Wearne's artistic talents were identified at school and he was encouraged to attend the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts.

Aged 17, he created a comic as an art project, lifting the title and story from Jack Williamson's The Legion of Space, which was largely unknown at the time. Wearne secured its publication in 1943 in collaboration with Henry Edward Hoffmann, an import agent in Adelaide who saw potential in comics and created the first Australian comic publishing company outside Sydney/Melbourne. Wearne introduce Hoffmann to two classmates, Max Judd and Doug Maxted, who went on to create the majority of Hoffman's line of comics.

Although still underage, Wearne decided to join the RAAF, hoping to becoming a pilot. He created a second comic The Space Legionnaires, continuing to adapt Williamson's story. The comic was published around November before Wearne was called up in mid-December 1943.

Wearne failed at flying school and was transferred to a clerical role. He brought legal action against Hoffmann for ownership of The Space Legionnaires. Hoffmann found Wearne difficult and quickly released all rights.

Wearne was released from the RAAF in October 1945. He undertook a range of jobs, travelling between Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

In 1946, Wearne sold the The Legion of Space to Ezra Norton at Invincible Press. Four issues were published, but Wearne had no original concepts and his plagiarism was exposed when Williamson’s Legion of Space was published as a paperback in 1947.

Following the demise of his comics career after just six issues, Wearne lived an increasingly colourful life. Daniel Best reports:

"...He was accused of theft, he set up businesses and consorted with criminals, he contested a divorce that saw the presiding magistrate seek advice from the Federal Attorney General and launched a one-man crusade against Scientology, resulting in the religion being banned in Victoria. He was intelligent, egotistical and subversive, the former kept him one step ahead of people, and the latter two traits saw him classed as a crackpot by ASIO. He crossed paths with spies, the mental health industry and publishing…and along the way he rarely looked back."