Number 2099: The Jaguar and the Sea Circe

The Jaguar, part of the Archie Adventure Series, seems very tame. Ralph Hardy is a zoologist, and as the Jaguar is ruler of all beasts. Any thrills from that must have been seriously muted by the Comics Code, which kept any real dangerous stuff out of most comic book stories. For instance, in “The Sea Circe from Space!” sex is part of the plot, yet so mild it barely registers. The Sea Circe is in a one-piece swimsuit-styled costume, and has definite sex appeal, but her animal magnetism does not seem to work on the ruler of all animals, Ralph the Jaguar. He chooses not to go off with the Sea Circe and rule the universe.

They are on an island, far from his home. Did he think he might at least invite her to his room? Apparently not. Oh, noble Ralph.

The story was written by Jaguar creator Robert Bernstein, and the artwork is by comic book journeyman, John Rosenberger.

From Adventures of the Jaguar #3 (1961):

Number 1893: The Jaguar and the Fourth-Dimensional Force

The Jaguar was a character who, as Toonopedia says, was basically cut from the same cloth as the Fly. They were both published by Archie in another attempt to introduce some superheroes into their line.* I didn’t buy The Fly after Simon and Kirby left (and especially when the Fly became — ugh! — Flyman). I bought a couple of issues of Adventures of the Jaguar, but probably because they had pretty girls on the covers.

John Rosenberger, who drew the feature, was not an artist I associated with superheroes. Robert Bernstein, who created and wrote the Jaguar stories, was a journeyman scripter who wrote a lot for DC. And in reading this story from Adventures of the Jaguar #3 (1961), it has some of the same genial goofiness I expect in DC Comics of that period.

*I haven’t forgottten that when Archie Comics were born as MLJ Comics, their early line was made up of superheroes, including the Shield, the Wizard, Black Hood, Hangman, and several others. When they revived those characters as the Mighty Heroes in the mid-sixties I believe they failed because of the art, and presenting the characters as “camp.”

Number 698

Comic Artists Must Pay the Penalty!

According to biographical information on John Rosenberger, who was also known as John R. and occasionally John Diehl, he suffered a nervous breakdown at some point in the early 1950s. Comic book work was very stressful for him at the time. He went into painting covers for paperback books, and was coaxed back into comic work by ACG editor Richard E. Hughes. Rosenberger and his wife moved to Levittown, Long Island, New York, to be close to Hughes and his wife.

Rosenberger had a wonderful clean style, and I noticed it during the 1950s in Adventures Into the Unknown and Forbidden Worlds. He went into superhero work at Archie with his co-creation, The Jaguar, with writer Robert Bernstein. The Jaguar was a character I didn't like so I lost track of Rosenberger. He went on to DC and did various projects, including love and superheroes featuring his beautiful female characters.

Here's a 1970 John R. love comics splash page I found online:

Rosenberger had a heart attack and then cancer. He died at age 58 in 1977.

These two examples of his work are a 1956 Adventures Into the Unknown story done for Hughes at ACG, and a story for Ace's Crime Must Pay the Penalty #40 in 1954. Both of them show Rosenberger's fine drawing, which included inking his own work. There's no word as to whether he repeated the nervous breakdown that drawing comics caused him earlier in his career.

Number 471


Happy Valentine's Day


Did you buy your sweetie a big box of chocolates, take her to a movie, dinner, dancing? Well, I did none of those things, but I want to share some love and romance with you, my beloved readers. Here's my big old heart for you!

And since there are no love comics to speak of in the magnificent Pappy library, I'm giving you some non-traditional love stories. You didn't think I was going soft, did you?

"It Happened On Valentine's Eve" is a spooky ghost story from The Beyond #4, 1951.

"A Bridegroom For Jenny" is from Adventures Into The Unknown #107, April 1959, written by Richard E. Hughes under a pen-name, drawn by John Rosenberger (uncredited) and attributed to the apparent inker, Jon Diehl.

"The Honeymooners" aren't Ralph and Alice Kramden. The story is drawn by Tony Mortellaro, and originally appeared in Atlas Comics' Mystic #21 (not #12, as some dyslexic lettered on the splash panel). I scanned it from its Marvel Comics reprint appearance in Vault Of Evil #16, December 1974.

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