The HOG of STEEL

A Complete Bibliography of
Gilbert Shelton's "Wonder Wart-Hog",
from the first grunts in 1962 up to the latest adventures.

Also known as "Wonder Warthog", just because that's the way it's usually spelled, and people don't remember the hyphen.
first story in Bacchanal
The first Wonder Wart-Hog story,
in the Austin Bacchanal.

Back cover of Wonder Wart-Hog Quarterly No. 2
Wonder Wart-Hog at the peak of his powers (1967).

For reasons I can't fathom, there has been no complete source of titles for Gilbert Shelton's remarkable underground comic "Wonder Wart-Hog". Until now. I've been collecting WW stories, in original and reprinted editions, for several years now, and believe I have compiled an (almost) complete bibliography of the stories. I say "almost" because it seems that there were many regional underground weeklies that ran some of the WW stories in the 1970s, and which are almost impossible to track down. I have included all those titles I could find, but I feel certain that there are others. There are also a couple of gaps where I have found references to a WW story in a particular magazine, but was unable to determine exactly which story it was. Or, I have found references to a story title but can't find where it was published. If you have additions or corrections, I'd gladly incorporate them if you'll mail them to me (address at the bottom of the page).

Justification for this madness: The artwork of Gilbert Shelton and Tony Bell in the Drag Cartoons era was a huge influence on my own style. I drew a lot of wart-hog cartoons, in a style shamelessly stolen from these stories, in the late 1960s. Of course, I later recognized the similarity to other classic styles. (I'm sure Gilbert and Tony were as fascinated by John Tenniel's illustrations for "Alice in Wonderland" as I was, or maybe it was Jack Davis in Mad). And the humor (written by Shelton and Joe Brown) was a weird blend of awful puns, shaggy dog plots and sophisticated news references. The combination of that frenetic cross-hatched madness and pun-ridden, slapstick social commentary made a lasting impression on me. I still laugh out loud when I read some of the old stories, and I offer my highest praise to Shelton for his satiric 2004 look at "homeland security", "The Wart-Hog that Came In from the Cold". (Of course, he doesn't have to live with it, lucky bastard, since he lives in France.)

It has been pointed out to me that Shelton wasn't alone in this undertaking. He certainly had a lot of good help: Joe Brown wrote and Tony Bell drew with or for him on many stories. The ones where all three are credited are arguably the pinnacle of WW's career. But it's hard to tell where Gilbert left off and the others began. That 2004 story has the look and feel of the classic stuff, but both Tony and Joe were gone by then. Al Capp got the credit for Frank Frazetta's work on "Li'l Abner", VT Hamlin got credit for Dave Graue's, etc. Though the Austin hippie scene was way different than a commercial art studio and was probably much more collaborative, I'll continue the tradition of crediting Shelton with setting the tone, laying out the stories, developing the style. If you want to immerse yourself in that style, here's your map.

The most complete collection of WW stories is undoubtedly the 2013 volume The Best of Wonder Wart-Hog (Knockabout Ltd, London), so that's the perfect place for the beginner.

I'm not going to spend time making this page eye candy. It's for reference. Please refer to it often. Maybe one day I'll make it a timeline, rather than organized by titles.

-- Vance Bass


First stories
The University of Texas has an illustrious tradition of satirical magazines, as well as of producing noteworthy cartoonists (Shelton, Frank Stack, Berke Brethed, et al.). The Bacchanal and Texas Ranger both featured art by Shelton and gave birth to the fearless, fighting, foulmouthed Hog of Steel.

Bacchanal Mar 1962 "Fearless, Fighting, Foulmouthed Wonder Wart-Hog" (repr in Best of WW Vol. 2)

Bacchanal Apr 1962. "Wonder Wart-Hog Meets Super-Fool" (repr in Texas Ranger and Charlatan)

Mademioselle Aug 1962. "The Heavy Hand of College Humor". (p. 288) (Article opens with the splash page from  the Mar 1962 Bacchanal, with a reduced reproduction of the first panel page. Brief mention of WWH as a parody of Superman.)

