''The Heart of Juliet Jones'' is an American comic strip series created by

Elliott Caplin Elliot Caplin (December 25, 1913 - February 20, 2000) was a comic strip writer best known as the co-creator (with Stan Drake) of ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''. His name is sometimes spelled with one extra letter: Elliott A. Caplin. He was the yo ...

and drawn by Stan Drake, beginning on March 9, 1953.Brian Walker, "The Times Are A'Changin'", in

Dean Mullaney Dean Mullaney (born June 18, 1954) is an American editor, publisher, and designer whose Eclipse Enterprises, founded in 1977, was one of the earliest independent comic-book companies. Eclipse published some of the first graphic novels and was on ...

, Bruce Canwell and Brian Walker, ''King of the Comics : One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate''. San Diego :

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, 2015. (pp.239–40) The strip was distributed by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

. The strip was a

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, following the prototype set by ''

Mary Worth ''Mary Worth'' is an American newspaper comic strip that has had an eight-decade run from 1938. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, this soap opera-style strip influenced several that followed. It was created by writer Allen Saunders and art ...

'' but elevated by Drake's exceptional artwork. The strip's first storylines were based on a treatment by writer

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

. The figure drawing was characterized by Drake's pioneering use of naturalistic movement and expression, a style he achieved partly through the use of

Polaroid Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Polar ...

photographic reference.

Publication history

Drake's last strip was published May 20, 1989; it was continued by

Frank Bolle Frank W. Bolle (June 23, 1924 – May 12, 2020) was an American comic-strip artist, comic book artist and illustrator, best known as the longtime artist of the newspaper strips ''Winnie Winkle'' and ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''; for stints on th ...

through the January 1, 2000 strip, which ended the series with an unresolved cliffhanger.

Characters and story

Much of the dramatic tension was realized through the interaction of two dissimilar sisters. Brunette Juliet Jones, the older, was modest, sensible and successful. Buxom blonde Eve Jones was flirty, flighty, and in and out of trouble. Their elderly father Howard, a decent but dull man easily swayed by both of his daughters, also played a leading role. Initially, Eve was more villainous, and tried to steal Juliet's boyfriend (who was also her teacher). However, as the strip progressed, Eve became less selfish and established a good relationship with Juliet.

Books

A full reprinting in book form of Drake's work on the strip was begun by Classic Comics Press in late 2008. *''The Heart of Juliet Jones'' vol. 1, Classic Comics Press, 2009 (Reprints dailies March 8, 1953 - August 13, 1955) *''The Heart of Juliet Jones'' vol. 2, Classic Comics Press, 2009 (Reprints dailies August 15, 1955 - November 30, 1957) *''The Heart of Juliet Jones'' vol. 3, Classic Comics Press, 2010 (Reprints dailies December 2, 1957 - January 23, 1960) *''Juliette Jones 1 : 1953-1954'', Futuropolis (1984) French edition *''Juliette Jones 2 : 1954-1955'', Futuropolis (1984) French edition

Awards

Drake received the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

's Story Comic Strip Award in 1968, 1970 and 1972.

References

Sources

* Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index.'' Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995.

External links

''The Heart of Juliet Jones''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on December 8, 2015.

American comic strips 1953 comics debuts Drama comics 2001 comics endings Comics about women {{comic-strip-stub