Flashback Friday: Jr. Jays Magazine First Issue

Earlier this year, we took a trip down memory lane and reflected on the best Blue Jays centric comic book ever created. Back then, I only scratched the surface, but now that I actually have a copy in my hands, we’ll delve much further into this beloved publication.

For this week’s edition of Flashback Friday, we’re taking a trip back and digging into the first issue of the Jr. Jays Magazine. In this first copy of Jr. Jays Magazine, we discovered the origin of the fabled Dr. Jay and his time machine called the Pop Fly.

In a plot twist, we learn right off the bat that Dr. Jay is not a doctor, but an android from the year 3052. Here’s his bio sheet below:

For the most part, the Jr. Jays Magazine is basically a 1993 version of Hulk Hogan telling kids to say their prayers and take their vitamins. The first edition is broken up into three different stories, each with its own valuable life lesson.

They’re your standard after school special fodder, but the comic below made me laugh at its attempt to teach youth about the birds and the bees.

Not only that, but it also paints an interesting picture of the year 2010 in Winnipeg. Personally, I can’t say for myself what Winnipeg looks like this year, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t resemble the surface of the Death Star as it does in the Jr. Jays comic strip.

And finally, here’s one last scan from the Jr. Jays Magazine which features “personalized” post-it notes from players like Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter, John Olerud, and Derek Bell.

Did anyone else notice that Dave Stewart and Pat Border’s handwriting look very similar? Looks like the intern who forged these notes forgot to use their opposite hand to make it look like someone else wrote it.

Overall, there’s some great stuff in this comic book/magazine and I can’t help but get that nostalgia feeling all over again whenever somebody mentions the Jr. Jays Magazine. I thought they did a great job by marketing this to young Blue Jays fans, and it helped raise the profile of the Jr. Jays.

Maybe one day down the road, another generation will get to experience the crazy antics of Dr. Jay, Crunchie the Dog, and the entire Jr. Jays gang in another incarnation of the Jr. Jays Magazine. Until then, I’ll just keep flipping through my copy and reminiscing.