''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 Be ...

and drawn by

Francisco Solano López Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 or 1826 – 1 March 1870) was a Paraguay, Paraguayan statesman, Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay between 1862 and 1870, of which he serve ...

. 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 ...

Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the List of largest cities throughout history, largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of Financial ...

who appears to be simply an unusual act on the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

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, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, who worked at a studio in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. 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 cred ...

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. A th ...

, 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; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

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 (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

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. She is a Bachelor of Arts in Classic ...

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 was 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 Lond ...

and

Joseph Merrick Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890) was an English man known for his severe physical deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, ...

(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. Stark also appears in the first issue of the '' Smash!'' mini-series in 2023.

In popular culture

The British punk band Janus Stark based its name on this comic strip.Stewart, Allison, (23 November 1998)
"Gizz Butt Splits Time Between Janus Stark and Prodigy,"
''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. On the Series K, episode 5 of '' QI'',

Alan Davies Alan Roger Davies (; ; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only permanen ...

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 Stark, Janus