PreTeena
PreTeena was a daily American comic strip created by Allison Barrows. It ran from April 23, 2001, to May 18, 2008, and was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. The strip follows Teena Keene, a 10-year-old girl, and her life with family, friends, and teachers. Although Teena is the main character, the focus sometimes shifts to others.
Teena is the cool, sensible voice among quirky characters like her odd best friend Shtick and her ditzy sister Jeri. She often uses sarcasm that others miss. Her red hair marks her as the seemingly sane one in a wild world.
Promotional materials said the strip appealed to tweens because it showed a pre-teen as the most sensible character. Barrows based the idea on an unused children's book concept and named the Keene family after Keene, New Hampshire.
The art style varied, with circular eyes in close-ups and dots from a distance.
The strip ended in May 2008 after a dream in which Teena and the others have grown up: Shtick is a fashion model; Jeri writes a popular book; Johnson runs a movie company and directs a film; Goose invents spy technology; and Teena, who dated Gordo in college, is married with two kids.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:49 (CET).