Category Archives: Bunty

The Four Marys

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  • The Four Marys – Bunty: #01 (18 January 1958) –  #2249 (17 February 2001)*
  • The Four Marys in the Footpath Fued (text story) -#25(5 July 1958) – #30 (9 August 1958)
  • Writers: Maureen Hartley (2 Stories: “Creefy’s Rival” and “The Mystery Virus”), Rhoda Miller, Judy Maslin [and other unknowns]
  • Artists:
    • Bill Holroyd (#01-#15),
    • Either James ‘Peem’ Walker or Jim Lorimer worked on the story after Holroyd. (1958-1981)
    • Manuel Cuyàs (#434 – #436)
    • Selby Donnison (1980s)
    • Jim Eldridge (Late 1980s – 2000s)
  • *Note: The Four Marys did appear in most issues including first and last issue, but there were times when it had a break or reprinted older stories, to see full list of stories check link below.
  • List of Appearances 

Plot

Four girls all named Mary attend a reputable boarding school, St. Elmos. They become firm friends and usually go by their nicknames Raddy, Simpy, Fieldy and Cotty. Throughout their time they have many adventures and solve some mysteries.

Thoughts

This is one of the most well remembered stories, and that has to be partially due to its longevity. A 40 year run is quite impressive. The strip appeared in the majority of the issues but wasn’t a continuous run from first to last issue. There was a couple of breaks particularly in the 80s, though they never went away for too long. There were some reprints over the years particularly towards the end of Bunty.

1950s/1960s

The first 15  issues were drawn by Bill Holroyd, and each girl had their own distinctive look.  The early years had an Enid Blyton tone to the stories, they had the usual boarding school routines,  as well as chase up some mysterious going-ons.

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While all the girls had their own personality and talents, Mary Simpson was probably one of the most inspirational to young girls. A smart working class girl, that had earned her place in a good school, yet had to contend with being looked down on by some snobs. Bunty in the late 50s was aimed at a more working class background and at the time it was quite a novelty to put a scholarship girl as a main character.  Overall it seems the big appeal of the story was the relationships and friendship of the girls. (Mel Gibson discusses such things in her essay: What Bunty did next….)

While it’s true that the friendships were very important, probably most people had their favourite Mary. Personally I always had a soft spot for Mary Cotter, the talented but often shy and clumsy Mary. Mary Radleigh was the daughter of an Earl but also hated anyone putting on airs and graces, she was loyal and down to earth and also could be lazy. Mary Field was the active sports mad girl, that could be a little too pushy at times. Of course 2 other regular characters were the snobs; Mabel and Veronica, who disliked Simpy for her lower class upbringing and the Marys in general for being popular and goody two shoes!

The boarding school itself was full of traditions. Dr. Gull was the head mistress, sometimes known as the Squawker (and the first years were called the Newts). While the girls were allowed to go to the local town, Elmbury, they were expected to behave appropriately, wear their full uniform and there were certain shops they weren’t allowed visit. Miss Creef was the third form mistress, who held up the various traditions but was also described as firm but fair.

Story arcs from this decade included; a mystery surrounding  a hermit teacher Miss Johnson who turns out to be a former student; Lady Josephine Bramily. She has amnesia after a boating accident. Luckily, Mary Simpson and head girl, Ann Fairlie, help her  recover her memories so she can go reclaim her inheritance. Another mysterious teacher Miss Mandy seems to have hidden past with a young cockney that involves thieving. The girls help a young girl Hilda secure a job as maid in the school, only to discover someone’s out to get her fired.  Mary Cotter damages her eye in a lab accident and  nearly does worse damage when she mixes up eye ointment with a bottle of bleach, luckily Simpy catches her in time, and eventually Cotty’s eyes recover (although by the end of the series, her eyesight declines and she ends up having to get glasses!).  Simpy is expelled for stealing, but the girls investigate and find the real culprit who had set up Simpy as vengeance against Simpy’s father. A group of girls dub themselves ‘the avengers’ and punish any girl that has done any wrong doing. Simpy discover that it is Raddy and Fieldy doing such things after they let her join them in dunking a cheating prefect Avril in a bath.

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Early on the stories usually consisted of 2 pages, though later this got expanded to 3 pages. The girls interestingly didn’t refer to each other by nicknames, for the first few years they continued to just call each other Mary. I’m not sure when exactly the change happened but it made sense to start giving them each a distinctive name to be referred as.

