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 little girl who has humorous misadventures with her neighborhood friends, she first appeared in Pep Comics #62.
Publication history
Created by Joe Edwards, Li'l Jinx debuted in Archie Comics' Pep Comics #62 and appeared in backup featurettes before landing her own title from 1956 to 1957. 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 little 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 since the 1980s. One That Wilkin Boy story reprint featured Li'l Jinx crossing over briefly. 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 who was amply contoured, fond of confectionery, and sometimes played the role of a bully,
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. 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.
Collected editions
The series has so far released two original graphic novels: