Monthly Archives: September 2012

First & Last: Judy Annuals

Judy

While I talked about the differences of the first Judy annual to later annuals a little bit before, I thought I’d do an additional post to expand on it.

There was 32 Judy annuals in total from 1962 to 1993. Which isn’t as long a run as Bunty or Mandy but still pretty good. Obviously it went through some changes over the years, both in its physical format as well as focus of the stories. Firstly like a lot of  annuals of its time the 1962 annual had a glossy dust jacket, over the hard cover. There was also a different picture inside the dust jacket; it was of the Judy character.  It is black and white picture so while not as eye catching as the colourful dust jacket, I think it does look quite appealing and classic.

By the time the 1993 annual was published it was just a glossy hard cover, no dust jacket. Interestingly Judy annuals rarely had the Judy character on the annuals covers (unlike say Bunty which had Bunty on the cover up until 1988, then it was switched to cover girls for the remaining run.). Unusually, there was a variety of covers for Judy, there didn’t seem to be one long running theme. It used cover girls early on (ballerinas were popular choice for a few annuals) , but it also still used hand drawn pictures that were unrelated to any Judy characters, or anything inside the annual.  The blonde Judy appeared on the cover of the 1964 and 1965 annual. While the brunette Judy  appeared on the 1988 annual and the last two annuals.

   

Paper quality also improved over time, particularly use of photos were more clearer and brighter in later annuals. The last Judy annual actually used less photos than the first annual. There had been some photo stories in previous annuals but there was none in the last annual, its only photo use was for the ‘Halloween Treats’ feature. Also the first annual used more colour than the last annual. In general the colours in the 1993 annual seem to be more subtle and there is less use of the  bright  bold colours used in the 1962 annual. The 1993 annual used a lot of the two tone colours, which was common at the time (i.e blue/black/white etc.). I presume this method was used to cut down on inking cost, but this wasn’t a bad thing as often it looked just as pretty and more detailed than full colour strips.

 

As for the contents itself, there was a lot more picture stories in the 1993 annual (21 versus the 8 in the 1962 annual). The picture stories in the 1962 annual also seemed more wordy with a tendency to describe what’s happening. The 1993 stories had more focus on romance with at least 9 of the main plots revolving around a boy. The 1962 annual had the more action like character; in Joan All Alone, but other than those two points the essence of the stories didn’t change too drastically.  There is still a good mix of funny stories and drama stories.  Marta’s Market Stall, has a similar character to Backstage Betty, Junior Nanny is quite like Big Sister. Despite more of a focus on romance, the morals and strong characters were still present in 1993.

The other big differences were there were more text stories in 1962 and also a lot more features. Though right through the 80s, Judy still was very feature heavy. There was a lot of make and do and factual articles.  The last annual on the other hand  is quite sparse. The features it does have focus on Make and Do projects, humour and a Best Friends Quiz. The 1962 annual while having some humour and quizzes it seems its focus was on informing the readers of a variety of subjects from the stars to local birds, its a pity this focus on interesting facts and role models wasn’t present in the later annuals.

Mostly I’ve covered these points in the posts about the two annuals but I will reiterate that Judy had a good run, it was probably lucky it finished when it did before its quality declined too much. The 1962 annual feels more fresher, with a wide variety of things to read, the 1993 annual suffered a bit from having a lot of similar themed picture stories. Still the 1993 stories were still decent and like I said the 1962 stories actually still hold up well with solid characters. Both annuals are still interesting reads.

 

The Secrets of Charlie Chatterbox

Bunty, , ,
  • The Secrets of Charlie Chatterbox – Bunty: #1603 (1 Oct 1988) – #1615 (24 Dec 1988)
  • Artist:  Norman Lee

Plot

Fiona Parker is given an old ventriloquist dummy named Charlie. Only Charlie can really talk and he convinces Fiona to start performing with him. Money is tight for her and her mother, who is a widow. Mrs. Parker is working all hours to provide for them, so Fiona sees this as an opportunity to help out. Things don’t run smoothly for Fiona when Charlie  causes problems by insulting people. Also she is worried as he seems to have an agenda of his own.

