Basil Wolverton (1909-1978) lived in Vancouver, Washington. Described by some as a comedian, in his earlier years he engaged in vaudeville and radio work, but he is best known as an illustrator of comic book material which had a very distinctive and sinister look to much of it. The illustration work of Basil Wolverton appeared in many commercial publications such as MAD magazine, but this work gave way to his religious calling. Basil Wolverton was one of the earliest ordained ministers of Herbert W. Armstrong's Radio Church of God who published adapted parts of the Bible as a comic book story line in The Plain Truth magazine.
Commercial artist
1936-1955
Although Basil Wolverton tried to sell his first comic strip at the age of 20, it was not until several years later in 1938 that he had his first major success with Spacehawk, which appeared in Circus comics. This same comic was later revived by another publisher during World War II when his character switched from fighting space aliens to Adolf Hitler's Nazis.
His big break came in 1946 when he won a contest to illustrate Lena the Hyena who was a horrific character invented by Al Capp in his Li'l Abner newspaper strip. This illustration also appeared on the front cover of LIFE magazine. This drawing featured the introduction of his own unique "Spaghetti and Meatball" style, which he then used in almost every illustration that followed.
Minister
1955-1978
The second phase of Basil Wolverton's life was devoted to being an ordained minister in Herbert W. Armstrong's Radio Church of God. He was first baptised and became a member in 1941 and he was ordained as an elder in 1943. In 1946 when the Radio Church of God (named after the original title of their radio program which was later retitled The World Tomorrow), moved its original headquarters from the state of Oregon to the state of California, Basil Wolverton was one of the six people (which included Armstrong and his wife), who reincorporated the church in that state. However, it was not until the middle of the 1950s that Wolverton decided to devote more of his attention to illustrating the horrors depicted by Herbert W. Armstrong.
Because Armstrong built his entire organization around two cycles of 19 years each, everything that the (later renamed) Worldwide Church of God) taught, was of great urgency. It was a message warning of what was to come, not a message to gain converts.
What was to come in the mind of Herbert W. Armstrong was horrific to say the least. The second and final time cycle was set to expire in 1972 and what followed after that was to be World War III involving the destruction of both the USA and UK by a United States of Europe. To illustrate the key booklet that Armstrong offered free of charge on The World Tomorrow radio program about all of this, he turned to Basil Wolverton. In turn, Wolverton turned the 1956 Armstrong booklet called 1975 in Prophecy, into a series of horrific illustrations depicting the Great Tribulation of the biblical book of Revelation.
The work of Basil Wolverton also appeared in The Plain Truth magazine published by Ambassador College on behalf of the Worldwide Church of God. The magazine began to serialize The Bible Story which was both written and illustrated by Basil Wolverton. It covered six volumes from Genesis to Samuel and The Bible Story was later republished by Ambassador College in soft cover book form. Wolverton's drawings all contained the same "spaghetti and meatballs" treatment that made his work distinctive.
External sources
- [1] http://www.cgca.net/pabco/1975pro.htm A web site reproduction of the original 1956 British edition of 1975 in Prophecy complete with text and original illustrations by Basil Wolverton.
- [2] http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/wolverton01.htm Monty Wolverton, son of Basil Wolverton is also an illustrator. He has placed on line several of the drawings by his father from the 1956 booklet 1975 in Prophecy, although Monty has taken the liberty of adding color to the originals which were first published in black and white.
- [3] http://www.quango.net/ekklesia/1946wcg.htm The 1946 Articles of Incorporation signed by Basil Wolverton to establish the Radio Church of God in the state of California.
Last updated: 05-03-2005 02:30:17
