Category Archives: Bunty

Supergirl / Super Sue (1977)

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Plot

When Susie Sullivan (Solomons in some series) is badly injured in a road accident, the scientist responsible for her accident rebuilds her as a bionic girl, with bionic legs, one bionic arm and one bionic eye. Susie goes into Secret Service for the government, with her cover being that she has remained crippled from the accident. Her crutch is a disguised radio transmitter for contacting HQ.

Notes

  • Artist: Douglas Perry
  • The series from Bunty #1041 was reprinted and translated into Dutch (as “Bionische Susie”) – Debbie #48 (1985).

Appeared

  • Supergirl – Bunty: #1011 (28 May 1977) – #1028 (24 September 1977)
  • Supergirl – Bunty #1041 (24 December 1977) – #1053 (18 March 1978)
  • Reprinted as Super Sue: Bunty #1576 (26 March 1988) – #1593 (23 July 1988). First episode was titled Supergirl but was changed to Super Sue with #1577.

Other Appearances:

Annual Appearances

  • Supergirl – Bunty Annual 1979 [Artist: Douglas Perry]
  • Supergirl – Bunty Annual 1981 [Artist: Douglas Perry]

Picture Story Library

  • Super Sue – Bunty Picture Story Library: #253

 

Secret Gymnast [1993]

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  • Secret Gymnast – Bunty: #1873 (4 December 1993) – #1884 (19 February 1994)
  • Art: John Armstrong

Plot

Ginny Jones, enjoys sports, but she has yet to find the one that fits her best, she gets a bit too enthusiastic for team sports! After a hockey match she gets into a fight with some girls from the competing school. She escapes them by running away through a building site. Unknown to her, while she is maneuvering around the site, she is being watched. The older woman sees potential on her and invites her into her house. Ginny keeps a safe distance as the woman seems strange and her house derelict. She leads her to a gym and tells her she has been looking for a promising student for quite a while and wants to train her to be a gymnast. Ginny agrees to be trained despite some oddness from her new coach, like her habit of calling her Gina and wanting to keep the lessons secret.

Coach is a hard taskmaster and in keeping up with her training she gets in trouble in other parts of her life.  Ginny does feels she’s already learnt a lot and thinks maybe she doesn’t need the coach or the hassle. But after doing badly, in a school competition, she realises she does still need Coach. She tries to follow Coach’s directions, so even when her dad treats the family to McDonalds she sticks to her diet. She is tempted by a doughnut but  then she hears Coach’s voice telling her to remember her training, which causes her to drop the doughnut. Ginny thinks it must have been her guilty conscience, that made her hear the voice. Later when they pass the derelict houses, where Coach lives, her father mentions that they will all be torn down soon and only few squatters live there. So Ginny concludes that’s why Coach is always in a rush, because she isn’t supposed to be there.

After she has to letdown her school P.E. teacher by turning down a rematch competition, Ginny is happy that Coach wants to enter her in a local competition. There is a fee to be submitted with the entry form but when she brings it up with coach, she goes strange and looks tired. Ginny says she’ll get the money somehow, she thinks if Coach is a squatter she musn’t have much money either. Ginny manages to scrape money together but it leaves nothing for her mom’s upcoming birthday. She decides to cook her a birthday tea instead, but then she loses track of time at practice and is home late. Her younger sister, Kylie, is upset that she spoiled mom’s birthday.

Ginny’s secret training causes more problems as she falls out with a friend, after she doesn’t help with a paper round as she promised. She does think that at least Coach will be pleased that she placed third, at the local competition, but Coach informs her she expected more. Ginny doesn’t know if she should continue, saying that perhaps she is wasting Coach’s time. Coach backtracks, but Ginny is still feeling fed up. Coach says if she doesn’t see her the next day then she’ll take it that the training is over. But the next day Ginny has to look after her brother and sister while her mom is at the dentist, she doesn’t want to let them down again, but it causes her to be late to practice. As soon as she can, she rushes to practice, Coach is still there but she looks ill. Concerned, Ginny says she’s ready to dedicate herself to practice. Coach informs her they are running out of time she must practice before and after school.

At school she feels obliged to play a hockey match but is injured. Coach of course is not pleased with this, Ginny says if she could explain to her teachers about her gymnastics training, she wouldn’t be put in this situation. But Coach insists until she wins the regional championship she must keep it secret, after that it doesn’t matter. She has ointment to help with Ginny’s ankle and after a bit of rest she is able to pick up her training. As the competition nears, Ginny improves and Coach praises her more, but she also seems more forgetful. Meanwhile the houses are to be knocked down soon and Ginny gets cleared away by some Workmen. She goes back later and more of the house is boarded and a sign saying “Danger Demolition” is outside. She does find Coach still there, but she shies away when Ginny goes to physically thank her for her help. The big competition the next day, she bumps into her friends who are there to watch and she explains that she is a contestant and that’s what she’s been up to all this time. Ginny is delighted when she wins and rushes to tell Coach. She has to climb in a window as the door is blocked and there is no sign of Coach. She is going to leave Coach a note, but when she picks up a piece of paper to write on, she finds it’s and old newspaper article that says Coach Vera Ramsey along with her student Gina were killed two years ago (how this paper got there in the first place is a mystery in itself!). Ginny yells out her thanks to the Coach and promises to keep up the hard work, a year later she has kept her promise and remembers to thank both Vera and her current coach when she is presented with her medals.

