The Jam, formally known as the Jammer, is a fictional costumed hero, created by writer-artist Bernie Mireault, who originally appeared in Canadian comic books published by Matrix Graphics Series. The Jammer made his first appearance in New Triumph Featuring Northguard #2 (1985).
The Jammer is the alter ego of Gordon "Gordie" Kirby, an otherwise normal guy who found he enjoyed patrolling the rooftops of his home city of Montréal in a homemade superhero costume. The Jammer is not really a superhero. He often finds himself in the right place at the right time, and is compelled to act heroically. Sometimes he is hired to do good deeds. His personal mission is to "dominate the world with peace, love, and free beer". Through the course of his career, he has battled terrorists, a delusional psychiatrist, and even servants of the Devil.
Publication history
The first published stories of the Jam appeared in New Triumph Featuring Northguard from Matrix Graphic Series between 1985 and Summer of 1986. These stories were collected, along with a new unpublished story, by Matrix Graphics Series as The Jam Special #1 in 1987. A second special, The Jam, Urban Adventure: Super Cool, Color-injected, Turbo Adventure from Hell #1, was published in 1988 by Comico, and advertised a series "bi-monthly starting this summer from Matrix".
Slave Labor Graphics published The Jam, Urban Adventure #1–5 between November 1989 and the Summer of 1991. The Jam, Urban Adventure #1 (November 1989) was an expanded version of the new story found in The Jam Special #1 (1987). Tundra Publishing colorized and republished The Jam, Urban Adventure #1–5 between January and May 1992. Dark Horse Comics picked up the title and published issues' #6-8 between October 1993 and February 1995. Finally, Caliber Comics published issues #9–14 between 1995 and 1997, as well as the Jam short story "The Chair" in Negative Burn #25 (1995). From then on several mini-series', one-shots and short stories were published (see list below).
Bernie Mireault was featured in Demi-Dieux, 40 ans de super-héros dans la bande dessinée québécoise ("Demi-Gods: 40 Years of Superheroes in Québec Comics") published by Jean-Dominique Leduc at Mem9ire (2014). The Jammer appeared, along with other notable characters, on the cover of the book.
While vacationing in Montréal with friends, the Blood King hired Jane Marble to protect him from a small but determined army of terrorists who followed in his wake. Jane contracted the Gordon Kirby to be the king's body double.
Gordon Kirby and Janet Ditko had been together for 10 years. Gordie had rediscovered his calling as a comic artist. Janet was frustrated and looking for a change.
Gordon Kirby was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to personally deliver a message to Jane Marble's client Mark Trimble. She offered to tear up Mark's bill if he told Gordie about the Kinetic.
Spans The Jam, Urban Adventure #13–14 (1996–7).[29]
House of Escher
Gordon Kirby met Frank Einstein who had traveled to Montréal to uncover the mystery behind a reoccurring dream.
Snuuger Dü, Bug-Eyed Monster, Dr. Robot, and No.1 met the Jammer when they got lost following a storyline.
Found in Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology (2007).[34]
Comic Jam
Gordon Kirby attended a regular drawing workshop and social hour for cartoonists at La Sala Rosa Restaurant. The attending artists produced a collaborative comic.
Gordon Kirby witnessed a man being shot with an arrow by a bowman from an adjoining rooftop.
Found as prose in Tesseract Nineteen: Superhero Universe (2016)[44] and adapted as comics in The Jam, Urban Adventure: Super Cool, Color-injected, Turbo Adventure from Hell #2 (2022).[47]
The works of Gordon Kirby
Mayhem in Alphabet Town
"Mayhem in Alphabet Town" was a bedtime story created by Gordon Kirby for his nephew Ronnie. It is a murder mystery wherein the residents of Alphabet Town come together to determine who killed Q.
The Jammer is athletic and in good physical shape, regularly leaping between rooftops when patrolling his neighborhood. The Jammer is a capable hand-to-hand combatant, having knocked armed assailants unconscious,[2][3] subdued a religious fanatic who was assaulting a woman in the street,[7] easily defended himself against two opponents in the back of a police wagon,[7] and performed an impeccable tomoe nage on a man who attacked him with a cane.[38] The Jammer has also displayed a resistance to hypnotic induction.[20]
Equipment
Costume
The Jammer's costume consists of a loose-fitting dark-green hooded jogging suit (from Sears); a white belt; and dirty white cavalier-style gloves and boots. Bits of orange material were added to the hood to form a mask with large square eyeholes; and an inverted orange triangle was sewn onto the chest. The clumsy hand stitching shows plainly. Gordie's sister Nancy made the costume for him as a joke in reference to his early superhero comic habit and his devotion to the original Batman television series.
