Jackpot

Publishing history

The first issue cost 10p. The price increased to 12p from issue 63 (1980) and 14p from issue 98 in 1981

Free Gifts

Early issues included a cover-mounted free gift the first issue included a "practical joke", for example a joke chocolate biscuit. Issue 2 featured a Squirt Ring. Issue 3 bore a Magic Numbers card game and Why Be Bored? book covers. The inner pages of the latter continued for several issue after.

Annuals

Annuals were printed from 1980 to 1986 - as was often the case with British titles, these hardback books outlasted the weekly comic by some time. They mixed original and reprinted material, with much of the new material being drawn by different artists than the weekly strips due to the lower page rate paid to artists.

Summer Specials

Summer Specials were printed from 1980 to 1982, again mixing reprint material with new strips (which again featured different artists).

Contents

Initial lineup

Source:

Jack Pott: A one-page comic strip carried over from Cor!!, drawn by Jim Crocker. The title character was compelled to gamble on everything. The readers voted the story in the top ten for every published list - 2nd most popular strip, in issue 96 After Jackpot merged with Buster the strip continued until 22 October 1988.

Richie Wraggs: drawn by Mike Lacey, Wraggs was on the cover of issue 1 and continued until issue 140. His best friend was a black cat called Lucky and the strip parodied elements of Dick Whittington. His character was from the country and had nowhere to live. This popular story was regularly voted into the top ten list by the readers. The 1982 Jackpot Special featured two new Richie Wraggs strips that were never printed in the issues.

Gremlins: drawn by Steve Bell (later to find wider fame as The Guardian's resident political cartoonist). The gremlins were small furry blobs the size of a spider that were always breaking things right up until their last appearance in issue No. 103 The strip was voted 6th most popular strip by the readers in issue 19. The strip bore no relation to the film of the same name.

Angel's Proper Charlies: A parody of TV show Charlie's Angels, seeing a character called Angel move to the same neighbourhood as three friends who compete for her attention. Voted seventh most popular strip by the readers in issue 11 and again seventh most popular strip by the readers in issue 19

Adam and Eva: A parody of the biblical story Adam and Eve, drawn by Paul Ailey. The strip features a serpent who persuades the pair to eat apples for wisdom.

Class Wars: drawn by Vic Neill, the strip featured a class of school pupils formed by a private school merging with a comprehensive school. The class consisted of groups known as the "toffs" from the former, led by Cyril, and "scruffs" from the latter, led by Herbert. The class' teacher always tried to find ways to help them get along. Other Toffs were Nigel and Fiona, and other scruffs included Gertie. Class Wars was one of the most popular stories and was voted 5th top strip by the readers in issue 11, 4th most popular in issue 19, 7th most popular in issue 96, 5th most popular in issue 116, 4th most popular in issue 124 and 5th most popular in issue 134. It continued in the pages of Buster after the merger, renamed Top of the Class.

Later additions

Robin Good: debuting in No. 36. A spoof of the Robin Hood legend about a boy who robs from the rich and gives to the poor set around 1200. His arch enemy is the Sheriff of Nottingham's son.

The Amazing Three: drawn by Trevor Metcalfe and debuting in No. 23. An adventure strip concerning twins Craig and Sue Travers and their friend Sam Pacey, who use magic rings to transform into the superheroes Blue Magician, Tanya and Oakman in order to fend off the alien invader Vogler. The strip ran until No. 58.

Jake's 7: drawn by Tom Paterson and debuting in No. 62. Jake and his six friends are sent into the future, where they still have school. (The title is a pun of the TV programme Blake's 7 but the strip itself is not a parody of the series. This strip predates the earliest official comics based on the TV show.)

The Winners: drawn by Mike Lacey and debuting in No. 75 The Winner family always won any competitions they entered. The strip was a popular addition, with readers voting it 3rd favourite in issue 96. By issue 134 they were the 2nd favourite story. The strip continued into the mid-1990s in Buster (now drawn by Jimmy Hansen), making it the longest running of all the Jackpot comic strips.

Fiends and Neighbours: a reprint comic strip that had previously run in Cor! and would later appear in Scream!, starting from issue 101

Will Power: drawn by Nigel Edwards, debuting in No. 103.

The Park: drawn by Tom Paterson and debuting in No. 107, drawn by Tom Paterson continued in Buster. A park keeper called Parky does not like other people using his park. His assistant is called Dogsbody. Other park regulars include Colonel Windbag and his butler Dithers; Barbara Woodshed and her dog Humphrey; and Nanny and her baby. The strip continued in Buster after the merger until 26 May 1984. before also being discontinued to make room for School Fun material. Despite a similar premise, the strip was not related to the Viz strip The Parky.

The Gold Rush: drawn by Dicky Howett. Two rival treasure hunters Giles and Cad travel the world in search of gold; their quest ended in issue 86.

Reprints

In the 1980s and 1990s most of the comic strips were reprinted, though IPC had a policy of waiting five years before beginning reprinting old comic strips.

Big Comic Fortnightly began reprinting selected Jackpot material, including episodes of Incredible Sulk, Full o' Beans, Scooper, Cry Baby, Top of the Class, Jack Pott, Sporty, Kid King and Gremlins in the mid 1990s