1970s

There was a lot of reprinted stories in the 70s.  It was quite common to reprint shorter serials in these comics and with a long running strip like the Four Marys it may have been hard to keep the weekly turnover of new stories. Presumably it was also thought that readers of the first printing would have outgrown the comic by then.

Some of the new stories included; the school being threatened by a flood. A cycle trip with the cycle club led by Miss Creef, Mabel and Veronica mess with Simpy’s old bike in the hopes of getting back to the school earlier. Simpy manages to borrow an old 3 wheeler bike and enter in a race. She doesn’t win but the winner gives her the prize of a new bike for being so entertaining. Cotty believes she is under a gypsy curse and those close to her are getting harmed, it turns out to be a combination of  Mabel and Veronica playing some tricks and a scheme to take over the school. Raddy has trouble looking out for her cousin Sonia.  A feud between Mr Crowe, a local farmer, and the school starts over the school using the right of way to walk through his land.

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1980s

Like I mentioned before the 80s saw the Four Marys on some breaks. On one of these breaks the regular ongoing story had some similar themes, involved 3 friends in a ballet boarding school called The Three Imps. Perhaps they were testing out permanent replacements or maybe they just needed a break, but the Marys did return again and with a new artist. At the end of the 80s a new format seemed to settle with the Marys. With them being the first story in the issue, and the more modern School’s Out (which was replaced with The Comp by 1989) as the last story of the issue. Dr Gull had been replaced by the more forward thinking Miss Mitchell, and the girls even got to interact with boys from St. Bartophs boarding school.  The end of 1989 was also when Bunty got a new colour update. While some stories were still in black and white, The Four Marys were now fully coloured.

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Some stories in the 1980s include the girls rallying a strike to stop Miss Creef being dismissed after a fall out with Dr Gull. A group of unruly circus girls joining the school temporarily. A new American pupil Lana  gets elected captain of the Bee’s House and wants to hold up all St. Elmos traditions including challenging the village boys to a football match, running barefoot down to the town and raising the house flag on the clock tower. A mystery involving the school’s founder Margaret Carews actual death. A temporary Home Economics teacher who has been secretly keeping her toddler daughter at the school. A competition sees the Marys all split up into different teams, this causes problems but in the end they all come together. St Elmo’s comes under threat of closure when they start to lose students, of course the school is saved with the help of the Marys.

1990s/ 2000s

So the 90s started with the Four Marys in colour and now expanded to 4 pages. The Four Marys was trying to change with the times, with the more up to date Miss Mitchell, continuing to modernise the school, and even Cotty stopped wearing her hair in 2 plaits. The girls were now frequently seen out of uniform as they were able to wear their regular clothes down town and like I mentioned before they were even mixing with boys. Still even with this more modern tone, the girls still has familiar adventures; dealing with new teachers with hidden agendas, threats to the school and tests of their friendships. By the end of the 90s earlier stories were reprinted a lot.

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Stories in the 90s included; Mary Field having trouble when her cousin becomes her teacher, causing the other girls to think she’s a teacher’s pet. The girls go on a trip to America with Miss Creef and help foil a jewel thief. The girls try to help a girl they believe is being held captive. It turns out the wheelchair bound, Ailsa, who just has an overprotective aunt, but agrees to let her join St. Elmos. When a famous fashion designer comes to St. Elmos to unveil her new collection, it seems someone is out to sabotage her.  A story set in the past shows the Marys first term in St. Elmos. Raddy gets held captive by robbers who coerce Miss Mitchell into letting them hide out the school. The other Marys soon get suspicious of the new “gardener” and Miss Mitchell’s story that Raddy was sent home sick.

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In the final story for The Four Marys, it looks like they will be split up when Cotty fails her exams and will have to leave St. Elmos. Luckily she passes her resit test, Raddy gets elected as form captain and Simpy ends the strip on line “The Four Marys forever”

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Final Thoughts

The Four Marys certainly had lasting power, although by the 80s/90s I think they were considered somewhat old fashioned, and so there was changes made to modernise them. At the same time the Marys were permanently stuck in the 3rd form, similar story-lines were repeated and in some ways they felt quite worn out. Still they appealed to a lot of readers. Personally growing up I did enjoy the Four Marys but I  was definitely more interested with The Comp. Funnily reading back the older issues even though it was before my time I actually find the 60s stuff appealing to me more, the art was more simplistic and it had a nice charm with the setting and stories. I think sometimes the Marys could come off a little too good and helpful at times, but still they weren’t without their flaws and their solid friendship it seems is one of the things that interested people.

The art changed a lot over the years and while the artists all did well, my personal favourites are  James Walker (60s) and Selby Donnison (80s).  There was a lot of adventure, mystery, fun and characters that you could get invested in.