Futility Belt
The Jammer's "futility belt" is a jury-rigged tool belt that features four small tubes on either side of a rectangular interlocking buckle. From this belt, he has produced a smoke pellet,[2] a business card,[4] a dog whistle,[19] a notepad & pen,[34] and a plastic pet-waste bag.[38]
1 2 Mireault, Bernard E. (14 March 2016). "The Jam: A Secret Bowman". In Lalumière, Claude; Shainblum, Mark (eds.). Superhero Universe. Tesseracts. Vol.19. Calgary, Alberta: EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. ISBN978-1770530874.
Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 in the Silver Age of Comic Books. He has been featured in comic books, television shows, films, video games, novels, and plays.
Stephen John Ditko was an American comics artist and writer best known for being the co-creator of Marvel superhero Spider-Man and creator of Doctor Strange. He also made notable contributions to the character of Iron Man, revolutionizing the character's red and yellow design.
James P. Starlin is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Nebula, and Shang-Chi, as well as writing the acclaimed miniseries The Infinity Gauntlet and its many sequels including The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade, all detailing Thanos' pursuit of the Infinity Gems to court Mistress Death by annihilating half of all life in the cosmos, before coming into conflict with the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the Elders of the Universe, joined by the Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Gamora, Nebula, and Drax.
The inker is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production.
Brian Bolland is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in 1982 produced the artwork alongside author Mike W. Barr on Camelot 3000, which was DC Comics' first 12-issue comicbook maxiseries created for the direct market.
Strange Tales is a Marvel Comics anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their debuts in Strange Tales. It was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the groundbreaking work of writer-artist Jim Steranko. Two previous, unrelated magazines also bore that title.
The Fly is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Red Circle Comics. He was created by Joe Simon as part of Archie's "Archie Adventure Series" and later camped up as part of the company's Mighty Comics line. He first appeared in The Double Life of Private Strong #1 ; however, his origin story and first "full-length" appearance were in Adventures of the Fly #1.
The House of Secrets is the name of several mystery, fantasy, and horror comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It is notable for being the title that introduced the character the Swamp Thing. It had a companion series titled The House of Mystery.
Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. was an American cartoonist and illustrator who was best known for creating the Flash Gordon comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many other media, from three Universal movie serials to a 1950s television series and a 1980 feature film.
Michael Dalton "Mike" Allred is an American comic book artist and writer. He is most well known for his independent comics creation Madman and for co-creating and drawing the comic book series iZombie. His work often draws upon pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s.
witzend, published on an irregular schedule spanning decades, is an underground comic showcasing contributions by comic book professionals, leading illustrators and new artists. witzend was launched in 1966 by the writer-artist Wally Wood, who handed the reins to Bill Pearson from 1968 to 1985. The title was printed in lower-case.
Mage is an American superhero comic book written and illustrated by Matt Wagner, which he describes as an "allegorical autobiography" in which the hero, Kevin Matchstick, is a stand-in for the author, and "[a]ll the other characters he encounters and situations he endures are metaphors from my own life... told through the lens of a fantasy adventure". Three volumes, each of 15 issues, have been published.
Showcase is a comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of the series was to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring untested characters in their own ongoing titles. Showcase is regarded as the most successful of such tryout series, having been published continuously for more than 14 years, launching numerous popular titles, and maintaining a considerable readership of its own. The series ran from March–April 1956 to September 1970, suspending publication with issue #93, and then was revived for eleven issues from August 1977 to September 1978.
Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of America's leading independent publishers. Caliber ceased publishing in 2000, but resumed operations in 2015, and continued after Reed died in 2016.
Northguard is a fictional superhero, created by Mark Shainblum and Gabriel Morrissette, who originally appeared in Canadian comic books published by Matrix Graphics Series. Northguard made his first appearance in New Triumph Featuring Northguard #1.
Rip Kirby is an American comic strip created by Alex Raymond and Ward Greene featuring the adventures of private detective Rip Kirby. The strip ran from 1946 to 1999 and was in the hands of artist John Prentice for more than 40 years.
Sandy Carruthers is a Canadian artist best known for his work as the first illustrator of the original Men in Black comic book series, and as creator of the webcomic series, Canadiana: the New Spirit of Canada.
Bernard Edward Mireault is a Canadian comic book artist and writer.
Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990. The company was founded to provide a venue for adventurous, creator-owned work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publications were noted in the trade for their high production values, including glossy paper stock, full-color printing, and square binding. Tundra was one of the earlier creator-owned companies, before the formation of Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics' Legends imprint.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
