Wildey chose a different path from most of the popular comic book artists. For his own reasons, he ignored the super-hero genre and exclusively drew the more realistic, but less fan popular, comics devoted to the themes of war, fantasy, romance and, of course, Westerns. Very few comic artists whose careers developed in this way have become fan favorites.
Another factor is the controversy of his illustrative style itself. When I asked Alex Toth recently about Doug Wildey, he enthusiastically agreed that Wildey is a very under-appreciated artist, but when asked specifically about his photo-realistic style, Toth wrote, "Yes, heavy fotosourcing (sic), which made for trouble trying to keep a consistency to characters, etc- and, thus, detracted from his work!" This sentiment is echoed by writer Ron Goulart, who dismissed Wildey's work on "The Saint" with, "…Doug Wildey took over, producing a stiff, awkward strip with many panels looking as though they'd been from stock photos and Poloroid shots."11 Neither criticism is entirely fair, though. The fact that he used photographs does not condemn him any more than it does most other illustrators from Norman Rockwell forward. While Wildey may have had a difficult time early in his career blending the photo-referenced drawings smoothly into his art, certainly his later work did not suffer that problem. By the 1960's, Wildey had developed a graphic style that was uniquely his alone and completely, artistically consistent.
It is a slippery process, at best, trying to grasp why Wildey never acheived the popularity of many of his contemporaries. Part of the fault lies with Wildey himself and his cavalier insistence that he drew only for the money. But the very quality of his work belies this mercenary attitude that he espoused. Uncomprimising, Wildey, "pretty much drew what he wanted as he wanted," to quote Mark Evanier. He was Clint Eastwood staring down Lee Van Cleef; Gary Cooper waiting on the noon train. Individualism isn't always popular.
Some consolation had to be achieved when he saw his paintings of his beloved West on display in several fine art galleries late in his life. But to much of the public, and to his frustration, his career was defined by the 26 episodes of a 1964 cartoon series.
The final words on Wildey's artistic legacy are best expressed in this excerpt from a recent letter:
This essay is the result of many months of research and the help of a number of contributors. Without their indexing, art collections, information and encouragement, this would never have been possible. My greatest thanks to:
Dick Ayers, Bill Black, Patrick Block, Lyle Blosser, Steve Cohen, Mark Evanier, George Hagenauer, Dave Karlen, Joe Kubert, Don Mangus, Deborah Wildey Marshall, Dean Mullaney, Tom Stone, Alex Toth, Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. & Dr. Michael Vassallo
ENDNOTES
1 National Cartoonists Society Album, pg. 176, (1965).
2 John Weeks, "Wildey Rides Again", Rio at Bay, (Dark Horse Comics, July, 1992).
3"Doug Wildey Interview" (internet version), Amazing Heroes Magazine #95.
4 Amazing Heroes Magazine #95, ibid.
5
James Van Hise,"Doug Wildey Interview" (internet version), Comics
Feature Magazine #30,
(July-August,1984).
6 Amazing Heroes Magazine #95, op. cit.
7 Mark Evanier, "Point of View", Comics Buyer's Guide #1094, (Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Pubs.,November 4, 1994).
8 "About This Issue", West Magazine, (Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times, March 12, 1972).
9 Dave Stevens, "Remembrance of a Friend", Comics Buyer's Guide #1094, (Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Pubs.,November 4, 1994).
10 Stevens, "Remembrance of a Friend", ibid.
11 Ron Goulart, "Comics Museum: The Saint Goes Marching On", Comics Buyer's Guide #1223, (Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Pubs., April 25, 1997).
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
James Van Hise,"Doug Wildey Interview", Part II (internet version), Comics Feature Magazine #31, (September-October, 1984).
Maurice Horn, The World Encyclopedia of Comics (Avon Books, 1977), pgs. 669-700.
Dave Karlen, "The Wildey, Wildey West", APA article.
Comic-Book Superstars, ed. Don Thompson (Iola,Wisconsin: Krause Pubs., 1993), pgs. 233-234.
