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Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos
In 1942, almost a year after America entered the Second World War, Jay Jackson—a former railroad worker and sign painter, now working as a cartoonist and illustrator for the legendary Black newspaper the Chicago Defender—did something unexpected.
He took the Defender’s stale and long-running gag strip Bungleton Green and remade it into a gripping, anti-racist science-fiction adventure comic. He teamed the bumbling Green with a crew of Black teens called the Mystic Commandos, and together they battled the enemies of America and racial equality in the past, present, and future. Nazis, segregationist senators, Benedict Arnold, fifth columnists, eighteenth-century American slave traders, evil scientists, and a nation of racist Green Men all faced off against the Mystic Commandos and Green, who in the strip’s run would be transformed by Jackson into the first-ever Black superhero.
Never before collected or republished, Jackson’s stories are packed with jaw-dropping twists and breathtaking action, and present a radical vision of a brighter American future.
This edition includes a new eye-opening essay by Jeet Heer, who investigates Jackson's earlier work and personal history and provides a fuller portrait of the cartoonist who remade Bungleton Green.
He took the Defender’s stale and long-running gag strip Bungleton Green and remade it into a gripping, anti-racist science-fiction adventure comic. He teamed the bumbling Green with a crew of Black teens called the Mystic Commandos, and together they battled the enemies of America and racial equality in the past, present, and future. Nazis, segregationist senators, Benedict Arnold, fifth columnists, eighteenth-century American slave traders, evil scientists, and a nation of racist Green Men all faced off against the Mystic Commandos and Green, who in the strip’s run would be transformed by Jackson into the first-ever Black superhero.
Never before collected or republished, Jackson’s stories are packed with jaw-dropping twists and breathtaking action, and present a radical vision of a brighter American future.
This edition includes a new eye-opening essay by Jeet Heer, who investigates Jackson's earlier work and personal history and provides a fuller portrait of the cartoonist who remade Bungleton Green.
181 pages, Paperback
Published December 13, 2022
1 person is currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Jay Jackson
1 bookLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Jay Jackson (1905–1954) was a prolific artist and cartoonist whose work appeared for many years in the Black newspaper The Chicago Defender, among numerous other publications. Before he began his cartooning career, he hammered spikes for a railroad, labored in a steel mill, started a short-lived sign-painting business, and even had a brief career as an amateur boxer. In the late 1940s, Jackson moved with his family from Chicago to Los Angeles, where he resided for the remainder of his life.
Jay Jackson (1905–1954) was a prolific artist and cartoonist whose work appeared for many years in the Black newspaper The Chicago Defender, among numerous other publications. Before he began his cartooning career, he hammered spikes for a railroad, labored in a steel mill, started a short-lived sign-painting business, and even had a brief career as an amateur boxer. In the late 1940s, Jackson moved with his family from Chicago to Los Angeles, where he resided for the remainder of his life.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 6, 2023
A nifty little treat from the past!
I like old newspaper comic strips from the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, but here's one about which I have been woefully ignorant. It ran in the Chicago Defender, a paper by and for African Americans that began in 1905 and continues today online.
Bungleton Green was the star of a gag strip in the paper until new creator Jay Jackson (who also wrote and drew the strip "Speed Jaxon" on the same comics page) took it over and transitioned it to an action and adventure serial with Bungleton becoming mentor to a group of teens who tangle with ghosts, magic rings, Nazis, time travel, and mad scientists.
If you're not used to old comic strips, I'm sure the twists and turns of the plot will seem abrupt and bizarre; even I found some of the sudden left turns here to be quite jarring. But there is considerable energy in the anything-can-happen storytelling in these chapters. (It gets so out-there at times, I started to suspect that the book was a hoax created by modern hands as a satire, but I researched and confirmed this really was created in the 1940s.)
Prince Whipple
The Scooby gang finds they are able to summon up ghosts from the past to help them, like DC's Kid Eternity character.
The Monocle
German spies are trying to sabotage America's ability to win World War II by fomenting racism amongst integrated factory workers and developing a mind control gas.