Texas Ranger
Sept 1962, "WW meets Super-Hypnotist" (repr in Charlatan v4n3, Help! Feb 64, HOS 2, , Best of WW Vol. 1)

Texas Ranger Oct 1962, "WW meets the Merciless, Menacing Masked Meanie" (repr in HOS 2)
[According to Zap No. 15, the story in this magazine was "WW meets Psuper Psychiatrist", which is incorrect.]

Texas Ranger Nov 1962, "WW meets Super-Patriot" (repr in Charlatan v2n5, Esquire (Sept. 1964), Underground Classics WW Vol 2, Best of WW Vol. 1, U. of Florida Orange Peel (Mar. 1963))

Texas Ranger Dec 1962, "WW Meets the Mob, Chapter 1 (rep in Charlatan v1n2, Best of WW Vol. 1, Underground Classics 5)

Texas Ranger Feb. 1963, "WW Meets the Mob, Chapter 2 (rep in Charlatan v1n3, Best of WW Vol. 1, Underground Classics 5)

Texas Ranger Apr. 1963, "WW Meets the Mob, Chapter 3 (rep in Charlatan v1n4, Best of WW Vol. 1, Underground Classics 5)

Texas Ranger Oct. 1963, "WW Meets Supercop" (rep in Drag Cartoons 45, Best of WW Vol. 1, Underground Classics 7 WW Vol 2)

Charlatan Vol. 1 No. 1 (Sept. 1963), "Fearless, Fighting, Foulmouthed Wonder Wart-Hog” (same story as in Bacchanal, but with different splash page)

Charlatan Vol. 1 No. 4 (Feb. 1964), "Wonder Wart-Hog Meets the Merciless, Masked Meanie!"  (reprinted from Texas Ranger)

Charlatan Vol. 2 No. 1 (Sept. 1964), "Wonder Wart-Hog Meets the Mob!" (reprinted from Texas Ranger)

Charlatan Vol. 2 No. 3 (Dec. 1964), "Wonder Wart-Hog Meets the Mob, Chapter 2" (reprinted from Texas Ranger)

Charlatan Vol. 2 No. 4 (Feb. 1965), "Wonder Wart-Hog Meets the Mob, Chapter 3" (reprinted from Texas Ranger)

Charlatan Vol. 2 No. 5 (Apr. 1965), "WW meets Super-Patriot" (reprinted from Texas Ranger)

Charlatan Vol. 3 No. 2 (Nov. 1965), "The Sublime Adventures of Wonder Wart-Hog and the Return of the Masked
Meanie!" (also in Help! No. 26)

Charlatan Vol. 3 No. 3 (Dec. 1965), "Wonder Wart-Hog Meets Super-Fool" (reprinted from Texas Ranger)

Charlatan Vol. 4 No. 3 (Feb. 1966), "Wonder Wart-Hog Meets Super-Hypnotist!" (reprinted from Texas Ranger)


Harvey Kurtzman's Help!

Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993) was the genius behind Mad magazine and the long-running Playboy feature "Little Annie Fanny", as well as several lesser-known magazines. Among those, Help! was the longest lived, running from 1960 to 1965. Kurtzman was a mentor to many developing artists like Terry Giliiam and R. Crumb, and ran cartoons from college mags around the US. Thus, Wonder Wart-Hog made his first nationally distributed appearance in the pages of Help!

Help! Vol. 2, #4 (#16, Nov 62) "WW Meets Super Fool"

Help! Vol. 2, No.6 (#18, May 63) "WW Meets the Mob"

Help! Vol. 2, No. 8 (#20, Feb, 64) "WW meets Super Hypnotist"

Help! No. 22 (Jan 65) "WW Meets the Merangsters"

Help! No. 23 (Mar 65) "The Wird Ones"

Help! No. 24 (May 65) "Super Granny"

Help! No. 25 (July 65) "WW Goes A-Freedom-Riding!"

Help! No. 26 (Sept 65) "The Return of the Masked Meanie!" (also in Charlatan Vol. 3 No. 2)

Fast-Acting Help! (1961 paperback) "WW meets Super Hypnotist"


Drag Cartoons

Pete Millar was an incredibly prolific cartoonist and publisher, churning out much of the artwork for several magazines during the mid-to-late 1960s. He also used some other top-notch illustrators like Alex Toth and, of course, Gilbert Shelton. The stories in Drag Cartoons represent the largest group published in one place and also show the maturing of Gilbert's style. Surely, working with Tony Bell and Joe E Brown, Jr must have had an influence on this style, but it's clear that the basics were there before and the polish remained after his work with these collaborators.

