Posted by: dj | http:// | Wed Sep 3 01:18:34 2003

At least its better than Captain Euro. But then, that's probably not very hard.

Posted by: mark | http://donotuselifts.net/ | Wed Sep 3 05:59:43 2003

I've gotta use this chick somewhere. But how?

Posted by: Ben | http://leviathan.weblogs.com | Thu Sep 4 08:36:38 2003

Unless I'm missing something, all the LXG characters would be well out of copyright (being 19th century creations).

Posted by: Joe | http://flyboy.blogspot.com | Thu Sep 4 13:01:13 2003

What does 'politically correct' mean in this context?

Posted by: Nina | http://janinazew.blogspot.com | Thu Sep 4 13:41:45 2003

Has it not struck you that the whole point of an open source character is that it's open to interpretation? Cut Jenny and her writers some slack, she's only just finding her feet in this world!

Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org | Thu Sep 4 16:23:26 2003

"politically correct": i.e., a bit too bland and nice and studiedly inoffensive.

Posted by: grant | http:// | Thu Sep 4 21:10:05 2003

Maybe someone should write an offensive Jenny Everywhere story, then. Can't be that hard....

Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org | Fri Sep 5 01:41:42 2003

That's not the point. The fact is that a character whose defining characteristic is "being open source" is not much of a character. If A writes a shiny, happy Jenny Everywhere that reads like a council brochure, B writes her as a fucked-up Warren Ellis-esque mutant freak, and C writes her as a thinly disguised version of their own life, only more exciting, that's not one character but three who happen to have the same name.

Posted by: dm | http:// | Wed Sep 24 22:17:38 2003

Not true. If the character's narrative can be based on previous, open-sourced stories than it's not a new character with the same name. It's an open source character with a dynamic and not fixed continuity. It's always in flux and always changing per the new story of her life. Each story built, even if only minutely, upon the reading of the last. It's unavoidable, especially in comic book narrative.

Not to mention that her goggles, her scarf, each of these acts as the visual constant of the character, the thread that links her to each new take on her. The character is limitless precisely because her identity is forged vis-a-vis the various stories different creators put her in.

Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org | Thu Sep 25 05:12:56 2003

Though doesn't the very concept of a "character" depend on constraints binding them into a coherent persona? Can a "limitless" character whose instances have only a few visual props in common be defined as one character?

Posted by: mark | http://donotuselifts.net/ | Thu Sep 25 08:03:11 2003

I guess the props can lead people to form the same ideas about the character, thus creating a somewhat coherent personality. Maybe.

'Twould've made more sense if the character had a *personality* and a working storyline first. Like, someone took an existing character of theirs and said "I hereby release her to the public domain. Go nuts, guys!" I mean, the characters in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen had more in common with their personas in their original stories than just their outward appearance and names, right? Same deal.

Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org | Thu Sep 25 08:06:40 2003

That's as much of a character as a breakfast-cereal mascot. Actually, perhaps even less of one, as brand mascots usually have extensive rules governing how they can and cannot be depicted.

Posted by: Eshu | http:// | Sat Nov 15 16:14:24 2003

There are two new Jenny stories up if your interested in having a look.