After World War Ill, Britain lay in ruins and the few survivors lived like savages. Ann Jarrold’s scientist father had trained her to be a teacher and, when he died, she went to Glasburgh to start a school. General Smith, Glasburgh’s brutal leader, burned all Ann’s books and forbade her to start a school. Helped by Barbara, a twelve-year-old orphan, Ann set out to find books to replace-those she had lost.
Swindlem Hall was an expensive school where riding was the main subject. The headmistress, Mrs Fleece, was so mean that she refused to spend a penny more than necessary on the girls and their mounts. The girls dared not complain because she knew something to the discredit of each of their families.
Sandra Weston and her sister, Pauline, were spending their holiday on Lake Amblemere on their father’s cabin cruiser, “Kittiwake”. A huge dam had been built at one end of the lake and much of the countryside was flooded. The sisters renamed their boat the “Amblemere Ark” and set out to rescue as many animals as possible.
While on an expedition to the east, Professor Ross found and adopted a baby girl. He named her Linda Ross. Fourteen years later, it was found that Linda was a royal princess and heir to the throne of the eastern state of Kurata. Linda returned to Kurata, where she soon became suspicious of Kara, the Chief Priestess of the Temple of the Sun, and Zyeddin, another of her advisers. Linda’s Senior Minister and only friend, Kalmut, was seriously ill and Linda believed he was being poisoned!
Susie and Carole Morgan owned the “Jungle Bus,” a luxury motor coach which took tourists on sight-seeing tours across Africa from Cairo to Cape Town. Fifteen-year-old Susie gave running commentaries on the sights they passed, while Carole, who was a few years older, was the driver.
Judy Jordan who had ambitions to be a show-jumper, owned a pony called Bunch, so named because Judy’s father said the pony looked like a bunch of different breeds all bundled up together. Bunch was an entertaining horse and they become more famous for their comedic antics showjumping, rather than style.
Other Appearances:
We haven’t had a new Misty special since 2020, so it was a treat to find out we were getting one this Summer again and helmed by the great Gail Simone, probably best known for her work on DC’s Batgirl and Wonder Woman comics.
We get 4 stories in this book:
Eleven Lonely Deaths – a true crime podcaster meets a mysterious girl while doing his research at a 50 year old crime scene, where 11 girls were killed by a serial killer.
The Pub at the End of the Road – the mistreated daughter of a pub landlord, has a special gift with animals.
Happy Birthday, Mrs. Parker! – In a care home for the elderly, a nurse has a rivalry with her perfect colleague, but all is not what it seems.
The Cracked Glass – a cracked mirror is the only clue to the neighbours disappearance.
The first three stories are written by Gail Simone. In them the character of Misty takes a more active role, and we actually delve into her past. For a long time in the original comic run, readers would write in and theorize where Misty came from or ask to find out more, but Misty remained enigmatic only giving vague statements about her origins, which often were even more mystifying! It is a treat to see her come out of the mists and tell some of her story, it might not be the story some expected, but it’s certainly an interesting one. In the 2nd story it is more in keeping with the classic Misty, she is more of an observer and storyteller. The 3rd story ties back more into the first one but also lets Misty take a more secondary role in the story. All three stories have those who have done wrong get their comeuppance, some in very gruesome ways and surprisingly the previously ethereal Misty isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty!
The original Misty went to dark places, this does seem to skew that bit darker still, perhaps because the set up for some of the horrors are unfortunately too common place for women; the seemingly nice guy taking photos that are gratuitous or the groping drunk patrons of the pub. While we do see a dark justice served to those in the stories, they have already left victims in their wake.
Complementing Simone’s writing are some great artists; Carola Borelli, Aly Fell and Marianna Ignazzi. They all do wonderfully, but Fell’s work is the standout, with the story set in the 70s, it is a nice nod to the original comic and it really is gorgeous to look at.
The final story, that I haven’t talked about yet is both written and drawn by Letty Wilson. This is more standalone, no Misty features in it, instead we follow a girl, Sam, and her investigation into her neighbours abandoned house. She finds a cracked mirror, which for anyone who has read girls comics knows this is not going to end well!
This is a great special, and I would happy to see this format continue, with Misty telling stories throughout her years . I would highly recommend to Misty or horror fans. It is available for purchase now through Rebellion’s treasury of British Comics Shop: https://shop.treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue/RCS2352P
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.
Cathy Cooke was a girl with never a spare moment. Since her mother died, three years before, she had looked after the home, doing all the cleaning herself and taking care of her disabled father and her younger brothers and sisters. To help out the family’s meagre income, she /delivered papers and had to get up early every morning. To add to her busy schedule she had now entered a cooking contest Queen of Cooks. She was talented cook but one of the contest judges Miss Barker, was Cathy’s school cookery teacher, who hated her.
Shirley Barton was the only witness who could identify Tod Milligan, accused of a bank robbery. To protect Shirley from Milligan’s accomplices who were still free, and who would stop at nothing to prevent Shirley from giving evidence, the police detailed Sergeant Sankey be her second shadow.
