Crazy Jane

Crazy Jane
Crazy Jane as depicted on the cover of Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #63 (January 1993)
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #19 (February 1989)
Created by	Grant Morrison (writer) Richard Case (artist)
In-story information
Full name	Kay Challis (legal name)
Species	Metahuman
Team affiliations	Doom Patrol
Notable aliases	Various, see Alters
Abilities	Various, see Alters

Crazy Jane is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Richard Case, the character first appeared in Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #19 (February 1989), which was published by the DC imprint Vertigo Comics. She suffers from dissociative identity disorder as a result of childhood trauma, and each one of her 64 alternate personalities, or "alters", has a unique superhuman ability. According to the afterword in the first trade paperback collection of Morrison's run on Doom Patrol, she was based on Truddi Chase's autobiography, When Rabbit Howls, which Morrison had been reading while creating the series. ^[1]

Jane is portrayed by Diane Guerrero in the TV series Doom Patrol on Max along with Skye Roberts portraying Kay Challis. ^[2]

Fictional character biography

Jane Morris is the current dominant alter, or host, of Kay Challis's system (used to refer to every alter someone has as a collective). Kay Challis, as a result of repeated childhood trauma, developed dissociative identity disorder. Later in life, while being exposed to the alien Dominators' "gene bomb", each of her dissociative parts, or alters (which is numbered at 64), has a different super-power. ^[3]

Beginning at only five years old, Kay Challis is continuously abused by her father. The first time this happens, she is putting a jigsaw puzzle together; this becomes an important symbol in her future. As the abuse continues, Kay withdraws and goes dormant, retreating to the unconscious brain. Her role as host is then taken over by an alter with the name "Miranda". One Easter Sunday while at church, Miranda is raped, which triggers several flashbacks to her former abuse. This causes the dormancy of Miranda and a massive amount of alters to be split off. She is committed to a mental institution soon after. During that time, an alien species called Dominators invade Earth and activate a device which they call their "gene bomb". When the gene bomb goes off, Jane and all of her alters are affected; each alter gains a different power (e.g., Black Annis has retractable claws, Flit can teleport, etc.). ^[4]

The superhero Cliff Steele, or Robotman, suffered several losses due to this bomb. Killing many of his Doom Patrol teammates, he was struggling emotionally. While staying in the same institution as Jane, Dr. Will Magnus, creator of the group "the Metal Men", asks Cliff to look after her, which leads to Jane becoming a member of the Doom Patrol.

Near the end of the Grant Morrison run of Doom Patrol, Jane makes a pilgrimage back to her childhood home, facing her own traumas and overcoming them. This brings peace to her inner turmoil, causing her and her alters to come to an understanding and live in co-operation.

Upon returning to the Doom Patrol, Jane is attacked by the Candlemaker and thrown into another dimension, which is similar to the real world, where she is diagnosed with schizophrenia and treated with shock therapy. Cliff eventually rescues Jane from the other dimension and they relocate to Danny the World, formerly Danny the Street. ^[3] In Rachel Pollack's run, it is revealed that Jane's alters still exist, which causes many arguments between the two. Cliff decides to leave her with Danny and returns to Earth.

Jane makes a cameo appearance in Teen Titans (vol. 3) #36, where she is seen on Danny the World through a portal in Dayton Manor in Prague. She returns in Doom Patrol (vol. 5) #7, written by Keith Giffen, on Oolong Island, asking for Cliff and carrying with her the remains of Danny the Street. Danny has now been reduced to a single brick, making them Danny the Brick. Jane says "If you build it, he will come", although she does not explain further. ^[5]

Jane then travels around the universe along with Danny the Brick. A man named "D" then uses Danny the Brick to kill a god and causes another alter to split, or "break off". This alter starts a cult and plans to spread Crazy Jane's alters among the 63 cult members and then kill the cultists. She is stopped by the Doom Patrol, who then return Jane to the front, in order to be the host. ^[6]

Jane now accepts her mental illness, no longer seeking to cure it but to cope with it and healthily coexist with her alters. Robotman also helps and accepts her disorder. ^[6]

