''Jane Arden'' was an internationally syndicated daily newspaper

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

which ran from November 26, 1928 to January 20, 1968. The title character was the original "spunky girl reporter", actively seeking to infiltrate and expose criminal activity rather than just report on its consequences and served as a prototype for later characters such as ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

'' supporting character

Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning journalist for ...

and fellow comic strip heroine Brenda Starr, Reporter.

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning columnist

Mary McGrory Mary McGrory (August 22, 1918 – April 20, 2004) was an American journalist and columnist. She specialized in American politics, and was noted for her detailed coverage of political maneuverings. She wrote over 8,000 columns, but no books, ...

credited ''Jane Arden'' with instilling her interest in journalism. ''Jane Arden'' was only moderately successful in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but it was highly popular in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The strip was widely reprinted in comic books and was also adapted into both a film and a radio series.

Publication history

''Jane Arden'' was created by writer Monte Barrett and artist Frank Ellis for the

Register and Tribune Syndicate The Register and Tribune Syndicate was a Print syndication, syndication service based in Des Moines, Iowa, that operated from 1922 to 1986, when it was acquired by King Features to become the Cowles Syndicate affiliate. At its peak, the Register a ...

. Barrett wrote the strip until his death in 1949, and his stories were used until 1952 when Walt Graham assumed the scripting duties. Ellis was one of five artists to draw ''Jane Arden'' over its 41-year run. The work of Ellis' replacement, Russell E. Ross, is perhaps most identified with the character, as he drew the strip for 20 years. During the strip's last few years, under creator Bob Schoenke, it was combined with another Register and Tribune strip, ''Laredo Crockett'', to become ''Laredo and Jane Arden'' (from 1964–1968).

''Jane Arden'' creators

* Monte Barrett (story) & Frank Ellis (art): Nov 26, 1928 - Feb 4, 1933 * Monte Barrett (story) & Russell E. Ross (art): Feb 6, 1933 - Sept 24, 1950 * Russell E. Ross (story and art): Sept 25, 1950 - 1952 * Walt Graham (story) & Russell E. Ross (art): 1952 - 1955 * Walt Graham (story) & Jim Seed (art): 1955 - Sept 3, 1960 * Walt Graham (story) & William Hargis (art): Sept 5, 1960 - Feb 22, 1964 * Bob Schoenke (story and art): Feb 24, 1964 - January 20, 1968

Story and characters

It was during Ross' stint that the strip introduced Tubby, an office boy sidekick transported from Ross' previous ''Slim and Tubby'' strip. It was during this period that the strip first included Jane Arden

paper doll Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by paper folding tabs. They may be a figure of a person, animal or inanimate object. Paper dolls have been inex ...

s and accompanying outfits. Jane Arden was one of the first comic strip characters to become involved in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Immediately after the outbreak of war in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, Barrett and Ross scrapped their current storylines and gave her a war assignment in the fictional neutral kingdom of Anderia (September 25, 1939).

Reprints

Reprints of the newspaper strip were published in

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

beginning with ''

Famous Funnies ''Famous Funnies'' is an American comic strip anthology series published from 1934 to 1955. Published by Eastern Color Printing, ''Famous Funnies'' is considered by popular culture historians as the first true American comic book, following sem ...

'' #2 (September 1934). After issue 35, the reprints appeared in ''Feature Funnies'' #1 (October, 1937),''Feature Funnies''
Grand Comics Database. Accessed Jan. 4, 2018. published by Comic Favorites, Inc (a predecessor of

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

). (The Register and Tribune Syndicate was part-owner of Comic Favorites.)Steranko, Jim (1972). ''The Steranko History of Comics 2''. Reading, Pennsylvania: Supergraphics. p. 92. . 20 issues later, the title was renamed ''

Feature Comics ''Feature Comics'', originally ''Feature Funnies'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Quality Comics from 1939 until 1950, that featured short stories in the humor genre and later the superhero genre. Publication history T ...

''. The Arden reprints continued for ten more issues, and then appeared in the first 25 issues of ''

Crack Comics ''Crack Comics'' was an anthology comic book series published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It featured such characters as The Clock, Black Condor, Captain Triumph, Alias the Spider, Madame Fatal, Jane Arden, Molly the ...

''. United States: *''Feature Funnies'' #1-20 (October 1937 – May 1939; Comic Favorites, Inc.) *''Feature Comics'' #21-31 (June 1939 – April 1940;

) *''Crack Comics'' #1-25 (May 1940 – September 1942; Quality Comics) *''Pageant of Comics'' #2 (October 1947;

St. John Publications St. John Publications was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During the 1947-1958 existence of its comic-book division, St. John established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John, the firm was located in Manhattan a ...

) *''Jane Arden'' #1-2 (March 1948 – June 1948; St. John) Australia: *''Jane Arden'' #1-29 (1955–1956,

Atlas Publications Atlas Publications was an Australian publishing company which operated from 1948 until 1958 and was based in Clifton Hill, a suburb of Melbourne. It published magazines and popular fiction, and the genre for which it was best known, adventure ...

)

In other media

Radio

A ''Jane Arden''

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

was broadcast from 1938 through 1939 with Ruth Yorke in the title role of the "fearless girl reporter, the most beautiful woman in the newspaper world." First heard in June 1938 on WJZ in New York, the program moved to the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

on September 26, 1938. Sponsored by Ward Baking, the 15-minute serial aired weekdays at 10:15am. Others in the cast: Helene Dumas, Maurice Franklin, Frank Provo, Bill Baar, Henry Wadsworth and Howard Smith. Alan Kent was the announcer. Manny Siegel provided the sound effects for director Lawrence Holcomb. The series ended June 23, 1939.

Film

In 1939,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

released a film adaptation, ''

The Adventures of Jane Arden ''The Adventures of Jane Arden'' is a 1939 American crime film directed by Terry O. Morse and written by Vincent Sherman, Lawrence Kimble, and Charles W. Curran. The film stars Rosella Towne, William Gargan, James Stephenson, Benny Rubin, Den ...

'', with a storyline in which Jane Arden (

Rosella Towne Rosella Towne (January 20, 1918 – August 29, 2014) was an American film actress. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio. Her film career began in 1937, after making a screen test for Warner Bros. and signing a contract for the studio. At first she ma ...

) goes undercover to expose a gang of jewel smugglers. However, her identity is discovered by one of the gang leaders. This film, directed by Terry O. Morse, was heralded as the first of a series, but no subsequent Jane Arden films were produced.

References

External links

Russell E. Ross
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

.
''Jane Arden''
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 October 8, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jane Arden (Comics) 1928 comics debuts 1938 radio programme debuts 1938 radio dramas 1968 comics endings Adventure comics American comics adapted into films Arden Jane American comic strips American radio dramas Comics adapted into radio series Comics about women Arden, Jane Detective comics Arden, Jane Fictional reporters Mystery comics Arden, Jane