At the age of 24, he began as a staff artist at the Associated Press, where he worked alongside illustrator Noel Sickles and sports cartoonist Tom Paprocki.

Comics historian Don Markstein noted the transition: Initially, Wunder drew the strip so it was similar to that of Caniff and Sickles, but he soon developed his own distinctive style.

In 1953, Canada Dry offered a "premium giveaway" with a case of its ginger ale — one minibook in a trilogy series of Terry and the Pirates strips by Wunder, printed by Harvey Comics.

At the end of the 1950s, Hotshot Charlie was dropped from the strip, which was drawn and colored in a more sedate manner with careful attention to the airplanes flown by Terry Lee and his friends.

Other artists who stepped in to assist Wunder included Lee Elias, Russ Heath, Fred Kida, Don Sherwood, Frank Springer and Wally Wood.

Wunder regarded the cancellation as a Vietnam War casualty, commenting, "The fighter pilot is no longer the glamorous, reckless defender of the free world against all comers.

"[11][12][13] Wunder died of a heart attack in the New Milford Hospital on Sunday, December 13, 1987, survived by his wife, Mildred, and his sister, Beatrice Bogert of Riverdale, New Jersey.

[3] At age 87, Mildred "Millie" A. Wunder (née Smith), who was known as "Mrs. Terry and the Pirates," died March 1, 2001, in Port St. Lucie, Florida after a short illness.