This Christmas I’m looking at the last Mandy annual published. While it’s common to call these books annuals, they didn’t actually say that on the cover majority of time, instead it would be some variation on “Title for girls” or “Title Stories for Girls”, a trend that stayed with Bunty up to its last annual in 2009. Mandy however did start adding in “Annual” on the cover in 1999, calling it Mandy Annual 1999 for Girls, then it this last book it drops the for girls, though it those have the splash of “For girls Like You!” so you could argue that is part of the title.
Inside the book itself there are there is traditional multi part story that would appear in Mandy annuals. There are 3 photo stories, reprinted stories and lots of features. (For just a list of contents go to the next page)
Picture Stories
Rowan Lodge [4 parts] (Pages: 7-12, 52-57, 91-96, 110-115)
Art: Peter Wilkes
Alice “Allie” Raymond is spending her school holidays with her grandmother while her parents are abroad. While at her grandmother’s another older relative, Auntie Mac, takes a fall. Nan and Allie go to stay with her at Rowan Grange. Auntie Mac, is nearly 100 year old and her first name is also Alice. She tells Allie stories of her brother, Cyril who was killed in World War I. Allie is quite bored in the isolated house and unhappy staying in the old nursery with its old hard furnishings and barred windows.
Exploring the gardens she finds a walled off part with a locked door, she climbs a tree and sees a a small lodge but Mrs Green, the housekeeper, stops her from investigating further. Later back in her room, she finds a photo of Auntie Mac and her brother from when they were young. Then she hears some noises in the locked cupboard, that startle her, but she reasons it must be the old heating system. On a trip to village, she meets a girl, Kelly, who tells her there is a legend that there is treasure hidden in the house and that Lady Jane Grey once stayed there. This story makes Allie think it will be more interesting to stay at Rowan Grange after all.
At the house, Allie explores the attic, she doesn’t find treasure, but she finds out more about Auntie Mac as she finds a painting of her dressed up for her birthday and Cyril’s old war uniform and a page from diary. Mrs Green again interrupts her. Allie’s not giving up yet though, down town she looks at old war monument and finds out Cyril was killed on Auntie Mac’s birthday. She meets Kelly again and tells her about noises she heard and some funny things going on, Kelly tells her she has heard there is supposed to be ghost in a secret room near the nursery and she should stay away from it. Allie does not take the advice and asks Auntie Mac if there is a key to the room, but when they go to get key it is missing but Auntie Mac tells her about another way to enter.
Allie gets in and finds a map addressed to Lally from Rilly. Hearing someone coming she hides and is surprised to see Mrs Green enter with Kelly. It turns out she is Mrs Green daughter and had no where to spend the holidays and had been hiding out in the house. Allie says they can talk to Auntie Mac and she is sure Kelly could come and hang out with her. Allie keeps the map secret, she realises the map refers to Rowan Lodge rather than Grange and must be the place in the garden. Allie dreams of Cyril who warns her not to trust the Greens, when she wakes up the map is gone. She tells Nan and Auntie Mac everything, they find the Greens at the Lodge,they are trying to figure out a riddle on the map but they run off when confronted.Auntie Mac then tells Allie where to look, the map referred to an old game she used to play with her brother. They find a doll that Cyril had bought his sister before going off to war. Unknown to them Cyril is watching over events. Mrs Green is reported to police and Auntie Mac gives the doll to Allie, to keep it in the family, rather than selling it off. Allie senses Cyril and promises to look after the doll.
Staying Over (Pages: 30-37)
Reprint of Living with Lucy from Mandy Annual 1996
Jane and Lucy are best friends and want to spend all their time together, so when Lucy’s parents go away on holiday, they are excited that Lucy will stay at Jane’s for 2 weeks, but of course it doesn’t go as planned. Sharing homework lands them in trouble, Lucy annoys Jane with her untidiness, Lucy is upset when Jane borrows her new skirt without asking and then accidentally rips it and Jane has to turn down date because her mother insists she can’t go out while she has a guest. At the end of the stay the girls are no longer talking to each other but when they unknowingly end up on a double date together they make up.
