The Jam
A drawing of the comic book character created by Canadian cartoonist Bernard Mireault.
Publication information
Publisher
First appearanceNew Triumph Featuring Northguard #2 (1985)
Created byBernie Mireault
In-story information
Alter egoGordon "Gordie" Kirby
SpeciesHuman
Place of originMontréal, Quebec, Canada
Partnerships
  • Janet Ditko
  • Harvey
  • Nancy
  • Jane Marble
  • Dave Brave
  • Douglas Camp
  • The Backup Mob
  • Madman
  • René Marble
Notable aliases
  • The Jammer Omniscient: Ruler of Hell for Assholes
  • Tarzan
  • Little Fish
Abilities
  • Solid moral compass
  • Intolerance for assholes
  • Willingness to take action when others are not
  • Good communicator
  • Cool under pressure
  • Capable hand-to-hand combatant
  • Resistance to hypnotic induction
  • Writes music and plays guitar

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 These stories were collected, along with a new unpublished story, by Matrix Graphics Series as The Jam Special #1 in 1987.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.

DatePublicationPublisher
1985New Triumph Featuring Northguard #2[1]Matrix Graphic Series
1985New Triumph Featuring Northguard #3[2]Matrix Graphic Series
1986New Triumph Featuring Northguard #4[3]Matrix Graphic Series
1986New Triumph Featuring Northguard #5[4]Matrix Graphic Series
1986Canadian Comics Cavalcade[5]Artworx
1987The Jam Special #1[6]Matrix Graphic Series
1988.05The Jam, Urban Adventure: Super Cool, Color-injected, Turbo Adventure from Hell #1[7]Comico
1989.11The Jam, Urban Adventure #1[8]Slave Labor Graphics
1990.01The Jam, Urban Adventure #2[9]Slave Labor Graphics
1990.03The Jam, Urban Adventure #3[10]Slave Labor Graphics
1990.05The Jam, Urban Adventure #4[11]Slave Labor Graphics
1991.01Amazing Heroes Swimsuit Special #2[12]Fantagraphics Books
1991The Jam, Urban Adventure #5[13]Slave Labor Graphics
1992.01The Jam, Urban Adventure #1[14]Tundra Publishing
1992.02The Jam, Urban Adventure #2[15]Tundra Publishing
1992.03The Jam, Urban Adventure #3[16]Tundra Publishing
1992.04The Jam, Urban Adventure #4[17]Tundra Publishing
1992.05The Jam, Urban Adventure #5[18]Tundra Publishing
1993.10The Jam, Urban Adventure #6[19]Dark Horse Comics
1994.03The Jam, Urban Adventure #7[20]Dark Horse Comics
1995.02The Jam, Urban Adventure #8[21]Dark Horse Comics
1995.07Negative Burn #25[22]Caliber Comics
1995The Jam, Urban Adventure #9[23]Caliber Comics
1995The Jam, Urban Adventure #10[24]Caliber Comics
1995The Jam, Urban Adventure #11[25]Caliber Comics
1995Caliber Comics 1996 Calendar[26]Caliber Comics
1995.12Overstreet's Fan #7 (Indy Jam Variant)[27]Gemstone Publishing
1996The Jam, Urban Adventure #12[28]Caliber Comics
1996The Jam, Urban Adventure #13[29]Caliber Comics
1997The Jam, Urban Adventure #14[30]Caliber Comics
1998.07Madman/Jam #1[31]Dark Horse Comics
1998.08Madman/Jam #2[32]Dark Horse Comics
1999Madman Boogaloo! Starring Nexus & The Jam[33]Dark Horse Comics
2007.10Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology[34]Evil Twin Comics
2007The Comic Eye: Comics About Comics [35]Blind Bat Press
2008.04Modern Masters, Volume Sixteen: Mike Allred[36]TwoMorrows Publishing
2009.10"The Jam Lives"[37]CO2 Comics Comics
2011To Get Her[38]BEM Graphics
2012.10Madman 20th Anniversary Monster![39]Image Comics
2013.03.15"The Jam 00a"[40]Comic Art of Bernie Mireault
2013.03.21"The Chair"[41]Comic Art of Bernie Mireault
2013.03.25"Team Jam"[42]Comic Art of Bernie Mireault
2014.04Demi-Dieux, 40 ans de super-héros dans la bande dessinée québécoise[43]Mem9ire
2016.03Tesseracts Nineteen: Superhero Universe[44]EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
2017.03XVI Short Stories[45]About Comics

Fictional character biography

Major story arcs

Fun with Flarks

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.