They make an enemy of a wealthy influential woman, Mrs. Grant, when Charlie insults her. When Mrs. Grant tries to get her own back, Charlie  soon puts her in her place as he knows some of her family secrets. Charlie is eager to tour about the old theatres, and when Fiona catches the eye of agent Ted Alcorn, they get their opportunity to tour.  Fiona starts to suspect Charlie is up to something when she finds him rooting around Alcorn’s office.

He also scares Fiona at times, and he comes across as threatening. She is particularly cautious after an old stage hand, Bob,  appears to have been attacked and Charlie has blood on his sleeve. Fiona gains some advantage with Charlie as she realises he needs her to carry him around. Then they get an opportunity to appear on TV, while on TV he sings his special song and it appears to have affect on another doll Daisy-Belle, who is owned by two old ladies. Meanwhile Mike Harris, a reporter, is investigating Charlie, after a magician  Solesto who tried to steal Charlie, and who claimed Charlie could talk. Harris follows Charlie, but Charlie gets the better of him locks him in a shed. He goes for Daisy Belle who is delighted to see him. He wants Fiona to perform with both of them. Instead Fiona decides to retire and gives Charlie to the old ladies. Mrs. Parker has put away enough money to open up a shop, so money won’t be a problem any more. Mike not being able to report on the talking dummy, writes a “fictional” novel about Charlie, which gets turned into a film. He shares the profits with Fiona and also ends up marrying her mother.

Thoughts

This is a story that can go in the classic list. It is mysterious and creepy, with good characters and nice atmospheric art. The story was published around the same time as horror film Child’s Play came out. The film has Charles “Chucky” Lee Ray a serial killer possess a doll. So while there is no serial killer aspects to this story there does seem to be a few similarities. But The Secret of Charlie Chatterbox is actually the scarier of the two and definitely the better story.

There is a slow build up to what it is Charlie is after, you also don’t know what he is capable of doing to get what he wants and Fiona definitely doesn’t know whether to trust him. He is quite nasty to Fiona at times, calling her stupid and threatening/blackmailing her. The readers do see some sort of a redemptive side to him when the old stage hand sees Charlie walking around, he has a heart attack and Charlie tries to help him. Charlie calls an ambulance, but he does let Fiona believe it was him that attacked him to keep her doing what he wants.

He makes trouble for Fiona with other people on the theatre tour, being rude to them. Charlie also keeps Fiona going along with things by making her feel guilty about her mother working all the time. When Fiona gives out to him about his rudeness, he makes things difficult by not speaking on stage. In the end though he has a rough manner, his objective is to find his love Daisy Belle.  He would not really go through with any threats.

The story is developed well. There is a nice progression in the story. Even hints of what Charlie is after, such as when he gets upset when Fiona says she doesn’t care who he used to sing his song to. The character of  Mrs Grant and her daughter could have been the typical snobs and antagonists throughout the whole thing, instead she is quickly dealt with and the plot moves on focusing more on Charlie. Mrs. Grant after being insulted, fires Mrs. Parker so you are glad to see her get her comeuppance when Charlie reveals her family secrets on stage. But it also shows Charlie’s nasty streak and that he obviously has a lot of knowledge and history.

The dynamic between Charlie and Fiona is well done. Fiona is doing the gig to help her mother and sometimes Charlie scares her. But at the same time she isn’t afraid to argue with him and point out his rudeness. She also gets the better of him at times like when he won’t speak she starts singing his song to get a reaction out of him. Charlie can be scary particularly in the early issues. But he also is very set on achieving his goal. So rather than any real maliciousness on his part, he is just trying to reunite with his love, which sometimes makes him oblivious to others around him. Its interesting to see how Fiona and Charlie interact together.

While Fiona and Charlie have the main dynamic, side characters do get a bit of time too. Mike is an ambitious reporter, knowing he could have a great story on his hand, but he is also a nice guy he is actually concerned about ruining Fiona’s career if he tells Charlie’s story.  Eddie and Liz are acting as chaporones to Fiona, they seem to mostly be there to get the brunt of Charlie’s rudeness, but they do try to help Fiona out.