The Scientist
The gang has been kidnapped and taken to Germany to be tortured in a concentration camp. Their only chance for escape is an old scientist and his time machine.
1778
Whisked back to Revolutionary America, Bungleton and the kids are immediately enslaved and just as quickly join an insurrection for freedom.
2043
Leaving slavery in the past, the gang is now in a future where racism no longer exists in the "United States of the World" thanks to a group of young people who were able to trick a racist senator into not filibustering a voting rights bill. It also helps, apparently, that most of the Deep South was destroyed by a tidal wave?!?!?!
The Green Men
That tidal wave was caused by the rising of a new continent in the Atlantic called Vert. The green people who live there do have Jim Crow laws that discriminate . . . but only against white people. This longest chapter in the book has the leader of the Mystic Commandos, Bud Happyhallow, touring Vert with Jon Smythe, a white citizen of the future who cannot get over how awful it is to be denied rooms at hotels, seats on public transportation, and jobs for which he is qualified. And then he runs afoul of a lynch mob!
A Superman
Having disappeared for a good chunk of the book, Bungleton reappears in time to be taken captive by mad scientists who want to use him as a guinea pig in their experiments to give humans superpowers.
The ending is unexpected, but makes perfect sense. I'd certainly be interested in seeing a follow-up collection to see where Jackson's imagination took Bungleton next.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents:
• Commando Raids against Racism: Jay Jackson's Audacious Comics / Jeet Heer
• Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos: October 1942-January 1945 / Jay Jackson
~ Prince Whipple: February 1943 - July 1943 [sic, actually November 1942 - February 1943]
~ The Monocle: Feburary 1943 - July 1943
~ The Scientist: March 1944 - December 1944 [sic, actually July 1943 - August 1943]
~ 1778: September 1943 - December 1943
~ 2043: December 1943 - December 1944 [sic, actually December 1943 - February 1944]
~ The Green Men: February 1944 - November 1944
~ A Superman: December 1944 - July 1943 [sic, actually December 1944 - January 1945]
• Jackson's Passwords / Jay Jackson
I like old newspaper comic strips from the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, but here's one about which I have been woefully ignorant. It ran in the Chicago Defender, a paper by and for African Americans that began in 1905 and continues today online.
Bungleton Green was the star of a gag strip in the paper until new creator Jay Jackson (who also wrote and drew the strip "Speed Jaxon" on the same comics page) took it over and transitioned it to an action and adventure serial with Bungleton becoming mentor to a group of teens who tangle with ghosts, magic rings, Nazis, time travel, and mad scientists.
If you're not used to old comic strips, I'm sure the twists and turns of the plot will seem abrupt and bizarre; even I found some of the sudden left turns here to be quite jarring. But there is considerable energy in the anything-can-happen storytelling in these chapters. (It gets so out-there at times, I started to suspect that the book was a hoax created by modern hands as a satire, but I researched and confirmed this really was created in the 1940s.)
Prince Whipple
The Scooby gang finds they are able to summon up ghosts from the past to help them, like DC's Kid Eternity character.
The Monocle
German spies are trying to sabotage America's ability to win World War II by fomenting racism amongst integrated factory workers and developing a mind control gas.
The Scientist
The gang has been kidnapped and taken to Germany to be tortured in a concentration camp. Their only chance for escape is an old scientist and his time machine.
1778
Whisked back to Revolutionary America, Bungleton and the kids are immediately enslaved and just as quickly join an insurrection for freedom.
2043
Leaving slavery in the past, the gang is now in a future where racism no longer exists in the "United States of the World" thanks to a group of young people who were able to trick a racist senator into not filibustering a voting rights bill. It also helps, apparently, that most of the Deep South was destroyed by a tidal wave?!?!?!
The Green Men
That tidal wave was caused by the rising of a new continent in the Atlantic called Vert. The green people who live there do have Jim Crow laws that discriminate . . . but only against white people. This longest chapter in the book has the leader of the Mystic Commandos, Bud Happyhallow, touring Vert with Jon Smythe, a white citizen of the future who cannot get over how awful it is to be denied rooms at hotels, seats on public transportation, and jobs for which he is qualified. And then he runs afoul of a lynch mob!
