Jumbo Comics #11
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeJumbo Comics #11 arrives at a pivotal moment in the series' physical evolution: it is only the third issue to appear in the new standard Golden Age format (8½" × 10½") and printed in full color, a transition the title made starting with issue #9 after spending its first eight oversized black-and-white issues reproducing British Wags newspaper-strip plates. Within that freshly colorized package, the issue continues Sheena, Queen of the Jungle's stint as the title's lead feature — a character who would go on to headline her own self-titled series in 1942, making her the first female comic-book character ever to star in her own title, preceding Wonder Woman by several months. The back cover carries house advertisements for Planet Comics, Jungle Comics, and Fight Comics, offering a snapshot of Fiction House's rapid expansion into a full comics line at the very close of 1939. As an early standard-format color entry in Fiction House's flagship anthology, the issue sits at the confluence of Sheena's growing centrality to the brand and the publisher's transition from oversized novelty to mainstream periodical.
Jumbo Comics #11 is an anthology featuring complete stories including "Spies in Action," in which 2X-5 battles invading yellow hordes; "The War of the Emerald Gas," a tale of conflict involving a dangerous emerald-colored gas weapon; and adventures of characters including Sheena Queen of the Jungle, The Hawk, Stuart Taylor, and Spencer Steel, a super-sleuth. The issue also contains weird supernatural stories, with narratives involving treacherous settings such as caverns with trap doors and confrontations with criminals like the outlaw Shorty.
Spy-master ZX-5 goes undercover as a captured Mongol agent to infiltrate the headquarters of General Kutani and King Genghis, a modern conqueror bent on dominating the world. Disguised and armed with false intelligence, ZX-5 must navigate the Khan's inner circle and sabotage the invasion plans before the enemy's air fleets can strike Chesterland. With the stakes set for world conquest, can our spy outmaneuver a ruthless dictator and his loyal generals?
Inspector Dayton arrives at the exclusive Hill Crest Club for an evening with Wini Damien, only to witness a singer collapse on the dance floor—murdered during a drummer's solo. With a single gunshot masked by the staccato rhythm of the drums, Dayton must piece together a puzzle of black silk, a misplaced coconut drum, and a length of thread to expose the killer among the orchestra members. It's a case where the murderer didn't even know they'd pulled the trigger.
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Jumbo Comics was produced through the Eisner & Iger studio, the prominent comic-book packager that supplied complete ready-to-print material to publishers entering the field, with publisher Thurman T. Scott of Fiction House as their client. For issue #11, the masthead credits Malcolm Reiss as editor, Will Eisner (billed as 'William E. Eisner') as art director, and S. M. Iger as feature editor, reflecting the shared oversight arrangement between Fiction House's in-house staff and the Iger shop. The issue was officially on sale October 13, 1939, per copyright registration records, though it carries a December 1939 cover date consistent with standard newsstand dating conventions of the era. The GCD notes that the cover — depicting spy ZX-5 confronting emerald gas — appears to be a science-fiction-themed image that does not directly illustrate any of the interior ZX-5 story, a production quirk not uncommon at this stage of early Golden Age publishing.
Trivia · 8 facts
- On sale date of October 13, 1939 (cover-dated December 1939); published under Fiction House's Real Adventures Publishing Co. imprint.
- Issue #11 is among the earliest standard Golden Age-sized (8½" × 10½"), full-color installments of the title — the series transitioned away from its oversize (10½" × 14½") black-and-white format beginning with issue #9.
- Sheena, Queen of the Jungle — created by Will Eisner and S. M. Iger and already the title's lead feature — appears with her supporting cast of Bob Reynolds and pet chimpanzee Chim; she had just received her iconic leopard-skin costume in the immediately preceding issue #10.
- Cover art is attributed to Lou Fine, one of the most accomplished draftsmen working in the Eisner-Iger shop at the time.
- Editorial credits: Malcolm Reiss (editor), Will Eisner as art director, S. M. Iger as feature editor — a dual oversight structure reflecting the packager relationship between Eisner & Iger and Fiction House.
- Running anthology features alongside Sheena include the spy strip ZX-5 Spies in Action, Peter Pupp, Spencer Steel, and Hawks of the Seas, illustrating the multi-genre 'something for everyone' format Fiction House would sustain across all 167 issues.
- The back cover carries house advertisements previewing Planet Comics, Jungle Comics, and Fight Comics — titles Fiction House was launching simultaneously, collectively marketed as 'The Big Six.'
- The full run of Jumbo Comics, including this issue, has been reprinted in the Gwandanaland Comics facsimile library and a Classics Comics Library reprint edition, making the contents accessible to modern readers.
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