Millar also produced two issues of the Wonder Wart-Hog Quarterly. There were two because publishing lead times meant that he didn't discover it was a flop until the second issue was already printed. Millar took a huge loss on the magazine, as well as on the even more esoteric Big Daddy Roth magazine. These failures almost bankrupted him, and caused him to sell the rights to Drag Cartoons to his printer and leave the country for a time with his family. Shelton, however, forged ahead with WW in other venues.

No. Date  Title

25 Mar 66 "WW Comes to the Drags!" [first appearance]

26 Apr 66 "WW Constructs a Wheelie-Turnin’ Toronado"

27 May 66 "WW Goes to Viet Nam!"

28 Jun 66 "WW meets the Menace of the Plastic Man"

29 Jul 66 "WW and the Merciless, Menacing Masked Meanie" (repr in HOS 3 and Rip Off No. 22)

30 Aug 66 "WW meets The Granny of Gruntville"

31 Sept 66 "Masked Meanie’s Marine Malfeasance"

32 Oct 66 "WW Meets the Bad Brainbender"

33 Nov 66 "Pie Man’s Funny Car"

34 Dec 66 "WW Meets The Dread Nazi Menace"

35 Jan 67 "WW Goes to Jail" (repr in Best of Drag Cartoons #2)

36 Feb 67 "WW Builds A Dream Car" (repr in Best of WW Vol III)

37 Mar 67 "WW Meets the International Order of Bomb-Flinging Fiends" (repr in Best of WW Vol III)

38 Apr 67 "WW Discovers the Amazing Meanie Fuel" (repr in HOS 3, 49 May 99)

39 May 67 "WW meets the Famous Rushin’ Bear" (repr in HOS 1)

40 June 67 "WW Meets Evil Weevil"

41 July 67 "WW becomes an Ace Photographer"

42 Aug 67 "WW Gets a Flame Suit!"

43 Sept 67 "WW Opens a Concession Stand" (repr in Best of WW Vol III)

44 Oct 67 "WW and the Comet Insurance Man" (repr in Best of WW Vol III)

45 Nov 67 "WW meets Supercop" (orig Ranger 10/63, repr in Best of WW Vol I, Underground Classics 7)

46 Dec 67 "The Year They Blew Christmas" (repr in Best of WW Vol III)

47 Jan 68 "The Name Game" (repr in Racin' Toons 6, Best of WW Vol III)

48 Mar 68 "WW & the Wird Ones!" (orig Help #23, repr in Best of WW Vol III)

49 Apr 68 "WW Meets Pie Man" (last issue)

49 May 99 "WW Discovers the Amazing Meanie Fuel" (note duplicate number; revived Drag Cartoons series from 1999)

Wonder Wart-Hog The Hog of Steel Number One (Millar Publ, 1968)

WW Meets Pie Man

WW Meets the Merciless Menacing Masked Meanie (reprinted a million times)

WW Meets Super Fool (text story)

WW Meets His Maker (repr in Underground Classics WW Vol 2)

WW Visits the Ghetto (also Best of DRAG Cartoons, No. 5, Okay Comics)

Everybody Seems to Be Going Over to Viet Nam! (not the same as "WW Goes To Viet Nam" in Drag Cartoons No. 26!)

WW Goes A-Freedom-Riding! (repr from Help! 25)

The battle of the Titans part I (repr in Battle of the Titans)

Wonder Wart-Hog Magazine Number 2 (Millar Publ, 1968)

WW meets the Mafia (repr in Underground Classics 5)

The amazing disappearing baseball team (text story)

The return of the masked meanie (repr in Not Only the Best of WW Vol. II, HOS3)

Strike fever (repr in Underground Classics 7)

The Parable of Philbert and the Pusher

WW meets the zymotic zookeeper (repr in Hog of Steel Vol 1)

Phibert Desanex's 115th dream (repr in Philbert Desanex's Dreams)

The Advemtires of Philbert Desanex

The Battle of the Titans Part II (repr in Battle of the Titans)

Best of Pete Millar’s Drag Cartoons #1

WW Comes to the Drags!

Best of Pete Millar’s Drag Cartoons #2 (1969)

WW Goes to Jail

Best of DRAG Cartoons, No. 5

WW Visits the Ghetto (also in Wonder Wart-Hog Quarterly #1 and Okay Comics v1n11-12 (Mar 73)

CD-ROM     Pete Millar also collected every WW story he had published on a CD-ROM. This is no longer listed on the Millar Publishing web site, but his daughter told me in mid-2005 that they still had them. Get one now. This is the definitive collection of the Drag Cartoons era WW.

Racin' Toons, No. 6 (Aug. 1971)

"The Name Game" (orig. in Drag Cartoons 47, repr in Best of WW Vol III)
This is a fairly obscure magazine for which Millar did apparently did occasional artwork after he returned from overseas. Issue No. 6 is the only one I have found with WW material.


Other Underground Magazines

Pete Millar's misfortune left Gilbert Shelton looking for an outlet just as the hippie scene began to flourish. Shelton joined Robert Crumb and other pioneers in creating the so-called "underground comix" genre. These were comics that catered to the youthful stoners of the day, with stories about politics, drugs, sex, and Wart-Hogs.
For a while, the ability to break comics taboos was tested with exuberance that often exceeded the bounds of good taste. The low point must surely have been "Wonder Wart-Hog Breaks Up the Muthalode Smut Ring", featuring a brutal sexual assault purporting to be the gag at the end. Luckily, the appeal of that direction wore off quickly, perhaps helped along by the legal troubles caused by the smut ring story. After publishing in Zap for a while, Shelton started Rip-Off (named after the press he co-founded) and continued the WW saga there. Interestingly, the five-part "Battle of the Titans", started in Millar's quarterly, but left dangling after two installments, was finished in Rip-Off and later collected into a separate title.

Zap Comix #3 (1968) "69 Issue". Wonder Blows an Easy One

Zap Comix #4 (1968) WW Breaks Up the Muthalode Smut Ring and Also 'Balls' Lois Lamebrain (This story is so vile that Zap #4 is still banned by Canadian customs for obscenity.)

Zap Comix #5 (1968) WW’s Believe it or Leave It

Zam (Zap Comix Jam) (1974) WW Takes A Brief Sojourn In Outer Space

Zap Comix #15 (2004) The Wart-Hog That Came In From The Cold

Zap Comix #16 (2016) WW and His Faithful Sidekick Chernobyl Chicken, The Gamma-Ray Emitting Avenger (dated 2011) (First printed in The Best of Wonder Wart-Hog, 2013)

Radical America Komiks #1 (1969) "Smiling Sergeant Death meets WW". Publication of Students for a Democratic Society. (Reprinted in OZ Magazine 31. UK, Nov/December 1970, Nurds)

Georgia Straight, Vol.3, No.74 (Sept.10, 1969) "WW meets the Elusive Chimerical Chameleon!" (repr of story in Feds ‘n’ Heads)

Hydrogen Bomb Funnies (1970) "WW and the Invasion of the Pigs from Uranus!" (repr. in Jymy Sarjat, Nasty Tales No. 2, Nurds, Underground Classics 12)

OZ Magazine 31. (UK, Nov/December 1970) "Smiling Sergeant Death meets Wonder Wart-Hog" (repr from Radical America Komiks #1)

Nasty Tales No 2 (UK, Aug 1971) "WW and the Invasion of the Pigs from Uranus!" (repr from Hydrogen Bomb Funnies)

Funnybook #1 (San Francisco, Almighty Publishing Co., 1971) "Hero of the Beach". A one-page throwaway of about the same low quality as as the "Smut Ring" story. A very obscure comik, and deservedly so.

OZ Magazine 41. (UK, April 1972) "WW meets the Elusive Chimerical Chameleon!" (repr of story in Feds ‘n’ Heads)

Okay Comics (vol. 1, no. 11-12, 1973) WW Visits the Ghetto (in two parts. Repr. of story in Best of Drag Cartoons, No 5)

Jymy Sarjat (Number 4, 1973, Finland) WW and the Pigs from Uranus (repr from Hydrogen Bomb Funnies and Underground Classics 12), but translated into Finnish

Winnipeg "Rag" No. 1, May 1979. "WW and the Nurds of November" (This seems to be the first appearance of this story. Also repr. in Nurds collection (1980) and as a comic in 1988.)

