Janine Melnitz

Janine Melnitz is the no-nonsense receptionist and secretary for the Ghostbusters, handling the team's calls and day-to-day operations out of their firehouse headquarters. Though an ordinary human with no superhuman abilities, she occasionally straps on a proton pack to help the team in the field.

Few characters in licensed comics have shown the staying power of Janine Melnitz — debuting in 1986 at the dawn of the Copper Age and remaining a fixture of Ghostbusters comics publishing all the way into 2019, a remarkable 33-year run. A Marvel UK creation brought to life by Barry Petersen and Norm Dwyer, she's most at home in The Real Ghostbusters and Slimer!, the animated-universe titles that captured a generation of young readers. With 230 catalog appearances and even a key issue to her name, Janine is clearly far more than a supporting player — she's a cornerstone of this corner of comics history, sharing pages with icons like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in adventures that still hold a special place in collectors' hearts.