Quick Links:

The Four Marys – Characters                                List of Appearances 

Pages: 1 2 3

The Mini Morgans

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  • The Mini Morgans – Bunty: #1634 (06 May 1989) – #1645 (22 July 1989)
  • Artist: George Martin

Plot

The Mini Morgans are Little People,  that perform as a circus act in 1885, along with their friend Martha Little. Unfortunately the circus has to close and while the owner thinks he can get Martha another job, for the Morgans he says the only option is to join a freak show. The Morgans are not happy with being considered freaks and Martha decides she will help find them jobs. The Morgans consist of Ada and Bert the older parental couple, Danny their son,  Holly and Jake a younger couple and Frank and Freddy.

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Along the way to find new jobs they have to deal with people’s prejudices as well as DeVere the owner of the Freak show trying to capture them. Danny is the first to get  job when he comes across a young catatonic girl Emily and manages to entertain her. The grandparents are so grateful that the offer him a place to live and to train him up as a tailor to work with the grandfather. Soon after that, a scheme by DeVere to capture the Morgans leads Ada getting hurt. They get her to a doctor, who tries to scam them saying she  will need an operation.  Luckily Martha also does some research on Dr. Dakin, and finds out he’s a scam artist, Ada will be fine she just had a concussion

Later Madame DeVere convinces Frank and Freddy to give her a chance only for her to steal their horse and burn their caravan. Holly is the romantic of the group while her boyfriend Jake is more gruff  and is not one to show his feelings. They get a job looking after chickens but on their first night a wild dog attacks the chickens, while trying to scare it off Jake is hurt. Unfortunately he doesn’t make it. Holly is devastated and doesn’t want to stay at the farm, but soon after Martha gets  gets Holly a job with a family of acrobats. Frank finds a girlfriend, Sally and gets married. Freddy rescues a girl in a fire, and in doing so catches the attention of a rodeo manager who gives him a job. So that only leaves Burt and Ada. Martha does some temporary acrobatics with family. When the parents decide it’s time to retire the son Davy suggests him and Martha could start their own trapeze act. Burt and Ada, see Martha has a chance of  love and job and decide to leave before she turns it down. Martha goes after them, she catches up with them just when Burt is  nearly killed when he rescues a dog from a flood. Burt and Ada get jobs as gardener and housekeeper with the dogs owner, and Martha feels she can move on now.

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Thoughts

There is a lot going on in this story. There is obvious drama but also some comic relief, with the way characters interact with each other, particularly with Frank and Freddy and Holly and Jake. There is also a good sense of family and closeness between the characters.

Holly and Jake are fun with her gushing romance and Jake being more of the gruff type but there is still the sense that he cares about her . His death is really unexpected and touching. We don’t actually see him die, but a doctor says it does not look good for him. It is well done with him declaring his love for Holly, then the next scene cuts to the next day Holly crying wanting to leave and a wordless panel with the Morgans comforting each other.

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While that is well done, it is strange that the next issue Jake never gets mentioned, presumably a bit of time has passed but still even in the caption box it basically says there is now only 5 Morgans left but doesn’t mention what happens. Though I suppose it seems that once a Morgan has moved on no matter what the circumstances they aren’t spoken of again. Ada and Bert have a tearful goodbye with their son Danny only for him  never to come up in conversation again.

DeVere drops off pretty suddenly as well. just before Holly gets her job, DeVere locks Martha up in order to convince the Morgans that she has abandoned them. She  leaves them with her card in hopes they will join her. Martha escapes of course and then the move on, and DeVere is never heard from again. Perhaps she thinks with only 4 of them its not worth her trouble any more as the whole point was to get the entire group, but its never explained what happened to her.

It is a nice story, the Morgans do have to deal with prejudice and being mocked. When things get tough, some of them even feel that maybe being in a freak show is their only option. Clearly Martha is a good friend and very close to them, but its also a bit sad that they sometimes feel a burden to her and that without her help they wouldn’t get much of a chance. I did like that when Martha is upset that Bert and Ada have left and she has to go find them, Davy points out that they are adults and would maybe like to look out for themselves. (Also its one of the few stories featuring little people that doesn’t involve magic, or some hidden society!)

The artwork is good, especially at portraying some of the more emotional scenes. There is plenty of action, drama as well as some humour to keep the story entertaining. The characters are very likeable and their is a nice sense of family and comradeship between them.

Pat the Brat

Bunty,
  • Pat the Brat –  Bunty:  #1638 (03 June 1989) – #1647 (05 August 1989)
  • Artist: Colin Merrett?

