Jag Annual 1971

Launched on April 28th 1968, Jag proved to be a short-lived comic that lasted just 48 issues until the following year when it was merged with Tiger, one of IPC's stronger titles. Jag was unusual due to it's size which made it difficult to display, so much so that it eventually went through a revamp to become a normal sized comic.

As was usual Jag had a number of annuals, four in total which well outlasted the original comic itself. This edition cover-dated 1971 would have been released for Christmas 1970, a year after the demise of Jag as a solo title but still visible as part of Tiger and Jag.

 

This was not a comic that I purchased as a child, though one or two did end up in possession at the time. There was a lot of competition in the British comics market at the time so it was impossible to buy them all, especially as had already developed a love of the American four-colour superheros comics!

Nevertheless I was more than interested in picking up a copy of the annual which has a mixture of picture and prose stories plus features, though far too much football for my tastes but then the British schoolboy was supposed to be football mad. I wasn't, neither were more than a few of my friends though we were in the minority.

A feature on The Red Devils kicked off the book, followed by a familiar tale of McTavish and O'Toole which I'm sure appeared elsewhere....

Comedy (of sorts) featured in the somewhat politically incorrect Cap'n Codsmouth which just wouldn't make print today given the cannibalistic stereotypes of black people featured within! This was the seventies and IPC's publisher did have Sparky!

Other stories included Iron-Man Martin, The Indestructible Man, Custer (yeah That Custer) and Jag's most famous strip Football Family Robinson. My favourite in the Annual was The Mouse Patrol, the tale of children stealing a tank to look for their missing fathers in the desert war.

I have yet to obtain copies of the original comic though do have a handful of Tiger & Jags which becomes an "all-sport" title at one stage and therefore of not much interest to me.