Rip-Off #1 "WW Goes on Welfare!" (1977) (repr in Nurds)

Rip-Off #2 "Epidemic" (1977) (repr in Nurds)

Rip-Off #3 "Return from the Planet of the Pigs" (1978) (repr in Nurds, HOS 2)

Rip-Off #4 "Sudden Death" (1978) (repr in Nurds)

Rip-Off #5 "The Famous Superheroes School" (1978) (repr in Nurds, HOS 3)

Rip-Off #8 "Battle of the Titans Part 1" (1984) (repr as book)

Rip-Off #9 "Battle of the Titans Part 2" (1984) (repr as book)

Rip-Off #10 "Battle of the Titans Part 3" (1984) (repr as book)

Rip-Off #11 "Battle of the Titans Part 4" (1984) (repr as book)

Rip-Off #12 "Battle of the Titans Part 5" (1984) (repr as book)

Rip-Off #13 unknown WW story (comic was advertised but never published)

Rip-Off #22 "WW and the merciless menacing Masked Meanie" (1989) (repr from Drag Cartoons No. 29)

Fox River Patriot No. 71 (Wisconsin; Denis Kitchen’s alt weekly, 1979) unknown WW story

Drag Racing Online "WW Runs at Indy" (Vol III, No 7, 2001) http://www.dragracingonline.com/toc_iii_7.html (repr from Nurds)


Books and Comik Collections

Wonder Wart-Hog, Captain Crud & Other Super Stuff (1967) "WW meets Super Patriot" and "WW Meets the Mob" (both reprinted from Texas Ranger)

Feds ‘n’ Heads (1968) "WW Meets The Elusive, Chimerical Chameleon!" (repr in Georgia Straight)

Not Only the Best of Wonder Wart-Hog Vol. I (1961-1963) (The Print Mint, 1973) early stories from Texas Ranger

WW Meets the Merciless Menacing Masked Meanie

WW Meets The Mob: Chapters 1, 2 and 3

WW Meets The Super-Patriot

WW Meets The Super-Hypnotist

WW Meets Supercop

Not Only the Best of Wonder Wart-Hog Vol. II (The Print Mint, 1975) stories from Help! and Drag Cartoons

Fearless, Fighting, Foul-Mouthed Wonder Wart-Hog (1962 origin story)

WW Meets Super-Fool

WW Goes a-Freedom-Riding

WW Encounters Super Granny

WW and the Return of the Masked Meanie

WW and the Merciless, Menacing Masked Meanie

The Adventures of Philbert Desanex

WW Meets the Merangsters

Not Only the Best of Wonder Wart-Hog Vol. III (The Print Mint, 1973)

The Wird Ones

The Year They Blew Christmas

WW and the Comet Insurance Man

WW Opens a Concession Stand

WW Builds a Dream Car

WW Meets the International Order of Bomb-Flinging Fiends

The Name Game

WW and the Nurds of November. Gilbert Shelton's Exciting Cartoon Novel of Election-Year Politics, International Nuclear Terror, Professional Football, Science Fiction, Motorcycle and Auto Racing, Pestilence, Famine, Economic Collapse and Romantic Love (1980) 216 pp.

Escape from Planet Squootpeep (repr. in HOS1)

Wonder Goes on Welfare

Epidemic

Return from Planet of the Pigs

Sudden Death

Philbert Gets a Job

Philbert's 99,998th Dream

The Famous Superheroes School

Philbert's 99,999th Dream

Wonder Wart-Hog Runs at Indy (index reads "Philbert Runs at Indy")

A Day in the Life

Philbert's 100,000th Dream

The Nurds of November (repr. as a comic in 1988)

The Pigs of Uranus (repr from Hydrogen Bomb Funnies)

Smiling Sergeant Death meets Wonder Wart-Hog (repr. from Radical Amerika Komiks #1)

WW and the Battle of the Titans (1985)

Parts 1-5

Underground Classics 5 WW Vol 1 (1988)

Fearless, Fighting, Foul-Mouthed Wonder Wart-Hog (1962 origin story)

WW Meets the Mob (chapters I, II and III)

