Li'l Jinx

Li'l Jinx, created by Joe Edwards, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics since the late 1940s. A high-spirited young girl who has humorous misadventures with her neighborhood friends, she first appeared in Pep Comics #62 (July 1947).

Li'l Jinx
Li'l Jinx and friends, drawn by Fernando Ruiz
First appearancePep Comics #62 (July 1947)
Created byJoe Edwards
HometownRiverdale
In-universe information
OccupationRiverdale Elementary student
Early depiction of Jinx by Joe Edwards, circa 1949.

Publication history

Created by Joe Edwards, Li'l Jinx debuted in Archie Comics' Pep Comics #62 (July 1947) and appeared in backup featurettes before landing her own title from 1956 to 1957.[1] During her peak period, Jinx's stories ranged from three-panel blackout gags to seven-page stories. Jinx was normally depicted as a lovable but mischievous young girl, engaged in a comical battle of wills with her long-suffering father. Like most of Archie Comics' strips of the period, Jinx offered insights into family relationships and children's perceptions of the adult world.

After already appearing in numerous Archie titles, including the double-sized Little Archie, and Archie Giant Series Magazine Li'l Jinx starred in her first solo series titled Li'l Jinx which ran from November 1956 to September 1957. She later starred in another series, Li'l Jinx Giant Laugh-Out, which lasted from 1971 to 1973.

Li'l Jinx strips have been reprinted in the various Archie-published digest magazines (both single-page strips and 5- to 6-page strips) since the 1980s. One That Wilkin Boy story reprint featured Li'l Jinx crossing over briefly (though the artwork was actually edited so that Li'l Jinx replaced an unnamed child that appeared in the original printing of that story). She also made a cameo appearance in the 2007 story, Civil Chores Part 3, in Tales of Riverdale # 24.

Character and story

Jinx was the daughter of Hap and Merry Holliday, earning her unusual name by virtue of being born on Halloween. Creator Edwards based Jinx's adventures on his own experiences as a parent. While "Li'l" is not part of her given name, everyone always calls her "Li'l Jinx" in the comics' dialogue, similar to the title character of Little Archie.

Jinx's friends included:

  • Charley Hawse (later called Fat Charley and then just Charley) who was amply contoured, fond of confectionery, and sometimes played the role of a bully,
  • Greg, who sometimes was a childhood sweetheart of Jinx.
  • Gigi, who was rich and a bit selfish, but still a good friend, and
  • Mort the Worry Wart, who was known to have an inferiority complex.

Following the civil rights movement, Li'l Jinx's friends also included African-American kids Russ and Roz.

Jinx as a teen

In "Life with Archie: The Married Life" #7, a short story showing Jinx Holliday starting her first day at high school along with all her friends was included in the issue as bonus material.

In 2012, Archie Comics decided to publish stories with a teenage version of the character. The first graphic novel, named simply Jinx, was released in April 2012 featuring new material alongside stories released in Life with Archie: The Married Life. It was written by J. Torres and Terry Austin while Rick Burchett provided the artwork.[2][3]

A follow up, Jinx: Little Miss Steps, was released in June 2013, continuing to chronicle the adventures of Jinx and her friends in high school.[4][5]

In Jughead the Hunger vs Vampironica it was revealed that Jinx's real father was actually Satan. She read from the book of Lucifer and caused the various worlds of the Archie Multiverse to cross over, most specifically the title worlds.

Collected editions

The series has so far released two original graphic novels:

TitleISBNRelease Date
Jinx 978-1879794917 April 17, 2012
Jinx: Little Miss Steps 978-1936975419 June 11, 2013

References
  1. Li'l Jinx at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015.
  2. ISBN 978-1936975006 (Hardcover)
  3. "Comics Should be Good" review of "Jinx"
  4. ISBN 978-1936975419
  5. "Comics Should be Good" article about "Little Miss Steps"
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