Jackpot Comics was the name of an American anthology comic book magazine series published by MLJ Magazines Inc. , more commonly known as MLJ Comics, for nine issues between Spring 1941 and Spring 1943. It featured new stories of a number of characters previously seen in other MLJ publications.
34-621: Jackpot Comics was published by MLJ Magazines Inc., the precursor to what would become the publisher Archie Comics. It featured a number of MLJ's existing characters from their other titles, Blue Ribbon Comics , Top-Notch Comics and Pep Comics : Steel Sterling written by Joe Blair and drawn by Irv Novick , Black Hood , Mr Justice by Joe Blair and Sam Cooper and Sergeant Boyle by Charles Biro . Each issue contained at least one one-page text story of either Steel Sterling or Black Hood, and sometimes both, to satisfy U.S. Postal Service requirements for magazine rates; all comic books did this through
68-471: A Blue Ribbon Comics checklist over various issues of the comic's run, and Bill Dubay , with art by Trevor Von Eeden and Alex Niño in issue #2 (Dec. 1983). An origin for Steel Sterling followed, in issue #3 (Dec. 1983), leading into a backup feature in another Archie title, The Shield . There were also two new stories of The Fly and Flygirl , featuring Jaguar , by writers Rich Buckler and Stan Timmons, with art by Trevor Von Eeden in #4 (Jan. 1984), and
102-464: A war feature drawn by Charles Biro , about a U.S. soldier stranded in France when World War II breaks out was in every issue but the first. As all comic books did through the early 1960s, to satisfy U.S. Postal Service requirements for magazine rates, Blue Ribbon Comics also contained text stories, sometimes about characters from the comics features, such as the titular cowboy Buck Stacey. With
136-409: A Dog" in #8–9, all by Joe Edwards , and "Porkchops" in #9. With issue #10 (Summer 1943), Jackpot Comics changed its title to Jolly Jingles and also changed focus: Instead of being a "best of" anthology of the company's characters, it was now an anthology of original talking animal characters. Issue #10 introduced Super Duck , the company's longest-lasting talking animal character. The series
170-499: A two-part Fox story by Buckler and Timmons, with art by Dick Ayers and Tony DeZuniga , in #6–7 (March–April 1984). A revival of Black Hood by Gray Morrow took up issue #8 (May 1984). As well as revivals of MLJ/Archie inventory characters, volume two introduced the underwater adventures of "Agents of Atantis" in #9 (June 1984). On the letters page of issue #10 (July 1984), Buckler signaled another editorial change, to "more lighthearted stories", with more Simon/Kirby reprints from
204-525: A variety of Archie superheroes. Reprints including Joe Simon and Jack Kirby stories from Adventures of the Fly #1–2 (Aug–Sept. 1959), and Simon/Kirby Lancelot Strong: Shield stories primarily from The Double Life of Private Strong #1 (June 1959). However, the second volume largely comprised new stories of previous MLJ/Archie characters: a Mr. Justice origin story by writers Robin Snyder, who also provided
238-711: Is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II . Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began including stories of wartime adventures in the multi-genre omnibus titles then popular as a format. Even prior to the U.S. involvement in World War II after the attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii , comic books such as Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) depicted superheroes fighting Adolf Hitler and
272-591: The Green Falcon , a medieval adventurer whose feature was drawn by one of very few women then working in the comics, Ramone Patenaude (#4–15). Two long-running features were "Loop Logan, Air Ace", about an American pilot in WWII prior to U.S. involvement (#4–20), and "Ty-Gor, Son of the Jungle", drawn by Mort Meskin , about a jungle boy taken to America (#4–20). The first superhero introduced to Blue Ribbon Comics
306-559: The Harry "A" Chesler studio, wrote and drew a number of one off-humor strips in the first issue: "Hold That Line", "Ima Slooth", "Foxy Grandpa" and "King Kole's Kourt." Issue #2 (Dec. 1940) had his "Knight Off". He additionally provided two "Crime on the Run" strips, subtitled "True Stories of Crime", in #1 and #3, and "Devils of the Deep", a two-part adventure in #2–3. Will Eisner , future creator of
340-576: The Nazis . Golden Age publisher Quality Comics debuted its title Blackhawk in 1944; the title was published more or less continuously until the mid-1980s. In the post-World War II era, comic books devoted solely to war stories began appearing and gained popularity in the United States and Canada through the 1950s, the 1960s, and 1970s, i.e. covering the time periods of the Korean War and
374-596: The Spirit , produced a single humor strip, "Boodini the Great" in issue #1. By issue #4, however, MLJ replaced the humor strips with more adventure and crime stories, and introduced fantasy - adventure characters such as the mythological Hercules in modern-day America (#4–8); the Doc Savage -like Doc Strong by Sam Cooper, set on a desolate Earth 100 years in the future soon after World War II had ended (#4–12); and
SECTION 10