WW Meets the Mafia

WW Encounters Super Granny

The Adventures of Philbert Desanex

Underground Classics 7 WW Vol 2 (1988)

WW Meets Super-Fool

WW Meets Super-Patriot

WW Meets Supercop

WW Meets His Maker

Strike Fever

Underground Classics 12 "Gilbert Shelton in 3D"

WW and the Pigs from Uranus (reprinted from Hydrogen Bomb Funnies)

Wonder Wart-Hog and the Nurds of November (1988)

Philbert Desanex’ Dreams (1993)

Hog of Steel Vol 1 (1995)

Escape from the Planet Squootpeep

WW Meets the Zymotic Zookeeper

WW Meets the Famous Rushin’ Bear

Hog of Steel Vol 2 (1995)

Return from the Planet of the Pigs

WW Meets Super-Hypnotist

WW Meets the Merciless, Menacing Masked Meanie

Hog of Steel Vol 3 (1995)

The Famous Superheroes School

Return of the Masked Meanie

WW and the Merciless, Menacing Masked Meanie

WW Discovers the Amazing Meanie Fuel

The Best of Wonder Wart-Hog (2013)
The most complete compendium of WW stories to date. It contains almost every WW story every printed, as well as a couple with unknown previous publication. Also includes a color section with the stories from Zap Comix #15 and #16 ("From the Cold" and "Chernobyl Chicken") and various comic covers.

Fearless, Fighting, Foul-Mouthed Wonder Wart-Hog

WW Meets the Merciless, Menacing Masked Meanie

WW Meets Super-Hypnotist

WW and the Return of the Masked Meanie

The Wird Ones

WW Goes A-Freedom Riding!

WW Meets the Merangsters

WW and the Merciless, Menacing Masked Meanie

WW Goes to Jail!

WW Builds a Dream Car

WW Opens a Concession Stand

WW and the Comet Insurance Man

WW Meets Supercop!

The Year They Blew Christmas

WW Meets Pie Man

WW Meets His Maker

WW Visits the Ghetto

WW Meets the Mafia

Strike Fever

WW Meets the Zymotic Zookeeper

Philbert Desanex 115th Dream

The Adventures of Philbert Desanex

The Battle of the Titans

The Battle of the Titans Part 2, The Death of WW

WW Meets the Elusive, Chimerical Chameleon

WW and the Invasion of the Pigs from Uranus!

The Parable of Philbert and the Pusher

The Wart-Hog that Came in from the Cold

WW and His Faithful Sidekick Chernobyl Chicken

WW Meets Super-Fool

WW Encounters Super Granny

WW Meets Super-Patriot

WW Goes on Welfare!

Epidemic

Return From the Planet of the Pigs

Sudden Death

WW and the Famous Superheroes School

Philbert Desanex' 100,000th Dream

Escape from the Planet Squootpeep!

Philbert Gets a Job

Philbert Desanex' 99,998th Dream

Philbert Desanex' 99,999th Dream

WW Runs at Indy

A Day in the Life of Philbert Desanex

WW and the Nurds of November

Millenium Fever

Philbert Buys a Television

WW Breaks Up the Muthalode Smut Ring

WW's Believe It or Leave It!

Wonder Blows and Easy One

Philbert and the Street Entertainer


Unknown venues

Philbert Buys A Television (1989) Original publication unknown. Reprinted in The Best of Wonder Wart-Hog (2013).

Millenium Fever (1999)
Original publication in English unknown. Digital images found on TexasGhetto.com (now defunct). Appeared in French in "L'Echo des Savanes Special An 2000" in late 1999. Reprinted in The Best of Wonder Wart-Hog (2013).

"[I]nternational weekly syndication in the mid-to-late 1970s." (Foreword to "Philbert Desenex’ Dreams".)

"Wonder Wart-Hog Saves the Day", reportedly in "Big Daddy Roth" magazine, but that mag never ran a WW story. The title hasn't surfaced elsewhere, though.



Updated 18 June 2018. Contents copyright 2005-18 by Vance Bass (vrbass a t nmia dt com). To be used for personal enjoyment and education only. Wonder Wart-Hog and the images presented here are, of course, the creation and property of Gilbert Shelton and Rip-Off Press.
Big thanks
to Guy at IITravel, Alan J. Thill, Michel Faber and Kookie for additional information!