Scribbly #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeScribbly #1 marks the solo series debut of Sheldon Mayer's semi-autobiographical boy-cartoonist character, a figure that scholars and cartoonists — including Art Spiegelman, as cited by Paul Levitz — have called arguably the first example of an American cartoonist writing autobiographically about the cartooning life. The solo title reintroduced Scribbly Jibbet as a slightly older teen, repositioning DC's oldest continuing character in the post-war Archie-influenced humor market and demonstrating that the genre could sustain original, character-driven comedy rooted in personal experience rather than genre formula. Its launch also marked a turning point in Sheldon Mayer's career: the moment he stepped back from his extraordinary editorial role — overseeing the creation of the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and the Justice Society — to return full-time to cartooning. The series ran fifteen bimonthly issues through January 1952, and the character's legacy extended into Sugar and Spike and a 2015 Convergence revival.
Scribbly #1 (1948) kicks off with a delightfully awkward job hunt when the young artist tries to land a gig at Rational Comics, the studio behind the star superhero Terrific Man. Written, drawn, and inked by Sheldon Mayer, the issue captures Scribbly’s misadventures with charm and wit—especially when his agent misunderstands his ambitions and lands him a spot at the rodeo instead. The cover by Mayer perfectly mirrors the comic’s playful tone, making this a standout early entry in DC’s history.
In "null," teenage comic fan Scribbly lands a job at Rational Comics—only to be mistaken for a rodeo rider by his agent, who promptly secures him a spot in the circus instead. The story follows Scribbly’s misadventures as he navigates the absurd mix-up, all while chasing his dream of breaking into the comics world.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 15 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Sheldon Mayer created Scribbly Jibbet in 1936 as a teenager filling gap pages for Max Gaines at Dell Comics, basing the boy cartoonist explicitly on his own experiences breaking into the industry. The character followed Mayer through All-American Publications starting in 1939, where it ran as a backup feature until paper shortages and Mayer's editorial workload ended it after All-American Comics #59 in 1944. When Gaines sold All-American to National/DC and Mayer retired from editing in 1948, he negotiated a deal with DC management to produce content full-time; the revived Scribbly series — now aged up and refocused as a teen romance-comedy in the Archie mold — was one of the resulting titles, with Whitney Ellsworth officially credited as editor and Larry Nadle serving as the working editor according to the Grand Comics Database.
Trivia · 8 facts
- On-sale date was June 23, 1948; cover date is August–September 1948; published by National Comics Publications Inc. as a bimonthly title.
- Every story in the issue — script, pencils, inks, and cover — is the sole work of Sheldon Mayer, one of the founding architects of the All-American/DC editorial line.
- The issue contains five Scribbly narrative segments plus backup features: the Littul Snoony strip (also by Mayer), a half-page Bonny strip by Hy Rosen, and a one-page Gerry strip by Harry Lampert.
- Red Rigley — Scribbly's love interest and the famous cartoonist-coworker who eventually becomes his wife (revealed in Sugar and Spike #30) — makes her first appearance in this series debut.
- Allergy Biggs, younger brother of Leave It to Binky's title character, appears in a cameo in the first story; his series debut predates this issue (Leave It to Binky, 1948).
- Captain Tootsie appears in the issue as a paid Tootsie Roll advertising strip, drawn by the C.C. Beck studio — the same creative operation producing Captain Marvel at Fawcett Comics at the time.
- The first story deliberately recycles a plot from Mayer's All-American Comics run (the rodeo storyline from issue #14), and the third story echoes a plot from All-American Comics #8, giving long-time readers knowing callbacks.
- The series was cancelled after fifteen issues in January 1952 due to weak sales; Scribbly subsequently appeared as a backup feature in Leave It to Binky and Buzzy before the character was revived by Paul Levitz in Convergence: World's Finest Comics (2015).
Cast · 2 characters
Full credits
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.