Calamity Before Jane is Noah Van Sciver’s second of these educational comics on American folk heroes (the first was on Paul Bunyan) and it’s definitely the lesser of the two, though neither are that amazing.
Jane was born in the 19th century and was among the settlers who embarked on the Oregon Trail. Her parents died when she was young, she worked for the Pony Express, she was a sharpshooter and a scout under General Custer and she told her stories of the Wild West at sideshow attractions towards the end of her relatively short life (she died at 51).
I was expecting a bit more from her story. Considering it’s not that remarkable, it’s strange that she has become as famous as she has over time. I remember first reading the Calamity James strips in the Beano when I was a kid, and then saw her character in the brilliant HBO show Deadwood, but she’s also been depicted in numerous other books, comics, films and TV shows over the years.
How she got her nickname is weird - she saved a Captain from certain death after he fell off his horse during an Indian ambush. How that makes her a “calamity” I have no idea.
Van Sciver draws her sweating and drinking a lot in her later years, implying she was alcoholic, though, like much of the book, the facts on her life are unclear. And then the book - which I already saw was quite short - suddenly ends with her leaving the Wild Bill show. It’s very unsatisfying and unedifying, as is the accompanying academic-ish essay by Dr. Susana Geliga (which is more on the era than Jane herself) - I know about as much of Calamity Jane now as I did before I read this comic (which isn’t much).
Noah Van Sciver’s a great cartoonist and, as a fan of this creator, I didn’t dislike reading Calamity Before Jane, though it definitely felt lacking in substance and is instantly forgettable. Even for fans of this creator, or anyone looking to learn more about this person, I wouldn’t recommend this book.
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