Wallace Wood: Against the Grain, part 39 In 1959, having contributed to every issue of Mad published during the 1950s, Wood accepted an assignment to illustrate several juvenile books for the Bobbs-Merrill Company in Indianapolis. After ten years as a professional, he suddenly found his work being scrutinized by an art director who was highly critical of his layouts, perspective, proportions and research details. The result was a frustrating and maddening series of revisions and replacement illustrations that went on for several months as Wood attempted to satisfy each new demand. Some drawings were returned with blue pencil marks or tracing overlays showing the “correct” way. “He didn’t particularly enjoy those books,” Tatjana remembered. “He would have to make sketches, and then this committee would have to approve them. With the comics, he’d go in, pick up the job, go home and do it. There were endless corrections and different suggestions, and he just did not like to work that way. I clearly remember that he did those and said, ‘Never again.’ With Wallace that didn’t always mean ‘never again,’ but he certainly didn’t enjoy it.”  ¶ 12:56 AM