A Superman
Having disappeared for a good chunk of the book, Bungleton reappears in time to be taken captive by mad scientists who want to use him as a guinea pig in their experiments to give humans superpowers.
The ending is unexpected, but makes perfect sense. I'd certainly be interested in seeing a follow-up collection to see where Jackson's imagination took Bungleton next.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents:
• Commando Raids against Racism: Jay Jackson's Audacious Comics / Jeet Heer
• Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos: October 1942-January 1945 / Jay Jackson
~ Prince Whipple: February 1943 - July 1943 [sic, actually November 1942 - February 1943]
~ The Monocle: Feburary 1943 - July 1943
~ The Scientist: March 1944 - December 1944 [sic, actually July 1943 - August 1943]
~ 1778: September 1943 - December 1943
~ 2043: December 1943 - December 1944 [sic, actually December 1943 - February 1944]
~ The Green Men: February 1944 - November 1944
~ A Superman: December 1944 - July 1943 [sic, actually December 1944 - January 1945]
• Jackson's Passwords / Jay Jackson
April 22, 2025
Very small print made this a bit of a chore. Lots of stuff crammed into each story.
January 13, 2023
At the beginning of World War II, Jay Jackson took over a weekly comic strip (Bungleton Green) that had been running for years in the 'Chicago Defender', the Black newspaper. The strip had been a Black version of low comedy like Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (hence the Bungleton name, I presume), but Jackson transformed it into an action/adventure strip involving a gang of boys with an adult mentor who seek out Nazi saboteurs. Similar plot lines were going on in comics like Little Orphan Annie and Captain America. This volume collects all of Jackson's weekly strips from November 1942 through January 1945.
The difference was, this strip was really about racial injustice, and the hypocrisy of America opposing fascism while simultaneously oppressing Black people, especially with the Jim Crow laws. (The Nazis had used those laws as models.)
While the plots are often ludicrous as were many adventure strips of that time, the social concerns were serious. The most overt example is a plot line where the boys time travel to America in 2044 to see how the country has improved. A token white character experiences Jim Crow when he is thrust into a society of green people who discriminate against whites. The points may seem heavy-handed to us today, but were pertinent then (as in the episode when the white person goes North for more freedom, but still can't get a hotel room except in the 'white belt' of the town).
An evil scientist turns Bungleton Green into a kind of super man, similar to how Captain America was transformed. This may be the first Black superhero ever created in the comics.
Since the strip ran in a Black newspaper it could be accused of preaching to the choir, and it could have been more beneficial if a white audience read it, but it also had some prescient elements that no mainstream metropolitan paper would have run, such as a Black woman as mayor of Memphis in 2044, or a Black soldier returning home to his white wife and young daughter, with a close-up of an inter-racial kiss.
One element that would have educated both Black and white audiences were Jackson's 'passwords', usually the names of notable Blacks in history, who received a one-panel biography at the end of that strip. All the password biographies are helpfully collected at the end of this volume, and I guarantee you will discover some people you didn't know about, including the greatest American 'war mother' discovered in a national search – Mrs. Olivia Jones, who had nine of her seventeen children serving in the armed forces.
The difference was, this strip was really about racial injustice, and the hypocrisy of America opposing fascism while simultaneously oppressing Black people, especially with the Jim Crow laws. (The Nazis had used those laws as models.)
While the plots are often ludicrous as were many adventure strips of that time, the social concerns were serious. The most overt example is a plot line where the boys time travel to America in 2044 to see how the country has improved. A token white character experiences Jim Crow when he is thrust into a society of green people who discriminate against whites. The points may seem heavy-handed to us today, but were pertinent then (as in the episode when the white person goes North for more freedom, but still can't get a hotel room except in the 'white belt' of the town).
