Jimmy Jupiter and the Land of Nowhere

Marvel Comics (which was still the Timely Company before adopting the Marvel name) had its own answer to the fantasy adventures of “Dickey in the Magic Forest” (Zip Comic) and “Danny in Wonderland” (Pep Comics) over at MLJ. In February 1942, they launched “Jimmy Jupiter”, their own young man who wanders through a strange Lewis Carroll-style dreamland. Like these other two competitors, Jimmy encounters witches and dragons and many other strange and fantastical beasts. Jimmy was late to the party, premiering a year after Danny, and ran for twenty-one issues, from February 1942 to October 1943.

“Jimmy Jupiter” was written and drawn by Ed Robbins for issues #28-44. Gus Hetman took over writing and drawing for #45-46 with Ray Gill writing and Fred Bell drawing the final two. Over all the series had a consistent look and feel, a kind of cartoony style that could handle monsters like dragons. (In fact, Ed Robbins dragon looked like Disney’s character from The Reluctant Dragon (1941).

Each Jimmy Jupiter adventure begins with Jimmy being transported to the dreamland after an accident like falling out of an airplane in Issue 1. When he wakes to tell of the amazing things he has seen, no one believes him. Taking inspiration from the famous comic strip “Little Nemo in Slumberland” by Winsor McCay, the writer was free to imagine any kind of adventure. For Jimmy this begins with a dragon.

The opening tale has Jimmy wandering in the Land of Nowhere after falling out of a plane. He meets talking trees and a dragon named the Dreaded Wump-Jump. Jimmy easily defeats the monster as it is not fierce but kind.

Of course, we have to have witches. Jimmy faces off against three of them! The Witches of Encore kidnap Jimmy’s friend, Mr. Rabbit, to turn him into stew. Jimmy defeats them by popping one of them with a pin.

Jimmy, Mr. Wumpjump and Mr. Rabbit go to the Land of Nowhere by moonbeam to see the gnomes dance. The boys can’t be quiet and the gnomes get angry and attack on bats. Jimmy stops them with a handful of moonbeams.

In the next two issue, 31 and 32 (May and June 1942) Jimmy goes to the Land of the Fun People where he faces off against the Candy Men, evil jokers, and the Licorice Men , rather racist depictions of Africans.

Issue 33 to 35 (July to September 1942) is a continuing story called “The Tunnel to China”. Jimmy decides he he going to dig a hole all the way to China. He makes some stops along the way. The first story is a version of “Alice in Wonderland” with white rabbits and chess boards.

In the second portion, Jimmy digs far enough to meet the Devil and a version of Hell.

In the final story-line, he gets to China and it is full of dragons. He meets up with Mr. Wumpjump, who makes his real home in China, not the Land of Nowhere.

The comic takes a darker turn with Issue 36 (October 1942). Jimmy has to visit the dentist but that process involves some horrific dreaming.

Issue 37 (November 1942) continues the scary stuff with a subtitle “His Halloween Adventure”. Jimmy takes on ghosts and demons in a haunted graveyard. The portrayal of African-Americans would not be politically correct today, but on the other hand, these are the only real people of color in any of the twenty-one stories.

With Issue 38 (December 1942), Jimmy gets a new sidekick, Knobby the Marionette. He looks like the Tin Woodsman from The Wizard of Oz. Knobby will join Jimmy on many of his later adventures. In this story he is chosen to go the Land of Ra, where fairies and wizards live. The evil wizard Zar throws both Jimmy and Knobby in prison. They escape and Jimmy destroys Zar by throwing a bucket of water on him. Similar to the witch in Oz, Zar shrinks and loses his powers. Knobby would be around until Issue 41.

Jimmy’s adventures become mostly tales of castles and kings at this point.

One interesting exception was Issue 42 (April 1943) where Mr. Rabbit and the dragon Wumpjump come to Jimmy’s reality instead of playing in the Land of Nowhere.

Issue 44 (June 1943) was the last of the Ed Robbins issues. The comic takes a dark turn that Gus Hetman will continue. The War had finally come to The Land of Nowhere. In this final tale, Jimmy is gathering rubber for the War Drive. He goes to the Land of the Rubber People where he finds the Camp of Concentration. These grim wartime elements will turn what was a fun-loving comic into another propaganda comic.

Gus Hetman took over with issue 45 (July 1943). Hetman’s art is similar to Robbins though his inking differs. The comic that had been dragons and gnomes now is filled with Rosie the Riveter.

Issue 46 (August 1943) has Jimmy go to the Barnyard Valley where war is raging. The animals fear a tractor monster called the Jeeper. Hetman’s tale resembles George Orwell’s Animal Farm but that book wouldn’t appear for two more years.

Issue 47 (September 1943) was the first of the comic written by Ray Gill and drawn by Fred Bell. The Victory Garden becomes another war between gardener and insects and birds.

The final story (October 1943) feels like a return to the comic’s origin. Jimmy is playing cards before he goes to the Land of Nowhere for a battle between suits. He returns home to have his mom give him heck for using his father’s cards as a bookmark. Jimmy wonders if all these adventures have been nothing more than a dream.

By October 1943, Jimmy’s adventures were over. Dickey had packed it in in 1942 and Danny in May 1943. The wonderful fantasies of comics were pushed aside for more war-driven propaganda comics. The Human Torch, Captain America, and other caped heroes needed the pages to punch out more Nazis and the Japanese. Readers would have to wait for the 1960s to find another land of fantasy.

As I stated with Dickey and Danny before, these boy-hero-in-Wonderland stories inspired the later world of Casper and Wendy at Harvey Comics. Unlike those newer comics, Jimmy Jupiter and his other Golden Age friends, always required some “It was only a dream” explanation. The world of Stumbo the Giant and Hot Stuff the Little Devil avoids this kind of rationalization, perhaps showing more sophistication on the part of child readers of the 1960s and 1970s. Jimmy Jupiter ends his very last comic page with: