Editor’s note: Karen Berger shared her own personal reminiscence of Tatjana Wood with The Beat – scroll down to read it.
Per a statement by Karen Berger, veteran comics artist and colorist Tatjana Wood passed away last month. She was 99 years old. Wood was DC’s foremost colorist during the 1970s and 1980s, coloring most of the company’s cover art during that period. Her interior credits included Saga of the Swamp Thing, Grant Morrison & Chas Truog‘s Animal Man run, Sgt. Rock, The Question, Vigilante, Camelot 3000, and Wonder Woman.
Wood was born Tatjana Weintraub in Darmstadt, Germany, on March 2, 1926. Her father was Jewish, and her mother was a Christian. She and her brother, Karl Joachim Weintraub, attended an international Quaker boarding school in the Netherlands during the Second World War. Afterwards, the Quakers arranged for the two to travel to New York City, where Tatjana attended the Traphagen School of Fashion. She met cartoonist Wally Wood in 1949, and the pair married the following year.
She made her comic book debut at EC Comics in the 1950s, with uncredited contributions to her husband’s artwork. Wood began working as a colorist for DC in 1969, three years after divorcing her husband, and was soon honored with the Shazam Award for Best Colorist in 1971 and 1974. She succeeded Jack Adler as the company’s cover colorist in 1973, and continued in this role until 1983, when those duties were split between her and Anthony Tollin. Tollin took over the superhero covers, while Wood continued to work on the western, war, and horror titles.
She contributed to books from the company’s Vertigo and Helix imprints, including Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse, before retiring in 2003 with the Green Arrow/Green Lantern crossover “Black Circle: Urban Knights.” She was also a professional dressmaker and tapestry weaver, who worked on costumes for the theater. Her sole credit for Marvel came in 1981, with the crossover special Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk.
Derf Backderf was among those who paid tribute to her, saying, “You know her work, whether you realize it or not. An important talent. Having just stumbled through a rudimentary coloring job, her astonishing work only increases in my eyes.”
Phil Hester, who worked with Wood on 1994’s Swamp Thing #149, said, “[She] is as important to Swamp Thing lore as any writer or artist. One of the highest honors of my career was to be colored by her for my time on that title. How she must have thought the comics world collapsed to go from Bernie [Wrightson] to me.”
Graeme McMillan commented Wood’s “colors on things like Morrison/Truog’s Animal Man, [Walt] Simonson‘s Orion, the [Dennis] O’Neil/[Denys] Cowan Question, and the [Alan] Moore/[Stephen] Bissette/everyone else Swamp Thing left its marks on me when I was young and impressionable. A major, unsung comics legend.”
Jeff Parker states, “Wood colored so many of my favorite comics over decades, making impressive choices with the small palette choices available then. [She had] a long and creative life.” Alex Jaffe said, “Comic writing had Alan Moore; comic pencils had Will Eisner; comic lettering has Todd Klein; comic coloring had her.”
Heidi MacDonald: I worked with Tatjana on a story or two when I was at Vertigo, but definitely on a Swamp Thing story….so to say I got to work with Tatjana Wood on a Swamp Thing story is a career highlight kind of thing. As everyone has mentioned, she had a thick, raspy voice and accent, which was mesmerizing as she sat in my office telling me stories. A few times she even mentioned “Wallace.” I wish I remembered more of what we talked about but if the specifics dim, her presence doesn’t. She was a one of a kind legend, who turned primitive coloring methods into art. I wish she’d done a career spanning interview or written a book about craft or left more of her wisdom behind, but the art and her inspiring presence are enough.
Karen Berger: There were very few women in comics when I first started working at DC. I was so lucky that Tatjana Wood was one of them.
I was fortunate to become friends with her– she was like a cool, Bohemian aunt. She had jet-black hair, brilliant blue eyes, wore colorful printed caftan tunics and eclectic jewelry. She was upbeat but low key, exuding a calmness and positivity. Yet Tatjana always spoke her mind, in her inimitable, raspy German accent. She had a great sense of humor.
We lived near each other on the Upper West Side, and I’d often ferry her color guides back and forth to the office. She was a night owl and if she had a tight deadline, she’d drop off guides at my tiny apartment before I went to work. Sometimes I’d hang out with her at her smoke-filled, roomy fifth story rent-controlled walk-up, where we’d eat chocolates and clementines over easy conversation. She was a dressmaker and weaver when she was younger and had a massive loom in one of her rooms.
Looking at Tatjana’s color guides was something special, especially on Swamp Thing, her tour-de force. I learned a lot about the art of color storytelling from her. I also learned a lot about life.
We remained friends long after we both parted ways from DC, and I always appreciated that.
Rest peacefully, my friend, and may your memory be a blessing.
