This is the second page from a
set of 3 done by Doug Wildey as part of a mid ‘60’s Hanna-Barbera pitch for a
live action series. It appears to be a high quality black and white photo stat,
from color marker comps. When I received them I thought the two pages I had
were originals, and a complete set, until I loaned them to Mike Swanigan to use
in a article about Doug in “Toon Magazine” (issue 8, Fall 1995). Mike rejected
my pieces and showed me his full color copies of the same artwork, plus a third
(or first) page from the same sequence. (To be continued)
I received these pages as a gift
from Mr. Wildey himself, though not in person. The story is this: I was a week
or two into my first professional art gig, as a staff storyboard artist at
Ruby-Spears in April 1983 (working on “Rubik’s Cube”, “Mr T.”, and “The Puppy’s
New Adventures”). Doug Wildey and Jack Kirby were both freelancing at
Ruby-Spears and would drop by the offices every week or so. (To be continued)
(This is part 3 of an essay about
my relationship with Doug Wildey.) This is panel 2 from the second page from a
set of 3 done by Doug Wildey as part of a mid ‘60’s Hanna-Barbera pitch for a
live action series.
I was a huge fan of Wildey; my
office mate, Dan Riba (also in his first pro gig upon graduation from the New
York School of Visual Arts, was only aware of Wildey from his animation work,
so I bought in choice samples from my comic collection, specifically “Sojourn
Magazine”, a monthly anthology magazine/newspaper that ran for 2 issues in 1977.
It had strips by Joe Kubert (the publisher), John Severin, Sergio Aragones, Lee
Elias, Dick Giordano and Doug Wildey. (To be continued)
(This is part 4 of an essay about
my relationship with Doug Wildey.) This is panel 3 from the second page from a
set of 3 done by Doug Wildey as part of a mid ‘60’s Hanna-Barbera pitch for a
live action series.
As it happened, Doug stopped by on one of the
days I had it in the office, and I shoved my copies under his face, asking “How
did you DO that?” and why were there only 2 issues, etc. Apparently Doug was
flattered, although he half-jokingly threatened to punch me out for pronouncing
his name incorrectly. (Either it’s a hard “i” or a soft “i”; I still don’t
remember which.) (To be continued)
(This is part 5 of an essay about
my relationship with Doug Wildey.) This is panel 4 from the second page from a
set of 3 done by Doug Wildey as part of a mid ‘60’s Hanna-Barbera pitch for a
live action series.
From what I recall, Wildey was jealous of
Kirby, and got pissy when anybody referred to Kirby as “King”. I didn’t “get”
Kirby until I was in my early 30’s (1990 onward); at the time of my brief
period at Ruby-Spears Kirby was an exotic curiosity. I was impressed more by Kirby's
ability to go right in and execute finished compositions with no under drawing
than by what he actually drew, which was too weird and abstract for my unformed
young brain. So I guess it sort of ticked Doug to meet a fanboy who preferred
him to Jack. (To be continued)
(This is part 6 of an essay about
my relationship with Doug Wildey.) This is panel 5 from the second page from a
set of 3 done by Doug Wildey as part of a mid ‘60’s Hanna-Barbera pitch for a
live action series.
In any case, I was fired a couple
weeks later (I couldn’t actually draw very well). I was able to parlay my brief
experience at Ruby-Spears to picking up freelance board work from Kay Wright at
Hanna-Barbara (Richie Rich, Dukes of Hazard, The Little Rascals). Since the
H&B main lot was across Cahuenga Blvd from Ruby-Spears, I stopped by the
office to chat with my ex- roommate, Dan Riba who was diligently working away
during the lunch break. (To be continued)
(This is part 7 of an essay about
my relationship with Doug Wildey.) This is panel 6 from the second page from a
set of 3 done by Doug Wildey as part of a mid ‘60’s Hanna-Barbera pitch for a
live action series.
Dan pulled me into the Director’s office (John
Dorman), and led me to a stack of artwork leaning up against the wall behind
John’s desk. Apparently, Doug had brought several no-longer-wanted pieces to
give to me, and John had kept them for himself. I thanked Dan and picked
through the stack, taking these two pieces. (I later heard that Dan almost got
fired for this. I’m still amazed at Dan’s bravery and my own callowness in
taking the artwork, therefore putting Dan at risk.) (To be continued)
(This is part 8 of an essay about
my relationship with Doug Wildey.) This is panel 7 from the second page from a
set of 3 done by Doug Wildey as part of a mid ‘60’s Hanna-Barbera pitch for a
live action series.
I can only say thanks to Dan Riba and Doug
Wildey from the bottom of my heart. I’ve spent many hours studying these
pieces, tantalized by their oblique insinuation of some unknown adventure and
the two beautiful leather clad amazons (only years later recognized as Kim
Novak and Jayne Mansfield) doing their Emma Peel riff. (To be continued)
(This is part 9 of an essay about
my relationship with Doug Wildey.) This is panel 8 from the second page from a
set of 3 done by Doug Wildey as part of a mid ‘60’s Hanna-Barbera pitch for a
live action series.
I ran into Doug years later at
the San Diego Comicbook Convention and thanked him for his largess. He showed
me pages from an unpublished science fiction graphic novel he was shopping
around . The pages were done with color markers, as was his “Rio” series for
Eclipse, and starred a beautiful long haired scantily clad blonde, sort of like
“Barbarella” meets “Jonny Quest’. I’ve never seen this project in print; I can
only assume it was rejected because it was too 60’s, too old school in that early
90’s era of “Image”. Hopefully the pages are still in one place and available
for publication (hint hint).
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