First issue:
Thurs 5th May 1979
Last issue:
Thurs 30th Jan 1982
Free gifts:
#1 - Practical Joke
#2 - Squirt Ring
#3 - Magic Numbers card
game + 'Why Be Bored'
book covers
Jackpot Annuals:
1980 - 1986
1st
issue strips:
Adam
And Eva
Angel's Proper
Charlies
Class Wars
Cry Baby
Full O'Beans
Funtastic Journey
Good News/Bad News
Gremlins
The Incredible Sulk
It's A Nice
Life
Jack Pott*
Kid King
Laser Eraser
Little & Large Lenny
Marathon Mutt
Milly O'Naire
And
Penny Less
Richie Wraggs
Scooper
The Teeny Sweeney
The
Terror Toys
* originally a Cor!! strip
Facts
and figures...Jackpot took its title from Jack Pott, a star strip resurrected
from the pages of Cor!!. Fleetway's Cor!! had merged with
stablemate Buster back in June 1974. Several Jackpot strips
were actually spoofs of British tv favourites at the time:
Charlie's Angels (Angels 'Proper' Charlies)
The Good Life (It's A Nice Life)
The Sweeney (Teeny Sweeney)
The Incredible Hulk (The Incredible Sulk / Full O'Beans )
Other strips appeared to bear much resemblance to older
Fleetway originals:
Monster Fun's Little Monsters (Gremlins),
Cor!'s Ivor Lott And Tony Broke (Milly O'Naire And Penny Less)
Whoopee's Bumpkin Billionaires (Richie Wraggs)
Later additions:
Robin Good
The Winners
New strips
reprints & guests
in the annuals:
Five Minute Wanda
The Loon Ranger
Nobby's Hobbys
Riddle Me Ray
Robot Smith
Gone to Pott...
Jackpot was published for three short
years before it suffered the same fate
as Cor!! and was merged with Buster.
That made it two strikes for poor old
Jack Pott - What rotten luck, eh?
Cheeky
thoughts... Jackpot never really felt like it had any cohesion. Though the same
talented group of Fleetway regulars drew the strips (along with the
odd newcomer) everything felt a little half-baked. Whizzer & Chips
had its two-in-one gimic, Whoopee! was wild and wacky in tone,
Krazy was plain off its trolley, and Cheeky was on it in the middle
of a frontal lobotomy - but lacklustre Jackpot wasn't really on or
off anything exciting. Indeed, it seemed to hark back to an
earlier era of 'knockabout' strips, the kind we used to see in Cor!!
and Knockout...
Now all this whining implies that the comic wasn't good. Well
that's not true. It was good. All the Fleetway fun comics were good.
It's just that this one had a lot to live up to in those there top notch
predecessors. It fails in the same way that Return Of The Jedi
doesn't match Star Wars, like Temple Of Doom doesn't match
Raiders, like - well, you get the picture...
_________________________________________________
Annual development...There were 7 Jackpot Annuals in total, running from 1980 to
1986. Unfortunately none were particularly inspired creations,
as you can see below. I mean, look at that 1983 cover with the
'real-life' kids - hopelessly misjudged, innit?
Just like the weekly comics, there seemed to be no cohesion.
The Annuals had a 'production line' feel to them, with their lazy
covers and several strips reprinted from other comics - like Five
Minute Wanda, and Riddle Me Ray. Why on earth wasn't Jack
Pott featured prominently on the front of 'em all...?
all strips and characters copyright Fleetway/IPC Magazines
site copyright - F2001
