Famous for his inimitable grotesqueries and his alliterative humor, Basil Wolverton sold his first cartoons at the Vancouver, Washington Farmers' Market. He was 11 at the time. After an early vaudeville career and several near-misses with newspaper strips, he sold his first stories to America's Humor in 1926. In 1938, he began comic-book work for Globe with Spacehawks' and 'Disk-Eyes' in Circus. This fat little book of classic, one-of-a-kind Basil Wolverton material collects all kinds of stories and strips.'

The complete collection of Wolverton's legendary costumed crusader. Basil Wolverton is one of the greatest, most idiosyncratic talents in comic book history. Though he is best known for his humorous grotesqueries in MAD magazine, it is his science-fiction character Spacehawk that Wolverton fans have most often demanded be collected. The wait is over, as The Complete Spacehawk features every story from Spacehawk’s intergalactic debut in 1940 to his final, Nazi-crushing adventure in 1942. Spacehawk is the closest thing to a colorfully-costumed, conventional action hero Wolverton ever created, yet the strip is infused with Wolverton’s quintessential weirdness: controlled, organic artwork of strangely repulsive aliens and monsters and bizarre planets, and stories of gruesome retribution that bring to mind Wolverton’s peer, Fletcher Hanks. Spacehawk had no secret identity, no fixed base of operations beyond his spaceship, and no sidekicks or love interests. He had but one mission in life: to protect the innocent throughout the Solar System, and to punish the guilty. He was a dark ― yet much more visually playful ― counterpart to Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

This is the first in a two-volume retrospective―collecting full comics stories, unpublished art, ads, etc.―and biography of the famous Mad cartoonist. This is the first of two volumes reprinting copious amounts of comics stories and recounting the career of cartoonist Basil Wolverton. Based on his correspondence and journals, the biographical portion of the books follow Wolverton from childhood to adult day-to-day life as freelance cartoonist, itinerant handyman, persistent contest enterer, and local pastor of the Radio Church of God. Wolverton lived and worked in the Pacific Northwest, unique among the first generation of comic book pioneers. In the precious period before the industry calcified into a commercial institution, Wolverton was free to work under the radar to explore in detail his weird tales of the future. The book collects all of Wolverton’s non-humorous comic stories and a substantial selection of his humorous comics, alongside dozens of pages of unpublished artwork, unsold features, and never-before-seen correspondence, including rejection letters!

This volume continues Sadowski’s biography of the famed Mad cartoonist. It includes scores of letters between Wolverton and his editors and publishers and excerpts from his personal diaries, providing documentary insight not only into Wolverton’s day-to-day life and career, but also the inner workings of the early comic book industry. It is also chock full of Wolverton’s comics stories from this period, including 17 science-fiction and horror tales fully restored and never before collected in a single volume.

In this rip-roaring retrospective, Basil Wolverton’s often warped imagination combines with his outlandishly wacky visual humor to fascinate and delight It collects the ultra-rare treasures Scoop Scuttle, Mystic Moot, Bingbang Buster, and Jumpin’ Jupiter — as they’ve never been seen before! Due to the rock-bottom printing methods of 10¢ comic books, Wolverton’s intricate line work was routinely obscured, and often obliterated. In this collection, every effort has been made to restore the art to its original splendor, and to at last present the uniquely detailed graphics of this justly revered comic book master.

A massive collection of never-before-collected pre-Comics Code horror comics of the 1950s. Of the myriad genres comic books ventured into during its golden age, none was as controversial as or came at a greater cost than horror; the public outrage it incited almost destroyed the entire industry. Yet before the watchdog groups and Congress could intercede, horror books were flying off the newsstands. During its peak period (1951–54) over fifty titles appeared each month. Apparently there was something perversely irresistible about these graphic excursions into our dark side, and Four Color Fear collects the finest of these into a single robust volume.

By Basil Wolverton $11.95 / Softcover 104 pages / black and white / 8" x 11" Eleven "Powerhouse Pepper" strips, three "Supersonic Sammy" stories, and one "Hot-head Hotel" make up the meat of this marvelous tome - a worthwhile wad of Wolverton (early Mad, Marvel monster comics, Plop, Spacehawk, "Lena the Hyena" in Li'l Abner) wit we're sure you'll want to welcome (with a wail), whisk up, weep over, wince over, whinny and whoop over. See Supersonic Sammy save Stalin. Wonder at Wolverton's wanton winds of wisdom, alliteration antics and able artistry. Peer piously by as polite Powerhouse Pepper pounces into peril, pounding his piston-packing punches passionately 'pon noses, necks, napes, nostrils, navels, noggins and knees, all with a chuckle, a wink, and a grin. All 15 strips are rare, rendered well, never collected together in book form, classics one and all (without fail). Take it from us, these are bar none the funniest Wolverton workouts you'll come across in any millennium. Heave 'em home to have and hold - you'll be pleased you paid, partner!

Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien, Predator, The Matrix - part of the appeal of great science fiction is its distinctive look. Now, withZap! How to Draw Fantastic Sci-Fi Comics,artists everywhere can learn to create their own sci-fi realities and to draw space heroes and heroines, intergalactic villains, robots, spaceships, blasting rockets, slimy aliens, and much more. A history of science-fiction comics is followed by an overview of the genre illustrated by the masters, including Alex Raymond (creator of Flash Gordon), Wally Wood (who shaped the look of 1950s sci-fi), and Basil Wolverton (whose bizarre art launched a thousand mid-century sci-fi stories). Then readers turn to Bryan Baugh’s clear, detailed step-by-step instruction on how to draw dynamic cosmic action figures plus all the futuristic technology they can dream up. Perfect for artists, fans, even writers,Zap! How to Draw Fantastic Sci-Fi Comicslets the art of the future spring from the art of the past.

The hilarious spaghetti-and-meatball style caricature art of Basil Wolverton has been a huge influence on such art luminaries as Robert Crumb, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Robert Williams, and Drew Friedman. This publication of represents the very first time that the work of one of comicdom's major legacies is presented in a fine art tome. The entire book is photographed in full color from the original artwork. The majority of the work has never been published before. Includes essays by Glenn Bray, Basil's son and an artist, Monte Wolverton, and art writer Doug Harvey.

The enduring cultural phenomenon of comic book heroes was invented in the late 1930s by a talented and hungry group of artists and writers barely out of their teens, flying by the seat of their pants to create something new, exciting, and above all profitable. The iconography and mythology they created flourishes to this day in comic books, video, movies, fine art, advertising, and practically all other media. Supermen! collects the best and the brightest of this first generation, including Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Fletcher Hanks, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Basil Wolverton.