The Adventures of Smilin' Jack
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack was 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 by 27-year-old cartoonist and aviation enthusiast Zack Mosley
, who had previously worked on the Buck Rogers
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
, 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.
Smilin' Jack was originally Mack Martin, in On the Wing, but Chicago Tribune editor Joseph Medill Patterson
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 1940s was Boody Rogers
. Smilin' Jack's appearance was based on that of notable air racing star Roscoe Turner
.
Many supporting characters were drawn with distinctive visual devices. The corpulent Fatstuff 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.
and Wally Wood
in Mad
#7 (October-November 1953) as "Smilin' Melvin!", with Fatstuff 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.
"Smilin' Jack" was influential in the expansion of NASCAR
racing. NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. was Mosley's friend, so information about NASCAR's first "Strictly Stock" (now Sprint Cup) race was written into the strip. After drivers throughout the United States, including race winner Jim Roper
, read the strip, they drove across the country to race.
from February 13 to May 19, 1939 with aviator Smilin' Jack Martin fighting such international criminals as the Mad Dog in Arabia. Frank Readick had the title role, and the cast also included Gertrude Warner. The 15-minute series, airing three times a week at 5:30pm, was sponsored by Tootsie Rolls, 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.
Universal Studios
produced a serial, The Adventures of Smilin' Jack
, in which 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.
in 1948.
Jill Mosley, the artist's daughter, maintains an official Smilin' Jack website.
"Smilin' Jack", is also the name of one of the in-game merchants in the video game Fallout 3
.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
that first appeared October 1, 1933 in the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
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 Mosley
Zack Terrell Mosley 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
Anthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
and Skyroads
Skyroads (comics)
Skyroads, a serialized aviation-based comic strip, was published from 1929 to 1942.After Charles Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, aviation became the focus of several comic strips. Tailspin Tommy was the first, but it was soon followed by others, including Skyroads.Skyroads was created...
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
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society 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 troops...
, 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.
Smilin' Jack was originally Mack Martin, in On the Wing, but Chicago Tribune editor Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson was an American journalist and publisher, grandson of publisher Joseph Medill, founder of the Chicago Tribune and a mayor of Chicago, Illinois.-Family:...
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 1940s was Boody Rogers
Boody Rogers
Gordon G. Rogers , better known as Boody Rogers, was an American comic strip and comic book cartoonist who created the superhero parody Sparky Watts....
. Smilin' Jack's appearance was based on that of notable air racing star Roscoe Turner
Roscoe Turner
Roscoe Turner was an aviator who was a three time winner of the Thompson Trophy.-Background:Turner was born in Corinth, Mississippi, the eldest son of a poor but respectable farmer. He came to realize that he did not want to be a farmer and found that he was attracted to mechanical devices instead...
.
Characters and story
Smilin' Jack developed an extremely colorful and imaginative band of supporting characters through its lengthy run, including Downwind Jaxon; Fatstuff, 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 Fatstuff 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.
Parody
"Smilin' Jack" was parodied by Harvey KurtzmanHarvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
and Wally Wood
Wally Wood
Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
in Mad
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
#7 (October-November 1953) as "Smilin' Melvin!", with Fatstuff 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.
"Smilin' Jack" was influential in the expansion of NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
racing. NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. was Mosley's friend, so information about NASCAR's first "Strictly Stock" (now Sprint Cup) race was written into the strip. After drivers throughout the United States, including race winner Jim Roper
Jim Roper
Christian David "Jim" Roper was a NASCAR driver. He lived in Halstead, Kansas. He is most known as the winner of the first NASCAR Strictly Stock race. He was the father of Dean Roper and grandfather of the late Tony Roper.-Racing career:Roper lived at his grandfather's horse farm in Halstead...
, read the strip, they drove across the country to race.
Radio
The Smilin' Jack radio series was broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting SystemMutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
from February 13 to May 19, 1939 with aviator Smilin' Jack Martin fighting such international criminals as the Mad Dog in Arabia. Frank Readick had the title role, and the cast also included Gertrude Warner. The 15-minute series, airing three times a week at 5:30pm, was sponsored by Tootsie Rolls, 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.
Movie serial
In 19431943 in film
The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
produced a serial, The Adventures of Smilin' Jack
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack (serial)
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack is a Universal movie serial based on the comic strip The Adventures of Smilin' Jack.-Cast:* Tom Brown as 'Smilin' Jack' Martin* Rose Hobart as Gertrude Muller, alias Fräulein von Teufel...
, in which 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.
Other
Smilin' Jack was also a Dell comic bookDell 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 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
in 1948.
Jill Mosley, the artist's daughter, maintains an official Smilin' Jack website.
"Smilin' Jack", is also the name of one of the in-game merchants in the video game Fallout 3
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
.