On this day, 16 February 1980: Jackpot — GREAT NEWS FOR ALL READERS!

Feb 16

Feb 16 On this day, 16 February 1980: Jackpot

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LatentStyleCount="26… — Cover artwork: Steve Bell

On this day, 16 February 1980 … I’ve been trying to identify what it was that made Jackpot such a favourite comic of mine. I know it’s a fave of a number of other Great News for All Readers! readers too so please do say in the comments if you have any thoughts on what made it special for you. On the face of it there was nothing obviously special about the comic – it followed a fairly traditional format of mostly single-page strips and the occasional double-page serial, with no overriding theme other than that of being a winner (although that only really applied to some of the stories, and the emphasis given to ‘big win’ competitions – such as the ‘Win your weight in Smith’s Snacks’ promotion previewed in the ad below).

It’s a great comic, of course, with the cream of the IPC artists working at the top of their game, and featured some original ideas such as Steve Bell’s Gremlins and Nigel Edwards’ Good News Bad News. The key thing for me, however, was that Jackpot was a brand new comic, not a spin-off nor associated in any obvious way to other titles in the IPC family, and I was a reader from the first issue so it really felt like my comic (I have a similar fondness for Speed, my first ‘older readers’ comic). Strips such as Richie Wraggs, Angel’s ‘Proper’ Charlies, Laser Eraser, Full O’ Beans and The Incredible Sulk were mine, not other people’s favourites that I’d sidled in on, as I felt was slightly the case with my previous comics, Whizzer and Chips and Cheeky (which I read from the start, but was based around an established character). Thanks for the memories, Jackpot!