Jenny Everywhere

Infobox webcomic|
title = Jenny Everywhere


caption = Jenny Everywhere as envisioned by Diana Nock of [http://www.jinxville.com Jinxville.com] .
author = Multiple
url = http://TheShifterArchive.com
current = Depends on author.
began = Early 2002
genre = Science Fiction, Super Hero

Jenny Everywhere aka "The Shifter" is an open source webcomic character. She is likely the first character created in this way.

Jenny Everywhere is described both as existing in every reality and being able to shift between realities. This gives the character the ability to be inserted into the continuity of any existing or new work, such as various comics or webcomics. The concept may also be extended to other media as well. She was created by Canadian comic book artist Steven Wintle, who uses the internet alias Moriarty, and originally developed in the Barbelith online community.

Description

According to the character's website:

"She has short, dark hair. She usually wears aviation goggles on top of her head and a scarf around her neck. Otherwise, she dresses in comfortable clothes. She is average size and has a good body image. She has loads of confidence and charisma. She appears to be Asian or Native American. She has a ready smile."

In the post where he first proposed the character, Wintle described her as:

"If I had to compare her to anything, it would be like if Tintin listened to Le Tigre and joined the Fantastic Four. She's excitable, passionate, attentive, curious, and caring. Like Captain Marvel, she's just a really powerful kid. [cite web| url=http://www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=3026| title=Open Source Comic Book Characters| author=Steven "Moriarty" Wintle| publisher=Barbelith.com| accessdate=2001-08-13] "

For reference, a comprehensive art collection of Jenny Everywhere character renditions and interpretations can be found on [http://theshifterarchive.com/ART/ The Shifter Archive Project] website.

The "License"

"The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed."

The "license" is self-explanatory. However, it should be clarified that it does not mean everything with Jenny Everywhere is free-use and uncopyrighted. People may still maintain copyrights on their own unique characters and character styling, story, artwork, and title.

The name, the character herself, and the idea of the character is uncopyrightable, because she already belongs to everyone. That is what is meant by the "All Rights Reversed" portion.

Nelson Evergreen, artist of [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/JennyE/Takeover1/takeover11.html A Damn Fine Hostile Takeover Part 1] and [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/JennyE/Takeover2/takeover21.html Part 2] , had released Part 2's "Jenny Nowhere" character to the same open license as Jenny Everywhere. Originally intended as a sort of antagonist to Jenny Everywhere, Nelson says the Jenny Nowhere should open to just as much accessibility. [cite web| url=http://webcomicbeacon.com/2008/04/17/episode-20-jenny-everywhere/| title=The Webcomic Beacon Episode 20| author=Fesworks| publisher=webcomicbeacon.com| accessdate=2008-04-18]

tories and Continuity

Being that Jenny Everywhere, aka "The Shifter", is an open source character, with no "official" site or publication, it basically means that any story created for and around her, is technically fan fiction. It is up to the creators, of any story involving The Shifter, to decide if they want to link to the continuity of other peoples' work or not.

It is quite possible for people to use other stories as a background for their own. In the story by Alex Hernandez (writer), [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/SoullessMate/index.html Soulless Mate] , a prominent character is one of Jenny's boyfriends from the [http://www.johnmiers.com/library/valentine.swf My Bloody Valentine] story. In someone else's story, this connection may or may not have happened.

Independent Stories

Most of the stories for Jenny Everywhere exist strictly as webcomics. In 2003, Nelson Evergreen and Joe Macré had made a limited 50-unit self-publication of their stories, " [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/JennyE/NamesNotDown/namesnotdown1.html Names Not Down] " and " [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/JennyE/Takeover1/takeover11.html A Damn Fine Hostile Takeover] ". A list of all known, independent comic stories of The Shifter can be found below:

* [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/JennyE/NamesNotDown/namesnotdown1.html "Names Not Down"]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/JennyE/Takeover1/takeover11.html "Damn Fine Hostile Takeover" Part 1] [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/JennyE/Takeover2/takeover21.html Part 2]
* [http://www.zen20775.zen.co.uk/jenny/jenny.html "By the Book"]
* [http://www.zen20775.zen.co.uk/jenny/jenny2.html "Jenny Everywhere vs Hell"]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/FreakIssue/freakissuecover.html "The Freak Issue"]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~nelson_evergreen/SayTheWord/saytheword1.html "Say The Word"]
* [http://www.johnmiers.com/library/valentine.swf "My Bloody Valentine"]
* [http://www.johnmiers.com/library/bacterial.swf "Bacterial Lunarversity"]
* [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/SoullessMate/index.html "Soulless Mate"]
* [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/TheDeathOf/index.html "The Death of Jenny Everywhere"]
* [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/BeautyastheBeast/index.html "Beauty as a Beast"]
* [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/GraveyardShift/index.html "Graveyard Shift"]
* [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/HolidayPandimonium/index.html "Holiday Pandemonium"]
* [http://fesworks.com/JENNY "Jenny Everywhere and the Crossing Over Worlds"]
* [http://themortician.comicgenesis.com/extraeou09.html "The Nipped Nap"]
* [http://www.comicspace.com/bjccreations/comics.php?action=gallery&comic_id=7830 "Infinity Apartment"]
* [http://theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/WhenCastingCalls/2index.html "When Casting Calls"]
* [http://www.bjccreations.com/jenny/index.html "The Jenny Everywhere Chronicles"]
* [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/NewYorkChaos/index.html "New York Chaos"]
* [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/GetsAround/index.html "Jenny Everywhere Gets Around"]
* [http://theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/Narcissist/index.html "Narcissist"]
* [http://theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/MarchoftheMonerans/index.html "March of the Monerans"]

Cameo Appearances

The character of Jenny Everywhere has not been limited to independent stories. She has also appeared in a number of existing webcomics as cameos and crossovers. A list of all known such appearances are listed below:

* [http://dib-comics.com/index.php?nav=1&lang=en&nr=67#body "Dressed In Black Comics"]
* [http://loxieandzoot.comicgenesis.com/d/20040510.html "Loxie & Zoot"] (Mature Content: Contains Nudity)
* [http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?/ratboy/archives/jenny_everywhere_vs_the_drag_racing_monkeys_part_1/ "He Is Just a Rat"]
* [http://scandalsheet.comicgenesis.com/d/20060419.html "Scandal Sheet"]
* [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_Adventures_Of_Vindibudd_Superhero_In_Training/index.php?p=262975 "The Adventures of Vindibudd Superhero In Training"]
* [http://community.livejournal.com/samwisethecomic/2006/09/04/ "Samwise and Friends"]
* [http://worldsworstwebcomic.com/index.php?strip_id=163 "World's Worst Webcomic"]
* [http://www.betapwned.com/index.php?p=46 "BetaPwned"]
* [http://kaspall.xepher.net/archive/je1.html "Kaspall"]
* [http://www.darkredcomics.com/issues/1/025.php "Dark Red"]
* [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_Nineteenth_Century_Industrialist/index.php?p=226095 "The Nineteenth Century Industrialist"]
* [http://www.dangerousthings.net/archive/cw6.shtml "The Repository for Dangerous Things"]
* [http://www.drunkduck.com/Too_Many_Authors/index.php?p=266939 "Too Many Authors"]
* [http://eou.comicgenesis.com/d/20070919.html#Jenny "Evil Overlords United"]
* [http://fesandernst.com/00187a.htm "A Pessimistic Sense of Inadequacy"]
* [http://www.realityexperiment.com/examples/archive_page.php?comicID=142 "Reality Experiment"]
* [http://www.timeslikethis.com/comix/2008/04/08.html "Times Like This"]
* [http://www.theappleofdiscord.com/index.php?date=2008-04-18 "The Apple of Discord"]
* [http://www.jazzandjess.com/comic/59 "Jazz and Jess"]
* [http://www.drunkduck.com/Life_and_Death/index.php?p=396736 "Life and Death"]
* [http://easybreather.comicgenesis.com/d/20080425.html "The Easy Breather"] (Mature Content: Contains Nudity)
* [http://quadspace.comicgenesis.com/d/20080518.html "Quad Space"] (Mature Content: Contains Nudity)
* [http://maclpirata.com/20080819/macs-life-014-jenny-who/ "Mac's Life"]
* [http://awesomepedia.org/hour/index.php?view=1216504800 "Hourly Comic"]

ingle Strips

There have been several one-time, single strips as well that have appeared as entries to " [http://www.stripfight.org Strip Fight] " contests. "Strip Fight" is a website that host bi-monthly contests in which people are invited to create a single comic strip, based on a given theme. Jenny Everywhere has been the subject of two different "Strip Fight" contests. The first one was " [http://theshifterarchive.com/PROJECTS/Strip_Fight_5/ Strip Fight: Round 5] " in April 2004, and the second one was " [http://stripfight.org/week.php?id=136 Strip Fight: Round 136] " in October 2007. Jenny has even appeared as a presenter for the 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards, presenting the category for [http://ccawards.com/2008-fab14ceremony.html Outstanding Character Rendering] .