An evil scientist turns Bungleton Green into a kind of super man, similar to how Captain America was transformed. This may be the first Black superhero ever created in the comics.
Since the strip ran in a Black newspaper it could be accused of preaching to the choir, and it could have been more beneficial if a white audience read it, but it also had some prescient elements that no mainstream metropolitan paper would have run, such as a Black woman as mayor of Memphis in 2044, or a Black soldier returning home to his white wife and young daughter, with a close-up of an inter-racial kiss.
One element that would have educated both Black and white audiences were Jackson's 'passwords', usually the names of notable Blacks in history, who received a one-panel biography at the end of that strip. All the password biographies are helpfully collected at the end of this volume, and I guarantee you will discover some people you didn't know about, including the greatest American 'war mother' discovered in a national search – Mrs. Olivia Jones, who had nine of her seventeen children serving in the armed forces.
April 26, 2024
Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos by Jay Jackson was a comic strip started in late 1942. Published in The Chicago Defender, a Black-run news publication, Jackson’s strip was designed for Black readers. Many of the comics featured in major newspapers of the day were used to inform and recruit America’s youth in the war efforts at home. Fans of Little Orphan Annie and The Boy Commandos followed the characters as they aided the Allied Forces in their fight against the fascists. Jackson’s work took this idea a step further. Defeating fascism is only meaningful if racism is erased. Jackson’s strip was a mix of science-fiction ideas. He used time travel, space flight, “the Green Men,” and a Black superhero to help relay his message.
Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commando is regaining life in a new book published by New York Review Comics. Jackson’s weekly strips from November 1942 to the end of January 1945 are all featured in this collection. “Jackson’s Passwords,” short biography of Black historical figures used as the final panel, is included in the publication. Jeet Heer writes the forward to this collection of Jackson’s comics, explaining the artist’s life, struggles, and motivations. This is a great addition to collectors of historic comics and anyone fighting racism.
this review was originally published at https://portlandbookreview.com/produc...
Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commando is regaining life in a new book published by New York Review Comics. Jackson’s weekly strips from November 1942 to the end of January 1945 are all featured in this collection. “Jackson’s Passwords,” short biography of Black historical figures used as the final panel, is included in the publication. Jeet Heer writes the forward to this collection of Jackson’s comics, explaining the artist’s life, struggles, and motivations. This is a great addition to collectors of historic comics and anyone fighting racism.
this review was originally published at https://portlandbookreview.com/produc...
February 12, 2023
If you are looking for something to read for Black History Month, I think this would be the perfect book!
During World War II, Jay Jackson transformed the comic strip Bungleton Green into a Science-Fiction Action/Adventure comic featuring young boys (and some girls) of varying backgrounds fighting Naziism and racism. There are ghosts and time travel, allowing for a multitude of Black historical figures to be introduced to readers. Through direct experience and allegory, he explores Black social justice issues from slavery to Jim Crow. Jackson holds no fear in directly drawing the comparison between Naziism and American racism. It is truly such a fascinating comic to read, and incredibly fun as well! It certainly crosses the line into the absurd or the overly moral and preachy at times (many comics tell readers to buy war bonds, and Benedict Arnold shows up to teach some boys a lesson), but that does make a lot of sense given that it was the middle of the war and it was a comic meant for young people.
My only real complaint is with the publisher for getting the dates on nearly all the section pages incorrect. However, acknowledgments are due to Jeet Heer for taking the time to compile these comics and share them with the world.
During World War II, Jay Jackson transformed the comic strip Bungleton Green into a Science-Fiction Action/Adventure comic featuring young boys (and some girls) of varying backgrounds fighting Naziism and racism. There are ghosts and time travel, allowing for a multitude of Black historical figures to be introduced to readers. Through direct experience and allegory, he explores Black social justice issues from slavery to Jim Crow. Jackson holds no fear in directly drawing the comparison between Naziism and American racism. It is truly such a fascinating comic to read, and incredibly fun as well! It certainly crosses the line into the absurd or the overly moral and preachy at times (many comics tell readers to buy war bonds, and Benedict Arnold shows up to teach some boys a lesson), but that does make a lot of sense given that it was the middle of the war and it was a comic meant for young people.