Spans The Jam, Urban Adventure #1–5 (1989–91).[8]

Broken Hearts

The Devil took a special interest in Gordon Kirby when he learned Gordie's happiness ratings were "off the chart".

Spans The Jam, Urban Adventure #1–5 (1989–91),[8] #9–10 (1995).[23]

"...Said the Madman."

Jane Marble referred Gordon Kirby to Dr. Andrew Mandigo who was willing to pay the Jammer to talk about his life as a crimefighter.

Spans The Jam, Urban Adventure #6–8 (1993–5).[19]

To Get Her

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.

To Get Her (2011).[38]

Multi-issue stories

Ask Him About the Kinetic

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.

Spans Madman/Jam #1–2 (1998).[31][32]

Short stories

What Are You Doing to My Mother?

The Jammer happened upon Jane Marble being mugged in an alleyway at knifepoint.

Found in New Triumph #2 (1985).[1]

Fight! Fight! Fight!

The Jammer spotted a mother and her child being threatened on an adjacent rooftop by an angry man with a gun.

Found in New Triumph #3 (1985).[2]

I'm Gonna Screw Up Your Float.

Gordon Kirby tried to return bottles to a convenience store when it was robbed at gunpoint.

Found in New Triumph #4 (1986).[3]

Time to Get Rich

Gordon Kirby called Jane Marble about a job opportunity and overheard an intruder breaking into her office.

Found in New Triumph #5 (1986).[4]

You're Such a Pig, Roger.

The Jammer happened upon an enraged man dangling another from the roof of a building by a rope.

Found in The Jam Special #1 (1987).[6]

The Price Is High.

Gordon Kirby dreamed he was the Jammer Omniscient, ruler of Hell for Assholes.

Found in The Jam, Urban Adventure: Super Cool, Color-injected, Turbo Adventure from Hell #1 (1988).[7]

Don't Forget the Rent.

Gordon Kirby visited his bank and noticed two suspicious men walking in and another waiting outside behind the wheel of a car.

Found in The Jam, Urban Adventure: Super Cool, Color-injected, Turbo Adventure from Hell #1 (1988).[7]

New Talent Night

Gordon Kirby and Janet Ditko attended the debut of the Balloons at the Blue Angel Bar's New Talent Night.

Found in The Jam, Urban Adventure #2 (1990).[9]

The Mighty Jan

Janet Ditko dreamed she was a superhero attempting to rescue Gordon Kirby (in his Jammer costume) from the clutches of the evil Hell Lord.

Found in The Jam, Urban Adventure #4 (1990).[11]

God's Window

Tony Matootsi was killed in a freak accident. His wife Nina held a religious vigil.

Found in The Jam, Urban Adventure #6 (1993).[19]

The Chair

Gordon Kirby and Janet Ditko scrambled to acquire nice a chair that had been abandoned in an alley across from their apartment building.

Found in Negative Burn #25 (1995).[22]

Story Time at the Blue Angel

Gordon Kirby met his friend Rex at the Blue Angel Bar to talk about an event that had been bothering him.

Breakfast
Rex related a disturbing encounter he had with an enraged motorist.
Asphalt
Bob, a businessman from Texas, told a ghost story about a haunted stretch of highway.
Insects!
A bar patron recounts his unnerving experiences with the intrusive insect life of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Found in The Jam, Urban Adventure #11 (1995).[25]

Megan's Story

Gordon Kirby and Janet Ditko were invited to Studio C by Janet's Aunt Zoe for the opening of Klee Shonin's new show.

Found in The Jam, Urban Adventure #12 (1996).[28]

Team Jam

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.

Found in To Get Her (2011).[38]

A Secret Bowman

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.

