Wood Chips 21: Planet Stories
Illustrator Alexander Leydenfrost (1888-1961) painted the cover for the Spring 1942 issue of
Planet Stories, and the teenage Wally Wood copied that alien's head into an unfinished page (see above). Leydenfrost's creature was resuscitated a decade later by Maurice Whitman for
Planet Comics #67. This was a comparison I wanted to get into
Against the Grain, but somehow it was overlooked. We later managed to squeeze it into
The Wallace Wood Checklist. Notice that both Whitman and Wood straightened the head up rather than looking down as in the Leydenfrost original.
Wood eventually became a contributor to
Planet Stories with the 1953-54 illustrations below.
"War Drums of Mercury Lost" Planet Stories (January 1953)
"The Un-Reconstructed Woman" Planet Stories (September 1953)
"Color Blind" Planet Stories (Summer 1954)
Labels: leydenfrost, planet comics, planet stories, wood, wood chips