How Charlie and Daisy Belle could talk in the first place is never explained. They touch on it in the last issue but it is a  bit of a cop out as they say we’ll never know!

 

But on the other hand the focus of the story is more concerned with Charlie finding Daisy Belle and his relationship with Fiona. So I guess there really isn’t a need to know why he can talk and it can be fun to come up with theories.

So my verdict is this was a good strong story, nice build up to its conclusion, a good mystery and creepy in parts. It is also well drawn, the framing and use of shadows to make Charlie more imposing despite his size, is good and the character of Charlie should be remembered as one of the greats.

 

Judy 1962

Judy, , ,

As I’ve already done a post on the last Judy annual published, I thought it was time to look at the first Judy annual. Of course being 30 years from this annual to the last annual there are definite differences.  Some of the focus of the stories is different, there are less teen romance stories here, than in the last annual. This early annual also had more text stories, and even the picture stories tend to use more text boxes, rather than speech bubbles. The presentation is also different to later annuals for example this is from a time that annuals had dust covers.

Inside the annual, there are 8 picture stories, 6 prose stories and 18 features.  While there isn’t a lot of picture stories, they are quite long on average taking up 8 pages. As usual a lot of stories involve the long running characters from the weekly issues including; Heather, Tricky Trixie and Val of the Valley. The features are varied from puzzles, to interesting trivia and articles on women’s achievements. (For just a list of contents click here)

Picture Stories

Sandra and the Sleeping Beauty   (Pages: 6-13)

Art: Paddy Brennan

I really like the art work in this; the ballet postures, the colours of the Lilac Fairy’s costume. I know Paddy Brennan drew Sandra and the Secret Ballet, I’m not too sure if this early work is his too, it does looks similar in parts. The story itself involves Sandra falling asleep and dreaming that she plays the Lilac Fairy in a ballet of Sleeping Beauty. Other than a panel where the Wicked Fairy curse the princess and a thought balloon on the last panel there is no dialogue just text boxes explaining the story. The story isn’t anything new but it is prettily drawn and the ballet interpretation is refreshing.

 

Colleen and the Last Witch   (Pages: 26-31)

Artist: George Ramsbottom

This was a regular story in Judy, it is set in Ireland, in a fictional town named Ballyvale near Cork. This is a new town and it is located right next to the cave where Bumble the last witch of Ireland lives. She is upset by this new town disturbing her peace and regularly casts spells to try and drive the people away. She is always defeated by a young girl Colleen, who as a 7th daughter of a 7th daughter is immune to the witche’s spells.

In this story Bumble tries to ruin the new Girl Guides camping trip. She sends a troop of ants into their camp-site, then summons great winds when they move to another site. Colleen gets the idea to set up camp in Bumble’s cave as she cannot cast spells on her own home. This was a light-hearted fun story. Bumble as a character seemed to have more in common with antagonists of “boy” comics of the time. As an antagonist she was funny, never getting the upper hand and never really a threat.

Tricky Trixie   (Pages: 33-38)

Trixie the girl with a thousand faces, can change her voice and appearance through her talents of acting and make-up appliance. Here Trixie helps out a girl, Lucy, who’s overprotective mother is a big problem. First Trixie disguises herself as Lucy’s teacher and convinces her mother Lucy needs to be allowed socialise more. Mrs. Green relents somewhat but she still doesn’t let her do anything she considers strenuous.  While watching her friends ice skate, one of the girls Jill falls through thin ice. Lucy being the smallest is able to get the closest to Jill and pull her out.

Lucy asks Trixie not to let her mother find out about the incident, afraid she’ll become even more over protective. When a reporter comes to cover the story for the local paper, Trixie sees this as an opportunity to help out. She dresses up as Lucy and gets the story and “Lucy’s” photo in the paper. Mr. Green  is very impressed with his daughter’s deeds and decides they have been too over protective of Lucy. Mrs. Green doesn’t seem as convinced but goes along with her husband, so it all works out for Lucy.