Alters

Crazy Jane's alters are organized in a mental subway grid called "the Underground," their headspace. Each alter has their own "station," which appears to serve as home when they are not in control. In the lower section of the Underground is a well where the alters can go to destroy themselves. This is where Miranda was "killed." This well houses Daddy, an alter who resembles their father, in the deepest, most protected part of the Underground. The alters consist of:

• Astronaut: This persona was made after Kay listen to the radio in her room about the first man to set foot on the moon. She can also ignore the laws of gravity, being able to scale vertical surfaces or jump on an anti-gravity scale.
• Baby Doll: A telekinetic (rarely-seen ability) childlike alter that believes everything is lovely. It is said to be one of the few in the system that trust men.
• Baby Harlot: An integration of Baby Doll and Scarlet Harlot. Meaning that she has the powers of Ecto-Telekinesis, which is the ability to move or levitate with ectoplasmic matter.
• Bizzie Lizzie Borden: Just like the historical murder, Bizzie has 360 degree senses allowing her to taste,feel/touch,smell, hear,see, etc all at the same time.
• Black Annis : An aggressive alter equipped with sharp claws, red eyes, and blue skin. In the TV series, she stood guard over the station that held Daddy. Also misandrist, one who hates men, so she never lets any men pass her.
• Blood of the Lamb: No given information. In this form, her body is covered head to toe in blood coming from unknown (or nonexistent) wounds.This blood has acidic poison which is pressurize within her body so that it spurts out when the skin is pierced.
• Bubble: Not much is known about her but her name is visible on the Underground map next to Rain Brain and Lucy Fugue. She has the ability to generate and create force-fields to help her allies in battle.
• Butterfly Baby: Constantly suffers pain on a Hellraiser-like level in the deepest part of the mind.With all this pain she can become a "living voodoo doll",which can constantly hurt other people by pain,explosion, torture, stabbing or shooting herself with a pistol bullet.
• Crazy Jane: The dominant alter or "host". No apparent powers. Her name is derived from that of a character in several poems by William Butler Yeats, as well as the eponymous painting by Richard Dadd. ^[7]
• Daddy: An introject of Jane's father as a giant monster made of insects, excrement, and puzzle pieces. Daddy talks with Jane's voice. It was destroyed. Resided in a mental representation of the Well where Kay was sexually assaulted by him. Has the power to shapeshift.
• Daisy: This persona has no face with the power to instantly kill anyone who looks at her.
• Dr. Harrison: White streak of hair and blue eyes. Able to telepathically suss out the childhood traumas of others. Power to influence anyone who hears her voice. Described by Mr. Nobody as "insane". In the Underground, she's portrayed as a middle-age woman in a business suit.
• Driller Bill: A dark-skinned woman in a worker's jumpsuit. Arguably as aggressive as Hammerhead, yet also fond of Baby Doll and her antics.Just like her name she has the ability to generate drills to make new tunnels for the Underground and pay the bills for these drilling actions.
• Driver 8: Conductor of the Underground subway, named after the R.E.M. song. The Driver's hat has an infinity symbol (a sideways "8") on it.
• Empty Emily : A red-headed school girl who has the power to erase anything in existence.
• Flaming Katy: One of the "protector" alters, protecting Jane whenever she feels threatened. Very antisocial, someone who does not like to be interrogated. She is a pyrokinetic and can fly. Also usually emerges at Baby Doll's request.
• Flit: She can teleport anywhere. Dresses in late '80s fashion.
• Gladiator : Just like Hammerhead an aggressive persona where she has the power of enhanced instincts,not only for predation or prey, but also for battle,sexual killing, parental and social. She can also sense someone approaching, or detect danger somewhere outside her field vision.
• Glow :She has a bioluminescent energy body, which can generate large charges of light through her body, she can shape, generate, create or manipulate light, depending on her potential.
• Granny Good :When Kay was little her grandmother had passed away due to her heart problems.She can hypnosis anyone who look into her eyes.
• Grimm Reaper : Just like the Grim Reaper she has the power to control the dead and anything that is close to death.
• Hammerhead: Another protector like Flaming Katy. She is very aggressive towards everyone and possesses super-strength. In the Underground, she is bald and wears a leather jacket.
• Jack Straw: A living but mute scarecrow.Jack is able to erase the memories of others, which ranges from certain memories or erase a person's entire memory/personality. But it only works if they are in close contact.
