Button 052: Famous Cartoonist Basil Wolverton (Spacehawk, Lena the Hyena)

Famous Cartoonist Button 52

Basil Wolverton began in the "Golden Age" of comic books doing features like "Powerhouse Pepper" and "Spacehawk" in the 1940s. His first headline came in 1948 when cartoonist Al Capp held a contest in his popular "Li'l Abner" strip, challenging readers to submit rendering of "Lena the Hyena," the world's ugliest woman. The highly publicized contest inspired tens of thousands of submissions. Capp persuaded fellow celebrities Boris Karloff, Frank Sinatra and Salvador Dali to help him judge the contest. Basil Wolverton won. He subsequently worked for comic magazines ranging from Mad to Plop! to Comix Book. He self-published a pamphlet called Barflyze. Late in his career he worked on an ambitious and eccentric project illustrating The Holy Bible.

Pinback Jack issued this "Famous Cartoonist Series" of self-portrait buttons back in 1975. All of the participating cartoonists were alive and created self-portraits specifically for this button set. With very few exceptions, the images have not appeared elsewhere in print. The buttons were distributed by Krupp Comic Works and Phil Seuling. This set was originally announced as 52 buttons, and the alphabetical numbering reflects that. However, two artists (Neal Adams and Rick Meyerowitz) turned in their self-portraits late, after the first 52 had already been designed. They were included in the set, but numbered 53 and 54 respectively, out of alphabetical sequence. Steve Krupp's Curio Shoppe is now the exclusive source of the remaining limited inventory.

All the color buttons in this set are metal with clear celluloid covers, are 2.25 inches in diameter, and have "safety" pinbacks. This button is listed for sale as an individual, but we do offer the complete set as well.