Plot

Pat Barnet, is a good tennis player but doesn’t have the killer instinct, she plays for fun not to win.  At some point in the past, her mother died of unnamed reasons, so it’s just her and her dad at home. Then her father gets in some serious trouble when he borrows money from a charity fund he is treasurer of to help out his own business, planning to pay it back later. An audit is coming up in 4 months and if he doesn’t replace the money by then, he is sure to go to jail.

Pat decides she must start winning cash prizes at tennis and show no mercy to other players. The other girls are surprised at this new attitude, especially when she does dirty tricks to get her opponents nerves, such as “accidentally” breaking a girl’s lucky racquet  and throwing people off their game by arguing with the umpire. She starts acting nasty in general, so not to give away the reason why she is suddenly so keen to win. She gets the nickname “Pat the Brat”  and she upsets her coach, Anne, even more when she refuses to play in charity match, as it means no money. This ends up with them going their separate ways.

Needing more money Pat goes onto a Europe tournament, she has to keep up her brat act, though one reporter Pauline suspects there is more behind this brat act. Just as Pat is regaining Anne’s trust, she notices Pauline watching so she has to act up again. Back home she goes for her last match against a nice girl Amy, and although she could probably win on her own merits,  just to be on the safe side she also shatters Amy’s confidence.

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She presents her dad with the money she’s won, so he can replace the money and things also are looking up for his business as he just landed a big contract. She goes on to explain to Anne about the situation, who understands the difficult situation she was in and also promises not to tell, though she does not condone her actions.  After their last match Amy has quit tennis. Pat tries to make amends  she talks with Amy and helps her get her confidence back.  She is also happy to be back playing tennis for fun.

Thoughts

Tennis was one of the more popular sport for girls to play in these comics, usually with an end involving winning some big tournament. Here instead of been driven by a need to prove her talent, Pat is doing it only to help her father. Even if she is quite talented she also feels the need to use dirty tricks as well, though her coach Ann points out their were many matches she could have just won with skill alone. While understandably Pat doesn’t want to take the risk, but it does mean the matches weren’t fairly won and that makes it harder to root for the protagonist.

pat_the_brat_01  pat_the_brat_02

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Overall the story is okay and the art is fine. In lots of ways it is hard to feel sympathy for some of the characters, especially the father. He is the cause of the trouble to begin with, once he mentions his concern that Pat is getting a bad reputation, but for the most part he is so distracted by his own problem he actually doesn’t take much notice of Pat.  He also tends to go around feeling sorry for himself, but not really doing anything pro-active to solve the problem. As for Pat there have been many characters that may act hard and nasty to cover their true feelings (for example The Seeker) but it doesn’t really excuse her actions.

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So yes there is a moral grey area, but I think the biggest problem I have with the story is actually that it’s a bit boring.  Even if I dislike some of the characters actions, it doesn’t make them un-likeable people, but mostly they are just bland and forgettable. I wasn’t eagerly awaiting to see what happened next.  I will say my  my story preference is more towards sci-fi stories or the unusual, but  that’s not to say I don’t like some of the grounded more soap like stories.  It may have appealed to other readers but personally I think this is one of the weaker stories printed.

Bunty 1995

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Bunty_Ann_1995Bunty had a long run of annuals, up to 1988 Bunty appeared on the covers, after that cover girls were used instead. There was still plenty of picture stories inside, long running popular characters like The Four Marys and The Comp are present, along with complete new stories.  In this book, there are 17 picture stories altogether, only 1 text story though.  By this time photo stories were a common element, still there are only 2 photo stories present here. There isn’t a lot of  features only 5 here. Overall there’s a nice variety here. (For just a list of contents click here)

 

Picture Stories

The Four Marys    (Pages: 5-12/ 76-80)

Artist:  Jim Eldridge

Probably the most famous of school stories and the longest running, the Four Marys was about 4 friends that attended a boarding school, St. Elmos. For the most part they went by nicknames to avoid confusion (though in early stories they did not).  Raddy was the down to earth- daughter of an Earl, Simpy was the scholarship girl, who often got a hard time from the snobs Mabel and Veronica,  Cotty was the artistic one and also sometimes a klutz, and finally Fieldy was the sporty one.

