Doug's work became increasingly influenced by cinema, which helped
give his drawing a unique quality not often seen in comic books.
He all but left comics by 1960, choosing instead to work on various
comic strips, including THE SAINT and STRETCH BANNON.
Wildey's cinematic style would serve him well in the work he
is perhaps best remembered for - his creation of the action/adventure
cartoon JONNY QUEST. Wildey would later bring in his former boss,
artist Alex Toth (creator of SPACE GHOST, among others), to help
with the groundbreaking series.
Following the success of JONNY QUEST, Wildey would work on a
number of animated shows, including THE SUBMARINER, IRON MAN,
and THE FANTASTIC FOUR in the late 60's, and later shows such
as GODZILLA in the 70's. He would pop in and out of comics on
occasion, doing work for Gold Key (the best of which is arguably
Doug's work on TARZAN), then going
on to do a host of war comics for DC under editor/artist, Joe
Kubert. Perhaps Wildey's crowning achievement in the comics medium
was his work on the cowboy tale RIO for ECLIPSE. In RIO, Doug
finally had a chance to show the comics' world his true artistic
muscle.
Sadly, Doug passed away in 1994 due to heart failure. His work
is vastly underappreciated in the comics' world, and I hope that,
someday, he will be remembered as the great artist that he truly
was.
If you would like to find out more about Doug Wildey and his
work, please visit "The Forgotten Art of Doug Wildey":
http://www.comicartville.com/wildeypg1.htm