Joan All-Alone   (Pages: 49-56)

This story is set in Arizona around the 1700s.  Frank Carr has the job of delivering post across “Indian” country, his wife Martha is crippled and he is dissappointed that all he has to look after her is his daughter, Joan. He wishes he had a son instead and has no problem in letting Joan know this.

Joan is determined to prove that she can do anything a boy can do. When her father leaves on a job, she takes a cloak she made out of leaves to hide herself and tracks her father. Frank meanwhile gets shot in the back. Joan brings him home, but he is badly injured and delirious.  Joan sees this as her chance to prove herself. She takes the letter to deliver to Fort Brush and braves the Indians alone. She proves to be a capable person, when she hears she is being followed she quickly sets up a trap to take Red Eagle out.

As Joan continues on her way other Indians find the unconcious Red Eagle and start to track her down. When Joan sees them coming close she heads for a forest, knowing she can’t outrun them but she may be able to hide from them.  When the Indians find her abandoned horse and have no luck finding her they set up camp for the night and discuss their plans to attack the fort. Joan overhearing this manages to sneak away when they fall asleep and warn the Colonel.  Her father learning of all this is prouder of her than of any son.

The story has the stereotypes of “Cowboys and Indians”, as was common in the 60s and often depicted in films.  There isn’t a lot of dialogue throughout the strip as Joan spends most of her time on her own. Instead of thought bubbles; text boxes were the most popular method of moving the plot along. The art and inking is impressive and colourful. The thing I most like about this story is Joan as a smart, strong and brave character, able to be feminine yet stand up to gender roles.

Backstage Betty   (Pages: 69-76)

Art: Don Walker

Betty is a young girl that helps out backstage with a concert troupe, doing whatever odd jobs are needed of her and extra things just to make sure everthing works out ok.  She is a cheerful girl and happy when things work out.  (The girl working in the background, solving all sorts of problems was quite common story; Miss Fix-It of TV,  Girl With the Golden Smile were similar types in different settings.)

Here Betty helps a homesick dancing couple to feel more at home so they can perform better. The couple Carmen and Rodriguez,  won’t make it as international stars if they expect everyplace to be like Spain! Firstly they are unhappy because England is so much colder than Spain.  Which is a fair point as temperature adjustment takes time, but they are also just miserable being in England. The first rehersal is a disaster because of this. So Betty paints bullfighting scene on background and learns Spanish phrases to help them feel at home. She also plays Spanish music for them (which makes me wonder what they were trying to dance to before!) Borrowing a fan and Brazier she is able to heat up the stage and the rehearsal goes great.

There is another obstacle when Rodriguez is confined to bed after bad English food. Betty finds a Spanish chef to cook for him. Rodriguez automatically feels better so it doesn’t seem like it was food sickness he is just a fussy eater! Luckily after all this the show is a great success

 

Dixie at Dude Ranch   (Pages: 90-94)

Dixie Dalton helps her father out at his Texan Ranch. She has a talent for playing guitar. Not just ordinary talent, but by playing certain cords she can command the horses of the ranch.  When Miss Weston a tennis player arrives at the ranch, Dixie does not take kindly to Weston’s rudeness and boasting about her skill. She uses the opportunity of a poor local Indian girl to beat Miss Weston and put her in her place.

Runaway Princess in Paris  (Page: 97-104)

The Princess in the title may be misleading, Princess is a dog not any kind of royalty. Coincidentally the girl of this story Babette’s dog is named Prince. Her and her parents live in Paris, but not for long as her Dad is getting transferred to London, but Prince will not be able to come. Naturally Babette is upset by this news but is distracted from her problems when she witnesses a minor car crash and a poodle escaping. With the help of Prince she tracks down Princess. Prince rescues Princess from a lake and they get her back to her owner Charmaine, a famous actress. Charmaine is delighted and Babette tells her of her predicament. Charmaine solves the problem by offering her a job, so both her and Prince can stay in Paris.

Heather in Italy   (Pages: 113-120)

Art: Giorgio Letteri

Heather was an amusing “wee” Scottish girl. She was often of the habit of breaking the 4th wall, looking straight out at the readers. Here she on a tour with some snobby artists in Italy she soon gets the best of them after them playing tricks on her. The art is good solid, the story is amusing.

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