#1732787481925408-645: The Vietnam War . The titles tended to concentrate on US military events, generally in World War II , the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Most publishers produced anthologies ; industry giant DC Comics ' war comics included such long-running titles as All-American Men of War , Our Army at War , Our Fighting Forces , and Star Spangled War Stories . Another prolific publisher of war comics
442-666: The Web and the Jaguar. A "next-issue" box in #14 announced that a planned but ultimately unpublished issue #15 would feature a sword-and sorcery adventure, "The Cat Queen", featuring Catgirl by writer Paul Kupperberg and artist Pat Boyette . The series by then had been canceled, along with the rest of the Archie Adventure Comics" line. St. John Publications produced six issues of an umbrella series, Blue Ribbon comics, that featured highly disparate contents each issue. It
476-627: The science-fiction feature "Dan Hastings" (#1–2), crime , short humor fillers, and adventure tales such as, from issue #1, "Burk of the Briny" in #1 and Cliff Thorndyke's African adventure "Village of Missing Men". " Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog ", the tales of an intelligent dog in the Rin Tin Tin vein, written by Joe Blair and primarily drawn by Ed Smalle, was the only feature to appear in every issue. Another, "Corporal Collins, Infantryman",
510-580: The 1980s, following publication of over 100 issues, include: New titles were still appearing, however – notable among these being Marvel's the 'Nam , which debuted in 1987 and was based during the first year on writer Doug Murray 's actual Vietnam experiences (through the eyes of fictional character Ed Marks). Murray was surprised that his proposal for a Vietnam-war themed comic was accepted during this period: "I never expected anything to come of it because war books were already pretty much dead at that point in 1985." Another notable war comic focused on Vietnam
544-449: The DC line. These recurring characters began as regular "guests" of anthology titles such as Our Army at War and later graduated to their own titles. By the late 1980s, a great number of venerable war titles (most of which were either anthologies or else World War II-themed titles) from the late 1950s and 1960s " Silver Age of Comic Books " died out. War comics series that ended long runs in
578-778: The Flame-Breather , originally a supporting character seen in Steel Sterling tales in Pep Comics , was given his own feature by writer Blair and artist Paul Reinman (#13–19). The patriotically themed Captain Flag , created by Blair and artist Lin Streeter in #16 (Sept. 1941), completed the Blue Ribbon Comics superhero cluster. Mr. Justice was the cover feature from his debut in #9 (Feb. 1941), then shared
612-476: The cover with Captain Flag from #16–18, and took over from #19 (Dec. 1941) until the end of the title's run. Blue Ribbon Comics #21 (Feb. 1942) introduced a new direction, advertising on the cover 'new sensational true life features' , with an inside-front cover editorial explaining the title would now mix superhero and adventure stories with real-life tales: 'Just as many thrills, just as much red-blooded reading pleasure' . The last two issues had features on
646-520: The early 1950s) depicted the horrors of war realistically and in great detail, exposing what editor Harvey Kurtzman saw as the truth about war without idealizing it. (The mid-1960s black-and-white comics magazine Blazing Combat , produced by Warren Publishing , was similarly devoted to authentically drawn and researched combat stories with a self-professed anti-war slant.) Around 1959, several recurring characters began to appear in mainstream comic lines, including Sgt. Rock and The Haunted Tank in
680-509: The early 1960s Adventures of the Fly , followed by a reprint in issue #11 (August 1984) of a Black Hood story from Archie Superhero Special Digest Magazine #2 (Aug. 1979), originally written for the unpublished Black Hood #1. The story had already been reprinted in JC Comics #1 (1981). John Carbonaro appears to have bought the work from Archie to publish in JC, then paid Archie to reprint
714-561: The early 1960s. The Sergeant Boyle stories in the first two issues also featured Corporal Collins, who had his own series, "Corporal Collins, Infantryman", in Blue Ribbon Comics at the same time. The series was edited by Harry Shorten . Beginning with issue #4 (Winter 1941/2) Jackpot also featured Archie and his gang, written and drawn by Bob Montana . Archie's stories in Jackpot Comics are notable for featuring
SECTION 20
#1732787481925748-546: The exception of a reprinted Little Nemo newspaper comic strip story by Winsor McCay in #1, all stories in the comic were new. Reader participation was encouraged; in issue #3 (Jan. 1940) MLJ offered $ 5 for the prize letter of the month and $ 1 for 10 runners-up, and issue #4 (June 1940) introduced the Rang-a-Tang Club , boasting its own registered veterinarian to answer questions on dog health and training. Future Plastic Man creator Jack Cole , then working for
782-428: The final issue, the talking-animal feature "Dinky", starring Dinky Duck . In the 2000s came two issues of a fan publication, Blue Ribbon Fanzine (Nov. 2005 & March 2006), published by Mike Bromberg and dedicated to Blue Ribbon Comics . These reprinted selected Mr. Justice, Captain Flag and Fox stories from the 1940s MLJ Blue Ribbon Comics that were then in the public domain . War comics War comics
