“Joker Comics” Powerhouse Pepper Page 1 splash artwork by Basil Wolverton (Timely Comics-CIRCA 1946 & Humorama-CIRCA 1950)

(Timely Comics-CIRCA 1946 & Humorama-CIRCA 1950) In the book, "Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper" as edited by Dick Voll, he states the following: "The Pepper strip was the artist's magnum opus for comics, and the zany little runt battled his way through more than 60 episodes in Timely Comics humor titles. From 1942 through 1948, he appeared in JOKER, GAY, TESSIE THE TYPIST, MILLIE THE MODEL, RUSTY, and five issues of his own POWERHOUSE PEPPER. The first issue of the PEPPER comic book was published in 1943, but the last four issues all came out during 1948." Dick Voll continues by saying: "The 11 episodes in [Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper] were intended for but never published in the color comics format. They were finished during the 1949-1952 period, and they are the last of the 76 Pepper stories Wolverton created." Many of these stories have appeared (in black & white) in various humor magazines like HUMORAMA over the years. This rare PUBLISHED splash page is one of these final Powerhouse Pepper stories that Dick Voll speaks about, and is an exceptional example of Wolverton's memorable and trademark character, Powerhouse Pepper. “1-OF-ONLY-3” surviving “PAGE 1 SPLASHES” from WOLVERTON’S POWERHOUSE PEPPER. It should be noted that the other 2-"POWERHOUSE PEPPER" PAGE 1 SPLASHES are still part of “COMPLETE STORIES” and since they are “BOTH” in “BLACK HOLE” Collections that likely will “NEVER” be $old or even broken-up, this “SPECIFIC” BASIL WOLVERTON "POWERHOUSE PEPPER" PAGE 1 SPLASH from TIMELY’S JOKER COMICS is “THE ONLY SUCH EXAMPLE THAT WILL EVER BE MADE AVAILABLE”. (Basil Wolverton: 7/9/09 to 12/31/78)