[1] Saunders was born in Minot, North Dakota, but his earliest memories were from the family's homestead near Bemidji in northern Minnesota where he and his parents lived in a one-room cabin.

[1][2] He recalled moving north at age seven, to Roseau County on the Canada–US border, where his father was a game warden and a touring Presbyterian minister.

"[1] Saunders' career was launched when his contributions to Captain Billy's Whiz Bang resulted in a job with Fawcett Publications, where he was employed from 1928 to 1934.

He explained in 1983 the events that led to his arrival at Fawcett's offices in Robbinsdale, Minnesota: I was hitchhiking, got into this Model-T Ford with a big trunk strapped up and these two guys in front.

I took a streetcar ride to the end of the line, and there was a two-story bank there and a big sign: "Robbinsdale, the home of Fawcett Publications."

[3]He left Fawcett to become a freelance pulp artist, moved to New York City and studied under Harvey Dunn at the Grand Central School of Art.

[1] During World War II, Saunders served with the Military Police overseeing German prisoners.

[4] Product developer Len Brown, inspired by Wally Wood's cover for EC Comics' Weird Science #16, pitched the idea to art director Woody Gelman.