Long Distance (Pages: 60-64)
Reprinted from Judy Annual 1989
Art: John Armstrong
Jen uses her great grandmothers old fashioned phone as a prop for a play.One of the set people, Brian, says he will set up a ring for it, then during rehearsals when it rings Jen answers it and a girl talks about Bleriot flying over the English Channel. Jen thinks Brian has set up a fake message but he says that would be impossible on the old phone and that he hasn’t even set up the ringer. When leaving rehearsals, Jen hears phone ring again, she answers it and the same young girl asks for help, that she is trapped in a fire. Jen runs to the address given and finds herself transported to the past. SHe rescues the beridden girl before passing out from the smoke fumes. She wakes up her own bed, she tells her mom about the fire in her dream, her mom tells her its a funny coincidence that her great grandmother was rescued from a fire when she was bedridden as a young girl, and the girl who saved her disappeared. Jen believes she knows what happened, on the night of the play when the phone rings, she wonders what will happen.
Sadie’s Summer (Pages: 69-74)
Art: “B Jackson”
Reprinted from Bunty Annual 1998
Sadie works for a family in Victorian times, she is excited when the family plan to go to seaside and bring the servants with them, but the master cancels all time off, so they are expected to work and there will be no opportunity for Sadie to see the beach. A chance encounter with a dog, she meets a young girl, who insists on rewarding her for catching her dog. She comes from an influential family and is able to get Sadie a day off so she can fulfill her wish to enjoy the seaside. Even better the family offer a Sadie a job so she gets a job with a nicer family and to live by the seaside permanently.
Lucky! (Pages: 81-87)
Art: Juan Velasco
Reprint of Lucky and Lisa from Mandy Annual 1996
This is another reprinted story, it’s also the only story in the annual that was a weekly serial originally appearing as Lucky and Lisa in M&J comic issues #211 to #231. In this story Lisa and her horse Lucky win a place at a European ‘Rural Riders’ Camp, which big-headed Maxwell is also going to. Maxwell is sure he will win the trophy for best rider at the end of the week. He goes to practice the cross country route, but his horse, Midnight, slips and gets stuck, Lucky and Lisa find them and help them out. Maxwell is even happy for Lisa when she wins the trophy at end of camp for a good showing at all events and being most helpful member.
Timeout! (Pages: 98-102)
Art: John Armstrong
Reprint of Wishing Your Life Away from Judy Annual 1989
A second John Armstrong story and both have a label of “it’s spooky”. In this story Sandy buys a second hand clock and finds she can use it to skip forward in time. She uses it to skip boring stuff like homework and tests and skip forward to when her favourite TV show is on and to the weekend, but she doesn’t think of the consequences disappearing for large chunks of time. As time still happens normally for everyone else, her parents call the police, when she doesn’t return from school. Sadie goes to shed to try and fix things winding the clock backwards, but it is slower process. She borrows her dads hand drill to help but then accidentally winds it forward 10 years! Eventually she manages to wind it back, injuring her hand but she is home and decides to give the clock back to shop.
Text Stories
The Kidnap (Pages: 26-27)
Writer: Susan Elizabeth Issacs
Art: Susannah Fishbourne
Clara has a lucky toy rabbit mascot named Carlos. Another girl Andrea teases her about it, so when Carlos goes missing with a note demanding money for his return, she accuses Andrea of stealing it and says she will tell her mom. Andrea breaks down crying that her mom left a few months ago. They come to an understanding, that Andrea has been teasing Clara because se was jealous of her home life, but they will be friends now. It turns out Carlos was stolen by some boys as April fools joke, and her friend Sasha was in on it. One of the boys uses the opportunity to ask her to an upcoming dance, which she is happy about.
Considering how upset she was when Carlos was missing and how angry she was when she thought it was Andrea, Clara takes it surprisingly well, when it turns out to be a “joke” by her friend!
It’s Magic! (Pages: 66-67)
Writer: Tracy Joy Holroyd
Art: Susannah Fishbourne
Amy likes a boy John who cycles by her house every weekend, she finds excuses to work in the garden but he never notices her. She talks about her troubles to her cat, Wush. She then has the idea to try out a magic spell, from a book her mom got her for the birthday. The next time she sees John, it seems he is going to ride straight by again, until Wush suddenly runs across him causing him to crash. Amy helps him and insists he come into house to recover. It turns out he likes Amy too but was too shy to say anything before. So Wush has helped Amy out, almost like he knew what he was doing!
