.Jill Trent, Science Sleuth was a Golden Age comic book feature that appeared in Nedor Comics The Fighting Yank and Wonder Comics between 1943 and 1948. Jill was a scientist and inventor who (alongside her very close gal pal Daisy Smythe) solved mysteries with a combination of scientific knowhow and old-fashioned fisticuffs.
While quite obscure today, Jill Trent, Science Sleuth is interesting for its positive depiction of an independent action heroine who was never dependent on her boyfriend to get her out of a jam. Indeed, she didn't even seem to have a boyfriend, which itself was quite unusual for comic book heroines of the day. And while Jill typically used her science skills to solve the mystery, stories were generally resolved by Jill and Daisy punching out the bad guys, just like their male counterparts would.
The Jill Trent stories are now in the public domain. Scans of several stories are available on the Internet from sites such as the Nedor-a-Day Blog and Golden Age Comics.
Jill Trent She Sir Science Sleuth is a Remix Comic parody of the original, in which Jill was formerly a slow-witted janitor named Jim, before exposure to Femavium turned him into a girl who has "girl-brain cells with the proportional density of 58 girls" that allow her to Do Science at an amazingly high level.
In 2015 thanks to Jill Trent being in the public domain a new #1 was published with 5 different takes on Jill and Daisy. it can be bought either physically or digitally at http://www.superdamescomics.com/
In November 2023, Jill and Daisy were made playable characters in the board game Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze.
The original Jill Trent comic book feature provides examples of:
- Badass Bookworm: Jill is both a top-notch science sleuth and quite competent with guns and fists.
- Girly Bruiser: Jill is thin and attractive, wears skirts, hats, and heels like other stylish '40s gals... and punches out bad guys with ease. Daisy usually qualifies too, though her appearance and personality are somewhat inconsistent.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Jill and Daisy. They're single women living together, which wasn't unusual for the time, but neither of them had an obvious boyfriend, or even the mention of one, which was highly unusual for female protagonists in the Golden Age.
