Jane's World

Jane's World
Jane of Jane's World
Author(s)	Paige Braddock
Website	www.gocomics.com/janesworld
Current status/schedule	Concluded; Can still be found at GoComics
Launch date	March 25, 1998 (March 25, 1998); entered syndication on April 1, 2002 (April 1, 2002)
End date	October 19, 2018 (October 19, 2018)
Syndicate(s)	United Feature Syndicate
Genre(s)	Humor, Lesbians

Jane's World was a comic strip by cartoonist Paige Braddock that ran from March 1998 to October 2018. Featuring lesbian and bisexual women characters, the strip stars Jane Wyatt, a young lesbian living in a trailer in Northern California with her straight male roommate, Ethan, and follows her life with her circle of friends, romances, and exes. Shortly after celebrating its 20th anniversary, publication ended with Jane marrying Dorothy.^[1]

The comic strip is notable for being the first gay-themed comic work to receive online distribution by a national newspaper syndicate in the United States.^[2] In 2006, Paige Braddock was nominated for an Eisner Award as Best Writer/Artist–Humor for Jane's World.^[3]

Comic strip

Braddock created Jane's World so that women, particularly lesbians, would have a comic strip character that they could relate to, though it's meant to be accessible to a wider audience.^{[citation needed]} Braddock devised Jane in 1991 but never actually put her onto paper until 1998, and began publishing on the Internet in late March.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, United Media's Comics.com website picked up reprints of Jane's World, making it the first gay-themed work to receive distribution by a national media syndicate.^[4]

In April 2002, it was picked up for print syndication by United Media's United Feature Syndicate. They began publishing new works in 2007.^[5]

In addition to web and newspaper publication, Braddock published the strip in a comic book format through her own publication house, "Girl Twirl Comics". The trade paperback versions feature covers created by different artists.^{[citation needed]}

Characters

Jane's World characters are all friends, to various degrees, and romantic interests of Jane, along with the occasional ex-girlfriend, coworker, and boss in the mix.^[6]

Jane

The protagonist of Jane’s World is Jane Wyatt. Her middle name, Tiberius, was given by her dad, a Star Trek fan. She is a white, soft butch, lesbian, who is in and out of jobs, in and out of housing, in and out of comical blunders and cosmic dimensions, and in and out of relationships. Jane has run-ins with exes as well as the Log Cabin Republicans, The Star League of The Last Starfighter, Amazon Island, zombies, to name a few.

Rusty

Jane's mixed-breed dog. He has a brown ring around his left eye. The comic strip begins with a Rusty storyline that introduces Jane and her circle of friends and family.

Dorothy

Jane's best friend, and on-again, off-again girlfriend. Dorothy runs the coffee shop, Hard Drive Cafe, where many of the comic strip's plots take place. Unbeknownst to either of them, their mothers tried to play matchmakers and arranged for Jane and Dorothy to get together one evening. Things heated up between them but Jane became confused after Skye showed her some interest. The comic strip concludes with Jane and Dorothy getting married.

Ethan

Jane's straight male roommate and best dude. Their romantic relationships with women often get in the way of their friendship. Ethan has a gay brother named Julian.

Chelle

Chelle is visually reminiscent of Trinity in The Matrix. She rides a motorcycle, has a special ops background, and a past she is trying to get away from. Despite her coolness, Chelle dates Jane, and remains a good friend post breakup.

Dorrie

Jane's co-worker at The Daily News and friend. Dorrie is African American, a lesbian, and has a crush on Chelle.

Archie

Jane's co-worker at The Daily News and friend. Archie is Asian American, straight, and is not amused by Jane's antics at work or in her relationships.

Skye

One of Jane's love interests who works at The Garden of Vegan diner. She unsuccessfully tries to get Jane to eat healthier while they're dating. She's also a surfer.

Jill

Chelle's on-again, off-again girlfriend. She was Chelle's former partner on the police force, and prior to that, a United States Navy diver. She is often portrayed as Jane's nemesis. Jill never has a problem attracting women.

Talia

An ex-girlfriend of Jane's that pops in and out of the strip. She's bisexual and went to college with Jane.

