''Jackpot Comics'' was the name of an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

anthology

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

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.

Publication history

''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 ''Top-Notch Comics'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. From issue #28 it was re-titled ...

'' and ''

Pep Comics ''Pep Comics'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc. (commonly known as MLJ Comics) during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. The titl ...

'': Steel Sterling written by Joe Blair and drawn by

Irv Novick Irving Novick (; April 11, 1916 – October 15, 2004) was an American comics artist who worked almost continuously from 1939 until the 1990s. Career A graduate of the National Academy of Design, Irv Novick got his start in the workshop of Harry " ...

Black Hood The Black Hood is a fictional character created by MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The Black Hood first appeared in ''Top-Notch Comics #9'', October 1940 and became one of MLJ ...

, Mr Justice by Joe Blair and Sam Cooper and Sergeant Boyle by

Charles Biro Charles Biro (May 12, 1911 – March 4, 1972) was an American comic book creator and cartoonist. He is today chiefly known for creating the comic book characters Airboy and Steel Sterling, and for his work at Lev Gleason Publications on '' Dared ...

. 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 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.''Jackpot Comics'', MLJ imprint, 1941 Series
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

. The series was edited by

Harry Shorten Harry Shorten (1914–1991) was an American writer, editor, and book publisher best known for the Comic strip syndication, syndicated gag cartoon ''There Oughta Be a Law!'', as well as his work with Archie Comics, and his long association with Arch ...

. Beginning with issue #4 (Winter 1941/2) ''Jackpot'' also featured Archie and his gang, written and drawn by

Bob Montana Robert William Montana (October 23, 1920 – January 4, 1975) was an American comic strip artist who created the original likenesses for characters published by Archie Comics and in the newspaper strip '' Archie''. Early life He was born in Sto ...

. Archie's stories in ''Jackpot Comics'' are notable for featuring the first appearance of his friend

Reggie Mantle Reginald "Reggie" Mantle is a fictional teenager in stories published by Archie Comics; he is introduced by writer-artist Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in ''Jackpot Comics'' #5 (cover-dated Spring 1942). He also appears in CW's '' Riverdale' ...

; 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 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 A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...

characters. Issue #10 introduced Super Duck, the company's longest-lasting talking animal character. The series 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 Michael E. Uslan (; born June 2, 1951) is an American lawyer and film producer. Uslan has also dabbled in writing and teaching, he is known for being the first instructor to teach an accredited course on comic book folklore at any university. Ear ...

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''.'Michael Uslan to script Pureheart the Powerful for Archie Comics' '', Archie Publications website August 3, 2009

Footnotes

References

* Overstreet,Robert M., ed. ''Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide'', 38th Edition (Gemstone Publishing, 2008) * Thompson, Maggie, Brent Frankenhoff and Peter Bickford, eds. ''Comic Buyer's Guide Standard Catalog of Comic Books'' (Krause Publications, 2008)

External sources

Covers to all nine issues of ''Jackpot Comics''
{{Archie Comics titles Comics magazines published in the United States Golden Age comics titles Archie Comics titles 1941 comics debuts 1943 comics endings Magazines established in 1941 Magazines disestablished in 1943 Defunct American comics Quarterly magazines published in the United States Magazines published in New York (state) Magazines about comics