Thoughts

With the release of Tammy’s Bella at the Bar, it seems an ideal time to look at other John Armstrong work featuring a gymnast. A possible prototype to Bella, A Leap for Lindy, was already discussed on the Jinty resource site, and here in Secret Gymnast we get to see a post-Bella work. Bella is probably Armstrong’s most famous work and we can see here that Ginny bears a close resemblance to Bella.  Armstrong has said he enjoyed drawing gymnastic stories (he certainly had a talent for it), so it is bit surprising that other than Bella there are so few of his stories that feature a gymnast. He did a lot of work for IPC and DCT but this is the only gymnastic story that I know of that he did for DCT (if I’m wrong and he did others, please let me know!). Perhaps  gymnastic stories just weren’t as popular as they were in the 70s/early 80s or Bella’s fame was too much and they didn’t want her to overshadow other stories, as one can’t help but draw comparisons.

A lot of the stories Armstrong drew, featured a working class protagonist, Ginny is no exception, but perhaps being set in the 90s, the world has improved somewhat since the Thatcher era. Money is still tight, Ginny struggles to get money together for entry form, there are people without work, the school can’t afford proper gymnastic equipment, there are derelict houses…. but Ginny’s father has a job, they can send her younger sister to ballet lessons (even if they couldn’t afford to also send Ginny), and have treats like a trip to McDonalds. Also it’s noted the houses being knocked down and new development built up, which will offer more jobs, so Britain doesn’t seem to be as desolate a place as it is portrayed in some of the 70s stories (although it’s still far from perfect!). It is interesting looking at the social commentary in these stories as an adult, as I probably didn’t read much into it as a child.

Unlike Bella, at least Ginny does not have to deal with cruel guardians, her family are generous with what they have and seem supportive, I’m sure they would have supported her gymnastics if they knew about it (although they probably wouldn’t approve of her being trained in a rundown house with a strange woman!). The main conflict of the story comes from Ginny keeping her training secret, it leads her to let down her family and friends with no explanation. Ginny does feel guilty about this and there are times she sacrifices her gymnastics in order to make up for previous events, such as competing in the hockey match and babysitting for her mom. As we see her struggle to balance these things, we also root for her to succeed and are pleased to see her training pays off.

The other driving plot of the story is the mystery surrounding Coach. Why she lives in a run down house, what her name and background is, and why she seems confused and abrupt at times. There are hints of something ghostly about her from early on, but not enough to make it too obvious. One of the more blatant instances of supernatural Ginny hearing her voice stopping her from breaking her diet, but even that can be explained away. There is real sense of urgency in Coach, Ginny must win as she hasn’t the time to start again, she knows time is running out. We see her strength fading, presumably her spirit is tied to her house and gym and the closer it gets to it’s destruction the weaker she becomes. We can hope she finds some sense of peace, when she achieves what she set out to do – train a champion and that is why she lets go and is not there when Ginny comes to tell her the news. It is nice that the last panel shows that Ginny acknowledges her first Coach and honours her.

Bunty Summer Special 1996

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Summer has arrived so I thought it would be fun to look at something appropriately themed – a Summer Special! This isn’t something that I’ve looked at before on this site, in part because Summer Specials seem to be more rarer to come by then other issues. There may be a few reasons for this, firstly  just looking at the DCT girls comics, despite having many popular long running titles, it seems Bunty was the only comic to get Summer/Holiday Specials. For a few years it did combine with Judy (from 1974 to 1980) to share a special between them, but it means there just aren’t as many specials out there in the first place.  To the best of my knowledge Bunty Summer Specials ran from 1963 to 2004, so there are only 42 issues in total. I wonder if they didn’t sell as well as the weekly issues, and weren’t deemed cost efficient to produce issues for multiple publications. Like the Annual, these were filled with favourite characters and one-off complete stories, so there was less of need to collect in case of missing an episode of an ongoing serial. Unlike the Annuals these were just a thicker weekly issue, so not as durable as the hardback books. They could have also been a bit more disposable, as they would be bought to entertain on holidays, long car journeys, read on the beach etc. , maybe not all of them made it back home again.

The comic I am looking at in this post is the Bunty Summer Special 1996 (issue 34). Also Special thanks to Jim Eldridge (The Four Marys artist) for sending me a copy. At 48 pages (including front and back cover) it is an extra 16 pages than the weekly comic. Inside there are 9  stories, 4 of them being regular characters, The Four Marys, Luv Lisa, Bunty -a girl like you and The Comp. The 5 others are complete stories and filling out the rest of the comic is a number of features, including Puzzles , Pin Ups, Star Chart , Cut-Out Wardrobe and a fun highlight for me, is  a Four Mary’s Game.

Of course the features and stories stick with the holiday theme. First up in The Four Marys, (art: Jim Eldridge) the girls are in Venice with the rest of their class. Mabel and Veronica are flashing their money around, while the Marys enjoy exploring. It turns out all their walking around helps them stop a thief as they have learned the back routes to places and they get rewarded for returning the stolen purse. So while the Marys can enjoy treating themselves, Mabel and Veronica run out of money and the boys they were hanging around with are suddenly not interested any more!

Lisa Codd meanwhile is having trouble with her brother Martin in Luv, Lisa. For the Summer, they are meant to be sharing  the job of looking after the dogs, but Lisa ends up doing all the work, alongside her summer job. She complains about the dogs taking up all her spare time, but when the family are to go away on holiday she doesn’t want them to just go in the kennels, and persuades her Mom to take them with her.

