Jumbo Comics #12
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeJumbo Comics #12 (February 1940) lands at a pivotal moment in the series' early run — just three issues after the book transitioned from an oversized, black-and-white tabloid format to the standard full-color Golden Age comic size, cementing the visual identity that would define Fiction House's output for the next decade. It represents the final issue in which detective strip Spencer Steel appeared in the title, closing out one of the original anthology's cornerstone features after a dozen consecutive runs. Sheena, Queen of the Jungle — already ensconced as the book's lead feature and established in her now-iconic leopard-skin costume (adopted in #10) — continued her unbroken streak through every issue of the run, steadily building toward her own spin-off title in 1942, which would become the first comic book to star a female character in its own title. As a sustained, early showcase of the Eisner-Iger shop's full creative talent under one cover, the issue illustrates how Fiction House's anthology format served as a training ground for some of the Golden Age's most consequential artists.
Jumbo Comics #12 is an anthology featuring multiple stories: "Buccaneer Vengeance" with The Hawk follows a swashbuckling adventure involving food and conflict on what appears to be a ship; "Sheena—Queen of the Jungle in The Captive Tigress" presents 18 pages of Sheena's jungle exploits; "Stuart Taylor in Weird Stories of the Supernatural" follows inventors Taylor and Doctor Hayward as they are sent back in time to the fourteenth century, where they discover an old castle and encounter a monk working with mysterious chemical apparatus; and "Spencer Steel" depicts detectives Spencer Steel and McCarthy held captive by the criminal Bull Gordon, from which they must engineer an escape from a basement dungeon.
When Abu Cred, a ruthless slave trader, spots Sheena bathing in the African jungle, he sees only profit—a golden-haired prize to sell to the wealthy Pasha Kamur in the Arabian village of Riyadha. Sheena finds herself chained alongside her people and transported across the desert, but her devoted companion Bob races to her rescue, storming the Pasha's palace to free her from captivity. As guards close in, an unexpected ally helps the couple escape into the night on horseback, beginning their desperate journey back to the jungle they call home.
Terror grips the city as violent criminals target voters ahead of an election, prompting Detective Spencer Steel to assemble the toughest members of the police force to fight back with their own brand of justice. When Steel is captured by Bull Gordon, a corrupt politician orchestrating the attacks, he and his partner must plan their escape from a basement trap and navigate their way back to freedom. As gunfire erupts and danger closes in, the two detectives will need every ounce of cunning to survive Gordon's clutches.
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Jumbo Comics was the product of Fiction House publisher Thurman T. Scott's decision to enter the booming comics market by contracting with Eisner & Iger, one of the era's leading 'packager' studios that produced complete comic books on demand. The title had debuted in September 1938 — just months after Action Comics #1 — as an oversized tabloid reprinting material originally prepared for the British magazine Wags; by issue #9 (August 1939) it had shrunk to a near-standard Golden Age size and shifted to full color, and issue #10 locked in the standard dimensions for the rest of the run. By the time issue #12 shipped, Jerry Iger was serving as art director (a role he held for the entire run) alongside editor Malcolm Reiss, with Will Eisner still contributing covers and scripts under his 'Willis B. Rensie' pseudonym; the issue's interior art credits include Lou Fine, Klaus Nordling, and Bob Powell — a roster that reads like a who's who of early Golden Age talent passing through the Iger shop.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published February 1940 by Fiction House (indicia publisher: Real Adventures Publishing Co.) as part of the long-running Jumbo Comics anthology series (167 issues total, Sept. 1938–Mar. 1953).
- Cover depicts The Hawk facing the vengeance of a buccaneer; the cover artist is Will Eisner (credited as 'Willis B. Rensie' on interior work).
- Issue #12 is the final appearance of Spencer Steel in the title — the detective feature had run in every issue since #1 and also appeared in Fiction House's Fight Comics.
- Sheena, Queen of the Jungle stars in her lead story, in which she frees a captive tigress; by this point she already occupied the first story slot and had her full leopard-skin costume (established in #10).
- The spy feature ZX-5 Spies in Action continues, with ZX-5 traveling north and encountering Yum Ling, described as a daughter of Genghis Khan.
- Other continuing anthology features in this issue include The Hawk (a pirate-adventure strip by Eisner/Rensie), Wilton of the West, Inspector Dayton, The Count of Monte Cristo serialization, and Ken Hammond.
- Interior art credits include Will Eisner, Lou Fine, Klaus Nordling, and Bob Powell — all then working through the Eisner-Iger studio, which had collectively introduced Mort Meskin, Bob Powell, Lou Fine, and Jack Kirby to comic books via the Jumbo run.
- The issue has been reprinted in Gwandanaland Comics #701 – Jumbo Comics Volume 2 ([March] 2017), as well as in the 'UP History and Hobby' facsimile reprint line under the ISBN 9781511856034.
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Golden Age of Comic Books #[nn] (1977), Hawks of the Seas - Les Boucaniers #[nn] (2017), Gwandanaland Comics #701 (2017), Gwandanaland Comics #1086
Key issues in Jumbo Comics
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