New York City taxidermy collector Garth Carson was seconds away from snagging the greatest find of his career—the original Pipsqueak the Nutty Nut, stuffed-squirrel puppet star of his favorite 1950s kiddie TV show—until a biker, a brawny redhead, and a murder derailed his dreams and stole his squirrel. Now Garth would do anything to get Pipsqueak back. Unfortunately, so would someone else. When Garth and his gal, Angie, two of New York’s most unlikely sleuths, enter a wacky, rollicking underworld of club-goers, jive cult members, and at least one very violent Pipsqueak aficionado, Garth’s black-sheep crime-prone brother joins the fray, sure that there’s more to this squirrel than old fur and a pair of glass eyes. Suddenly Garth is starting to get a clue: The puppet star of one old-time TV show is leading him straight into the heart of a loopy cult, a retro rage, and a diabolical conspiracy to first control Pipsqueak—then the world.

Bursting with a cornucopia of gorgeous artwork and photos, this second of two volumes of the Eisner Award–nominated The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood also features the vivid personal recollections of the friends, colleagues, and assistants who knew him best. The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood Volume 2 completes this revealing, intimate portrait of the brilliant but troubled maverick comics creator (EC Comics, Mad, Daredevil, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, witzend, The Justice Society of America, The Wizard King). Contributors include Larry Hama, John Workman, Trina Robbins, Paul Krassner, Flo Steinberg, Tom Sutton, Bill Pearson, and Paul Levitz. Professor Ben Saunders reveals the meticulous handcrafted wizardry that made Wood’s most famous story, “My World” possible. A special tribute gallery includes artwork by Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Dave Sim, Drew Friedman, and others. Introduction by Eisner Award–winning writer/artist Ed Piskor.

Cartoonist Wallace Wood created and published his own magazine ― witzend. Witzend immediately became a venue for personal work, without regard to commercial constraints and with contributors like Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, Gray Morrow, and Reed Crandall. (And that was just the first issue!) In later issues, Steve Ditko, Art Spiegelman, Vaughn Bodé, Jim Steranko, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Howard Chaykin, Bernie Wrightson ― and dozens more ― joined in.