In Mystery Maid, while Becky is staying in a hotel her room keeps getting messed up and she sees a maid in a black uniform, but  can never catch up with her. When her parents point out all the cleaning staff just wear jeans and t-shirts, she wonders who the girl is. Then coincidentally her friend arrives with the History Society group she is holidaying with. It seems they are doing tours of haunted buildings and they are at this hotel because it is meant to be haunted by a maid from when it was a private house…

In Bunty – a Girl Like You  Bunty enjoys a day out at the beach,  but she doesn’t enjoy the wet dog smell on the way home!

Holly’s Hero with art by Eduardo Feito is set in America, where A girl Holly is a big fan of Beach Watch (obviously a Baywatch reference) and in particular it’s star Chad Chadwick. When Beach Watch starts filming nearby, she is starstruck, but when her dog gets in trouble in the water and Chad wont help because it will mess up his hair and makeup, she sees him as the vain, selfish person he is. Luckily a  friend, (a boy who has had a crush on Holly) saves the dog and Holly sees how he is much better than her “hero”.

The only other photo story besides Luv, Lisa, Dee’s Day Out is about a girl who just moved to a town. As it’s Summer holidays she hasn’t made any friends yet so she is quite fed up. She decides to make a trip to her old home town but misses the train. She does end up meeting a local girl, Tanya, who offers to show her around. By the end of the day she is pleased with what the new town has to offer, she has made friends and has a date.

In Rags to the Rescue, Yvonne is spending her Summer holidays at home in the remote farm, she is happy to have her dog, Rags for company but she wouldn’t mind some human companionship too. There is potential when a neighbouring farm has their nephew, Lee, visiting, but Yvonne seems to keep missing him. But when he gets lost in a cave it is Rags that tracks him down and it is a start of a friendship for Yvonne.

Karen and Jenny are best friends, but after a holiday together will they be Forever Friends? (art by Julio Bosch)At first they are excited that Karen’s parent’s are bringing them to a holiday camp but Karen is not pleased to see how much stuff Jenny is bringing with her. By the end of the car journey they are not talking to each other and neither one of them wants to make up first. After getting stuck on a chair lift together they realise how silly they’ve been and enjoy the rest of the holiday together. Although it looks like there will be more arguments on the way home!

The pupils at The Comp set off for a school trip to Scotland, Grim Gertie expects them to wear their uniform but luckily she is not actually on the trip and Carlton says they can change once they’re away from the school. Freddy and Hodge mess around at one of the Lochs causing Freddy to fall in and later the class participate in some highland games. When the boys get kilts on, Laura threatens to pin the photo on school notice board when they return.

While the regular characters all get at least 5 pages, but the other stories only get 3 pages. This can leave things a bit cramped plot wise, for example in Forever Friends? the girls having a fall out in the car seems a bit soon or in Mystery Maid, we don’t get much of a reason why the ghost maid would be messing things up, other than because she’s a ghost! Still it is a fun issue, that would certainly get readers in the holiday spirit, it has lots of colour and fun features, such as puzzles and it would be good entertainment, whether you were stuck on a long journey or just at home.

 

 

The Wrong Crowd [1991]

Bunty
  • The Wrong Crowd –  Bunty:  #1731 (16 March 1991) –  #1738 (04 May 1991)
  • Reprinted – Bunty: #2227 (16 September 2000) – #2234 (4 November 2000)
  • Art: Bert Hill

Plot

When Tracey Brown started at a new school, she was immediately befriended by Jane Niven and her friends, Katy and Lorna. At first Tracey thinks they are the only friendly people in her class, but she soon finds out the opposite is true! Jane & Co. are nasty bullies and nobody wants to be friendly with Tracey, as they think she is just one of the gang. When she realizes what kind of people they are, she tries to get away from them but they threaten her and her cat, so she has to do what they say. Not only do they bully and threaten her, they also get her to do some nasty stuff to other people like trip a boy up and poor ink on a girl’s jacket . Tracy tries to get help from some classmates but Jane’s gang attacks them and the girls think Tracey set them up.

Even at home she does not get a reprieve, as Jane barges in when her parent’s are out. Tracey is going to confide in her parents about what is happening, but then sees her cat, Daisy, is hurt, and thinking Jane has carried out with her threats she keeps quiet. She does tell Jane off for doing something so low. Unknown to her, Daisy just got in a fight with another cat, it has nothing to do with Jane, but Jane lets Tracey keep her false assumptions, as it’s to her advantage. A small bit of hope for Tracey when she makes a friend with a girl, Lynne who goes to another school, but when the girls attack her, Tracey loses her only friend as she doesn’t want to hear any explanations afterwards.

Tracey is miserable and participating more in bullying acts because she is scared. Other pupils and even teachers think she is just a bully. Tracey takes a sick day and then tries playing truant, but Jane spots her and her peaceful day away turns into a disaster. When some family visit, she has fun babysitting her little cousin but the bullies then have more leverage to get Tracey to do what they want if she doesn’t want her cousin hurt. Tracey is miserable and trapped, she steals a girl’s notes for a test, when the girl and her friend confront Tracey, the gang “save” her, from a situation they placed her in, in the first place!. During a sport’s match, a visiting team gives Tracey the idea to go to boarding school, and her parents agree to a close one if she can get a scholarship, which she does. Tracey gets great joy in dropping the bomb to Jane and Co. that she won’t be returning to school next term. When she arrives at her new school, there are three friendly girls, but she gets nervous that the same thing is going to happen again. She is reassured when other classmates seem to give approval and she knows she’s in with the right crowd.