My only real complaint is with the publisher for getting the dates on nearly all the section pages incorrect. However, acknowledgments are due to Jeet Heer for taking the time to compile these comics and share them with the world.
March 24, 2023
Bungleton Green was a humor character who appeared in the Black newspaper The Chicago Defender in the 1940s. Jay Jackson took over the strip, introducing a kid gang of sorts (the Mystic Commandos), and sent the stories into a science fiction direction, with time travel to the past and future and the eponymous Bungleton eventually being transformed into a 'superman.' I found the stories historically interesting and there're some ironic observations about race which are entertaining (notably a future trip in which a present-day Black character accompanies a future post-racial white character to a country where the latter is discriminated against by a green skinned-race!), but while Jackson was certainly competent, his kid gang are nearly characterless and few of the others stand out.
January 29, 2023
This is a title that I checked out from my library because of the interesting title. I had no idea what it was about, but boy am I glad I did check this out.
This volume collects Jackson's run of Bungleton Green comic strips published during the war years. The comic strips address notions of patriotism, defeating Nazism and of course civil rights! I enjoyed the storytelling and the educational elements- learning more about important figures in Black history is something everyone should make more of an effort to do. Jackson makes it quick and easy- and sparks curiosity.
Jackson's work was definitely far ahead of its time!
This volume collects Jackson's run of Bungleton Green comic strips published during the war years. The comic strips address notions of patriotism, defeating Nazism and of course civil rights! I enjoyed the storytelling and the educational elements- learning more about important figures in Black history is something everyone should make more of an effort to do. Jackson makes it quick and easy- and sparks curiosity.
Jackson's work was definitely far ahead of its time!
February 7, 2023
Bungleton Green is less about getting in a good story and more about peering into a time capsule. The zany, comic strip style storytelling is quintessential wartime propaganda. Take down the Nazi plan, save the world, and "Buy War Bonds!" To look at it from a purely literary point of view, its not very good.
But... it still deserves a place on almost every bookshelf. Why? Because Bungleton Green was a black man, written by a black man, at a time when black people were still considered only 3/4 human. And he was syndicated! It was a monumental advancement in black rights and had, at its heart, a message of a unified America. 80 years on, we could still learn from the Mystic Commandos.
But... it still deserves a place on almost every bookshelf. Why? Because Bungleton Green was a black man, written by a black man, at a time when black people were still considered only 3/4 human. And he was syndicated! It was a monumental advancement in black rights and had, at its heart, a message of a unified America. 80 years on, we could still learn from the Mystic Commandos.
May 28, 2023
Interesting more for its historical significance than for the individual comics- which are fun, but very much 40s adventure comics! - this collection offers a great glimpse of the often-forgotten world of Black newspapers and their political interests. The final collection, in which Jackson's protagonists are transported to a future country where green people oppress whites, is particularly interesting for its exploration of the common "reverse racism" plotline from a Black perspective.
Unfortunately, as a collection, some of the strips preserved are underexposed, which reduces some of the finer detail into black blobbiness- particularly unfortunate when the protagonists are Black!
Unfortunately, as a collection, some of the strips preserved are underexposed, which reduces some of the finer detail into black blobbiness- particularly unfortunate when the protagonists are Black!
Want to read
August 30, 2022Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.
January 17, 2023
Does anybody know what the occasional, seemingly random numbers are that appear in the panels? Sometimes they are integrated into the scene, other times they just appear in the corner of the panel.
March 6, 2023
Why should people be judged by the color of their skin? If you were a Chalkie in Greenman Land you may understand. Let’s hope 2044 comes true Bung Green.
August 24, 2023
Worth a look just for the sheer craziness of it.
March 15, 2024
Skipped the main content and read the Jackson’s Passwords, similar in form to Ripleys Believe it or Not panels.
Read
October 19, 2025read this for my comics class. veryyy interesting and i got an A on my paper so slay
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews