Just ahead of the appearance of a new book featuring the famous Jane strip from the Daily Mirror, I thought I'd attempt a checklist of stories. Franco Giacomini kindly sent me a list of strips that had appeared in the Italian paper Il Giorno, along with the codes as used on various Daily Mirror strips. To this I've added those titles I've been able to gather from other sources. Where I don't have the original English titles I've retained Franco's titles from his Italian listing.Jane
Began as a single-panel weekly series 'Jane's Journal—or the Diary of a Bright Young Thing'. Don Freeman was Pett's scriptwriter from December 1938. Norman Pett was given as assistant in 1946 and he, Mike Hubbard, took over drawing the strip in May 1948, a position he held until the strip came to an end in 1959.
XHush-Hush House (350-426) 15-01-40—
Sea Legs (427-546) 15-04-40—
Jane on Leave (547-582, 1-12) 02-09-40—
Jane's Rival (13-100, 1-71) 28-10-40—
Land Girl (72-276, A1-98) 05-05-41—
Jane's Island Romance (A99-A260) 27-04-42—
(missing for a week)
Factory Girl (A261-B103) 09-11-42—01-05-43
Queen Jane (B104-B238) 03-05-43—
Married by Proxy (B239-C102) 07-10-43—
N.A.A.F.I. Say Die (C103-C225) 01-05-44—
Behind the Front (C226-D147) 21-09-44—
Jane's Summer Idle (D148- ) 25-06-45—
Post-War Pin-Up D280-
Love in the Lab G4-
New Looker G129-
x
Heiress By Mistake (G302-311, H1-H80) 1948—49
x
(Jane e il "Club Barbarbiù) (H247-H310, J1-J107) 1949—50
(La stravagante crociera di Jane) (J108-J245) 1950
(Jane tra due amori) (J246-J309, K1-K83) 1950—51
(Jane guida turistica) (K84-K209) 1951
Nature in the Raw (Jane al priorato) (K210-K299) 03-09-51—??-??-51
P.C. Jane (Jane poliziotta) (K300-K310, L1-L111) 1951—52
Georgie Tries Again (Il sogno di Jane) (L112-L189) 1952
Jane's Wedding (Le nozze di Jane) (L190-L213) 1952
(Jane nel safari) (L214-L310, M1-M3) 1952—53
College of Courtship (M4-M104) 05-01-53—02-05-53
Model Ambassadress (Jane in oriente) (M105-M206) 04-05-53—29-08-53
Double Scotch (M207-M254) 31-08-53—24-10-53
Box o' Tricks (M255-M310, N1-N26) 26-10-53—30-01-54
Jane on Ice (N27-N68) 01-02-54—20-03-54
The Ruby of Love (N69-N175) 22-03-54—24-07-54
Jane's Cojntinental Tour (N176-N262) 26-07-54—03-11-54
Jane's Hotel (N263-N310, O1-O31) 04-11-54—05-02-55
The Kissman Report (O32-O96) 07-02-55—18-05-55
A Model Pair (O97-O225) 19-05-55—15-10-55
Gun Girl (O226-O289, P1-P72) 17-10-55—24-03-56
Dude Ranch (P73-P131) 26-03-56—02-06-56
The Bathing Pool (P132-P203) 04-06-56—25-08-56
The Guinea Pig (P204-P306) 27-08-56—24-12-56
Counter Measures (P307-Q89) 27-12-56—13-04-57
Jane's Latin Lover (Q90-Q242) 14-04-57—10-10-57
(Voiti per il cinema) (Q243-R7) 1957—58
(La vacca che canta) (R8-R81) 1958
(L'ipnotizzatore) (R82-R207) 1958
(Angeli custodi) (R208-R258) 1958
(Jane e il Lama) (R259-R300) 1958
(Piccole stelle) (R301-S57) 1958-59
(La loconda del pescatore) (S58-S135) 1959
(Jane nel catello) (S136-S208) 1959
(Jane e il tesoro) (S209-S242) 1959—10-10-59
Jane, Daughter of JaneRevival of the strip which ran 28 August 1961 to 30 August 1963, drawn by Alfred Mazure and written by Mazure and Roger Woddis.
X
Jane
New series featuring the granddaughter of the original Jane ran 15 April 1985 to 1 September 1990 with artwork by John Burns. Written by Ian Gammidge, Roger Mahoney, Hilary King, Tim Quinn and Les Lilley.
List updated: 7 August 2016, with thanks to Richard (see comments).
1. (Jane Again, or Modern Marvels) (IG) (T88-T267) 15-04-85—20-11-85
2. Bathtime with Steve (RM) (T268-U46) 21-11-85—24-02-86
3. Down Under (RM) (U47-U122) 25-02-86—17-05-86
4. Jane Goes Pop (HK) (U118A-U194) 19-05-86—15-08-86
5. South Seas Sizzler (HK) 16-08-86—14-11-86
6. Phantom of the Panto (HK) 15-11-86—16-02-87
7. The Long-Legged Detective (HK) (V41-V118) 17-02-87—18-05-87
8. Soap Bubbles (TQ) (V119-V196) 19-05-87—17-08-87
9. Granny Jane and Lola (HK) (V197-V274) 18-08-87—16-11-87
10. Rockin' Over Russia (V275-W40) 17-11-87—16-02-88
11. Haring Around (HK) (W41-W118) 17-02-88—17-05-88
12. Hillbilly Hullabaloo (TQ) (W119-W196) 18-05-88—16-08-88
13. The Romancing of Jane (TQ) (W197-W274) 17-08-88—15-11-88
14. Queen Jane (HK) (W275-X38) 16-11-88—14-02-89
15. Home 'Tweet' Home (TQ) (X39-X116) 15-02-89—16-05-89
16. Pirates Aboard (LL) (X117-X194) 17-05-89—15-08-89
17. Granny Jane at War (HK) (X195-X272) 16-08-89—14-11-89
18. Date in the Desert (TQ) (X273-Y39) 15-11-89—14-02-90
19. Dresspionage (LL) (Y40-Y117) 15-02-90—16-05-90
20. Wheels Westward (TQ) (Y118-Y196) 17-05-90—16-08-90
21. (Epilogue, or The End... For Now) (Y197-Y210) 17-08-90—01-09-90
(* Jane © Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd.)
Steve,
ReplyDeleteI was thrilled to read that another Jane book was soon to be published. The vast majority of Jane's adventures have sadly never been released in book form and I was kind of hoping that this new volume would include some of these unseen stories. However, I'm now under the
impression that this new book will reprint the same wartime stories that have already been reprinted in the previous three Jane collections:- --'Jane'(Pelham Books,1983); 'Jane at War' (Wolfe,1976), and 'Farewell to Jane' (Daily Mirror Books,1960).
While it is fair to say that these particular wartime Jane strips are the ones she is generally remembered for, I doubt that anyone interested in Jane would find this new book to be of any real interest, as they would already have seen the stories within.
These previous Jane reprint books regularly appear on ebay and are pretty cheap too, so why buy a new edition?
My one hope is that this new book will feature some additional illustrations/text and maybe even an unseen strip or two!
Steve, do you know if there is any chance that some of the later Hubbard strips will ever see print again? I know there were 35 (or more) issues of an Australian Jane comic published in the 1950s, but these too are pretty hard to find these days.
I'll keep my fingers crossed!
Good post this Steve.
ReplyDeleteI feel much like Dave re the new Jane book. From what i've read about it, it looks like it contains just one or two Wartime stories... The stories that anyone who wants, already owns!! Who is another reprint of reprint likely to appeal to?! In fact, i think Dave may have missed a reprint, I remember that yet another reprint edition was published, some time in the 1990s (i think!) which was very similar to the 1970 s 'Jane at War' book, although in a nifty slip-case! so FOUR reprints of the same stuff at least.
I too would love to see the Michael Hubbard stories from the 50's, but I've only ever managed to get hold of the odd daily strip, or book illustration. I've been looking for the Aussie comic books for years, but have never seen a single copy for sale.
I understand that Jane is mainly remembered for the wartime stories, but I would hope that there would be a market for her peacetime adventures too?
With so many 'complete' reprints coming out these days, I think the 'ol gal deserves that treatment too!
Piley
if you are looking for Jane comics then there is a website with an archive of Daily Mirror newspapers. The URL is http://www.ukpressonline.co.uk. It's a pay site and you can access any copy of the mirror from 1903-1980.
ReplyDeleteThough it is a pay site to private customers, UK Press Online can be accessed for free via certain libraries and universities. I joined Westminster Libraries for that reason, and can access the site from home using my library card number. Even better, access via libraries and universities goes right up to the present day, whereas private customers can only access the Daily Mirror up to 1980 – which is no good if you want to see the John M Burns strips!
ReplyDeleteThat is where I have started, and as a result I can now provide the following updates to your checklist. It appears that there were 21 stories (the first one was rather long, on the theme of Jane being shown various technological marvels of the 1980s), rather than 22, though it is possible that I have overlooked a story opener somewhere. I am unable to confirm the title of the tenth story, as the opening episode is missing from UK Press Online.
Jane Again, or Modern Marvels* (written by Ian Gammidge) (T88-T267) 15-04-85—20-11-85
Bathtime with Steve (Roger Mahoney**) (T268-U46) 21-11-85—24-02-86
Down Under (RH) (U47-U122) 25-02-86—17-05-86
Jane Goes Pop (Hilary King***) (U118A-U194) 19-05-86—15-08-86
South Seas Sizzler (HK) (U195-U272) 16-08-86—14-11-86
Phantom of the Panto (HK) (U273-V40) 15-11-86—16-02-87
The Long-Legged Detective (HK) (V41-V118) 17-02-87—18-05-87
Soap Bubbles (Tim Quinn) (V119-V196) 19-05-87—17-08-87
Granny Jane and Lola (HK) (V197-V274) 18-08-87—16-11-88
(title and writer unknown) (V275-W40) 17-11-87—16-02-88
Haring Around (HK) (W41-W118) 17-02-88—17-05-88
Hillbilly Hullabaloo (TQ) (W119-W196) 18-05-88—16-08-88
The Romancing of Jane (TQ) (W197-W274) 17-08-88—15-11-88
Queen Jane (HK) (W275-X38) 16-11-88—14-02-89
Home ‘Tweet’ Home (TQ) (X39-X116) 15-02-89—16-05-89
Pirates Aboard (Les Lilley) (X117-X194) 17-05-89—15-08-89
Granny Jane at War (HK) (X195-X272) 16-08-89—14-11-89
Date in the Desert (TQ) (X273-Y39) 15-11-89—14-02-90
Dresspionage (LL) (Y40-Y117) 15-02-90—16-05-90
Wheels Westward (TQ) (Y118-Y196) 17-05-90—16-08-90
Epilogue, or The End… For Now…**** (Y197-Y210) 17-08-90—01-09-90
*The story proper did not begin until 16-04-85, but it was preceded by an introductory article on 15-04-85. Entitled “Jane Again”, the article included a unique illustration of Jane by John M Burns. The story itself was untitled – “Modern Marvels” is my own invention, based on the content of the strip.
**Ian Gammidge is credited on the first episode only, possibly in error.
***Roger Mahoney is credited on U125 and Ian Gammidge is credited on U133, possibly in error.
****This brief concluding story was untitled. “The End… For Now…” was the final caption to appear on the strip.
In total, 90 of the John M Burns episodes are currently missing from UK Press Online (the majority of them from 1988). The earlier strips fare better, and overall I would say that about 98–99% of Jane in all her forms are present. The quality varies – this is a news archive rather than an art archive – but it’s better than nothing! Next I am looking at the strips that immediately preceded World War II and immediately followed it (as I have already read the war years in book form) and I hope to report back with more story titles in the future…
Hi Richard,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the additional information. Most appreciated.
Hey Richard,
ReplyDeleteWould you be able to upload some of the pdf story sets of from the John Burns strips on one of the cloud storage sites like Mega by any chance? I've downloaded most of whats uploaded on UK Press Online years ago but because I reside outside the UK the archive only goes up to 1980 and I have no library access.
Hey nomin,
ReplyDeleteNot long after my previous comment, I found that I didn’t have library access myself either. Westminster Libraries don’t offer access to UK Press Online any more, and I haven’t been able to find another library (that’s near enough for me to join) that does. So I’m very glad that I got those 1980s strips while I had the chance!
Other matters have distracted me from expanding or processing my collection much since then, and I’ve only recently noticed your comment. Being rather technologically backward, I had never used a cloud storage site until now – but hopefully this link works:
https://tinyurl.com/Janeinthe1980s
This is my entire 1980s Jane collection, as jpegs, mostly of whole pages from the newspaper. I haven’t got around to cropping them as I intend to do – but hey, this way fans of Garth and The Perishers can see those strips, too! Ninety pages are missing from the collection (as detailed in a text note within the folder), but the majority are there. I have also included some Jane-related press coverage from the period.
Hi Richard,
DeleteThanks a lot for sharing the Burns strips. At least a part of them were also published in Portugal in "DN Magazine", the sunday magazine of the newspaper "Diário de Notícias" (4 strips in each issue). The first one I have is strip T189 and the last one W14. I don't know which ones were published before and afer the ones I've.The initial strips were printed in black and white but they become colourized starting with strip U261 (or maybe before that, because I don't have the strips U253-U260).
From your list of missing strips I've the following ones : U49, U59, U74, U121, U122, U150, U275, V76 and V194. I also have the strips U22A, U22B, U22C, U22D, U22E and U22F that are not included on UK Press Online.
Kind regards
António
here are three more continuities which were reprinted in abridged form in the Farewell to Jane collection (as they were reprinted in abridged form, I can only give the starting codes with certainty)
ReplyDeletePost-War Pin-Up D280-
Love in the Lab G4-
New Looker G129-
Steve - This has just helped me accurately date three Jane strips in our collection. They're going to be featured in a TV show. So thanks as ever for your invaluable research.
ReplyDeleteGlad these old posts continue to be found and to be found useful!
Delete