Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978)
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Archived
from the original on February 21, 2019. was an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary an ...

and illustrator known for his intricately detailed

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

s of bizarre or misshapen people. Wolverton was described as "Producer of Preposterous Pictures of Peculiar People who Prowl this Perplexing Planet." His many publishers included

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

and '' Mad'' magazine. His drawings have elicited a wide range of reactions. Cartoonist

Will Elder William Elder (born Wolf William Eisenberg; September 22, 1921 – May 15, 2008) was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art but is best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped ...

said he found Wolverton's technique "outrageously inventive, defying every conventional standard yet upholding a very unusual sense of humor. He was a refreshing original." But

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North ...

stated, "I don't like his work. I think it's ugly." He was posthumously inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1991.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Central Point, Oregon, he later moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and worked as a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

performer and a cartoonist and reporter for the ''Portland News''. At age 16 he sold his first nationally published work and began pitching comic strips to newspaper syndicates. His comic strip, ''Marco of Mars,'' was accepted by the Independent Syndicate of New York in 1929 but never distributed because it was deemed too similar to ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

,'' which debuted that year. ''Disk-Eyes the Detective'' and ''Spacehawks'' were published in 1938 in ''Circus'' comics. In 1940, ''

Spacehawk Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978)
at the

Target Comics'' , published by

Novelty Press Novelty Press (a.k.a. Premium Service Co., Inc.; a.k.a. Novelty Publications; a.k.a. Premier Group) was an American Golden Age comic-book publisher that operated from 1940 to 1949. It was the comic book imprint of Curtis Publishing Company, publ ...

. It ran for 30 episodes (262 pages) until 1942. Other Wolverton characters include Scoop Scuttle, a newspaperman who ran as a backup feature in

Lev Gleason Publications Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and '' Boy Comics''. Backg ...

' ''Daredevil Comics'' and ''Silver Streak Comics''; and Mystic Moot and his Magic Snoot in

Fawcett Publications Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett (1885–1940). It kicked off with the publication of the bawdy humor magazine ''Captain Billy's Whiz B ...

' ''Comic Comics'' and ''Ibis The Invincible''. "Bingbang Buster and his Horse Hedy" was a three-page backup story in Lev Gleason's ''Black Diamond Western'' #16–28 (1950–1952).

Powerhouse Pepper and Lena the Hyena

Wolverton's humor feature '' Powerhouse Pepper'', about a superstrong if none-too-bright boxer, appeared in various comic books published by

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

, the 1930s and 1940s precursor of

, from 1942 through 1952. The strip was characterized by alliterative, rhyming dialogue,

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characterist ...

and throwaway gags in background. The Timely titles, such as '' Joker Comics'', ''Gay Comics'' and '' Tessie the Typist'', debuted a number of his spin-off characters and features, including Flap Flipflop, The Flying Flash (who later appeared in

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

' ''Jack in the Box'' #13), Leanbean Green, "Cartoon Crime Mystery" featuring Inspector Hector the Crime Detector, Doc Rockblock, "Picture Poems about Peculiar People", "Funny Boners", Dauntless Dawson, "Hothead Hotel", "Bedtime Bunk", "Foolish Faces" and more. Five issues of a '' Powerhouse Pepper'' comic book were released in 1943 and 1948 by Timely, but not all the covers were by Wolverton and many interior pages were also not devoted to Wolverton strips. In 1946, Wolverton won a contest to depict "Lena the Hyena", the world's ugliest woman, a running gag in

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (w ...

's ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn b ...

'' newspaper strip where Lena remained unseen beneath an editorial note stating her face had been covered to protect readers. Capp, responding to popular demand, announced a contest for artists to submit their interpretations. Among 500,000 entries, Wolverton's was the winner;Lee, Stan. ''Secrets Behind the Comics'' (Famous Enterprises, 1947), p. 81. it appeared in a ''Li'l Abner'' daily and ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine. Wolverton's fame briefly led to ''Life'' and '' Pageant'' printing his caricatures. The Lena portrait typified the unique "spaghetti-and-meatballs school of design" style he employed regularly thereafter. In the 1950s, Wolverton produced 17 comic-book

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction ** Korean horror, Korean horror fiction *Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing on ...

and science-fiction stories for Marvel and other comic-book publishers, including one story by author

Daniel Keyes Daniel Keyes (August 9, 1927 – June 15, 2014) was an American writer who wrote the novel '' Flowers for Algernon''. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000. Biography Early li ...

