Jane (comic strip)

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Jane was a comic strip created and drawn by Norman Pett exclusively for the British tabloid The Daily Mirror from 5 December 1932 to 10 October 1959.

1 Publication History
2 Adaptations
3 Works inspired by Jane
4 Further reading
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Publication History

Originally entitled Jane's Journal - Or The Diary Of A Bright Young Thing, the salacious strip featured the misadventures of the title ingenue. The hapless heroine had a habit of frequently (and most often inadvertently) losing her clothes. Her intimate confidant was a pet dachshund named Fritz.

Her full name was Jane Gay (at the time the term "gay" was used to describe someone as cheerful and fun-loving). It was a play on the name Lady Jane Grey.

The strip became enormously popular during the Second World War and was seen as morale-boosting, inspiring a similar American version, Milton Caniff's comic strip Male Call. Until 1943 Jane rarely stripped to more than her undergarments, but then she made a full-nude appearance when getting out of a bath and clumsily falling into the middle of a crowd of British soldiers. It's been claimed that, as a result of this appearance, the British Army advanced five miles in North Africa.

In 1945 King Features attempted to syndicate Jane strips in the United States^[1]. However, the amount of nudity was too much for American audiences and the attempt ceased in 1946^[2].

The original version ended in 1959 with Jane settling down with charmer Georgie. The Mirror has since tried to revive the character on several occasions. One such strip was Jane - Daughter of Jane, who was apparently the original's grown-up offspring, but lacked her "mother"'s charm and innocence.

[edit] Adaptations

The strip inspired an eponymous stage-play in the 1940s. A film followed in 1949, titled The Adventures Of Jane starring Chrystabel Leighton-Porter, Pett's original model, and directed by Edward G. Whiting. A second film was made in 1987, titled Jane and the Lost City and directed by Terry Marcel.

A television series was also made by the BBC between 1982 and 1984, starring Glynis Barber in the title role.

[edit] Works inspired by Jane

Several subsequent comic strips are said to have been inspired by Norman Pett's Jane. These include Male Call, Sally the Sleuth and Little Annie Fanny^[3]