''The Adventures of Smilin' Jack'' is an aviation
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
that first appeared October 1, 1933, in the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' and ended April 1, 1973.
After a run of 40 years, it was the longest-running aviation comic strip. The strip was created by 27-year-old cartoonist and aviation enthusiast
Zack Mosley
Zack Terrell Mosley (December 12, 1906 - December 21, 1993) was an American comic strip artist best known for the aviation adventures in his long-running ''The Adventures of Smilin' Jack'' which ran in more than 300 newspapers from 1933 to 1973. ...
, who had previously worked on the ''
Buck Rogers
Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...
'' and ''
Skyroads'' strips. Mosley was a member of organizations that indicate his avid aviation research for his strip: Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Aviation-Space Writers Association,
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
, B.P.O. Elks, Silver Wings Society, OX-5 Club, and the Quiet Birdmen Fraternity for many years. On September 18, 1976, he was inducted into the Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary-USAF Hall of Honor.
[Mosley, Jill ''Smilin' Jack'']
/ref>
Smilin' Jack was originally Mack Martin, in ''On the Wing'', but ''Chicago Tribune'' editor Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson (January 6, 1879 – May 26, 1946) was an American journalist, publisher and founder of the '' Daily News'' in New York. At the time of his death the ''Daily News'' maintained a Sunday circulation of 4.5 million copi ...
did not like the original title, so on December 31, 1933, the name was changed to Jack Martin, and the strip was retitled ''The Adventures of Smilin' Jack'' after its creator, who had been nicknamed "Smilin' Zack" by his colleagues. In later years it was simply known as ''Smilin' Jack''. Zack Mosley's assistant during the 1930s and early 1940s was Boody Rogers
Gordon G. Rogers (September 8, 1904, Hobart, Oklahoma – February 6, 1996), better known as Boody Rogers, was an American comic strip and comic book cartoonist who created the superhero parody ''Sparky Watts''.
Born in Hobart, Oklahoma, Rogers a ...
. Smilin' Jack's appearance was based on that of notable air racing star Roscoe Turner
Roscoe Turner (September 29, 1895 – June 23, 1970) was a record-breaking American aviator who was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and widely recognized by his flamboyant style and his pet, Gilmore the Lion.
Early life ...
.
The Sunday page had a topper strip, originally called ''Air Facts''. This later became ''Smilin' Jack Cut-Outs'', a paper doll feature, and then ''Smilin' Jack's Flyin' Facts''.
Characters and story
''Smilin' Jack'' developed an extremely colorful and imaginative band of supporting characters through its lengthy run, including the handsome Downwind Jaxon; Fat Stuff, a humorous Hawaiian character; hillbilly mechanic Rufus Jimpson; glamorous air hostess Dixie Lee; and eventually Jack Jr., plus various romantic interests, referred to by Mosley as "de-icers". Villains included The Claw, Toemain the Terrible, The Head and his sister, The Mongoose.
Many supporting characters were drawn with distinctive visual devices. The corpulent Fat Stuff had buttons popping off his tight-fitting shirt, never explaining how the buttons magically regenerated from one panel to the next. Mosley sometimes drew a chicken in one corner of the panel, eating buttons as they flew off.[
Even more distinctive was Smilin' Jack's handsome sidekick and co-pilot Downwind, whose face drove women wild with passion. Downwind's features remain a mystery; he was invariably drawn with his head in three-quarters rear view so that his face was averted from the reader. This visual device sometimes became contrived, as when a villain stood in front of Downwind aiming a weapon at him: the co-pilot would still be looking back over his shoulder, as if something more interesting was happening behind him.
]
Derived works
Comic books
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
published the series in comic book anthology titles from 1936 and collected them in ''Smilin' Jack'' comic books from 1940.
Radio
The ''Smilin' Jack'' radio series was broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...
from February 13 to May 19, 1939, with aviator Smilin' Jack Martin fighting such international criminals as the Mad Dog in Arabia. Frank Readick
Frank Marvin Readick Jr. (November 6, 1896 — December 27, 1965) was an American radio and film actor.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Readick was well known for his evil laughter that followed the introduction from ''The Shadow'' radio dram ...
had the title role, and the cast also included Gertrude Warner
Gertrude Warner (April 2, 1917 – January 26, 1986) was an American voice talent who played multiple characters on radio productions during the Golden Age of Radio.
Early life
Warner was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1917. Her father was ...
. The 15-minute series, airing three times a week at 5:30pm, was sponsored by Tootsie Rolls
Tootsie Roll is a chocolate-flavored taffy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1907. The candy has qualities similar to both caramels and taffy without being exactly either confection. The manufacturer, Tootsie Roll Ind ...
, which offered a premium for ten candy wrappers—a flying chart "just like the one Jack uses". The program opened each episode with announcer Tom Shirley demanding, "Clear the runway for Smilin' Jack!", over the roar of an airplane.
Prose novel
"Smilin' Jack and the Daredevil Girl Pilot" was "A New Story rose, 248 pp., w. 20 full-page illustrationsBased on the Famous Comic Strip", published in 1942 by the Whitman Publishing Co.
Movie serial
In 1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 – ...
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
produced a serial, ''The Adventures of Smilin' Jack
''The Adventures of Smilin' Jack'' is an aviation comic strip that first appeared October 1, 1933, in the ''Chicago Tribune'' and ended April 1, 1973.
After a run of 40 years, it was the longest-running aviation comic strip. The strip was created ...
''. Smilin' Jack Martin ( Tom Brown) works with the Chinese government to stop the Black Samurai, a Japanese covert spy ring led by the German operative Fraulein von Teufel.
Parody
The strip was parodied by Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...
and Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...
in '' Mad'' #7 (October–November 1953) as "Smilin' Melvin!", with Fat Stuff renamed Thatstuff and Downwind altered to Upwind. The parody explained why the co-pilot's unseen face drives women wild with passion: although he looks quite ugly, he has a $1000 bill between his teeth.
Legacy
In 1940 it was the favourite comic strip of American children.
''Smilin' Jack'' was influential in the expansion of NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
racing. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. was Mosley's friend, so information about NASCAR's first "Strictly Stock" (now NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
) race was written into the strip. After drivers throughout the United States, including race winner Jim Roper
Christian David "Jim" Roper (August 13, 1916 – June 23, 2000) was a NASCAR driver. He lived in Halstead, Kansas. He is most known as the winner of the first ever NASCAR race at Charlotte.
Racing career
Roper lived at his grandfather's hors ...
, read the strip, they drove across the country to race.
Jill Mosley, the artist's daughter, maintains an official ''Smilin' Jack'' website.[
]
See also
*List of film serials
A list of film serials by year of release.
1910s
1920s
1930s
Films still exist from this point on unless noted otherwise:
1940s
1950s
See also
* Serial (film)
* List of film serials by studio
References
{{reflist
External linksSerial ...
References
External links
*
Dell Comics
Jill Mosley's official site
Public domain serial in various formats
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Archived
from the original on September 7, 2015.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Smilin' Jack, The
American comic strips
Aviation comics
1933 comics debuts
1973 comics endings
Dell Comics titles
Smilin' Jack
Mutual Broadcasting System programs
1939 radio programme debuts
American radio dramas
American comics adapted into films
Comics adapted into radio series
Aviation radio series