EYES ON JETTA RAYE ADVENTURES
Here comes Jetta Raye! A crazy girl in a new series of outrageous adventures that are truly entertaining.
Jetta Raye’s adventures featured Jetta and her teenage friends in new stories with new looks. It is fun for adults as well as teens. Jetta has a very peculiar personality that makes her unique.
Jetta Rae was drawn by the late Dan DeCarlo in 1952 before he brought his art style to Archie comics. Consisting of three books #5,6 and 7, to make buyers think it was an ongoing series at the time, “Jetta” was in competition with Archie comics.
Archie was one of the most sold comics at the time. Now new readers like myself can discover the stories of Jetta Rae in Jetta Rae’s Adventures hardcover edition and the Jetta Rae Adventures Issue #1 through a crowdfunding campaign organized by Jim Tournas.
THE CREATIVE TEAM AND THE BOOKS
On the front line are Craig Boldman and Angelo DeCesare, two veteran Archie writers with newcomer Tony DiGerolarmo, a Simpson’s writer. Bringing the writers’ stories to life are legendary Archie Artists Jeff Shultz, who first worked with and took over for Dan DeCarlo and the Kennedy brothers’ team of Pat and Tim.
Hand Lettering was done by Eddy Chapman. The colors were done by Michael Woods. Jimmy “T” Tournas oversees digital lettering and book layouts etc of the Jetta Rae book projects. He was the inker of Spider-Man Sundays, Archie & Friends, etc., and is currently publishing Jetta Raye Adventures under Totally Galactic Comics.
The project includes 2 books, a hardcover with several stories, and a floppy Issue #1. The books give a fantastic new look to Jetta and the gang. But, of course, also keeps her in the traditional art style of the great Dan Decarlo.
Issue #1 is a 23-page illustration of the 2 main stories plus 3 pages of the comic strip. The book has a floppy comic format. The first story is written by Tony Digerolamo. The art is done by The Kennedy Bros. and inked by Jim Tournas. Colored by Micheal Woods and lettered by Jim Tournas. The second story is written by Craig Boldman. Penciled by Jeff Schultz. Inked by Jim Tournas. Lettered by Eddy Chapman and colored by Mike Woods.
The hardcover edition contains 97 pages of stories, 8 pages of the strip comic and 3 pinup pages. The creative team on the hardcover edition consists of Jim Tournas as publisher and senior editor. Rich Maurizio as art editor. The stories were written by Chris Vambar, Craign Boldman, Matthew Manning, Angelo DeCesar, Paul Kupperburg, Rich Maurizio, Jeff Schultz, and Jim Tournas.
The artists on the team are Joe Sinnott, Al Milgrom, Jeff Schultz, Pat Kennedy, Tim Kennedy, Ken Wheaton, Bill Walko, and George Broderick. The inking was done by Jim Tournas, Jeff Schultz, Mark Sinnor, Tim Estliez, Rich Murizio, Bill Walko, and Ken Wheaton. The lettering was done by Eddy Chapman, Mattia Gentili, Ken Wheaton, and Jim Tournas. All stories were colored by Mike Woods. The front cover was done by Jeff Schultz and Jim Tournas. The back cover was done by Pat and Tim Kennedy, Jim Tournas, and Mike Woods.
Unlike the “all ages” description on the campaign page, considering some of the jokes and the illustrations I think the books are more meant for teens and older fans that remember the 1952 Jetta. Especially the first story of issue #1. When I think of all ages, I think of stories like Creed Re-imaginary. I see Jetta Rae’s stories in the category of Shadowbinders. The main genres of all stories are comedy and teen drama with the main goal of entertaining the reader.
THE CHARACTERS
Jetta Rae is the main protagonist but she is always accompanied by her gang. Jetta is a junior at Neutron high school and is the main character of the series, she is the natural leader of the group. If there is an old lady crossing the skywalk, Jetta would be the first to offer her help. She is a bit naïve, crazy, and outrageous at times but has a strong character. Although many guys flock to her, Jetta’s heart is with Arky. Arky is a sport’s minded klutz. Jetta is crazy over him, even though he can be completely clueless when it comes to his relationship with her.
When it comes to inventions and technology, Gizmo is a scientific prodigy. He’s constantly coming up with gadgets. His inventions are usually fantastic. He is shy and introverted when it comes to girls but is great friends with Jetta while having a secret crush on Hilaria.