Photo Stories
Only a Name! (Pages: 17-22)
Daisy is annoyed with her older sister, Poppy, who keeps calling her Daze and Dopey Daze. After talk with mom, Poppy promises to try and call her by her actual name. When Poppy’s boyfriend breaks up with her because a girl tells him Poppy has been cheating on him and Poppy can’t remember were she was, Daisy saves the day with her diary. She doesn’t mind sharing it with Poppy as it is only full of day to day activities rather than any secrets, though Poppy does notice, after all her complaining about her name, that Daisy has her own nickname, “Pops” for her sister.
The One For Me! (Pages: 41-47)
Reprint of “The Boy For Me!” from Bunty Annual 1998
Louise is excited when Paul asks her out but he does not get along with the dog her family are currently fostering. The dog, Ben, is a bit troublesome, but Louise is hoping she can convince her parents to let her keep him, when Ben warns family about leak in the bathroom, they come around and agree he can stay. Paul isn’t happy to hear this news and gives her an ultimatum, him or the dog. It’s an easy choice for Louise and she chooses Ben.
Secret Admirer! (Pages: 120-125)
Dawn finds a note in her book from a secret admirer and with the help of her friend Steve is trying to track down who wrote it. She narrows it down to boys in her English class and can eliminate some as they already have girlfriends or are interested in in someone else. She eventually finds out it was Steve who wrote the note but was nervous if she would see him as more than a friend. Dawn is happy at the revelation, as she likes him too but also didn’t think he fancied her.
Features
There’s a whole variety of features, with puzzles, quizzes and factual features, plenty to keep reader occupied.
Puzzles
- Spring: picture and wordsearch (Pages: 2-3)
- Summer: picture and wordsearch (Pages: 28-29)
- A B C (Pages: 38-39)
- Criss-Cross! (Pages: 65)
- Autumn: picture and wordsearch (Pages: 78-79)
- Spot the Differences! (Pages: 90)
- True or False? (Pages: 103)
- Puzzles! Puzzles! Puzzles! (Pages: 106-107)
- Winter: picture and wordsearch (Pages: 126-127)
Quizzes
- How Superstitious Are You? (Pages: 16)
- Dodgy or Divine? (Pages: 48-49)
- Ready, Steady, Go! (Pages: 80)
- Are You Psychic or Sceptic? (Pages: 108)
- Best Friends! (Pages: 118-119)
Posters
- Poster: Fearne Cotton (Pages: 6)
- Poster: Girls Aloud (Pages: 40)
- Poster: Konnie Huq (Pages: 75)
- Poster: Hilary Duff (Pages: 97)
Reader Features
These articles focused on girls, around the readers age and different aspects of their life like what their bedroom is like, what their favourite hobby is and favourite things.
- Girls! Girls! Girls! : Room to Talk! (Pages: 13-15)
- Girls! Girls! Girls! : It’s Fun! (Pages: 50)
- Girls! Girls! Girls! : Meet Me! [Sarah] (Pages: 76-77)
- Girls! Girls! Girls! : Meet Me! [Caroline] (Pages: 104-105)
Factual Features
Different articles, from animals, celebrities, dolls houses and writing tips from Tracy Joy Holroyd, who wrote the text story “It’s Magic” for the annual.
- We Love Dolphins! (Pages: 23-25)
- Focus on… Jennifer1 [Aniston] (Pages: 51)
- House Proud! (Pages: 58-59)
- The Write Way! (Pages: 68)
- Mystic Maggies! (Pages: 88-89)
- Focus on… Jennifer2 [Lopez] (Pages: 109)
- Sleep Tight! (Pages: 116-117)
Final Thoughts
This is a good annual, although it has a lot of reprints, most readers wouldn’t have seen them before. Obviously the weekly M&J issues had long finished at this stage, and there is no big presence of regular characters here, only Lucky and Lisa appeared in M&J before. This is change from the previous years’ Mandy annual which had a lot of recognisable characters; Pennys Place, Angel, Wee Slavey and Cinderella Jones. I enjoyed the long story Rowan Lodge, with its mystery and supernatural elements, I think it’s not as strong as some previous long stories we’ve seen, but decent enough. Timeout! is my favourite story here, some memorable imagery with Sandy in the future. While we get drama, mystery, spooky, I think we are missing some humour stories in this annual, the photo stories are fine, pretty standard, the text stories are fine, out of the two, I liked It’s Magic! best.
With this being the last Mandy annual, I noted it has the same number of pages as previous annuals, while Bunty would go on to have 2 more annuals after this, there was a reduction in pages, likely due to decline in readership not able to justify the production costs. Mandy had a good run, 37 annuals, and ended its run decently.