy and animation art and more — all bargain-priced in the regular hardcover.
BUT WAIT, there is MORE! The Deluxe Slipcased Previews Exclusive edition limited to 750 copies, includes 16 bonus pages comprised overwhelmingly of UNPUBLISHED works — HALF of which is never-published, top quality EC art! All with thanks to The Wood and Gaines estates.
This is the Definitive Collection from the creator and publication that inspired the underground comix movement.
Hall of Fame comics creator Wallace Wood’s revolutionary, self-published Witzend (often spelled in all lower case) has always been hard to define—the birth of the pro-zine, underground, independent… Whatever you call it, Wood’s witzendwas a mid-’60s milestone event that represented all of the loftiest Fine Art goals of the Underground Movement including art-for-art’s-sake, freedom from censorship, and creator rights. The vast majority of the underground comix movement creators were directly inspired by the EC Comics and Mad work of Wallace Wood and Harvey Kurtzman (as well as psychedelics). Until R. Crumb’s later and eminently notable Zap Comix, no underground had the impact of witzend which combined top-flight comics pros like Wood, Frazetta, Steranko and Ditko side-by-side with up-and-coming Undergrounders like Art Spiegelman (Maus) and Vaughn Bode (Cheech Wizard)
Fantagraphics’ Best of Witzend only has 42 pages of Wood — this new ultimate Wood collection has 160 pages of Wood –176 in the DLX Slipcased Previews Exclusive edition! For the first time ever, this single volume collects all of Wood’s own contributions to his groundbreaking publication including Animan, Sally Forth, The Rejects, Bucky Ruckus, Pipsqueek Papers, The Wizard King, Snorky, Lunar Tunes, and more.
The book is at the printer now and scheduled for release October 23.
Comic shops can order from Diamond Comics Distributors
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