Thoughts

This story replaced another Bert Hill story Living a Lie which was also about a girl dealing with bullies, obviously a popular theme! I’m impressed by Tracey standing up to the bullies as soon as she found out their true nature, even if she didn’t get very far! In the beginning she is more proactive about trying to get away from Jane & Co. confiding in classmates and considering talking to her parents, though unfortunately it doesn’t work out. The longer she’s in with the “Wrong Crowd” the harder it is for her to escape and the more isolated she becomes. The reader sees how she gets deeper into co-operating with their schemes. Although she may not be happy with what they are making her do, I wonder if she hadn’t moved school, would she eventually just completely turned into a bully herself.

Surprisingly the bullies don’t get their comeuppance in the end. Clearly they’ve been getting on fine in the school previously and I wonder if the next new girl that comes along will fall into the same trap as Tracey. As for Tracey it is good to see her satisfaction at pulling one over on the bullies, though clearly her experience has made her nervous of new friends. Luckily her new school seems like it will be a lot happier of a place or her.

Bunty Annual 1999

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Picture Stories

  • The Comp  (Pages: 5-9)  [Artist Peter Wilkes]
  • Fear of the Future  (Pages: 19-25)  [Artist John Armstrong]
  • Love Thy Neighbour  (Pages: 28-31) [Artist Peter Wilkes]
  • Bunty – A Girl Like You  (Page: 32)  [Artist Andy Tew]
  • Who’s Next Door?  (Pages: 43-49)  [Artist Julio Bosch]
  • Prefect’s Pet  (Pages: 53-59)  [Artist Andy Tew]
  • Bunty – A Girl Like You  (Page: 65)  [Artist Andy Tew]
  • The Four Marys  (Pages: 71-75)  [Artist Jim Eldridge]
  • The Comp  (Pages: 77-81)  [Artist Peter Wilkes]
  • Girls Talking (Page: 84)
  • Penny’s Place  (Pages: 91-95)  [Artist Guy Peeters]
  • Bugsy  (Page: 96)
  • Lizzie’s New Life  (Pages: 100-107)  [Artist Don Walker]
  • Pretend Friends  (Pages: 112-116)
  • The Four Marys (Pages: 122-125)  [Artist Jim Eldridge]

Text Stories

  • Carly’s Crowd!  (Pages: 18)  [Artist Peter Wilkes]
  • Ben (Pages: 42) [Artist Claude Berridge]

Photo Stories

  • Computer Crazy  (Pages: 11-15)
  • Gabby’s Own Goal (Pages: 34-39)
  • Sammi’s Stars  (Pages: 60-63)
  • Christmas Past  (Pages: 85-90)
  • No Christmas for Carol (Pages: 117-121)

Features

  • Merry Christmas…  (Pages: 2-3)
  • Table of Contents  (Page: 4)
  • What’s Cookin’? Easter Yummies  (Pages: 10)
  • Abracadabra  (Pages: 16-17)
  • Do Not Disturb!  (Pages: 26-27, 66-67, 98-99)
  • Make Your Own…Snowstorm!  (Page: 33)
    • Reworked from Bunty Annual 1987 (Snow in Summer)
  • Pet Pin-Up (Pages: 40, 64, 111)
  • Top Dogs  (Pages: 41)
  • Flower Power!  (Pages: 50-51)
  • Summer Specials Party Foods for inside or out!  (Page: 52)
  • Telly Mission!  (Pages: 68-69)
  • Autumn Apple Surprise (Page: 70)
  • Ha-Ha-Happy Christmas (Page: 76)
  • Green Scene  (Pages: 82-83)
  • What’s Cookin’?  Christmas Crackers  (Page: 97)
  • Great Grandma’s Sweet Shop Secrets, (Pages: 109-110)
  • …And a Happy New Year!  (Pages: 126-127)

(Click on thumbnails for bigger pictures)

 

The Painting [1989]

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  • The Painting –  Bunty:  #1663 (25 November 1989) –  #1672 (27 January 1990)
  • Art: Norman Lee

Plot

Life had been tough for the Blakes since Mr Blake lost his job, money was tight and there were lots of arguments. They get a new start though, when Mr Blake inherits a cottage from his aunt. Emma and her younger brother Bobby, settle quite quickly and Emma is sure they will all be happy in their new home. Mr Blake even gets an interview for the local supermarket. While clearing out some things, Emma has a rummage around the attic and comes across a parchment with a warning, surrounded by twigs and leaves. Not knowing its meaning she looks under the sheet behind it and finds a portrait of a lady who bears an uncanny resemblance to herself. A strange voice tells her to take the painting from the attic, and she suggests to her Dad, to do just that. While her Mum is unsure about hanging it as there is something about the eyes she doesn’t like, Emma snaps at her. She soon apologies, not knowing what made her act out. Later the painting  tells her to burn the rowan that was in the attic. She does, but the wind catches the bonfire and nearly sets the thatched roof on fire, luckily Bobby alerts their parents in time to stop it.