816-520: The first appearance of his friend Reggie Mantle ; originally named 'Scotty' in #5 (Spring 1942), and then Reggie in #6 (Summer 1942). From issue #5, the Steel Sterling supporting characters Clancey and Looney had their own humor strip for two issues, while later issues featured other humor strips: "Senor Siesta" by Don Dean in issue #7 (Autumn 1942), "Cubby the Bear" in #8 and "It Shouldn't Happen to
850-689: The first published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc. , commonly known as MLJ Comics, from 1939 to 1942, during the Golden Age of Comic Books . The revival was the second comic published in the 1980s by Archie Comics under the Red Circle and Archie Adventure Series banners. Blue Ribbon Comics was also the title of an unrelated six-issue comic book series published in 1948–1949 by St. John Publications . The first series of Blue Ribbon Comics #1–22 (Nov. 1939 – March 1942)
884-432: The imprint, initially directed at the "direct-sales market" of comic-book stores, repositioned to newsstand distribution and changed the imprint name to Archie Adventure Series , which Archie Comics had used for its superhero line in the 1960s. Concurrently, the printing format changed from glossy Baxter paper to standard comics print. Blue Ribbon Comics vol. 2 published a combination of new and reprinted work featuring
918-647: The life of Galileo , Leonardo da Vinci , and Beethoven , and a tale about malaria in Cuba . Incongruously, MLJ also introduced a short horror story feature, "Tales from the Witches Cauldron" (#20–22) at this time. Despite the change of direction, Blue Ribbon Comics ended with issue #22 (March 1942). The second series to carry the Blue Ribbon Comics name was initially published by the Archie Comics imprint Red Circle Comics. It ran for 14 issues cover-dated November 1983 to December 1984. After four issues,
952-602: The tale in Archie/Red Circle Comics. Characters from other publishing companies were featured in the following issues: First came Tower Comics ' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in #12 (Sept. 1984), with art by Steve Ditko on a back-up story starring NoMan , one of the Agents. Martin L. Greim 's company-hopping Thunderbunny starred in #13 (Oct. 1984), in a story also featuring Archie Comics' Mighty Crusaders superhero team. The last issue, #14 (Nov. 1984), teamed
986-524: Was Charlton Comics , which produced a wide variety of titles beginning in the 1950s, such as Battlefield Action , Fightin' Army , and Fightin' Marines . Quality also began publishing G.I. Combat during this era. Marvel Comics also produced war titles, notably Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos . In contrast to the typical glamorizing approach of most war titles, the EC Comics titles Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales (produced in
1020-555: Was Don Lomax 's Vietnam Journal , published by Apple Comics from 1987 to 1991. Also from Marvel in the 1980s was the toy tie-in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero which focused on a fictional counter-terrorist team in a contemporary setting, and a limited run of Tales of the Marine Corps , similar in tone and style to Charlton's Fightin' line of war anthologies. Black and white anthology stories were popular in Britain in
1054-419: Was a 64-page anthology comic published by MLJ Magazines Inc., commonly known as MLJ Comics, the precursor to what would become the publisher Archie Comics . Issues #9–18 and #22 were cover-titled Blue Ribbon Mystery Comics . The series was edited by Harry Shorten . The first title published by MLJ, Blue Ribbon Comics initially ran a mixture of content, in the manner of most early comic books. These included
Jackpot Comics - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-552: Was canceled with #16 (Winter 1944–1945), and Super Duck was given his own title. It has not been revived since. However, in August 2009 Michael Uslan announced that five one-off comics reviving the Archie-as-superhero 'Pureheart' concept would be released in 2010, one of those titles being Jackpot Comics . Blue Ribbon Comics Blue Ribbon Comics is the name of two American comic book anthology series,
1122-721: Was in the two-issue feature " Bob Phantom , the Scourge of the Underground" (#2–3), with early work by artist Irv Novick . Bob Phantom moved to Pep Comics and was shortly followed by the Fox (#4–22), a costumed adventure hero created by writer Joe Blair and artist Irwin Hasen who would return during the 1960s in several Archie comics series. Next was Mr. Justice (#9–22), a ghostly superhero also created by writer Blair although mainly scripted by Charles Biro with artist Sam Cooper. Inferno
1156-404: Was published from late 1948 to mid-1949, with only issue #4–5 given cover dates (June & Aug. 1949) but postal indicia given as February to August 1949. The series starred the movie studio Terry Toons ' talking animal characters Heckle and Jeckle in issues #1 & 3; the romance -themed Diary Secrets in issues #2, 4 & 5 (the last two fully titled Teen-Age Diary Secrets ), and, in
#924075