Plot
Stories based on the TV series Hart to Hart, about a wealthy couple Jonathan and Jennifer Hart who would often end up playing amateur detectives. In one episode they investigate who is stealing the fashion designs of Jennifer’s friend, Toni.
Notes
- Based on the TV show of the same name, that ran from 1979-1984
- The story was one of the additions from Tops merger with Suzy.
Appeared
- Hart to Hart – Suzy: #74 (4 February 1984) – #99 (28 July 1984)
Are there any copies on the internet of Hart to Hart comic strip in SuzyTops?
There isn’t any digital copies that I know of but 30th century comics have some of those issues available according to their catalogue: https://30thcenturycomics.co.uk/catalogue-index/girls-comics/#S
In the NOTES above, surely ‘based off of’ is more or less meaningless. On the other hand ‘based on’ would work. Furthermore, ‘tv’ should be ‘TV’. In my opinion SUZY lost her way when she felt the need to equalise the number of photo stories with the drawn ones from issue 74 (February 4 1984), but more pertinently, when the editor introduced two series based on the popular TV programmes ‘Hart To Hart’ and ‘Fame’, because readers will not have been able to enjoy the adventures of, or empathise with, those characters simply because due to their shows on TV, they were just too well known, or not fictional enough, to put it another way, and that is despite the fact that ‘Hart To Hart’ and ‘Fame’ were both drawn. I felt that SUZY was more of a magazine with features although there were some very decent and involving serials such as ‘Rosie And Redfire’, ‘The Jordans Of Jedworth’, and ‘Lucy – On The Long Road Home’.
I haven’t read any Tops magazine but considering Hart to Hart and Fame came from there, I imagine if it wasn’t for merger, Suzy may have looked different at this time. It did lean more on magazine features and photo stories then other comics, but I did notice before it merged with Bunty it became more in line with that comic, adding more picture stories.
Could any readers of SuzyTops from issue 74, 4th Feb 1984 when Hart to Hart was introduced whether Jenifer Hart ever had a fight with a woman in it? I used to read it in TvTops but then it went into a girls magazine so could no longer follow the stories. I was always curious as to how long it ran in SuzyTops and whether it went into 1985 but I got the answer to that in the above article that it ran from issue 74 to 99, which was July of 1984, so it didn’t really run that long, I don’t know why they put it in a girls comic
Yes, she did. The incident occurred on the second page of the instalment in issue 79 of SUZY (March 10 1984). Jonathan is in a hospital bed after an attempt to kill him with a poisoned dart at a friend’s masked ball. While Jennifer is visiting him, a nurse comes in and tells her that there is a phone call for her at Reception. It is a ruse to get her out of the way, and when she gets back to the ward she sees a different nurse, who turns out to be fake, trying to disconnect his drip. The nurse gets away in her car, but Jennifer follows her in hers. When the nurse pulls up outside her house, Jennifer parks behind her to prevent her escape, jumps out, pulls the woman out of her car, and as she asks who the woman is and why she was after her husband, she grabs her by the arm to prevent her from getting away. The fake nurse’s husband pulls a gun on Jennifer, all to no avail as she immediately disarms him with a high karate-style kick. Oh, and as you can see, there are two ‘n’s in ‘Jennifer’.
Thanks for that Derek, I always wondered and whether she had any more fights with men either, she always had a fight on the tv but fewer in the 1983 season then picked up again towards the end. She rarely had a fight in the TvTops, don’t know whether you read that too. How many actual stories did it do between 74 & 99? There were a few complete stories of two pages in TvTops, hey did a lot of episodes, but Jonathan got all the action. Yes, Jennifer has two ‘n’s, I was typing too fast. If you read TvTops did you follow the Minder comic strip and Hi-deHi, and what happened to them, did they finish with Tops? How dis Hart to Hart finally finish in issue 99? Thank you again for that info
I made a few typing errors again there, Derek, Hi-de-Hi
I have never read even a single issue of TV TOPS, Paul, nor do I have any plans to do so. Life is too short, and I have plenty of other research and writing projects to keep me occupied anyway. Hopefully someone else will be able to answer your questions.
OK Derek. I’m a cartoonist so that’s my interest I was writing and creating a lot of the old stuff, life is too short but its nice to recap on nice trivia. I assume you were in the same age group as me since you were around 30 odd years ago to read those comics, forgive me if I’m wrong
You are forgiven.
Anymore thoughts on Hart to Hart? Girls? What were your views on it? Did you like the plots or was it the fights at the end?
I have a very low boredom threshold, Paul, so given that this thread has crossed it, and I wasn’t even interested in HART TO HART in the first place, only answering your post as a courtesy, I have absolutely no further comments to make.
RIP thread.
Well it still may be interest to other people. I remember watching some Hart to Hart on TV, I’ve only read a few episodes of the Suzy serial, at first seems like an odd choice to have story with older married couple as protagonists, but then mystery and adventure does fit with these comics. For me plots would be most appeal rather than fights, mystery is usually what draws me in.
I used to enjoy the series (would love to rewatch the episode where Max gets framed) but didn’t see the Suzy adaptation, so that’s no real interest to me.
In answer to Derek I was asking the girls since it was a girls comic so I never saw it, I’v got 5 sisters and they never once purchased it. I already rested my thread with Derek’s response. I don’t get bored I’m open to peoples’ opinions and comments and how they perceive things so never get bored of that. Its interesting how women and men perceive the same things so I was interested how the now women as girls reading it then was! I followed it in TvTops and as a cartoonist I’ve been drawing/writing old comic strips such as Hart to Hart and yes; Jennifer Hart has a fight with a woman in every one. Its just light interest, takes me away from the realities of the World today and tv soaps
Out of curiosity what other strips were in Tops, it’s a magazine I know little about.
The Avengers in Diana comic was popular adaption of TV show, but I think Suzy wasn’t as big as Diana, so those strips that came from Tops aren’t as well known. I did see one thread on comicsuk forum that commented that the Hart to Hart stories dropped quality in Suzy, (in their opinion).
Tops cartoon strips were Hi-de-Hi, Minder, Fame, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Marmalade Atkins, Little and Large, Adam Ant, Metal Mickey and photo strip stories too, that were made up like bridge street Blues. Comic strip of the Professionals was in it originally but I didn’t that personally was kids tv, it was on after the watershed. Did you ever read Look-in comic and TvComic? I am more surprised Hart to Hart didn’t go into Look-in. The Avengers with Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson were also in TvComic
I haven’t read either of those, for tv based comics, I’ve read some Lady Penelope, but didn’t grow up with it, as it was before my time. It does sound like Look-In would have been a more suitable magazine for Tops to merge with.
yes it would have. You can look up Look-in on the net and archive the comics and read most of them including tvTops if you go on mag@zone website, same with all the oter comics you mention on this forum