WALLY WOOD'S WEIRD S*X FANTASY PORTFOLIO

"Sex and science fiction have always been

two of my favorite things."

- Woody

 

Published in a signed and numbered edition of 2000 by Collector's Press in 1977, this was a series of images that were inevitable from the mind and inkwell of Wallace Wood. Each print is a large 12" x 16" and his signature is on the first plate.

Woody sums it up in his introduction: 

November, 1977

Dear Friends,

     In the few words allotted to me, I would just like to say that you who purchased this portfolio have shown yourself to be a person of rare discernment and taste, not just a thrill-seeker (God knows you can find plenty of explicit stuff on any newsstand and without shelling out big bucks for it). I would venture to say that your interest in it is the same as mine. Sex and science fiction have always been my two favourite things. And they have always been sort of mutually exclusive – rather, until recently SF has excluded sex – so the news that Wally Wood has done a SF/Sex Portfolio got to you, right? I think the time is right – the world is ready for some frankly erotic art – and stories. It almost makes me wish I hadn’t drawn it, so I could see it for the first time myself. (I’m a Wally Wood fan, too.)

     I confess that I still feel I’m exposing myself in public, but I’ve come to realise that one is doing that every time one opens his mouth or puts anything down on paper. Once someone said to me. ‘Don’t you realize that little boys are going to take this stuff into the bathroom and jerk off?’ I’m still proud of my answer, ‘Let ’em find out why God gave ’em hands!’

     Some years ago Screw magazine described me as an ‘old time leftwinger and one of the horniest men alive.’ I take exception to the first part of that, but the second pleased me very much, as I have always believed ‘All the good guys are horny’. And this was before Richard Nixon ... really, fourteen years?

RAY HARRYHAUSEN PORTFOLIO

The plates in this portfolio are examples that Ray Harryhausen used to pitch his films. It's odd that he didn't think of himself as an artist, as they are as fabulous as any other fantasy illustrator. Perhaps he just felt it was a means to an end in order to achieve his goals with his true-calling -- animation.

These images were never meant to be seen by the public as they were considered promotional and not commercial. The sepia-tone prints measure 20" x 15.75" and each is signed and dated by Harryhausen. Harlan Ellison provides an introduction.

Sinbad fights a skeleton in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.

Talos from Jason and the Argonauts.

Credited as from a Hercules proposal, the Hydra ended up in Jason and the Argonauts.

The Ymir in a dramatic scene from 20 Million Miles to Earth.

Harryhausen pitched an idea for War of the Worlds that was not filmed.

FRANK BRUNNER'S FLESH AND FANTASY PORTFOLIO

Artist and illustrator Frank Brunner has had a varied and successful career. He studied under the master of anatomy, Burne Hogarth at New York City's School of Visual Arts and adds Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, Al Williamson and Neil Adams to his list of influences.

His first professional sale was to Major Magazines' WEB OF HORROR, and from there he was scooped up by Marvel where he did a beautiful job with DOCTOR STRANGE and HOWARD THE DUCK'S first appearances. Brunner also managed to fit in some time to draw a handful of stories in Warren's CREEPY, EERIE and VAMPIRELLA. He adapted Robert E. Howard's Conan story, "The Scarlet Citadel" for Marvel's SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #30 in 1978 and collaborated with Michael Moorcock on an Elric feature for HEAVY METAL magazine. More of his horror work can be found earlier, in issues of CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE MONSTER TIMES. 

Not long after that, he bid adieu to the world of comics and began a career in animation, working for Hanna-Barbera, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and Dreamworks studios. 

Like Frazetta, Brunner is no stranger to drawing the female form and his smooth and clean line work is a perfect complement. To prove it, he has published a number of portfolios focusing on fantasy and the female.

Presented here today is "Flesh and Fantasy", published by Middle Earth in 1974. My set, which I purchased when it was first offered, is number 524/1000. The original art was created in graphite and Bristol board. Each print measures 12"x16". It was presented in a sleeve and enclosure with a Certificate of Authenticity. A beautiful collection. Purchase price for these today go for around $150.

GRAY MORROW'S HEROES PORTFOLIO

More of a collection of prints, really, than a portfolio, but since they came in a printed envelope, I think it qualifies. GRAY MORROW'S HEROES was published in 1975 by Sal Quartuccio who also published HOT STUF' and much more. At a mere five bucks, it was right in my wheelhouse at the time (I was more concerned with keeping up with my vast collection of comic books and magazines). Not produced as fancy as a lot of others, the envelope contained six color plates and no signature, frills or extras -- just some great work. You can find sets for sale at reasonable prices around the 'net if you want them without the watermarks.

The plates as they appear here:

• Vigilante (Nation Periodical Publications)
• Modesty Blaise (Peter O'Donnell)
• The Joker (National Periodical Publications)
• The Lone Ranger & Tonto (Lone Ranger Television, Inc.)
• Black Terror (Nedor Publications)
• Hawkman (National Periodical Publications)

RARE FRAZETTA MIDDLE EARTH PORTFOLIO

In 1972 I was living on Grassy Key on the Florida Keys, right next door to the TV star Flipper's training site. The Keys are bifurcated by the Overseas Highway, which was the only way in or out by land, from Key Largo (of Bogart movie fame) to Key West (Ernest Hemingway fame). At the time, the primary way to supply commercial goods was by truck and that could make items, including food and especially meat, hard to come by. When it came to groceries, one had to know the days that these goods would be delivered to the Winn-Dixie supermarket or you could be SOL. As you can imagine, there was plenty of fish to be had as an option.

I managed to keep tabs on my comics obsession with a subscription to the late, great Alan Light's THE COMIC BUYER'S GUIDE. I can't remember or not if comics were available anywhere on the Keys, but they may have had a spinner rack or two in a drug store or someplace else.

In one issue of CBG, I spied an ad that caught my attention. A fantasy and comic art company in Denver, CO by the name of Middle Earth was selling what was promoted as being the first authorized portfolio of Frank Frazetta's work. At only $3.50 postpaid, it seemed too good to pass up for me, since I had become a huge Frazetta fan from the moment I saw one of his Lancer Conan paperbacks. The most amazing thing about this was that it somehow survived a trip back to California (where I moved too many times to count), and then up to Washington State almost 20 years later. And here it is, scanned and presented on WOM!

There are seven black and white pen and ink drawings in the portfolio, each measuring 11"x15" and printed on sepia-toned paper. There was no fancy enclosure like we would see with later portfolios -- it was just the plates shipped in a brown envelope between two heavy pieces of cardboard.

What makes this special is that the images had never before been published, which later increased their value as a collector's item. For instance, just last month, one of these sold for $450.00 at auction.

Oddly enough, this portfolio holds more of a symbolic memory of my sojourn in the Keys than anything else. It was a fun time, working my ass off for my uncle who owned a nursery and landscaping business, hanging out in Key West, eating loads of fantastic seafood, and the fishing -- the fishing!