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Wally Wood Torrid Romance
Torrid Romance is a great, kitschy collection of early romance comics by a legendary comicbook creator. Vanguard's Wally Wood Classic series follows the best-selling Wally Wood: Strange Worlds and Wally Wood: Eerie Crime & Horror with an all-new collection of Golden-Age Romance comics by the Hall of Fame co-creator of Mad, Weird Science, and Daredevil. These rare and valuable stories have NEVER appeared in any book. This massive collection costs less than a single issue of the original, early-1950's collector's-item comics! Each edition (HC, PB) has a unique cover.
- GenresComics
176 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2014
About the author
Wallace Wood
758 books37 followersWallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he claimed to dislike. Within the comics community, he was also known as Woody, a name he sometimes used as a signature.
He was the first inductee into the comic book's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame, in 1989, and was inducted into the subequent Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame three years later.
In addition to Wood's hundreds of comic book pages, he illustrated for books and magazines while also working in a variety of other areas — advertising; packaging and product illustrations; gag cartoons; record album covers; posters; syndicated comic strips; and trading cards, including work on Topps' landmark Mars Attacks set.
For much of his adult life, Wood suffered from chronic, unexplainable headaches. In the 1970s, following bouts with alcoholism, Wood suffered from kidney failure. A stroke in 1978 caused a loss of vision in one eye. Faced with declining health and career prospects, he committed suicide by gunshot three years later.
Wood was married three times. His first marriage was to artist Tatjana Wood, who later did extensive work as a comic-book colorist.
EC editor Harvey Kurtzman, who had worked closely with Wood during the 1950s, once commented, "Wally had a tension in him, an intensity that he locked away in an internal steam boiler. I think it ate away his insides, and the work really used him up. I think he delivered some of the finest work that was ever drawn, and I think it's to his credit that he put so much intensity into his work at great sacrifice to himself".
EC publisher William Gaines once stated, "Wally may have been our most troubled artist... I'm not suggesting any connection, but he may have been our most brilliant".
He was the first inductee into the comic book's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame, in 1989, and was inducted into the subequent Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame three years later.
In addition to Wood's hundreds of comic book pages, he illustrated for books and magazines while also working in a variety of other areas — advertising; packaging and product illustrations; gag cartoons; record album covers; posters; syndicated comic strips; and trading cards, including work on Topps' landmark Mars Attacks set.
For much of his adult life, Wood suffered from chronic, unexplainable headaches. In the 1970s, following bouts with alcoholism, Wood suffered from kidney failure. A stroke in 1978 caused a loss of vision in one eye. Faced with declining health and career prospects, he committed suicide by gunshot three years later.
Wood was married three times. His first marriage was to artist Tatjana Wood, who later did extensive work as a comic-book colorist.
EC editor Harvey Kurtzman, who had worked closely with Wood during the 1950s, once commented, "Wally had a tension in him, an intensity that he locked away in an internal steam boiler. I think it ate away his insides, and the work really used him up. I think he delivered some of the finest work that was ever drawn, and I think it's to his credit that he put so much intensity into his work at great sacrifice to himself".
EC publisher William Gaines once stated, "Wally may have been our most troubled artist... I'm not suggesting any connection, but he may have been our most brilliant".
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 10, 2025
Oh, the drama !
This is a fun and diverting read. It's great to see how times have changed and yet not.
But really, the enjoyment is to see Wally Wood's art in a more natural setting. No fantastic tropes to lean on. It's city living images, women with hair styles and dresses, men with smoker pipes, and automobiles. It is deceptively simple.
It's also refreshing to see the comic book format unfold without familiar characters. Look at it as the Panels That Always Work as a pragmatic use.
This is a fun and diverting read. It's great to see how times have changed and yet not.
But really, the enjoyment is to see Wally Wood's art in a more natural setting. No fantastic tropes to lean on. It's city living images, women with hair styles and dresses, men with smoker pipes, and automobiles. It is deceptively simple.
It's also refreshing to see the comic book format unfold without familiar characters. Look at it as the Panels That Always Work as a pragmatic use.
Displaying 1 of 1 review