In 1929, Ward was inspired to create a wordless novel of his own after he came across German artist Otto Nückel's "Destiny" (1926). The first American wordless novel, was published by Smith & Cape that October, the week before the Wall Street Crash of 1929; over the next four years, it sold more than 20,000 copies. He made five more such works: "Madman's Drum" (1930), "Wild Pilgrimage" (1932), "Prelude to a Million Years" (1933), "Song Without Words" (1936), and "Vertigo" (1937).