Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jun 21, 2025 | 1 comment

SCOTT SHAW! SATURDAYS…

By SCOTT SHAW!

I don’t think that I saw any of Wallace Wood’s artwork until I was reading EC’s Mad magazine in late 1961, when I’d turned 10 years old.

At that time, every writer and/or cartoonist appearing in each issue of Mad – “the Usual Gang of Idiots” — was one of America’s top humorists… even Dave Berg! My biggest influences – before my friend Sergio Aragonés arrived in NYC – were Jack Davis and Don Martin. And then there was Wallace Wood, a chameleon cartoonist with the ability to imitate anyone’s style yet also had a very appealing style of his own.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t in Mad much longer, but I had all of those Ballantine paperback books full of black-and-white reprints of the original issues of Mad, back in 1954, edited, written, and laid out by Harvey Kurtzman. Every paperback had a number of stories drawn by Wood at his best — as was every other contributor.

Mad #8

To many, the finest work by Wallace “Woody” Wood (he disliked being called “Wally”) was in those those early Mad issues. Others — like fellow 13th Dimension contributor Paul Kupperberg, who wrote a column about Wood on the artist’s birthday Tuesday — feel the same way about his science-fiction stories for EC’s Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Weird Science-Fantasy, and Incredible Science Fiction. Woody’s also known as a penciller and/or inker for a lot of superhero comics for Marvel, DC, and Tower, with his short stint on Daredevil a standout. And then there’s all of those X-rated tabloid covers and adults-only comics he created during his final years, ones that some of his fanboys enjoy a bit too much!

But I’ve got a different favorite of Woody’s work, featuring a team of weird creatures led by a human boy: “Bucky Ruckus and the Christmas Caper,” which I read in the San Diego Evening Tribune in December 1967 — a seasonal comic strip that wasn’t on the comics page.

Owned by the Wallace Wood Estate

Here’s the back story:

In the 1960s, animator Ralph Bakshi hired Wood to help with Krantz Films’ Rocket Robin Hood and other projects. Woody was fascinated by animation and pitched his Wizard King trilogy to the brass at Paramount Cartoon Studios, and it was considered for development. Woody also had an idea for a Saturday morning animated comedy series, featuring a young hero named “Bucky Ruckus,” with an eccentric team of not-human characters in outer space adventures. (The kid’s name was based on Bucyrus, a small farming community in southwestern Ohio that he saw on a driving trip with his then-wife Tatjana.)

According to historian and Wood friend Bhob Stewart, “At the time, a half-hour animated TV series concept of science-fiction humor seemed ideal for Wood. Such a show would have been unique then, and his juxtaposition of diverse, bizarre, funny characters made the idea appealing. Paramount was interested. As Wood requested, I took his individual character sketches and pencilled a presentation, grouping them together. Wood inked the board, added a black-and-white wash and delivered it to Paramount.”

The company, however, was on the verge of shutting down.

Woody had hopes that Bucky Ruckus might work as a daily strip, but despite it being well received by the syndicates, that never happened. (By the way, Woody did spot illustrations of Bucky and his crew that often appeared in his publication Witzend. He also created similar characters like Goody Bumpkin and Fearless Ferris.)

Various samples of Bucky Ruckus’ development and pitch art by Wallace Wood:

Owned by the Wallace Wood Estate

Owned by the Wallace Wood Estate

So while he wasn’t able to sell it as a daily, he was able to turn it into a miniseries of sorts: The NEA syndicate published “Bucky Ruckus and the Christmas Caper,” which in the end was an 18-strip special.

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The Wally Wood Christmas Book and the Wally Wood from Witzend Complete Collection are available from Vanguard Publishing.

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MORE

— ODDBALL COMICS: Ross Andru’s THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT — Which I Clearly Remember. Click here.

— ODDBALL COMICS: Joe Simon’s BROTHER POWER, THE GEEK. Click here.

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For over half a century, SCOTT SHAW! has been a pro cartoonist/writer/designer of comic books, animation, advertising and toys. He is also a historian of all forms of cartooning. Scott has worked on many underground comix and mainstream comic books, including: Fear and Laughter (Kitchen Sink); Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie); Simpsons Comics (Bongo); Weird Tales of the Ramones (Rhino); and his co-creation with Roy Thomas, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew! (DC).

Scott also worked on numerous animated cartoons, including producing/directing John Candy’s Camp Candy (NBC/DIC/Saban); Martin Short’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley (NBC/Hanna-Barbera Productions); Garfield and Friends (CBS/Film Roman); and the Emmy-winning Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies (CBS/Marvel Productions), among many others. As senior art director for the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, Scott worked on dozens of commercials for Post Pebbles cereals with the Flintstones. He also designed a line of Hanna-Barbera action figures for McFarlane Toys.

Scott was one of the comics fans who organized the first San Diego Comic-Con, where he has become known for performing his hilarious Oddball Comics Live! slide shows.

Need funny cartoons for any and all media? Click here! Scott does commissions!