''Janus Stark'', or ''The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark'', is a British comic strip series, originally written by

Tom Tully Thomas Kane Tulley (August 21, 1908 – April 27, 1982) was an American actor. He began his career in radio and on the stage before making his film debut in ''Northern Pursuit'' (1943). Subsequently, he was nominated for an Academy Award for hi ...

and drawn by

Francisco Solano López Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 – 1 March 1870) was President of Paraguay from 1862 until his death in 1870. He was the eldest son of Juana Pabla Carrillo and of President Carlos Antonio López, Francisco's predecessor. ...

. It is about an

escapologist Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and oth ...

Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of international finance and trade. Railways connecting ...

who appears to be simply an unusual act on the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

stage, but who privately uses his extraordinary abilities to battle against injustice. The strip debuted on 15 March 1969 in '' Smash!'' and ran in that title until 1971,"Janus Stark,"
ComicVine. Retrieved 9 Feb. 2021. when it moved to '' Valiant'', running for another four years until 1975. The character was later revived in France, running in his own title until the mid-1980s.

Publication history

Solano López was a foreign illustrator, born in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, who worked at a studio in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. For reasons of cost, IPC had taken a policy decision to source artwork from cheaper sources outside the UK. The strip was one of the few to survive the merger of ''Smash!'' into '' Valiant'' in 1971, running in that title from 10 April 1971 to 22 March 1975. With the move, the scripts were taken over by

Angus Allan Angus Peter Allan (22 July 1936 – 16 July 2007) was a British comic strip writer and magazine editor who worked on ''TV Century 21'' in the 1960s and ''Look-in'' magazine during the 1970s. Most commonly known as Angus Allan and sometimes credit ...

with art by the studio of Solano López. ''The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark'' was reprinted and translated into French in his own title, published by Mon Journal, beginning in 1973. When the publication ran out of reprint material, they created new adventures, lasting until issue #89 (May 1986).

Fictional character biography

The protagonist was born in 1840 as the orphan Jonas Clarke. His background story explains that he was sent to an orphanage where he was mistreated, but escaped and lived in the streets. There he befriended a beggar, Blind Largo, who taught him

pickpocketing Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for Misdirection (magic ...

, but also trained Clarke's unique gift for body bending and escaping. Stark has an unusually flexible bone structure, enabling him to get out of an astonishing variety of tight situations at need. As an adult, Clarke takes on another persona as ''Janus Stark'' and becomes an escapologist and

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

Later appearance

Janus Stark appears in the six-issue limited series ''

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

'' (2005) by

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

Leah Moore Leah Moore (born 4 February 1978) is a British comic book writer and columnist. The daughter of comics writer Alan Moore, she frequently collaborates with her husband, writer John Reppion, as Moore & Reppion. Biography Moore was born to comics ...

John Reppion John Mark Reppion (born 1978) is an English comics writer. He is married to Leah Moore, the daughter of Alan Moore, and he has worked with both on the comic ''Albion''. John Reppion and Leah Moore have co-writing credits on '' Wild Girl'', a 6- ...

Shane Oakley Shane Oakley is a British illustrator and comic book artist from Stoke-on-Trent, England. Biography Oakley began his career contributing to the alternative comics review ''Deadline Magazine'' in the 1980s, where he created '' Fatal Charm'' with ...

, and George Freeman. In this "new" two-page adventure, he is imprisoned, along with at least

Spring-heeled Jack Spring-heeled Jack is an entity in English folklore of the Victorian era. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837. Later sightings were reported all over the United Kingdom and were especially prevalent in suburban Lo ...

and

Joseph Merrick Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

(the Elephant Man), by an Inspector Bryant, simply for being thought by the Victorian government to be "dangerous individuals." Stark succeeds in breaking them all out of prison.

In popular culture

The British punk band

Janus Stark ''Janus Stark'', or ''The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark'', is a British comic strip series, originally written by Tom Tully and drawn by Francisco Solano López. It is about an escapologist in Victorian London who appears to be simply an ...

based its name on this comic strip.Stewart, Allison, (23 November 1998)
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Splits Time Between Janus Stark and Prodigy,"''Rolling Stone magazine">Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. On the Series K, episode 5 of ''QI'', Alan Davies sparks a tangent discussion about a superhero he remembers from "Valiant Comics" called Janus, who he describes as an "escapologist who can get through tiny gaps". Davis noted that every week Janus seemed to be in a situation where the solution was for him to get through a tiny gap.

Notes

References

{{reflist 1969 comics debuts 1975 comics endings British comic strips Comics about orphans Comics set in London Comics set in the 19th century Crime comics Detective comics Drama comics