Monthly Archives: February 2012

Wish Upon a Star

Bunty, ,
  • Wish Upon a Star  –  Bunty:  #1770 (14 December 1991)  – #1777 (01 February 1992)
  • Reprinted – Bunty: #2177 (2 October 1999) – #2184 (20 November 1999)
  • Artist: Andy Tew

Plot/Thoughts

So what do you do if your best friend is potentially an alien? This is the problem Dawn faces when she becomes friends with her new neighbour, Stella Starr. Previous to becoming friends with Stella, Dawn is the only girl in her class that doesn’t have a best friend. She is friends with the other girls in the class but when it comes to partnering up for assignments she is left out on her own.  So she is feeling quite lonely and at night she sees a shooting star and she wishes she had a best friend. Conveniently the next day a family move in with a girl Dawn’s age.  Dawn is pleased to make friends at first though she notices  Stella has a weird sense of humour and things don’t seem to add up right with her family.

Stella doesn’t know about pop groups or soaps, when she says things that make Dawn suspicious, Stella pretends she is joking.  Mrs. Starr plants some flowers that grow overnight and are like nothing Dawn has been before. When Dawn and Stella are babysitting and the baby is sick, Dawn’s mother appears after “sensing” something was wrong. In class Stella makes up chemistry solutions that have never been heard of.

So Dawn keeps noticing these strange things about Stella and her family.  When she finds a piece of paper with Junsta written on it and Stella says that is where they lived before, she decides to research it. She discovers Junsta is the name of a planet so the Starrs must be aliens. Why would aliens need to keep a scrap of paper with their home planet name written on it, were thay afraid they’d forget?

So Dawn doesn’t freak out at this revelation, like its scary that alien exists they could be invading, or wow this is interesting aliens exist and cool I have super powered best friend. Instead her biggest worry seems to be she doesn’t want to be friends with an alien because she’s weird.

Seems ungrateful to me. She was upset about not having a best friend, then she gets one and just because she’s  possibly an alien she is going to drop her. Stella has been really nice to her and Dawn doesn’t seem to be afraid of Stella’s alien powers, more worried that other people will think she’s weird too. So she begins to avoid Stella. Stella finally confronts Dawn she explains all the strange instances and tells her Junsta was the name of their old house not town so Dawn is relieved to hear this.

So yes the big reveal Dawn was right all along! So the story is pretty lighthearted.  The art is simple, a bit cartoony at times and matches the tone of the story well. There isn’t any fear or tension that there might be aliens and they have hidden agendas to take over the world by blending in first. Instead its more of a girl suspecting her friend is an alien because she’s odd. I think it would have been more of a twist if it turned out she was just an odd girl. It’s not the most adventurous storyline, and it doesn’t live up to older more bizzare alien stories. I wouldn’t consider it to  be a top classic strip or very memorable,  but  it is still nice to see that aliens still pop up in issues from the 90s.

I also wonder if the alien, Stella Starr,  is a variation on the older Mandy character of the same name. It may be just a nod of recognition or maybe its the common name for aliens, the Starr being obvious reference to being from the stars.

Book Review: The History of Girls’ Comics-Susan Brewer

Miscellaneous

In the past Girls Comics has been a neglected subject in the comic world. There are many websites, blogs, books, articles dedicated to US comics and even to boy UK comics. In the last few years though, there has been more recognition for girls comics. Hopefully this will become a continuing trend. I was quite pleased when I found this book “The History of Girls’ Comics” I thought it was great to have a book fill the gap of information on this subject. While I did enjoy reading it, I  did find it didn’t exactly deliver  what it promised to be.

It is a nice read and there are a lot of positive things to this book, but it has it flaws too. First the title, it  says “a history” of girls comics, rather than a historical view of these comics it is written in a more nostalgic framework. There is nothing wrong with being anecdotal and nostalgic, but makes the history part of the title a bit misleading. Although Brewer does touch on the historical context a little, again the tone is more casual, not very analytical. This is not necessarily a bad thing depending on what you are looking for from the book.

Its not a large book only just over 200 pages, but there is a lot of subjects covered even if some is a bit more briefly than I would of liked. Some other problems I had  was some of the repetitiveness, for example in one chapter; using the example of Bunty as a first issue, there is a detailed description of the first cover. When talking about the Bunty comic a page later there is yet another long description of the cover page. Then there are some mistakes that should have been caught by editors,  like in one part  Bunty is said to have been released on Wednesdays, though previously the correct day Tuesdays had been mentioned. These are small issues but can be a bit annoying.