, which led to him being "hailed for creating uniquely grotesque monsters". Among these tales were "The Brain Bats of Venus" for '' Mister Mystery'' #7 and "Where Monsters Dwell" in Marvel's ''

Adventures into Terror An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'' #7, the title of which was later used for a 1970s Marvel reprint series.

''Mad''

Wolverton first appeared in '' Mad'' with a single panel in #10, drew ''Mad Reader!'' for #11 and also contributed an iconic Lena-like image to the cover of #11, which was billed as the "Beautiful Girl of the Month". Although Wolverton contributed sporadically to the title—appearing in just nine issues over two decades—his work was memorable enough that, in 2009, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' dubbed him "The Michelangelo of Mad Magazine". E.C.'s other humor title, ''Panic'', edited by

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine '' Mad''. After retiring from ''Mad' ...

(who later became ''Mads editor for 30 years) also used Wolverton's art on a ''Panic'' cover, though publisher William M. Gaines was not a fan of Wolverton's work. Other humor magazines from other companies such as ''

Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...

'', ''From Here to Insanity'' and ''Cockeyed'' also featured Wolverton's work, as did an issue of ''Ballyhoo''.

Later career

In 1968, Wolverton did the ''Ugly Posters'' series of

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...

s for

Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, an ...

, displaying his trademark twisted headshots. In 1973, he returned to mainstream comics, illustrating several covers for

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of '' Mad'' and the vice president of DC Comics, w ...

's satiric '' Plop!'' at

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

. ''

Comix Book ''Comix Book'' is an underground comic book series published from 1974 to 1976, originally by Marvel Comics. It was the first comic of this type to be published by a mainstream publisher. Edited by Denis Kitchen, ''Comix Book'' featured work by su ...

'', a joint production of

and

Denis Kitchen Denis Kitchen (born August 27, 1946) is an Americans, American underground comix, underground cartoonist, publisher, author, agent, and the founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Early life Kitchen grew up in Wisconsin, attending William ...

Kitchen Sink Press Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hard ...

, featured two strips by Wolverton, "Calvin" and "Weird Creatures".

Personal life

In 1934, Wolverton married his Vancouver High School classmate Honor Lovette (class of 1927). They remained married until his death. Wolverton was baptized into

Herbert W. Armstrong Herbert W. Armstrong (July 31, 1892 – January 16, 1986) was an American evangelist who founded the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). An early pioneer of radio and television evangelism, Armstrong preached what he claimed was the comprehensive c ...

Radio Church of God Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

in 1941 and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

as an elder in 1943. As a board member of that church, he was one of the six people, including Armstrong and his wife, who reincorporated the church in 1946 when it moved from its original headquarters in Oregon to California. Wolverton died on December 31, 1978, at age 69. Wolverton's son, editorial cartoonist

Monte Wolverton Monte Wolverton (1948, Vancouver, Washington) is an American editorial cartoonist who is best known for his satiric pages in '' Mad'', his ''Weekly Wolvertoon'' website and his contributions as associate editor of ''The Plain Truth''. Biography ...

, has worked for ''The Plain Truth'' and contributed to ''Mad''.

Bibliography

Books

Books by Wolverton or collecting his work include: * ''The Bible Story'' (1961) * ''Wolvertoons: The Art of Basil Wolverton'' (1990) () * ''Wolverton in Space'' (1997) () * ''Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper'' (2001) () * ''The Basil Wolverton Reader Vol.1'' (2003) () * ''The Basil Wolverton Reader Vol.2'' (2004) () * ''Basil Wolverton: Agony & Ecstasy'' (2007) () (reprints from ''The Bible Story'') * ''The Original Art of Basil Wolverton'' (2007) () * ''The Wolverton Bible'' (2009) () * ''The Culture Corner'' (2010) () * ''Spacehawk'' (2012) () * ''Creeping Death from Neptune: The Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton Vol. 1'' (2014) () * ''Brain Bats of Venus: The Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton Vol. 2'' (2019) () * ''Scoop Scuttle and His Pals: The Crackpot Comics of Basil Wolverton'' (2021) ()

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolverton, Basil 1909 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American artists American comics artists People from Vancouver, Washington Churches of God Christians Golden Age comics creators Mad (magazine) cartoonists People from Central Point, Oregon Vaudeville performers Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees EC Comics