Yellowjacket

Today's story was originally published in "Yellowjacket Comics # 9", produced by The Frank Publishing Company. The Grand Comic-Book Database credits the artist as being Ken Battefield, although, as you can see, the story itself isn't signed (or if it is, I missed it). Battefield worked in comics for most of the 1940s and into the '50s, drawing stories for the majority of comic publishers, including Ace, Nedor/Better, Novelty, Chesler, Holyoke, Hillman, and on and on.

Yellowjacket was one of the superhero characters produced by the string of companies that eventually would become known as Charlton Comics. First appearing in "Yellowjacket Comics 1", cover-date September 1944, his own title lasted for ten issues, through June 1946. During his two-year run, there were 15 stories produced that I'm aware of. Two stories of Yellowjacket appeared in issues 4, 5 and 6. In addition to his own title, the adventures of Yellowjacket can also be found in "TNT Comics # 1" from February 1946, and "Jack in the Box Comics # 11" from October 1946. All of the books mentioned here can be found at www.goldenagecomics.co.uk, where they can be downloaded for free.

It's just my opinion here, but from the looks of the contents in Jack in the Box # 11 & 12, it would seem to me that Charlton was going to continue the series, but then decided to go in a different direction, and used the contents of what would have been another issue of Yellowjacket Comics as "filler material". That's a shame, too, because Yellowjacket was a half-decent character.