When Mrs Blake decides to sell the painting, Emma is haunted by dreams where the girl from the painting tells her “we are one” and to stop her being sent away. Emma tries to turn her parents against each other, as Mr Blake does think they should keep the painting, but Mrs Blake wins out.  But when Emma causes trouble with her Dad’s interview clothes and mum gets blamed, he  decides he’s not going to trouble of contacting dealer about the painting. The painting also causes trouble when Bobby gets a puppy, but it is the dog that is blamed for the trouble and Bobby has to take him back to  where he got him from. Meanwhile at home, Mrs Blake still senses something is wrong with the painting and that nothing has gone right since they found it. Taking it down and covering it up breaks its hold on Emma, though she can’t remember what she did while under it’s influence. Returning the pup to their neighbour, Miss Bonner, she has some interesting revelations, when she hears about the pup barking at the painting. She says the girl in the painting was also named Emma and she will come and talk to their parents about the painting. Later at home, even though being covered weakens it, the painting still has enough hold over Emma to uncover it, so it can command her to to stop Miss Bonner from interfering. She sets a fire at Miss Bonner’s house, making her look absent minded, so Miss Bonner’s nephew uses it as an excuse to send her to a nursing home. Miss Bonner knows the other Emma would be proud but warns Emma to take care.

When Mr Blake runs into an art dealer, Mr Carter, he comes to look at the painting. He confirms what  Miss Bonner said, that the portrait is of a girl named Emma. Present Emma, meanwhile sets the dealer up so it looks like he was going to steal an antique vase. While Mr and Mrs Blake are glad they didn’t sell the painting to a “con-man”, Bobby is suspicious. He does some investigating and manages to get a recording of Emma talking to the painting, but it is destroyed. Still not defeated, Bobby tries to show his parents whats happening in person, but Emma’s too quick for him. Bobby’s next stop is to go to Mr Carter to enquire about a book he mentioned. We get the history of portrait Emma – Emma Lukin was proven to be a detestable witch of terrible power in 1689.  Before she was burned at the stake, an artist painted her portrait and she declared, that one day when she meets her likeness she shall be alive again. Bobby gets photocopies of the story but the Portrait’s powers are getting stronger and  she makes Emma appear in front of Bobby, causing him to swerve on the road into a car. Luckily he is not seriously hurt but Emma makes sure he can’t remember anything.

Emma Lukin is growing more powerful, when Emma Blake  expresses concern for Bobby, she tells her witches don’t cry and gets her to turn cold. Mr Carter hearing about the accident tries to deliver the book to the Blakes but Emma sets it on fire and Mr Blake thinks Carter was trying to fire bomb them! Bobby’s memories aren’t completely gone and after having a dream he goes to Miss Bonner for help. She gives him some rowan to protect him, while his parents go to visit Miss Bonner. Meanwhile Lukin is ready to take over Emma completely and merge with her. Bobby interrupts them and Lukin almost kills him, but Emma saves him. Her tears for her brother destroys the magic of the painting and it dissolves. When the Blakes return, her father is disbelieving at first, then seeing the evidence he cant deny it. They clear Carter’s name, Miss Bonner moves back to her cottage and everyone can have a fresh start again.

Thoughts

Stories involving an object with powers over the protagonist, is a big part of girl’s comics. These objects take many forms, such as toys, statues or often it is a piece jewellery such as in The Power Over Paula or In Paula’s Place but evil influence from a painting is also popular. The paintings usually bear a resemblance to the  protagonist (often because they are an ancestor) and the person may have been accused of witchcraft, Penny and the Portrait is another example of this type of story. This story is interesting in that not only does the Painting have control over Emma, she also wants to physically merge with her taking her over completely. There is some very creepy imagery in the last episode, as Witch Emma reaches out from the painting to join with other Emma. Although for the most part we might think the protagonist will win out like they usually do, any doubts we might have is spoiled a bit by the cover of the issue which tells us how the Painting will be destroyed! Still it is a lovely cover and I did like when the comics depicted stories from inside.

It is good to see the sibling bond between Bobby and Emma, while Emma becomes more lost in the painting’s influence, Bobby is the more proactive, investigator. I like that as the painting gets stronger, Emma also gets more supernatural powers. It is also well done that they save each other in the end, Bobby interrupts the spell and Emma saves him from falling. Love and Emma’s tears undoing the witch’s spell is fitting with the narrative, as it seems in this story to be a successful witch you must close off all your feelings. It’s good to see that more people are suspicious of the painting too, helping Emma, even if its unwittingly at times. Mrs Blake always feels an unease with the painting, and covering it up does make it’s powers wane, Mr Carter goes out of his way to try and warn the Blakes about the Painting (getting arrested in the process!) and Miss Bonner also tries to warn them and gives the rowan to Bobby to protect him. Mr Blake is the biggest disbeliever, which makes it harder for the others to get rid of the panting. An odd thing was that it is heavily implied that Miss Bonner’s nephew wants to move her into a home so he can get the cottage, but in the end, when she is proven to be sane, he has no problem with her moving back in. Perhaps they just wanted happy ending for Miss Bonner and didn’t have time to develop that subplot as it wasn’t important to the main  story.