Found in The Jam, Urban Adventure #9 (1995).[23]

Internal Dialogue

"Internal Dialogue" is a 16-page comic written and illustrated by Gordon Kirby about a man who is held ransom by his mistreated organs.

Found in To Get Her (2011).[38]

Hi-hat

"Hi-hat" is a series of newspaper-style comicstrips written and illustrated by Gordon Kirby that serve as an allegory to his struggles as an artist.

Found in To Get Her (2011).[38]

Asshole

"Asshole" is a 10-panel newspaper-style comicstrip about a clown asking for a handout from a disillusioned good samaritan.

Found in To Get Her (2011).[38]

Powers and abilities

The Jammer is athletic and in good physical shape and regularly leaps 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]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shainblum, Mark (ed). "The Jam [What Are You Doing to My Mother?]" New Triumph Featuring Northguard, no. 2, p. 25–34 (1985). Montreal, Quebec: Matrix Graphic Series.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shainblum, Mark (ed). "The Jam [Fight! Fight! Fight!]" New Triumph Featuring Northguard, no. 3, p. 25–33 (1985). Montreal, Quebec: Matrix Graphic Series.
  3. 1 2 3 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shainblum, Mark (ed). "The Jam [I'm Gonna Screw Up Your Float.]" New Triumph Featuring Northguard, no. 4, p. 25–34 (1986). Montreal, Quebec: Matrix Graphic Series.
  4. 1 2 3 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shainblum, Mark (ed). "The Jam [Time to Get Rich]" New Triumph Featuring Northguard, no. 5, p. 25–33 (1986). Montreal, Quebec: Matrix Graphic Series.
  5. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (a), Steinberg, Gideon (ed). "The Jam" Canadian Comics Cavalcade, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 15 (1986). Toronto, Ontario: Artworx.
  6. 1 2 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shainblum, Mark (ed). The Jam Special, no. 1 (1987). Montreal, Quebec: Matrix Graphic Series.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shutz, Diana (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure: Super Cool, Color-injected, Turbo Adventure from Hell, no. 1 (May 1988). Norristown, Pennsylvania: Comico.
  8. 1 2 3 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Vado, Dan (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 1 (November 1989). San Jose, California: Slave Labor Graphics.
  9. 1 2 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Vado, Dan (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 2 (January 1990). San Jose, California: Slave Labor Graphics.
  10. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Vado, Dan (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 3 (March 1990). San Jose, California: Slave Labor Graphics.
  11. 1 2 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Vado, Dan (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 4 (May 1990). San Jose, California: Slave Labor Graphics.
  12. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (a), Thompson, Kim (ed). "The Jam" Amazing Heroes Swimsuit Special, no. 2 (January 1991). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books.
  13. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Vado, Dan (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 5 (1991). San Jose, California: Slave Labor Graphics.
  14. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Eastman, Kevin (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 1 (January 1992). Northampton, Massachusetts: Tundra Publishing.
  15. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Eastman, Kevin (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 2 (February 1992). Northampton, Massachusetts: Tundra Publishing.
  16. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Eastman, Kevin (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 3 (March 1992). Northampton, Massachusetts: Tundra Publishing.
  17. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Eastman, Kevin (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 4 (April 1992). Northampton, Massachusetts: Tundra Publishing.
  18. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Eastman, Kevin (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 5 (May 1992). Northampton, Massachusetts: Tundra Publishing.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shutz, Diana (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 6 (October 1993). Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Comics.
  20. 1 2 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shutz, Diana (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 7 (March 1994). Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Comics.
