Long Fingered Gremlin - [Aviation Gremlin]

Long Fingered Gremlin. - [Aviation Gremlin] - (Latin: Magnadigit Gremlinicus)

•About this Gremlin: A type of aviation gremlin with lengthy digits which it swings about much like a conductors baton, it screws with the planes navigation; messing with dials, indicators, compasses & time pieces. It has a peculiar pleasures in pushing the pilots buttons, and delights in causing all manner of alarms to sound off, both in the aircraft and the pilots face! Remember, when something goes wrong, don't point fingers at friends: blame it on the Gremlins!!

• History:  Specifically; This gremlin personifies broken compasses and navigational tools dials that might turn the wrong way whilst in flight etc! - This 'Long Fingered Gremlin' was earliest named and illustrated in Gremlin Americanus [Eric Solane, Dec 1942] - The accompanying entry with correspondence by famous comic artist, Zack Mosley, goes as follows:

"This bright little fellow is fascinated by all instruments. He often rocks the automatic horizon and gets quite a kick out of wiggling the oil pressure dial and watching your alarmed expression. 

Air speed indicators are his specialty and he is a master of the art of waiting until you need this instrument most, and then "bolixing" it up.

The long fingered gremlins considered all compasses a challenge to his diabolic ingenuity. You try to fool him by allowing for magnetic adjustments, but sooner or later the gremlins gets too wise to that. 

Anybody who has ever owned a cheap stop-watch has known this fellow at his best.   

 

'Dear Eric – The long fingered gremlin almost ruined my hero smiling jack in many an episode. "Downwind" has made them his particular pet since he flies by the seat of his pants anyway. See you in the funny sheets. Cordially, Zack Mosley, Creator of Smiling Jack"

• About the correspondence:

[Smilin' jack and his creator Zack! - more on the smilin jack website currently managed by Jill mosely ]

"The Adventures of Smillin' Jack" was of course, the longest running aviation comic strip, drawn by Zack Mosley [it ran in over 300 papers from 1933-1974 Mosely would have been around 37 around the time gremlin americanus was published!] it was largely an action-focused tough-guy kinda plot rather than 'fantasy or humor' related – as such so gremlins mention was quite scarce in the actual comic series itself:  a while after gremlin americanus was published, there was however one instance of gremlins in an official smilin jack comic on Febuary 28 1943 where in "Downwind" explains how gremlins have migrated to America & even goes on to mention anti-gremlin powder guns. [more about the anti-gremlin powder here.] - I’d assume that this was seemingly a nod to Solane & his Gremlin Americanus (which would have been published just a couple months earlier in December or January of that year! 

[Febuary 28 1943 - full comic here.]

– Aside from that; far more often, Jack is seen interacting with Gremlins on "Popular comics" covers [a few examples below] these issues in addition to smilin' jack comics often feature "The Three Little Gremlins" by Dan Gronely.  - [Although a long fingered gremlin does not make an appearance in said comics; one could easily classify these gremlins variants on 'Petrol Boozer', 'Pin-headed' & 'Jack-footed' gremlins, other gremlins mentioned in Gremlin Americanus!]

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Outside of cover cameos - it’s a fair bit rarer that the two comics have a proper cross over, but there does seem to have been at least one instance? (Though sadly jack goes unnamed throughout the strip.)

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[Art sticker & deep dive by @samkalensky part of my gremlinology series of stickers. Follow for many more!]