Jumbo Comics #16
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeJumbo Comics #16 (June 1940) sits at a precise hinge point in Fiction House history: it is the penultimate issue before Sheena, Queen of the Jungle permanently claimed the cover with issue #17, cementing her as the company's flagship character and one of the Golden Age's defining action heroines. The issue also continues the early run of Lightning — a belt-powered electric superhero whose debut in the surrounding issues represents Fiction House's clearest attempt to ride the superhero wave that was then transforming the medium. As part of the Eisner–Iger Shop's output, the anthology showcases the industrialized but genuinely talented production model that seeded the careers of some of the era's most consequential creators.
This anthology issue features multiple adventure and mystery stories. "The Lightning Strikes Twice" involves Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and action hero Hawk in combat scenarios. The Hawk story on page 19 depicts Hawk and others attempting to row up and attack a garrison, with boats positioned to assault from multiple sides while guards defend the perimeter. The Stuart Taylor supernatural story shown on pages 36 and 52 involves characters Stuart and Zingala confronting King Molai and Dr. Hayward, who unleash destructive forces, while a criminal named Wilton escapes from jail and is later pursued, eventually meeting his end when the sheriff catches up to him at his ranch.
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All content in Jumbo Comics #16 was produced through the Eisner & Iger Shop, the pioneering comic-book packaging studio co-founded by Will Eisner and Jerry 'S.M.' Iger, which supplied complete issues to Fiction House publisher Thurman T. Scott. The issue was edited by Malcolm Reiss, Jerry Iger, and Will Eisner, and its stories and artwork were drawn from the stable of Iger Shop regulars — including Lou Fine, George Tuska, Dan Zolnerowich, Charles Mazoujian, and Bob Powell — who collectively gave Fiction House its distinctive house style of pulp-flavored action and 'good girl art.' The book was already in full standard Golden Age format by this point: the title had transitioned from its original oversize black-and-white tabloid format to the standard 8½" × 10½" full-color format with issue #9.
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- Features a Lightning cover — the electric-powered superhero Fred/Jeff Larkin, son of General Larkin, whose in-story debut came in the immediate prior issues (#14–15); by issue #16 he is an established interior feature, and his story here pits him and General Larkin against a villain named Sledge.
- Sheena, Queen of the Jungle continues as the book's lead interior feature — she and her companion Bob stop a dangerous buffalo attack by 'Kuba'; this is her regular appearance in each and every issue of Jumbo's 167-issue run (September 1938–March 1953).
- Sheena would become the book's permanent cover star beginning with the very next issue, #17 (July 1940), remaining so for the following 143 consecutive covers.
- The anthology also includes Ken Hammond in a story titled 'The Crocodile Death,' plus the recurring features ZX-5: Spies in Action, The Hawk, Inspector Dayton, Wilton of the West, Peter Pupp, and Weird Stories of the Supernatural.
- Editorial team for the issue: Malcolm Reiss, Jerry Iger, and Will Eisner; the creative roster drawn from Iger Shop regulars including Lou Fine, George Tuska, Bob Powell, and Charles Mazoujian.
- Sheena's story from a nearby issue in this run was later reprinted in Sheena, Queen of the Jungle (Fiction House, 1942) #16 — the spin-off series that became the first comic book ever to title-star a female character.
- Issue #16's 64-page full-color format at a 10-cent cover price reflects the standard Golden Age production model Fiction House had adopted since transitioning from its original oversized tabloid format with issue #9.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age: 1933-45 #[nn] (2011), Gwandanaland Comics #577 (2017), Pirates: A Treasure of Comics to Plunder, Arrr! #[nn] (2020)
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