  21. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shutz, Diana (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 8 (February 1995). Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Comics.
  22. 1 2 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Pruett, Joe (ed). "The Chair" Negative Burn, no. 25, p. 9–15 (July 1995). Westland, Michigan: Caliber Comics.
  23. 1 2 3 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Shutz, Diana and Pruett, Joe (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 9 (1995). Westland, Michigan: Caliber Comics.
  24. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Pruett, Joe (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 10 (1995). Westland, Michigan: Caliber Comics.
  25. 1 2 Mireault, Bernie, Chris Oliveros, Scott Deschaine (w), Mireault, Bernie, Michael T. Gilbert (a), Pruett, Joe (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 11 (1995). Westland, Michigan: Caliber Comics.
  26. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (a). "The Jam" Caliber Comics 1996 Calendar (1995). Westland, Michigan: Caliber Comics.
  27. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (a). Overstreet's Fan, no. 7 (Indy Jam Variant), p. cover (December 1995). Timonium, Maryland: Gemstone Publishing.
  28. 1 2 Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Pruett, Joe (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 12 (1996). Westland, Michigan: Caliber Comics.
  29. 1 2 Lang, Jeff (w), Mireault, Bernie (a), Pruett, Joe (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 13 (1996). Westland, Michigan: Caliber Comics.
  30. ↑ Lang, Jeff (w), Mireault, Bernie (a), Pruett, Joe (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure, no. 14 (1996). Westland, Michigan: Caliber Comics.
  31. 1 2 Allred, Mike, Bernie Mireault (w), Allred, Mike, Bernie Mireault (a), Allred, Laura (col), Rich, Jamie S. (ed). Madman/Jam, no. 1 (July 1998). Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Comics.
  32. 1 2 Allred, Mike, Bernie Mireault (w), Allred, Mike, Bernie Mireault (a), Allred, Laura (col), Rich, Jamie S. (ed). Madman/Jam, no. 2 (August 1998). Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Comics.
  33. ↑ Allred, Mike, Bernie Mireault (w), Allred, Mike, Bernie Mireault (a), Allred, Laura (col), Rich, Jamie S. (ed). "Madman/Jam" Madman Boogaloo! Starring Nexus & The Jam (1999). Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Comics, ISBN 978-1569714041.
  34. 1 2 3 Mireault, Bernie (w, a). "Team Jam" Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology, no. 1 (October 2007). New York City, New York: Evil Twin Comics.
  35. ↑ Innes, Mark (ed). The Comic Eye: Comics About Comics (2007). Hamilton, Ontario: Blind Bat Press, ISBN 978-0-978219703.
  36. ↑ Nolen-Weathington, Eric (1 April 2008). Mike Allred. Modern Masters. Vol. 16. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 978-1893905863.
  37. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (October 2009). "The Jam Lives". CO2 Comics. CO2 Comics. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mireault, Bernie (w, a). To Get Her (2011). Montreal, Quebec: BEM Graphics, ISBN 978-0987833402.
  39. ↑ Allred, Mike (w, a). Madman 20th Anniversary Monster! (October 2012). Berkeley, California: Image Comics, ISBN 978-1607064725.
  40. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (15 March 2013). "The Jam 00a [What Are You Doing to My Mother?]". Comic Art of Bernie Mireault. Comic Art of Bernie Mireault. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  41. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (21 March 2013). "The Chair". Comic Art of Bernie Mireault. Comic Art of Bernie Mireault. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  42. ↑ Mireault, Bernie (25 March 2013). "Team Jam". Comic Art of Bernie Mireault. Comic Art of Bernie Mireault. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  43. ↑ Leduc, Jean-Dominic (April 2014). Demi-Dieux, 40 ans de super-héros dans la bande dessinée québécoise. Montréal, Quebec: Mem9ire. ISBN 978-2-9814152-0-2.
  44. 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. ISBN 978-1770530874.
  45. ↑ Mireault, Bernard Edward (w, a). "Mayhem in Alphabet Town, The Jam 1a", "The Jam 1b", "The Jam 1c", "The Jam 1d", "Team Jam" XVI Short Stories, pp. 67–71, 79–96, 98–106, 108–116, 118–122 (March 2017). Camarillo, California: About Comics, ISBN 978-1936404698.
  46. Mireault, Bernie (w, a), Lalumière, Claude (ed). The Jam, Urban Adventure: Super Cool, Color-injected, Turbo Adventure from Hell, no. 2 (January 2022). Camarillo, California: About Comics.
  47. ↑ Rich Johnston (January 3, 2022). "Bernie Mireault's The Jam Returns, Rejects Blockchain Kickstarter".

Source material

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