Smilin’ Jack was the star of an aviation comic strip that first appeared October 1, 1933 in the Chicago Tribune and ended April 1, 1973.
During it’s 39 and a half year run Jack and his friends went from green new pilots to ace aviators and faced along the way a line-up of odd-ball villains that gave the newspaper strip a Dick Tracy sort of look, only with pilots instead of police detectives.
During it’s heyday it was very popular and Jack his friends appeared in a number of comic books.