Not essential for the story but I did note that at this time in Bunty, it seems some stories didn’t have a consistent story logo, so the font style for the title kept changing. It seems like an odd choice, but it may have been Bunty was experimenting with look and style at this time, as it was just after they changed to glossy paper and had more full colour strips. This is one of the stories that got to make use of have of having full colour and the art by Norman Lee is quite vibrant, like I mentioned the painting is very creepy at times and I liked the flashback to the witch’s story. The pacing of the story is also good, as we see Emma lose control more, Bobby’s desperate investigation and potential allies being defeated by the witch.

 

 

 

Bunty Annual 1978

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Picture Stories

  • Heartbreak House  (Pages: 6-10) [Artist Colin Merrett]
  • Super Gran  (Pages: 11-16) [Artist A E Allen]
  • Publicity Pam  (Pages: 20-24)
  • Gertie’s Ghost   (Pages: 28-32) [Artist A E Allen]
  • Maid Marion  (Pages: 33-39) [Artist Selby Donnison]
  • Girl Friday  (Pages: 40-44) [Artist Charles Paine]
  • Shrinking Violet  (Pages: 45-48)
  • Superstitious Cindy  (Pages: 52)
  • The Redwell Ring   (Pages: 53-57) [Artist Mike White]
  • Nurse Dinkum   (Pages: 60-64)
  • Catch the Cat  (Pages: 65-71) [Artist Robert MacGillivray]
  • Tillie the Trier   (Pages: 72-73)
  • Pamela Pet Finder  (Pages: 74-77) [Artist A E Allen]
  • The Cheddar Mob  (Pages: 81-84)
  • The Four Marys  (Pages: 85-96) [Artist James Walker]
  • Dancer of Despair  (Pages: 100-106) [Artist: Andy Tew]
  • The Travels of Tillie  (Pages: 107-109) [Artist: Rodney Sutton]
  • Sandra Deane – Hairdresser  (Pages: 110-112) [Artist: George Martin]
  • Paula Painter   (Pages: 113-117) [Artist: Peter Kay]
  • Toots   (Pages: 120) [Artist: Bill Ritchie]
  • Watchdog Winnie  (Pages: 121-125)

Text Stories

  • The Fairy-Tale Princess   (Pages: 25-27)
  • Belinda the Baby with a Bite!  (Pages: 49-51)
  • That Horse Must Go!   (Pages: 97-99)
  • Julie Plays her Part!  (Pages: 118-119)

Features

  • There’s More Ways Than One – of having Fun!   (Pages: 2-3 , 126-127)
  • Table of Contents  (Pages: 4-5)
  • Bunty’s Cut-Out and Colour Wardrobe   (Pages: 17)
  • Eyes for the Blind   (Pages: 18-19)
  • Heads You Win!  (Pages: 58-59)
  • Works of Wax  (Pages: 78-80)

(Click on thumbnails for bigger picture)

 

Tina’s Tin Twin (1977-1978)

Bunty, , ,

Plot

Tina Tomkins is not a bright pupil although her father is a famous scientist. One day, Dad builds a robot double of Tina, named Tara, which can learn any subject in minutes. Unfortunately, Tara turns evil.

Notes

  • Translated into Dutch as ‘Gloria’s robot tweelingzusje’ (Gloria’s robot twin) – Kitty #3 (1980)
  • Translated into Spanish as “Tina y su doble” (Tina and her double) and published in ‘Lily’ in 1984
  • Image from Spanish translation

Appeared

  • Tina’s Tin Twin – Bunty: #1031 (15 October 1977) – #1045 (21 January 1978)

No Place Like Home [1991]

Bunty,
  • No Place Like Home –  Bunty:  #1721 (05 January 1991) –  #1731 (16 March 1991)
  • Reprinted: Bunty #2127 (17 October 1998) – #2137 (26 December 1998)
  • Reprinted and translated into Dutch as “Nergens thuis…” (Nowhere a Home…) –  Tina #33/1993-43/1993.
  • Art: Eduardo Feito

Plot

Josie Small had been fostered by the Keegans for most of her life, and Megan Keegan, who was the same age as her, was was her best friend. So she is surprised when the posh Farmers arrive and want to adopt her. It is agreed that for a trial period she will live with them, to see how they get on, but Josie is sure she will be back with the Keegans at the end of it. The Farmers are certainly generous people, they take Josie on a shopping trip and pamper her, at their house she has a big room with whatever she needs. Still even after a week of being with the Farmers, she feels like they are being polite strangers rather than family. This is more apparent on an exam day where Josie misses Mum Keegan’s customary hugs. That day after the exam, she goes home with Megan and forgets to ring Mrs Farmer, who is upset at Mum Keegan for this. When Josie explains to Mrs Farmer that she wanted to use their encyclopedias for history assignment, the Farmers buy her a whole set and make a study for her.

Josie would much prefer the Farmer’s affection than material things, but the Farmers keep buying her things. This causes Megan and Josie have a falling out, because Megan thinks Josie is taking advantage of the Farmers as Josie said she hadn’t intentions of staying with them. In the heat of the moment Josie says she will stay with her new family. She regrets this and after few days she goes around to make up. She gets a surprise when she finds another foster girl there. Megan doesn’t let her know it’s a temporary situation and a spiteful classmate, Susie, stirs up more trouble questioning why the Keegan’s never wanted to adopt her. Back at her new home she overhears a conversation making Josie think the Farmers only want her because its good for Mr Farmer’s career. Feeling unwanted by both families, she decides she needs to just look out for herself.

