He did World War II military service at Naval Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii, where he began with his artistic talent and creative animation career as a cartoonist for the base newspaper.

[5] Because comic book writer and artist credits were not routinely given during this era, the earliest confirmed Wildey works are the two signed pieces in this publisher's Top Secret #9 (June 1949): a one-page house ad and the 10-page adventure story "Queen in Jeopardy", by an unknown writer.

[6] He went on to draw primarily Western stories for Youthful Magazines comics including Buffalo Bill, Gunsmoke (unrelated to the later television series), and Indian Fighter.

[6] Animation historian Ken Quattro favorably describes Wildey's most "noteworthy" Western classic style as the 19-issue Atlas Comics series Outlaw Kid, "his take on the classic Western antihero", in which Wildey had creatively illustrated a three- to four-story arc per comic book issue: In concept, it was typical of all the Stan Lee-created Kids (Colt, Rawhide, Two-Gun, Ringo, etc.).

The Outlaw Kid was a monthly opportunity for Wildey to hone and develop his burgeoning art skills.

Wildey varied his inking from the fine stroke of an etching to the bold use of solid blacks to attain dramatic chiaroscuro effects.

[6] After an Atlas Comics retrenchment in 1957—during which the company mixed a trove of inventory stories by Wildey and many others with new material for about two to three years—Wildey freelanced on a small number of standalone anthology stories for two other publishers: Harvey Comics, in the science fiction/fantasy titles Alarming Tales #3-5 (Jan.-Sept. 1958), and Black Cat Mystic #62 (March 1958), Hi-School Romance #73 (March 1958) and Warfront #34 (Sept. 1958); and DC Comics, in Tales of the Unexpected #33 & 35 (Nov. 1958, March 1959), House of Secrets #17 (Feb.1959), My Greatest Adventure #28 & 32 (November 1958 & June 1959), and House of Mystery #89 (Aug. 1959).

[6] In either 1959[2][4] or 1961[8] (sources vary) he took over the art for writer Leslie Charteris' long-running New York Herald Tribune Syndicate comic strip The Saint.

[9] Two such proposed strips would help provide a character name and some narrative background to Wildey's later animated television series, Jonny Quest.

[10]Following the end of The Saint comic strip in 1962, Wildey found, through an ad in the National Cartoonists Society newsletter, what was initially a one-week[9] television animation job in Los Angeles, California, working under artist Alex Toth on Cambria Productions' 1962 animated series Space Angel.

"[10] The prime-time TV animated series Jonny Quest originally debuted on ABC on September 18, 1964.

And as American comics historian Daniel Herman then wrote: Wildey's designs on Jonny Quest gave the cartoon a distinctive look, with its heavy blacks [i.e. shading and shadow] and its Caniff-inspired characters.

The cast of characters included Jonny's kid sidekick, named Hadji, Jonny's globetrotting and brilliant scientist dad, Dr. Benton Quest and the groups' handsome bodyguard, secret agent Race Bannon, who looks as if he stepped out of the pages of [Caniff's comic strip] Steve Canyon.

The look of Jonny Quest was unlike any other cartoon television show of the time, with its colorful backgrounds, and its focus on the characters with their jet packs, hydrofoils, and lasers.

[6] Most significantly during this time,[13] he collaborated with writer Gaylord DuBois on Gold Key Comics' licensed series Tarzan when that long-running comic, which had been reprinting stories drawn by Russ Manning, began producing new work beginning with issue #179 (September 1968).

[6] Wildey's last original comics work was the painted art for the short 8-page Western tale "The End of the Time of Leinard" by writers Faye Perozich and Harlan Ellison in Dark Horse's Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor Special (January 1995).

[13] In 1971, Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. published a Wildey portfolio, The Movie Cowboy, consisting of around 26 illustrations sized 12x18 inches.

Said historian Quattro, "Wildey had shifted seamlessly between pen and brush, from the finest pen strokes imaginable, to the soft nuances of wash, from the monumental close-up of a grizzled Martin Landau, to the sunny sweetness of 2 women waiting for a stage coach.