Jet Scott

“More research has gone into the preparation of ‘Jet Scott’ than that team of scientists put into the first atomic bomb. At this point I think I could build an atomic pile in my basement with some wire fence, a little putty and a jack-knife.”

This was Sheldon Stark, author of the science-fiction-spy adventure strip Jet Scott illustrated by Batman artist Jerry Robinson. Jet Scott ran daily beginning September 28, 1953, added a Sunday page on October 4, and ended September 25, 1955.

Sheldon Stark played basketball, soccer and lacrosse at Dartmouth College where he studied physics and chemistry. He made frequent scientific field trips to Hudson Bay, the Mojave Desert and Macchu Pichu, Peru. He had a pilot’s license and was handy with a gun. He was a script-writer for television and radio on such programs as “The Lone Ranger,” “Straight Arrow,” “Lux Theatre,” “Studio One,” “The Big Story,” “Ford Theatre,” “Green Hornet,” “Challenge of the Yukon,” “Grand Central Station,” and “Rocky King, Detective.” He also scripted a comic strip called “Inspector Wade.” For over eight years he served on the council of the Author’s League of America, whose members included Oscar Hammerstein II, John Hersey, Rex Stout, Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse.

Cartoonist Jerry Robinson travelled widely on sketching tours of Mexico, the Caribbean and South America. He was an alumnus of Columbia University and ented the comic book industry when he was 17. He worked on “Batman” and “The Green Hornet,” as well as advertising and magazine illustration. He was an instructor at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in New York and author of “The Comics,” published by Putnam in 1974.

Sheldon Stark was introduced to Robinson in 1953 at the New York Herald-Tribune editorial offices. After a considerable period spent in travel and scientific research Jet Scott was born. Dark Horse comics will be issuing a collection, Jet Scott Vol. 1, on 10 Feb 2010.