• Jeann:Jeann can fire off lasers from her eyes, which can cause damage on their intended targets. Her station could be seen as Cliff was falling into Jane's mind. ^[8]
• Jill-in-Irons: She is wrapped in large chains. A reference to Jack-In-Irons.She can create/summon chains and chain-like weapons, including flails, shaping and combining them as needed, or moving them with telekinesis.
• Karen: A perky but unstable alter with the power to cast "love spells". She loves '90's rom-coms and her boyfriend, Doug. She comes out when Jane is severely depressed.
• K-5: The original host, Kay Challis, who vanished at age 5. She is "sleeping", or otherwise known as "dormant", in one of the lower stations of the Underground.
• Kit W'the Canstick: An old woman who carries a burned-out candle.This candle has the ability to make wishes, whether her own or those of others individual,come true.
• Lady Purple: She can see the future but rarely speaks.
• Liza Radley: A stable, more "normal" appearing alter, awakened as a result of a loving environment, who pushes Jane to recovery. Liza is able to release love pollen through her mouth which cause people to be loving and kind to each other.With all this power the other alters are unsure of how to react to Liza and feel threatened by her. She is named after a song by The Jam, the B-side of their single "Start!".
• Lucy Fugue: She has radioactive bones and see-through skin. She can also generate harmonic vibrations, a power she used to defeat the Antigod. In the live-action series, this alter has electrical powers. In the Underground, this alter is portrayed as an Asian woman with electric-blue streaks in her black beehive hairdo.
• Mama Pentecost: An expert enigma and cryptogram solver who can also translate any language.
• Merry Andrew: Dresses as a Harlequin and carries toys. She can secrete pheromones, that makes others burst into pure laughter, where she can increase or decrease the power, making people lay on the ground helpless with uncontrollable laughter.
• Miranda: The former host who took over after Kay went dormant, she destroys herself after the church incident. Her "station" is now occupied by some indescribable horror, visible from a distance only as a weird light, which only Driver 8 can see without being destroyed by the vision (she covers Cliff's eyes as they pass through this area, in comic canon). Per the TV show's canon, Miranda's station is populated by noose-hung bodies and tortured souls. She miraculously returned after the Candlemaker killed Katy and Baby Doll in the Underground, and took over as primary to better ensue Kay's needs. This is later revealed to be the manifestation of depression in disguise as the real Miranda was still deceased, and her mission is to lead all personas to desperation and feeling of hopelessness, with her true goal being suicide by hanging. She is defeated by Jane who, with the help of Kay and the other personas still remaining, goes up in a plane (the first way to go up before the construction of the Underground) and take control again in the exact moment Cliff stop Jane from hanging herself (in the first episode of season 3).
• Mr. Butcher: This butcher can create,shape and manipulate meat with his manic psychopath with serious anger issues.
• Normal Nancy: She has the power to enhance her body mass, just like Rita Farr and she use this ability against Mr. Nobody (comics).
• No One: An aggressive persona, she was able to sense the Fifth Horseman and the Painting before it was activated.Like the name No One can turn Invisible, making her unseen by everyone or choose to let certain people see her, while staying invisible to others.
• Penny Farthing: She speaks with a stutter when on the surface, but speaks without one in the Underground.Penny can run much faster than a normal human, by going at least over 40-120 MPH making her easily escape from pending danger. A penny farthing is the English name for the early bicycles that had different-sized wheels. In the Underground, this alter is portrayed as young British woman dressed in 19th century working-class English clothes.
• Pepper's Ghost: She can create illusions, causing targets to see,hear, touch, smell or taste things differently from what they truly are.
• Pretty Polly: Named after the folksong, she wears a black Victorian dress and has X's carved into her eyes.Like her story she can become intangible making her move through solid objects and she can float in the air making her preventable from touching the ground.
• Rain Brain: She speaks in a stream of consciousness and can take on an abstract immaterial form.
• Rockstar:A British metalhead woman who looks the same as the band Kiss (band), with her electronic guitar she can channel vertical waves of winds which cause mass destruction to the users environment.
• Rowdy Ronda: A red headed woman with a beauty mark in a red dress who has the power of a fatal kiss. With her irresistible beauty, she can attract someone to a kiss that can lead to bankruptcy, be it an acidic, burning, petrifying kiss, frozen, etc.
