 Ward returned to the United States and freelanced his illustrations . In 1929 , he came across German artist Otto Nückel 's wordless novel Destiny ( 1926 ) in New York City . The work inspired Ward to create a wordless novel of his own , Gods ' Man ( 1929 ) , which he followed with Madman 's Drum ( 1930 ) and Wild Pilgrimage ( 1932 ) . In December 1931 , Ward and McNeer were among the nine cofounders of Equinox Cooperative Press , dedicated to a hands @-@ on approach to bookmaking . 
