Smilin' Jack

Smilin' Jack was a daring aviator whose high-flying adventures began as a newspaper comic strip before taking off in Dell comics starting with Popular Comics #23 in 1937. A charming, wisecracking pilot, he navigated danger and romance across the skies.

Few comic characters can claim roots stretching all the way back to the Platinum Age, but Smilin' Jack is exactly that kind of rare, enduring figure — debuting in Popular Comics #23 in 1937 under the hand of creator Walter Berndt and going on to grace the pages of Dell Comics for an extraordinary span of decades. With key issues among his appearances and his own dedicated series alongside runs in Four Color and Popular Comics, this aviator-era hero earned a devoted following and a place in the collector's canon. He keeps remarkable company across those pages — sharing adventures with the likes of Terry Lee, Pat Ryan, Felix the Cat, and Smokey Stover — putting him squarely in the golden heart of Dell's classic anthology universe. For anyone passionate about the deep history of American comics, Smilin' Jack is a genuine piece of the foundation.