• Scarlet Harlot: A nymphomaniac with the power to create ectoplasm projections and absorb stray psychosexual energy.
• Sex Bomb: She explodes when sexually aroused.
• Shy: A cyclops woman who has visual memory reading power to look into your mind and read your memory. She always hid her face in her hands because of her scary looks.
• Siggy: Just like Babydoll he thinks everything is wonderful and he can create,shape and manipulate flowers, they can cause flowers and part of the flowers, including petals,stems and pollen to grow and bloom.
• Silver Tongue: Her vocalizations are actualized in silver font, and can then be used as edged weapons.
• Spinning Jenny: Prone to panic attacks. Her panic attacks can cause sonic screams which make her targets ears bleed.
• Stigmata: She bleeds from her hands and feet and relives the church incident endlessly.Stigmata can see or sense entities, such as spirits/ghosts that are normally invisible to humans.
• Sun Daddy: A gigantic figure with a sun for a head with the power to throw fireballs.
• Sylvia: She bears Jane's feelings of claustrophobia. She is locked inside of a small room, reciting poem fragments. She believes if she can put the fragments together she can use them as a key out of the room. Speak in poetic dark rhythm with a spooky voice when surfaced.
• Tag: He knows the answer to an question or problem he faces and formulates how to overcome any obstacle. Since, he has no mouth he can use his telepathic voice to make people believe what he is saying and giving them information or threatening.
• Teacher's Pet:Just like The Secretary she has high level intellects and has the power to drain emotions while removing it from the source, into their body and use it in various ways, being anger, love, joy, sadness, anxiety, fear, etc.
• Tina The T-Rex:She has a different personality than the others, she has the physiology of the oldest and most dangerous dinosaur, which isTyrannosaurus,she has the same abilities as the dinosaur, strength, durability, resistance, dermal armor,etc.
• The Balladeer: After the apparent deaths of Baby Doll and Flaming Katy, she becomes a mourner to sing the ballad and led a funeral procession to the well. Her station is located in the deepest parts of the Underground that none of the other alters have ever interacted, met, and seen her before the funeral procession.
• The Chief : The mysterious new alter who led the Unstoppable Doom Patrol, taking after and replacing Niles Caulder.
• The Engineer: He assists Driver 8 in maintaining the Underground.The Engineer is a master in engineering with his knowledge of science and creativity to create various objects, structures, and machines or to make projects functional.
• The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter: An artist with the power to psychically activate her paintings; whose name is taken from the title of an album by the Incredible String Band. She has a Frida Kahlo-esque unibrow. In the Underground, she was dressed like Frida Kahlo.
• The Nun: A Catholic nun with both of her arms, replaced with chainsaws.
• The Orphan:This young blonde boy has the ability to alter or transform matter,energy, elements, objects, being (animals,aliens, mythical beings, etc).
• The Pointman: He assists Driver 8 in maintaining the Underground.The Pointman has improved abilities to repair maintenance or objects, whatever the problem he can fix it faster than a normal human being.
• The Secretary: A neat and orderly pessimist who rarely shows emotion. Her job is to do tasks like (such as filling,sorting, fixing, building and assemble, cleaning, etc) much faster than what others are capable of doing.
• The Shapeless Children: Constantly repeats "Daddy don' do it". She is made to constantly relive the trauma of Kay in the deepest part of the Underground.The Shapeless Childern can change their shape,size, color, density, voice, texture and cellular composition if they choose to.
• The Signal-Man: Another railroad-themed alter that helps maintain the Underground order. He can disconnect himself and others from reality.
• The Sin-Eater: She believes she must suffer for her sins. Jane brings her out as a defense when being tortured.
• The-Skeleton-in-the-Closet:A naked lesbian skeleton, with bones glowing from radiation. Skeleton can release her radiation over a specific target area,causing great damage and/or delivering great shockwaves of pure force.
• The Snow Queen: She has the power to create and shape ice.
• The Wall Crawler: Able to scale walls and ceilings,no matter how rough or smooth they are. She has only been seen in one of the videotapes of Dr. Caulder's interviews.
• The Weird Sisters: A three-in-one alter similar to Three Witches. Shown as a Three-Headed Lady.
• 666: This scary persona has the power to possess and control there enemies at will. When surfaced, she has 666 tattoo on her arm.

