Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, jackpot comics, MLJ

Zombie Workers Fuel the War Machine in Jackpot Comics #1, at Auction

Jackpot Comics was an MLJ anthology series which featured some of the publisher's most popular characters in sometimes horror-themed tales.

Jackpot Comics was an early anthology comic book series published by MLJ Magazines during the Golden Age, which featured some of the publisher's most popular characters from other titles. While the series would perhaps best become known for the addition of Archie beginning in issue #4, the first issue featured Steel Sterling, Black Hood, Sergeant Boyle, and Mr. Justice by creators including Charles Biro, Irv Novick, Ed Camy, and Sam Cooper and with a cover by Biro. The often horror-tinged MLJ hero characters have refused to disappear over the decades, re-emerging from time to time in comics and television. Their formative years in these early MLJ titles show why these characters are still kicking today, and there's a Jackpot Comics #1 (MLJ, 1941) CBCS GD/VG 3.0 Off-white to white pages along with several other issues of the series up for auction in the 2023 May 4 The MLJ Heroes Showcase Auction #40222 at Heritage Auctions.

Like many early MLJ superhero material, many of the stories in this Jackpot Comics series debut have horrific overtones, such as the Black Hood tale The Corpse was Wrapped in Seaweed, the Steel Sterling The Green Eggs of Doom story, and even The Suicide Who Died Twice Black Hood text short. But the stand out here is Zarro, the Zombie Master featuring the lesser-known MLJ superhero Mr. Justice. That tale features the Nazis teaming up with the Zarro, who uses Haitian magic to kill American wartime factory workers and turn them into zombies who will work for the Nazis — creating an army of the dead who will work for the Nazi war machine.  In the end, Mr. Justice is able to kill Zarro, in the process bringing the American war workers back to life.  Not living dead-style life, but actual, normal life.  It's all a grim analogy for the methods of the fascist dictators of the era, and overall a wild tale even by the standards of the Golden Age.

Jackpot Comics #1 featured some of the publisher's most popular characters from that era, including steel Sterling, Black Hood, Sergeant Boyle, and Mr. Justice. While the title has become best known for the addition of Archie beginning in issue #4, the series is notable for its often horror-focused take on the MLJ heroes, who have refused to die over the decades. An easy entry point into collecting these early MLJ, there's a Jackpot Comics #1 (MLJ, 1941) CBCS GD/VG 3.0 Off-white to white pages along with several other issues of the series up for auction in the 2023 May 4 The MLJ Heroes Showcase Auction #40222 at Heritage Auctions.

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