When she agrees to be adopted, the Farmers throw a party, to celebrate, when they mention inviting Mr Farmer’s boss, for Josie it’s further proof of their priorities. Josie throws a tantrum when Mrs Farmer takes her shopping, to get a more glitzy dress and other things, but of course it doesn’t make her feel better. At the party, Josie does hit it off with the boss’s daughter Melanie, but soon she finds out about her selfish and manipulative ways. After Mum Keegan drops a gift around to wish her luck, Josie starts having doubts about the adoption. When she goes to talk to the Farmers about these doubts, they say that the adoption was able to be put through quicker than normal and they’ll explain how one day. Josie thinks like everything else they used money to speed things up.

She tries pushing boundaries but only seems to do herself more harm instead (too many late nights, lots of chocolate etc). She feels isolated and alone, so is happy when Megan seems to be willing to make amends and invites Josie to her birthday party. Things go well at first, but she does not realise that Mrs Farmer slipped money into the pencil box that she bought Megan as a present. Megan feels insulted, thinking Josie is showing off but doesn’t want to make a scene at the party. Not knowing  what went wrong, Josie is so desperate for a friend she invites Susie over. When that doesn’t work out because  Susie is jealous of what Josie has, she is convinced by Melanie to go to a concert with her. Then Melanie abandons her and Josie feels scared but has no way home. Luckily Megan knows where she has gone and let slip to Mum Keegan. Mr Farmer picks Josie up after a policewoman had found her.

The Keegans and Mrs Farmer are waiting back at the house and Mrs Farmer collapses from the strain of it all. It’s only after this that many revelations come out, Josie snaps at Keegan’s saying they don’t have to stay, because if they cared about her they would have adopted her. Then Mum Keegan reveals she couldn’t adopt her, because she had taken her in for friends until they could return. It turns the Farmers are actually Josie’s biological parents! Not long after Josie was born Mr Small went to jail for fraud, it was too much for Mrs Small who collapsed and didn’t feel well enough to care for Josie. When Mr Small got out of jail, they changed their name to Farmer and went abroad to build a new life for Josie to be proud of. Mr Farmer apologises to Josie for taking much longer than they thought and hopes she will be able to learn to love them. Josie needs time to think and Megan goes to talk to her. With everything out in the open, Megan apologises as she didn’t know how mixed up Josie was feeling, they make up and promise to remain sisters even if they are different homes. With Megan’s support, Josie goes to see her mother. More apologies ensue as Mrs Farmer says they genuinely thought Melanie would be a good friend but from now on they will let her choose her own friends. They all agree to start over and Josie feels lucky to have two families that love her.

Thoughts

This story draws some comparisons to the previous post. Both are family dramas with revelations about biological parents, girls moving to homes with a different socioeconomic backgrounds then they are used to and misunderstandings causing problems and loneliness. Like Margo, Josie has our sympathy and shows that even when she acts out, she is good person at heart. There are several times that she says she will just look out for herself and she doesn’t care about any one else, but she finds its not that easy to change. Such as whenever she gets hope that maybe her parents want her for herself, she is automatically willing to give things another chance, but then that is ruined when she interprets the Farmers actions as just caring about career and money.

When it turns out the Farmers do want her and are actually her biological parents,  that optimism must still be there as despite a slight hesitation she does accept them quite quickly after that. I think the Smalls/Farmers are forgiven a bit too easily, whereas in Misfit Margo, the Taylor’s reasons for giving up Margo and their actions afterwards make them likeable characters, the Farmers are harder to warm up to. Their reasons for giving Josie up at first are reasonable, with Mr Farmer being in prison/penniless and Mrs Farmer having a weak disposition they weren’t able to care for Josie.  What makes less sense is that in going away to build up a good life for Josie they seemed to overshoot what they actually needed. They could have returned earlier with a more modest wealth, or they could have gotten in contact with her sooner and kept in touch with her. Their priorities are wrong, believing money is what their daughter wants/needs instead of affection and boundaries (with Mr Farmer’s crime being fraud it may indicate that wealth/status has always been important to them). Their treatment of the Keegans is not great either, they are wanting Josie to forget about them and Mrs Farmer is not looking for any advice from Mum Keegan, not a great way to treat people who were supposedly friends. It can come across as snobbish,  but also as another weakness of the Farmer’s just wanting to brush away their shame, not having any reminders of the past. I do wonder when they planned to tell Josie the truth about everything! It is good to see they are wanting to change in the end but they have a lot of work to do.

The Keegan’s aren’t all innocent either, they are quite harsh on Josie at times, even if some of it is because of misconception. Megan has the excuse of being young but Mum Keegan should know better. Considering how Mrs Farmer is treating Mum Keegan, you’d think she might be wary of how things are going for Josie, even if she didn’t want to interfere. Also being a foster mother she should have more understanding how disruptive it can be for a child to change homes.  So her blaming Josie for everything seems too hard “From the look of you, you’ve made a real mess of things since the Farmers adopted you”. The ending has things tied up a bit too quickly for my liking but I think Josie and Megan’s reconciliation was done well  and it is nice to see everyone apologise and want to start fresh.