In other media

• Kay Challis / Jane appears in Doom Patrol , portrayed by Diane Guerrero (who also portrays Driver 8, Karen, and whichever alter is taking front at any given point), ^[9] Skye Roberts as a child, and Leela Owen as a teenager. In the Underground, "Black Annis" is performed by Helen Abell, Hammerhead is portrayed by Stephanie Czajkowski, Lucy Fugue is portrayed by Tara Lee, Penny Farthing is portrayed by Anna Lore, Pretty Polly is portrayed by Hannah Alline, Silver Tongue is portrayed by Chelsea Alana Rivera, the Secretary is portrayed by Jackie Goldston, Driller Bill is portrayed by Shay Mack, Baby Doll is portrayed by Sara Borne, the Weird Sisters are voiced and motion-captured by Monica Louwerens, Daddy is portrayed by David A. MacDonald, Balladeer is portrayed by Ana Aguilar, Miranda is portrayed by Samantha Marie Ware, and Mama Pentecost is portrayed by Va Liu. This version of Jane is the "designated driver" alter out of the 64 other alters, who prefer if she stays in control while they keep to themselves. In the second season, Daddy impersonates Miranda in a failed attempt to gain control of the body. In the third season, Jane looks over Kay when her body starts to mature. In the fourth season, the alters integrate to become Kaleidoscope, help the Doom Patrol defeat Immortus, leave for outer space, and enter a relationship with Space Case.
  • Jane makes a cameo appearance in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" via archive footage of a deleted scene from the first season. ^[10]

See also

• Legion, a Marvel Comics character with superpowers and dissociative identity disorder.
• Stephanie Maas / Critical Mass, a character from the comic book series Rising Stars with superpowers and two "personalities".
• Moon Knight, another Marvel Comics character with supernatural superpowers and dissociative identity disorder, among other mental illnesses, who operates as a vigilante.
• Typhoid Mary, another Marvel Comics character with dissociative identity disorder, who operates as a supervillain / antihero.
• Kevin Wendell Crumb, of the 2016 film, Split , who possesses 23 "personalities" and powers.
• Two-Face (Harvey Dent), a DC Comics character with dissociative identity disorder.

References

1. Wolk, Douglas (August 21, 2014). "Review: 'Doom Patrol Omnibus' shows Grant Morrison's master plan". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved January 22, 2023.
2. Holub, Christian (April 11, 2019). "'Doom Patrol' star Diane Guerrero on what it's like playing a character with 64 personalities". EW.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
3. Irvine, Alex (2008), "Doom Patrol", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The Vertigo Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 61–63, ISBN   978-0-7566-4122-1, OCLC   213309015
4. "Crazy Jane- DC Universe".
5. Doom Patrol (vol. 5) #8. DC Comics.
6. Doom Patrol (vol. 5) #6. DC Comics.
7. Morrison run issue #30 page 13
8. Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #30. DC Comics.
9. Otterson, Joe (July 30, 2018). "Orange Is the New Black Star Diane Guerrero Joins Doom Patrol Series at DC Universe". Variety . Retrieved July 30, 2018.
10. Martin, Michileen (January 15, 2020). "Every Crisis on Infinite Earths cameo ranked". Looper. Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.

External links

• Richard Dadd painting Archived August 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine