home

Wally Wood on being denied writing money
Patrick Ford 7 August 2016 Mark Evanier interviews Wally Wood who describes his freelance working relationship with Stan Lee. WALLY WOOD: I enjoyed working with Stan on DAREDEVIL but for one thing. I had to make up the whole story. He was being paid for writing and I was being paid for drawing but he didn't have any ideas. I'd go in for a plotting session and we'd just stare at each other until I came up with a storyline. I felt that I was writing the book but not being paid for writing. MARK EVANIER: You did write one issue, as I recall... WW: One, yes. I persuaded him to let me write one by myself since I was doing 99% of the writing already. I wrote it, handed it in and he said it was hopeless. He said he'd have to rewrite it all and write the next issue himself. Well, I said I couldn't contribute to the storyline unless I got paid something for writing and Stan said he'd look into it, but after that he only had inking for me. Bob Powell was suddenly pencilling DAREDEVIL. I complained about not being paid for writing and suddenly I was inking Powell but I managed to talk him into letting me write one. ME: And Powell did layouts on the issue you wrote... WW: Well, I wrote out an outline. I remember that. I wanted to show I was really writing it so I wrote out this outline. One of the guys I was working with at the time, maybe it was Adkins or Ralph Reese helped me on it, and I don't remember why Stan gave it to Powell. You say he laid it out? ME: That's what the credits said. WW: I don't remember that but if you say so. I guess Stan Lee couldn't stand having me do the whole thing. I do remember that that was his way of dealing with me asking for writing money if I was pencilling. He had me ink other guys who didn't want to share the writing money. He said it was because the book was going monthly and he didn't think I could pencil and ink both but I think it was just because I wasn't going to write the book for nothing. Actually I wouldn't have minded if their page rate for pencils hadn't been so awful. ME: You inked Don Heck on AVENGERS and a few other strips, then you left. WW: Yes, I believe I got the offer from Harry Shorten and Sam Schwartz over at Tower. I had these characters I'd been developing and I'd shown them to Harry and that was what eventually turned into THUNDER Agents. The money was just as bad over there but when I wrote a story, they paid me for it instead of making me ink other guys. There are times when I'd rather ink than pencil but that wasn't one of those times. ME: So you wanted to write and pencil? WW: Yes. I got to do some of that for Tower. But remember that issue of DAREDEVIL I wrote? Stan said it was hopeless and that he'd have to rewrite the whole thing. Then I saw it when it came out and he'd changed five words, less than an editor usually changes. I think that was the last straw.

home