Bud

Jane's laid-back cousin and car mechanic.

Shallow Breast Guy

Based on cartoonist Stephan Pastis, creator of Pearls Before Swine, this character appears only occasionally as a breast-obsessed, straight male. Shallow Breast Guy is drawn to look like Pastis. He once took control of the strip and drew Jane's World in the style of Pearls Before Swine, endowing the women with large breasts and portraying them as hyper-sexualized, thereby earning his nickname. In turn, Pastis has featured Braddock's wiener dog Andy (and, less frequently, Olive) in his strip.^[7]

Books

• Love Letters to Jane's World, Lion Forge, 2018
• Jane's World: The Case of the Mail Order Bride, Bold Strokes Books, 2016
• Jane's World, Volume 11, Girl Twirl Comics, 2014
• Jane's World, Volume 10, The New Frontier, Girl Twirl Comics, 2011
• Jane's World, Volume 9, Girl Twirl Comics, 2009
• Jane's World, Volume 8, Girl Twirl Comics, 2008
• Jane's World, Collection 1 (first 15 issues), Girl Twirl Comics, 2007
• Jane's World, Volume 7, Girl Twirl Comics, 2007
• Jane's World, Volume 6, Girl Twirl Comics, 2006
• Jane's World, Volume 5, Girl Twirl Comics, 2006
• Jane's World, Volume 4, Girl Twirl Comics, 2006
• Jane's World, Volume 3, Girl Twirl Comics, 2005
• Jane's World, Volume 2, Girl Twirl Comics, 2004
• Jane's World, Volume 1, Girl Twirl Comics, 2003

See also

• List of female comics creators
• List of feminist comic books
• List of webcomics with LGBT characters
• Dykes to Watch Out For
• Hothead Paisan: Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist
• Wimmen's Comix

References

Further reading

Paige Braddock

• Arrant, Chris (August 3, 2018). "Paige Braddock Shares Love Letters to JANE'S WORLD In Unique Retrospective". Newsarama.
• Carroll, Sean (March 22, 2007). "Interview: Paige Braddock Part 1". The Daily Cross Hatch. Archived from the original on March 27, 2007.
• Carroll, Sean (April 4, 2007). "Interview: Paige Braddock Part 2 of 2". The Daily Cross Hatch. Archived from the original on May 14, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2008.
• Carroll, Sean (May 22, 2007). "Jane's World, Vol. 7 by Paige Braddock". The Daily Cross Hatch. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
• The Linster (December 22, 2011). "10 years in "Jane's World": An interview with Paige Braddock". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015.
• Randolph, Alex (October 19, 2015). "Santa Rosa cartoonist of LGBT comic strip draws inspiration from 'Peanuts'". The Press Democrat.
• Swartz, Shauna (May 3, 2006). "Stepping Into Jane's World with Paige Braddock". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on May 4, 2006.

Miscellaneous

• Bernstein, Robin (Summer 1994). "Where Women Rule: The World of Lesbian Cartoons". The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review. 1 (3): 20–23. ISSN 1077-6591. LCCN sn94005292.
• Medd, Jodie, ed. (2015). "14. Comics, Graphic Narratives, and Lesbian Lives, by Heike Bauer". The Cambridge Companion to Lesbian Literature (PDF). Cambridge University Press. pp. 219–235. ISBN 978-1107054004.
• Shaw, Adrienne (2009). "Women on Women: Lesbian Identity, Lesbian Community, and Lesbian Comics". Journal of Lesbian Studies. 13 (1): 88–97. doi:10.1080/07380560802314227. ISSN 1089-4160. LCCN 97660031. PMID 19197667. S2CID 44618909.
• Warren, Roz, ed. (1995). Dyke Strippers: Lesbian Cartoonists A to Z. Cleis Press. ISBN 1573440086.

External links

• Jane's World at GoComics
• Paige Braddock's website
• "Jane's World Collections". janecomics.com. June 6, 2007. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012.
• Scott, Tara (November 14, 2018). "'Love Letters to Jane's World' by Paige Braddock". Lambda Literary Foundation. (book review)