What the book actually covers is quite a lot, although it can be a bit limited at times, I know there is a large amount of comics out there, so Brewer can’t go into great detail with every one.  Some comics just get a paragraph whereas others like Bunty get page and a half,  so maybe would have liked some more details, on the less known comics. While I am most familiar with golden and silver age comics, Brewer also has chapters dedicated to comics for tots and early comics and teen magazines and I did learn interesting things about these comics/magazines that  I did not know.  There is also a chapter dedicated to Brewer’s personal talk of favourite characters which was a nice addition, yes some of my favourite characters weren’t mentioned but it was nice to see a bit more detail on characters. The chapters on comics; the descriptions break down into general what to expect from the book looking at early and later issues.  I found the book only touches on things it could have been bigger, more detailed (i.e. dates, artists) and analytical. But for what it is it is a nice and informative read. So that covers the first half of the book, which was the part I was most interested in.

The second half of the book covers features such as the clubs, freebies, problem pages, newspaper strips, toys and annual tie ins.  It ends on a chapter about going about collecting comics. These were an enjoyable addition to the book, but one chapter I thought didn’t need to be included was the part works chapter, and its appendix at the back. I wouldn’t have considered them as girls comics, and it seemed strange to have a whole chapter dedicated to them, but maybe that’s just me. I just thought that chapter could have been used to talk about other things, like the publishing companies or creators or even just expanding on the previous chapters.

While I was slightly disappointed that some of my expectations of the book weren’t met, it is still a good book for anyone interested in the subject to look through. The nostalgic tone is nice and easy to read. The book does actually cover a lot even if it what it covers is a bit brief in some cases.  Overall for what it is, its a nice read, if you want to have a nostalgic look at these comics, you may find new information and there is enough detail to keep you interested as long as you aren’t looking for a complete critical analysis of the subject. It’s a good read and I’d recommend it to any comic lovers.

 

Margie’s Magic Book / That Girl’s Me!

Judy, Mandy, ,
  • Margie’s Magic Book – Judy PSL: #246 [1983]
  • Reprinted as That Girl’s Me!–Mandy PSL: #267 [1997]
  • Art: John McNamara

Plot/ Thoughts

This is one of these stories where the protagonist has to deal with her magical double. This was originally printed in 1983, then in 1997 it was reprinted with a name change. I think the second title suits the story better. Margie’s Magic Book implies Margie doing spells when in reality she uses it once, then her other self hides it so she spends most of the story looking for it to reverse the spell.  So I wouldn’t really call it her book. “That Girl’s Me!” seems to sum up what the story’s about more accurately.

The protagonist, Margie is a nice girl, though not the most outspoken or highest of school achievers. For a school project about local superstitions and legends, she researches a legend of Old Mother Wily a witch and goes to the ruins of her cottage. There she finds the magic book which releases her other self.

Her  double describes herself as the Hyde to her Jekyll, the part of her that dares to do what Margie won’t. Of course the whole Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story didn’t end too well for the Jekyll. These Jekyll and Hyde type stories that were common in these comics, and often did not end well for the good protagonist. In one Judy story “The Image of Iris” Iris’s double Siri ends up trapping Iris and taking her place permanently.

But Back to Margie and her double. Her double starts taking Margie’s place and making trouble. Usually Margie showing up just in time to receive the trouble.  The Double excels at table tennis and annoys the previous champion and insults her as well.  The Double also excels in schoolwork but she also insults teachers. When Margie turns up at school it’s her that has to face the gang of girls that the Double has  annoyed but her double helps out with a bit of magic, and sets a dog on them.

Margie knowing that her double is using the magic book to learn spells, follows her double to find where she has hidden it. Later while her double takes her place in a race, Margie takes the book and hides it in a new place.

Later she goes back for it but her double appears, she asks Margie to trust her and she’ll fix everything.

Honestly she doesn’t look trustworthy, she looks more creepy and evil but Margie figures she can’t defeat her so she gives in. The Double does a spell from the book and she disappears. Margie feels happier and more confident. Turns out they have merged. She finds herself excelling in running and table tennis, though her academics slip a bit which she figures is her old self slipping out. Overall she’s happy herself and her double make a good team.

So things work out for Margie, but throughout the story there is a bit of suspense on how things will work out. At times the double does try to help Margie, but at the same time the artwork can depict the Double in much more creepy and evil light, that we can’t be sure of her motivations.