Some of the worst "horror" films of all time are attributed to Ed Wood, Jr. While some may disagree, I would surmise it is a very small--but vocal--percentage. With promising titles like BRIDE OF THE GORILLA, NIGHT OF THE GHOULS and, yes, ORGY OF THE DEAD, the viewer will end up finding them all, in a word, amateurish. Still, these very same films can easily be otherwise categorized as "so bad, they're good". And that, folks, sums up the conundrum of Wood's cinematic oeuvre. Love 'em or hate 'em, they have garnered a true cult following over the years, to say nothing about the man himself.
In 1993, Kitchen Sink Press issued a 36-card, shrink-wrapped set called THE ED WOOD, JR. PLAYERS CARDS. Each standard-size "trading" card has an image of one of the actors or actresses who were in his films. The card back contains text information about each person's career and which Wood movie(s) they appeared in. The complete set is considered rare by some dealers.
The artwork is drawn by underground cartoonist Drew Friedman. Like Robert Crumb, Friedman also found mainstream success and is highly regarded for his spot-on caricatures that have just a touch of the odd to them.
In a 2017 interview with THE COMICS JOURNAL, Friedman quipped that his style wouldn't be of interest to "people who find warts, pimples, wrinkles, flop-sweat, jowls, boils, rosacea, nose hairs, ear hairs, drool, baggy eyes, gin blossoms, moles, liver spots, neck waddles, nasal labia folds, crinkles, furrows, creases, puss, pustules, bumps, lumps, yellowing and/or rotting teeth, missing teeth, gums, dentures, saliva, double chins, triple chins, blotches, scars, lumps, zits, five o'clock shadows, folds, bulbous noses, craters, chapped lips, man-boobs, goiters, pock marks, whiteheads, blackheads, rashes, nose leakages, emasculations, calluses, scabs, balding/bald heads, nodules, freckles, protuberances, welts, carbuncles, papules, festers, and Shemp distasteful," adding, "Liver spots are my Ninas [a reference to [an inside nod to Al Hirschfeld]."
Friedman sites, among others, Mort Drucker, Jack Davis and Al Hirschfeld as influences. After reading the above, I'd have to add Basil Wolverton without the geometric facial features!
Here are the first 12 cards of the series:
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