CALAMITY BEFORE JANE

Calamity Jane’s legend goes under the microscope.

At the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y., Calamity Jane recounts her exploits to a diverse crowd of spectators. The crowd audibly gasps as the former Pony Express rider—known to friends by her birth name, Martha—describes how she bested a desperado armed only with a meat cleaver. Buffalo Bill Cody, his Cowboy Band, and mighty warriors of the Lakota tribe all converge on the stage for a “rousing climactic performance.” On her break, Jane takes trespassing young waifs under her wing, offering them food from her tent alongside a more personal version of her life story. Ultimately, Jane leaves and goes west. Van Sciver’s successful graphic nonfiction formula sends another tall tale packing. An author’s note preempts the narrative with essential historical context on harmful stereotypes and caricatures of Lakota people. Backmatter from contemporary Indigenous scholar and professor Dr. Susana Geliga (Sicangu Lakota and Boriken Taino) expands this context even further to truly center Indigenous perspectives against the mythic “Wild American West.” Sepia tones and crosshatching call to mind classic Western comics; the color palette also effectively delineates flashbacks from the story’s present. Photographs add authenticity to the lore, while Jane’s unreliability as a narrator and figure is brought into question and deliciously muddies the truth.

Engaging and eye-opening.