User blog:Bluecake/Rejected JumpStart Advanced series comic concept - some insight

I mentioned in a blog post from about...a year ago by now (has that much time really passed?) that there exists some concept art for a JumpStart comic that would've tied into the JumpStart Advanced series. A small thumbnail for the concept art still exists on the website of the artist who drew it, so I'll just link it here: https://www.johntoons.com/images/inset-comic-220.png

The artist in question is John Nunnemacher, who worked as an animator on several early 2000s JumpStart games, such as JumpStart Advanced Preschool: Fundamentals, JumpStart Spy Masters: Unmask the Prankster, and JumpStart Baby (2000). A few months ago, I sent him an email asking if he remembered anything about the comic, and was excited to receive a reply from him. I feel that it would acceptable to share that reply here, given that it contains no personal or sensitive information. Here is the majority of the email, quoted:

"I worked at JumpStart for a few years around 1998-2000 or so … Ironically and unfortunately, I was hired because of my animation experience in Disney and Warner Bros styles to work on the core characters, but I never actually got assigned to a project with the core characters … I worked on “Jumpstart Baby,” a “Math Blasters” title, and the horrible “Spy Masters” title while I was there. Oh well. XD

The comic referenced on my page, unfortunately, doesn’t exist … I did that as part of a pitch to try to convince the executives to fund a line of JumpStart comics as an inexpensive way to develop the core characters and expand their marketing reach, as well as promote reading skills for children. Unfortunately they decided to pass on the idea, so nothing more was ever done. And it was so long ago I’m afraid I don’t have any of the original files beyond that little thumbnail I repurposed for my web site recently.

Sorry I don’t have more exciting information for you, but thanks for asking!"