LIVING

A to Z on How to Make the Most of Yourself (pp. 22–23)

Your Jackie Guide to . . . Kissing! (pp. 40–41)

A, B, C of Life, Love and You (pp. 44–45)

Things That Scare Boys (p. 47)

I Was So Stupid . . . (pp. 62–63)

I Didn’t Try to Understand (pp. 82–88) (artist Brian Delaney)

QUIZZES

Are You Nice or Nasty? (pp. 8–9)

Bring Out the Beast in You! (pp. 42–43)

How Moody Are You? (pp. 66–67)

What’s Your Dream Home? (pp. 78–79)

FEATURES

How To Put Him Off You! (pp. 24–25)

Something in the Way He Looks (p. 32)

A Dozen Desperate Measures to Get Yourself into Shape (p. 33)

Boy Talk (p. 34)

Contain Yourself! (p. 34)

Get It Write! (p. 35)

Season’s Eatings! (p. 39)

What Line Is He Handing You? (p. 46)

Are You a Write Give-Away? (pp. 50–51)

Patchwork (p. 64)

Get a Move On! (p. 65)

Clothes for All Reasons! (pp. 74–76)

POP

Your Jackie Christmas Carnival! (pp. 6–7)

Guess Who? (p. 27)

Your Special Jackie Pop-A-Cross! (p. 43)

Which Santa’s Knee Would You Like to Sit On? (pp. 52–53)

Star Turn! (pp. 72–73)

Beautiful Baddies – and Gorgeous Goodies! (pp. 90–91)

BEAUTY

The Look for You! (pp. 17–21)

ASTROLOGY

Your True Colours (p. 2, p. 94)

FUN

You Know You’re a Winter Winner When . . . (p. 5) (artist David Matysiak)

A Dotty Dozen (p. 39)

Spot the Grot (p. 61)

Don’t Monkey Around with the Wrong Boy! (p. 77)

Madge and Beryl (p. 80) (artist Malcolm Bird)

How to Cope with the Festive Season (p. 81)

Where Do the Boys Go in the Winter? (p. 89)

You Know You’ve Come Down to Earth with a Bump When . . . (pp. 92–93) (artist David Matysiak)

FICTION

The Adventures of Leonard J. Watkins (pp. 10–16) (artist David Matysiak)

Fly Me to the Moon (pp. 28–29) (writer Mary Hopper)

A Girl’s Best Friend (pp. 36–38) (artist Santiago Hernandez?)

To Make Him Forget (pp. 48–49) (writer Amanda Mandinian)

If His Love Be True . . . (pp. 54–60) (artist Norman Lee)

FASHION

Be a Cover Girl! (p. 26)

Change Gear – for a New Year! (pp. 30–31)

Look Ahead! (pp. 68–71)

In this entry, we are taking a look at Jackie Annual 1981. Jackie was a DCT title that ran from 11 January 1964 until 3 July 1993. After girls felt they’d outgrown Bunty et al., the next DCT title on offer for them was Jackie, a teen magazine for girls filled with pop stars, teen and fashion features, quizzes, fashion, beauty tips, gossip, agony aunt column, true-life stories and, of course, boys galore. Also in the mix were comic strips and short stories (which declined by the 1980s), with emphasis on romance and family issues. One humour strip, Leonard J. Watkins, was unusual for having a (bumbling) boy as the star of the show. Other cartoon strips included Madge and Beryl.

In its heydey Jackie was the best-selling teen magazine Britain, particularly in the 1970s. The problem page, “Cathy and Claire”, helped to make it so. Jackie also absorbed picture-story title Diana.

The annual itself features DCT artists who are familar to us, including David Matysiak and Norman Lee. They are in charge of the picture stories and spot illustrations. There are no photo stories in the annual. Photos are used for spot illustrations. Stories are comparatively few in number. The teen features, fashion, boys, quizzes and pop stars have a much higher presence, but the stories that are present are a welcome relief to the teen stuff.

The two true-life stories, “I Didn’t Try to Understand” and “I Was So Stupid” (to be fair, the ensuing trouble is not all the girl’s fault) are brought to life in two different ways. The former is in picture story form, drawn by Brian Delaney, and the latter is in text form and illustrated with spot photos that look like more like stock photos than accompanying photos posed by models.

As it is an annual, naturally there are some Christmas features to join the fashion and pop star favourites of Jackie readers.