Biff is an all-around sportsman of the group. Biff dates many girls but still vies for Jetta’s affections. Biff is known for being vain and sometimes totally obnoxious. Hillaria is Jetta’s friend. Being slightly envious of the attention Jetta gets from the gang, may lead to her sometimes mischievous deeds.
THE STORIES
Jetta Raye Adventures #1 has two stories:
Jetta Raye in Ray Guns Akimbo: Jetta’s after-school adventures
Jetta in Ghosted: High school drama
Jetta Raye Adventures (hardcover edition) has 11 stories:
Jetta Welcome to the 22nd century
Jetta in Shake Your Bot-ty!
Jetta in the Elite
Jetta in the Final Frontier
Almost like Firework (no title page)
Jetta in Whoa is me!
Jetta in Head of the Household
Jetta in old Stamping Ground
Jetta in Trouble by the Foot
Jetta in Holo-Wood if I Could
Jetta in The Binge
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I didn’t know of the Jetta Rae adventures. I knew of the Archie comics and my friend got me an Archie and Jughead digest when we were kids with comic strips of Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, and many other characters. I was never truly interested in them even though my friend tried many times, I was more into the European comics TinTin (Kuifje), Spike and Suzy (Suske en Wiske), the novels R.L Stine, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys, etc. The art of Jetta looked familiar but different at the same time which is what got me interested in the project.
I read issue #1 first and then the hardcover edition. I feel that was a mistake. The stories in the hardcover edition introduce the characters which are necessary for new readers like me. I got to understand Jetta’s character better.
I first thought she was annoying as she gave vibes of a bimbo in the first story, a space adventure in issue#1. Some of her poses on page 7 for example are in no way for “all ages” but that is just my opinion. The art is a bit different. The second story is a traditional teenage drama and has the familiar Archie art style. Both stories were quite interesting on their own. Maybe I need to look into the old comic strips to better understand the style that it’s supposed to be?
Overall, the stories in the hardcover edition were very entertaining and a little bit more outrageous than the traditional Archie stories that I know of. They are basically a parody of American pop culture with references to comic books Superheroes, Star Trek, Hollywood, The Jetsons, The Simpsons, and much more.
There were a few jokes I didn’t get initially like the ones about Howard Stern and Jane Fonda but it’s understandable for international readers. It’s not an impediment to enjoying the stories.
A piece of friendly advice on both books is to consider adding an editor to the team for the reprints and future editions. There are a few unnecessary typos that could have been caught in Hillaria”s Log and Thorn’s dialogue for example.
EXPERIENCE WITH THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
The books were published thanks to the crowdfunding campaign which believe it or not, I found randomly while searching for another project on Indiegogo. It had the Archie comics art style but still, looked different. The campaign was pretty simple offering issue #1 main cover by Jim Tournas as the main tier, a variant cover tier by the Kennedy brothers, a tier with both covers, a hardcover edition tier, and a dealer special tier. I got the hardcover tier which comes with issue #1.
Honestly, I forgot about this campaign which is not a good sign. I remember receiving updates a while back but they were not sent on a consistent basis in my opinion. But I also understand the reason which was explained in one of the provided updates.
There are projects I backed that are constantly updating, either weekly monthly, or quarterly, so I have them constantly in the back of my mind. I backed the hardcover edition and issue #1. Sadly, there were no stretch goals or any additional free goodies, but you can’t always expect that.
Luckily the process of receiving the goods went very smoothly. However, there was no tracking number provided. Personally, I would prefer to receive the tracking numbers because of past experiences with customs. I sound like a broken record, but I really do prefer it. The books were securely packaged in a Gemini mailer.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Jetta Raye Adventures #1, and Jetta Rae Adventures (hardcover edition) were very entertaining. I enjoyed reading the stories and the art is good. The quality of the printed books is very good, especially the hardcover. As of date, the crowdfunding campaign is still open so check it out: Jetta Raye Adventures #1 Comic book.
The books are made, and probably still in stock, so you know you will most probably receive them very quickly. Just make sure to check the campaign updates and/or contact the project manager.
Interested in more titles? Check the latest publications from the “EYES ON” series wherein I documented my experience with crowdfunding campaigns and shared my notes on the products I received:
- EYES ON INFINITALE CHRONICLES BOOK 1
- EYES ON STAR CIRCUIT CHAPTER 1
- EYES ON GUARDIANS OF ERLOTH
- EYES ON ALIEN ALAMO BY GRAHAM NOLAN
My notes are all set. Let me know what you think.
See you on the next page!