 

Travellers in Time [1992]

Bunty,
    • Travellers in Time –  Bunty: #1777 (01 February 1992) – #1788 (18 April 1992)
    • [Thanks to “Phoenix” for supplying the ending of the story]
    • Art: “B Jackson”

Plot

Clarissa is a well-off, high society girl who is visiting London for the first time. She gets into trouble when she tries to help out a waif, by the name of Beth. Running away from a constable they escape into a tunnel only to find themselves in the underground railway in modern London. They are both out of their depths, but they each add something to the alliance, Clarissa being educated reads newspaper to find out when they are, she also tries to get money from the bank as she assumes her ancestral family will still be wealthy, though she is not successful. Beth is more street smart than Clarissa and adds her usefulness that way, acting as a protector, she also recognizes the buildings as London but she is more wary of going to authorities for help and she doesn’t think they’d be believed. When they tell a sympathetic taxi-driver of their plight, she of course doesn’t believe them, but later she does help them get jobs in a cafe. Still adjusting to this time, after being paid £5 they think they’ve enough to live on for weeks. They soon find out while trying to get to Clarissa’s home in the country their “gold” coins don’t take them too far!

They do manage to get a drive part of the ways, to Kale, and having left their cafe job, they must find a new way to make money. In a shop, Clarissa sees a book with a painting  of her mother painted by her father. Later Beth gives away the cough medicine that Clarissa had bought for her mother, to a busker. Clarissa is angry about this until Beth points out that the picture they saw was from after they left, so her mother must have got better. Beth’s good deed helps them out when they try to earn money singing on the street, as the busker accompanies them on guitar. They get more money when they end up being  extras in a TV show from their time period. The director is impressed with their Victorian accents and mannerisms. Beth decides she will  take the director’s advice to become an actress as she decides she has nothing to go back for, instead she can have a life in this time. So the girls split up, they soon miss each other and Beth realises not being able to read or change her accent hampers her chances to be an actress.

Beth finds Clarissa again, who is glad, as she was missing her, particularly as Beth wasn’t around to help with some rough youths that stole her money. The gang return, but Beth and Clarissa escape by mixing in with a catering crew that are wearing similar uniforms. They end up at an auction, where Clarissa sees what she thinks is a family heirloom, a candlestick, being sold. They follow the man who bought it and grab it back. It’s only on closer inspection that she realises her mistake, but the candlestick is then stolen from them before they can return it. By coincidence while looking for Sidworth Manor, they meet a potential ally in Caroline but she is friend’s with the candlestick buyer, so when he shows up they run away again.

They do find a hopeful lead, when a professor giving a talk about time-travel, suggests the best hope for time travellers to return to their time would be by going somewhere familiar. They run into Caroline again and when they find the stolen candlestick, they also find a picture of Beth painted by Clarissa’s father. They conclude this is proof that they must find their way back. It seems the reason they haven’t been able to find Sidworth Manor was because it was turned into an art school. While Caroline doesn’t believe their story she does drive them to the school.When they arrive at the Manor, they end up in the cellars where Clarissa finds one of her old dolls. They see light ahead and follow it until they find themselves back in their own time. They are in what will become the new London Underground railway and are chided by a workman for going into the tunnels. When they emerge, they get some very strange looks as they are still in their modern short outfits. Clarissa’s father has been looking for them and when he finds them he covers them in his cape to protect their modesty. It seems while they were having their adventures, only a few hours had passed in their own time. When things have settled, Beth is given a home by Clarissa’s family and the father is talking about about turning Sidworth Manor into an Art School. His wife doesn’t think he will go through with it but Clarissa tells her mother that she would not be surprised if he did.

Thoughts

I like this time travel, fish out of water, mismatched buddies story. Time travel stories are fun, often they involve a girl getting sent back in time, but here it is two Victorian girls are sent to the modern times. Because it’s not just just two misplaced time travellers  but also mismatched friends, this adds another interesting element. The characters are very likeable as they are resourceful and in finding themselves in this strange setting with only each other to rely on, a friendship and understanding of each other soon develop. Initially they both make remarks on each other because of their respective backgrounds, like Clarissa remarking on Beth not being able to read or Beth bringing Clarissa down a peg when her family’s high standing doesn’t help them at the bank. Soon they do begin to appreciate each other and miss each other when they part ways. It’s also nice that both of them contribute something in handling their situation. Clarissa has good education but isn’t afraid to work hard to earn their money and Beth proves though she hasn’t schooling she is quite good at reasoning things out, such as when she figures Clarissa’s mother recovered from her illness.

Although they are eager to get back to their own time and sometimes they become distressed at the thought of being stuck (Clarissa in particular), it is mostly quite lighthearted. There is some nice snappy dialogue and the adjustments to modern world can lead to funny situations. The art by “Merry” is good, and does well in capturing Clarissa’s upper class and Beth’s lower class impressions, making them distinct, even when the majority of the story they are dressed the same. The girls do adapt surprisingly quick to their situation, when they get the job at the cafe, they just accept their uniforms (despite being considered immodest in their time) and even Clarissa who would not be used to such work, mucks in straight away to earn her keep. While they accept somethings readily, they are surprised by other things, such as the cost of living. When they buy some crisps, they believe the vendor is cheating them by not giving them change. Clarissa begins to believe everyone is a rogue in the city, when they buy other things, so it takes a little while to realise, everything is just more expensive. Things move along quite quickly as the girls try to make their way to Sidworth Manor, they don’t stay in one place too long, then in the penultimate episode seeing the picture of Beth, we know they do make it home, but we don’t know how they do it. It is nice to see that Beth and Clarissa continue their friendship, even when they return home and Beth who thought she didn’t have much to return to, is offered a home.