Written Stories

* [http://theshifterarchive.com/ARTICLES/WoodyEvans.htm "John Dee, Jenny Everywhere: Round One"] by Woody Evans
* [http://www.sizemore.co.uk/2004/07/paperback-writer-jenny-everywhere.html "Paperback Writer"] (Mature Content)
* [http://www.penciljack.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40568&perpage=10&pagenumber=1 "PencilJack Story Round #3: Jenny Everywhere"]
* [http://theshifterarchive.com/ARTICLES/TomMiller_Script1.htm "Untitled Jenny Everywhere Adventure"] by Tom Miller
* [http://theshifterarchive.com/ARTICLES/TomMiller_Script2.htm "Untitled Jenny Everywhere Origin Story"] by Tom Miller
* [http://ficlets.com/stories/29787 "A Trip to the Moon" ] An open source "ficlet".

Critical Acclaim

After several complete webcomics and the original launch of [http://www.jennyeverywhere.com www.jennyeverywhere.com] , The Shifter received much praise in niche online communities. Soon the character became recognized and praised in the September 2003 issue of the Canadian publication of "Exclaim!". In an article titled " [http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=51&csid2=20&fid1=2206 Jenny's Everywhere: A Hero For The People, No Strings Attached] ", writer Tony Walsh wrote:

"The pinstripe world of corporately-owned superheroes is about to get shattered by a time-bomb named The Shifter. This sassy superheroine was born in a colossal explosion of energy like many of her copyrighted cousins, but unlike Superman or the Hulk, she belongs wholly to the people." [cite web| url=http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=51&csid2=20&fid1=2206| title=Jenny's Everywhere: A Hero For The People, No Strings Attached| author=Tony Walsh| publisher=exclaim.ca| accessdate=2003-09-01] "

Soon after, "The New York Times" picked up on The Shifter, and an article was published in the September 14, 2003 issue. In an article titled " [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE2DF1E3BF937A2575AC0A9659C8B63 Ideas & Trends: The Sharing Society; In the Age of the Internet, Whatever Will Be Will Be Free] ", journalist Steve Lohr wrote:

"In [Canada] , a small group of artists and editors has set up a Web site for Jenny Everywhere, an increasingly popular open-source cartoon.... What all this means for the future of intellectual property, and some businesses, is as unpredictable as the open-source revolution itself...." [cite web| url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE2DF1E3BF937A2575AC0A9659C8B63| title=Ideas & Trends: The Sharing Society; In the Age of the Internet, Whatever Will Be Will Be Free| author=Steve Lohr| publisher=nytimes.com| accessdate=2003-09-14] "

External links

Information and Resources

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070408170025rn_1/www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=5491 Jenny's birthplace on the Barbelith.com community] .
* [http://theshifterarchive.com/STORIES/TheLateShift/index.html "The Late Shift"] , a comic introduction to "The Shifter".
* [http://www.jennyeverywhere.com/ The original Jenny Everywhere website]
** [http://web.archive.org/web/20070502111454/http://www.jennyeverywhere.com/ Archive.org's last backup of this site]
* [http://www.theshifterarchive.com/ The Shifter Archive Project] , a comprehensive archive of Jenny Everywhere appearances.
** [http://theshifterarchive.com/faqs.htm FAQs]
** [http://theshifterarchive.com/ART/ Character Design & Art Gallery]
* [http://www.gurpswiki.net/default.aspx/InfiniteWorldsWiki/JennyEverywhere.html "Infinite Worlds" GURPS Character Sheet]

Articles

* [http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid1=1821 Article in "Exclaim!" (Sept 2003)]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE2DF1E3BF937A2575AC0A9659C8B63 Article in the "New York Times" (Sept 14th, 2003)]

References