BangZoom Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 I always thought Smilin' Jack was one of the more colorful newspaper adventure strips. It was filled with an interesting cast of supporting players and distinctive villains. All who looked to me, when I was a youngster, like they'd wandered over from Tracy. Some of his memorable foes were The Claw, Toemain the Terrible, The Head and his sister, The Mongoose. Four Color Comics #5 (1940) Four Color #14 (1941) Four Color #36 (1943) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 Four Color #58 (1944) Four Color #80 (1945) Four Color #149 (1947) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 The covers have always seen to me OK. Some are better than others, esp. late in the Popular run before Felix takes over. I believe there was a fanzine reprinting Smilin' Jack (my 1/2-price books got in quite a few issues: B&W half page folded job). From my perusal of those reprints, the strip isn't jumping out and distinguishing itself but ... again ... until I sit down and read a story I can't really judge. Any way you could shoot a couple of pages of continuity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I always thought Smilin' Jack was one of the more colorful newspaper adventure strips. It was filled with a interesting cast of supporting players and distinctive villains. All who looked to me like they'd wandered over from Tracy. Some of his memorable foes were The Claw, Toemain the Terrible, The Head and his sister, The Mongoose. Four Color Comics #5 (1940) Four Color #14 (1941) Four Color #36 (1943) Smilin' Jack is kind of a Clark Gable character. He was very popular and in Popular and Large Feature Comics 25. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 And speaking of Tracy, he had some pretty good stories in Large Feature Book 8. and he starts the story with a bang. and sometimes the inside front cover had some nice ads. bb I saw a collection owned by Robie this weekend which had most of the Fast Action books, and most of the Pop up books too, in nice shape. I was very envious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 From my perusal of those reprints, the strip isn't jumping out and distinguishing itself but ... again ... until I sit down and read a story I can't really judge. I'm actually just recalling the strip from the perspective of a 9-12 year old who was accustomed to reading DC comics. Smilin' Jack characters like his pal Downwind Jaxon, who was only pictured in one-quarter profile, were novelties to me. Read more about Smilin' Jack: Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 And speaking of Tracy, he had some pretty good stories in Large Feature Book 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 I saw a collection owned by Robie this weekend which had most of the Fast Action books, and most of the Pop up books too, in nice shape. I don't know who Robie is, but I'd like to have his collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 I saw a collection owned by Robie this weekend which had most of the Fast Action books, and most of the Pop up books too, in nice shape. I don't know who Robie is, but I'd like to have his collection. Dave Robie advertises in the Overstreet guide and is one of the advisors. Most of the stuff I saw was for sale although I think he is happy to keep the books. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ft88 Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 OK, now that we're going slightly cartoony with Smilin' Jack; when do we get to see the Bugs Bunny books? It is your avatar after all. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.A.tor Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 BZ, is that comics in mylar I see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashrael Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 I always thought Smilin' Jack was one of the more colorful newspaper adventure strips. It was filled with a interesting cast of supporting players and distinctive villains. All who looked to me like they'd wandered over from Tracy. Some of his memorable foes were The Claw, Toemain the Terrible, The Head and his sister, The Mongoose. Four Color Comics #5 (1940) Four Color #14 (1941) Four Color #36 (1943) Smilin' Jack is kind of a Clark Gable character. He was very popular and in Popular and Large Feature Comics 25. bb My grandfather served in England with Clark Gable during WW2, and for some reason I think Smilin' Jack saw a lot more action than Gable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted May 22, 2008 Share Posted May 22, 2008 From my perusal of those reprints, the strip isn't jumping out and distinguishing itself but ... again ... until I sit down and read a story I can't really judge. I'm actually just recalling the strip from the perspective of a 9-12 year old who was accustomed to reading DC comics. I'll admit from those 2 pages, it read a little better than it looks but I'm not ready to buy reprints yet. The fact that Dell ran it for so long should on its own be a testament of its popularity at the time ... but that's a strip that will and probably is all but forgotten by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 BZ, is that comics in mylar I see Yes. Smilin' Jack deserves the best. If this experiment works out ok, I might try putting my Smitty and Smokey Stover comics in Mylar sleeves, too. (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 This image is from the cover of what GA cover? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 OK, now that we're going slightly cartoony with Smilin' Jack; when do we get to see the Bugs Bunny books? It is your avatar after all. Bugs, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 This image is from the cover of what GA cover? Here are a couple more fragments from the cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 This image is from the cover of what GA cover? Here are a couple more fragments from the cover. This will be the last two clues for this evening. I'll post more images tomorrow if no one guesses the comic tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 This image is from the cover of what GA cover? Here are a couple more fragments from the cover. This will be the last two clues for this evening. I'll post more images tomorrow if no one guesses the comic tonight. Two more images... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 It looks like Slam Bang 6. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...