Jumbo Comics #68
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeJumbo Comics #68 (October 1944) holds a clear, corroborated place in Golden Age history as the debut issue of Sky Girl — the comedic aviation feature starring redhead wannabe-pilot Ginger Maguire — whose original first appearance was drawn by Alex Blum in this very issue. That debut mattered enormously because it handed the strip directly to Matt Baker starting in issue #69, making #68 the immediate precursor to one of Baker's most defining bodies of work and, by extension, to the broader tradition of Golden Age good-girl art. The issue also carried the ongoing adventures of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, the title's anchor character and the first female comics character to headline her own standalone comic book, situating #68 squarely within the sustained creative momentum of Fiction House's most successful title.
Jumbo Comics #68 is an anthology featuring multiple stories. "Sheena, Jungle Queen" includes "Spear of Blood" and "Ju-Ju," in which Sheena confronts mysterious forces in the jungle. The issue also features "Sky-Girl GL," a new action-adventure series depicting aerial combat between fighter pilots, including pilot Ginger Maguire engaging enemy aircraft and narrowly avoiding collision. Additionally, the issue contains a story involving an impostor, secret agents, and espionage, with characters attempting to intercept dangerous plans and uncover the identity of a fake Count Von Blonker.
When tribal drums summon Sheena to a village chief's aid, she and Bob Reynolds discover they've been framed for Nelson's murder—and the evidence points directly to her. Braggar, a vengeful trader with a deadly scheme, has orchestrated the deception using a broken spear shaft and an unsuspecting woman to turn the tribe against the jungle queen. Now imprisoned and hunted, Sheena must uncover Braggar's treachery before the chief's justice catches up with them.
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Jumbo Comics was produced throughout its run by the Iger Shop under art director Jerry Iger, with Fiction House publisher Thurman T. Scott overseeing the line under his Real Adventures Publishing Co. imprint. By late 1944 the title had settled into a reliable anthology formula of jungle adventure, supernatural shorts, spy action, and aviation humor, with Sheena handled primarily by Robert Webb at this stage of the run. Issue #68 landed in October 1944 at the precise editorial moment when Fiction House was refreshing its lineup — Sky Girl's inaugural strip arrived here, one issue before Matt Baker joined the book and immediately made the feature his own across some 60 subsequent stories.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Sky Girl (Ginger Maguire), a comedic aviation strip about a redheaded waitress and aspiring pilot — her debut story in #68 was drawn by Alex Blum.
- Sky Girl's debut in #68 is directly confirmed by AC Comics' 1994 Sky Gal reprint series, whose first issue reprints 'her first appearance from Jumbo #68 (drawn by Alex Blum).'
- Matt Baker took over Sky Girl beginning with the very next issue, #69 (November 1944), making #68 the immediate setup for Baker's career-defining run of ~60 Sky Girl stories.
- Sheena, Queen of the Jungle — the title's lead feature across its entire 1938–1953 run and the first female comic character to have her own title — appeared in every issue including #68.
- Issue cover-dated October 1944; the series was published under Fiction House's Real Adventures Publishing Co., Inc. imprint.
- The Jumbo Comics anthology at this period also included recurring features ZX-5 Spies in Action and Ghost Gallery alongside Sheena and the new Sky Girl strip.
- Jerry Iger served as art director/editor for the full run of Jumbo Comics; notable creators on the title across its run include Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, Mort Meskin, Lou Fine, Bob Powell, Lily Renée, and Ruth Roche.
- Sheena herself had been established since Jumbo Comics #1 (Sept. 1938) — predating Wonder Woman's solo title — and by 1944 her stories were being illustrated primarily by Robert Webb.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Sky Gal #1 (1993), The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics! #11 (2015)
Key issues in Jumbo Comics
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