The Jetsons #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Jetsons #1 (Gold Key, January 1963) marks the first-ever comic book appearance of the Jetson family — George, Jane, Judy, Elroy, and Astro — just one year after the animated series debuted on ABC on September 23, 1962. As a licensed tie-in to what was then a primetime animated phenomenon (and ABC's first program broadcast in color), the comic locked a Space Age cultural touchstone into the Silver Age comic book medium at the exact moment American fascination with technology and the space race was at its peak. The book also served as the launchpad for a Gold Key series that ran until 1970, anchoring Hanna-Barbera's futuristic family in comics for over a decade and establishing a publication lineage that wound through Charlton, Harvey, Archie, and eventually DC Comics.
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Gold Key Comics came into existence in 1962 when its parent company, Western Publishing, split from Dell Comics and began distributing titles under its own imprint rather than packaging content for Dell — a shift that transferred the Hanna-Barbera comic license from Dell's orbit into Gold Key's hands. The Jetsons #1 was one of the earliest titles to emerge from that transition, published just months after Gold Key launched, riding the wave of public excitement surrounding the TV show's premiere. Like all Gold Key books, it carried no Comics Code Authority seal, trading on the wholesome family-entertainment reputation Western had built across decades of Dell publishing. Interior story and art credits for the issue remain unattributed in reference sources, a common gap in Gold Key's production records of the era, though artists Lee Holley and Tony Strobl are documented contributors to the broader Gold Key Jetsons series.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First comic book appearance of the Jetson family (George, Jane, Judy, Elroy, and Astro), published January 1963 by Gold Key / Western Publishing.
- Published approximately one year after the animated series debuted on ABC on September 23, 1962 — itself notable as ABC's first primetime program broadcast in color.
- The issue carries three Jetsons stories ('an untitled story,' 'A Boy's Best Dog is his Friend,' and 'Dear Old Dad') plus a Lippy Lion and Hardy Har Har backup strip, single-page gag strips, and a text feature titled 'Jet Propulsion.'
- The Grand Comics Database records the opening story as set at 'Time: Saturday, 2962 - A.D.' — the only specific in-story date given in the issue.
- Gold Key obtained the Hanna-Barbera license following Western Publishing's 1962 split from Dell Comics, which had previously held the license.
- The Gold Key Jetsons series ran for 36 issues (January 1963 – October 1970); the Jetsons also made three appearances in Gold Key's March of Comics promotional series during that period.
- After Gold Key lost the license, Charlton Comics continued the series from November 1970 through December 1973; Harvey Comics later produced a reboot from September 1992 to November 1993, followed by series from Archie Comics and eventually DC Comics.
- Interior story and art credits for this issue are unattributed in all major reference databases; Lee Holley and Tony Strobl are documented as artists on the broader Gold Key Jetsons run.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Familien Flint #11/1966 (1966), Familien Flint #11/1967 (1967), The Jetsons #28 (1968), The Jetsons #36 (1970), Die Jetsons #1, Die Jetsons #19, Hucky #5, The Jetsons Annual #1, Hucky #40
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