In this annual there are two stories about the girls. The first is a Christmas themed story. While most of the school has gone home for the holidays, a group including the four Marys and snobs Mabel and Veronica are left behind for a few extra days as their parents aren’t around yet. It starts to snow and the girls have great fun the first day having snowball fights and sledding. Then it continues to snow and the girls wake up to find the electricity gone. While Mabel and Veronica complain about everything, everyone else gets on with things. Later when the girls are out, another pupil Andrea has an accident and hurts her leg. The girls get her back to the school but she will need to get to hospital. The phones are down and the roads have yet to be cleared, but luckily Raddy is a great skier and manages to go for help. They get Andrea to hospital and also get supplies for the school. The roads still won’t be cleared for Christmas though so they will have to stay. The girls don’t mind so much. Though Mabel and Veronica amusingly do.

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The second story has Raddy become a snob after a skiing accident. A blow to her head causes amnesia, while her memories return, her personality changes. Her parents hope that being around friends will help her recover. While Miss Mitchell and Creef are aware of this plan they don’t actually think it would be helpful to inform the other Marys about Raddy’s accident, so they get a surprise when Raddy comes in and starts ordering them around. and insist everyone refers to her as Lady Mary. Another knock on the head cures her, though when Simpy accidentally drops a book on her head.

Secret Schoolgirl    (Pages: 17-20, 71-74, 97-100)

This is a story in 3 parts which was a more common trait for Mandy annuals.  Amy is at boarding school when she hears her parent’s plane has crashed and they likely haven’t survived. She has to go live with her aunt who is mean to her and treats her like a free maid.  The people at her new school aren’t any nicer, so Amy goes back to Blackstone and her friends agree to hide her. They find the perfect place in the drama room, which is situated near a classroom so she can hear lessons and also she can dress up in disguise quickly when needed. When Amy sees a new girl stealing she make sure she’s caught but also the police are called. She thinks it’s too much of a risk to stay and runs away when she sees the police coming.  She trips and knocks herself unconscious. When she wakes up in hospital her parents are there they had survives the crash after all. This was common when someone says that no-one is likely to have survived a crash, the dead people would turn up by the end of the story!

Annie’s Story     (Pages: 21-25)

Artist: Don Walker

The opening caption box for this story places the time period as April 1985 but judging by their dress and background it is meant to say 1895. Unless it’s some time warped village which would put an interesting spin on the reading or a reminder of Shyamalan’s The Village! Annie is new to the village but has fitted in well as she is a friendly, nice girl. This does lead to some trouble with two girls; Mary and Ellen. They are especially mad when it comes to picking the May Queen, Annie makes sure a young  disabled girl gets to be the Queen. This leads to a fight where Annie gets knocked onto an oncoming horse and cart. It is revealed that the family had moved to the village after Annie had nearly died from an illness and her eagerness to help of others is mostly due to her gratitude of surviving. On hearing this Mary and Ellen see the error of their ways and are very sorry about the accident.  By the next summer Annie is recovered and the 3 are good friends visiting sick kids in the hospital.

A Dancer’s Dream    (Pages: 26-32)

Artist: Guy Peeters

Hannah longs to be a ballerina and when she gets an audition for a scholarship at a famous ballet school she is thrilled. The audition is to take place over a weekend and Hannah is to room with 2 other candidates, Stephanie and Nicola. Hannah quickly becomes friends with Stephanie but Nicola is quite a nasty person, who makes sure to suck up to the teachers while trying to sabotage the other girls on the side. Hannah ends up being late for her audition as she tries to comfort a girl Gail that Nicola upset.

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Hannah thinks she may have lost her chance but it turns out Stephanie is already a student at the school and she was there to make sure that as well as being talented,  a generous and kind pupil was chosen. Predictable that Nicola would be found out, but still a decent story with decent art.

My Pen Pal From Pluto    (Pages: 33-39)

Artist: Matias Alonso

Alien antics are always fun!  Karen’s brother  Martin customises a satellite dish so he can  get channels from all over the world. It turns out the dish doesn’t just pick up transmissions from our world, as Karen finds herself communicating with a girl from Pluto; Aurora. No one believes her as she can never get Aurora to appear when people are around.  Aurora comes to visit for a day, and of course causes trouble when she does such things as put food samples in her bag saying they will be interesting for scientific study.

pen_pal_B95  pen_pal_2B95

Before a French lesson Karen tries to use Aurora’s language translator to help her, but Aurora’s too late in explaining you need to point it at the person who is fluent in that language. Aurora is beamed back to her ship before fixing it and Karen is left only able to speak Pluto. Luckily at their next transmission Aurora is able to fix Karen, just in time because the neighbours have complained and Martin has to take down dish.

I like the alien Aurora design, though she still looks close to human, it is still fun, which matches the fun, light-hearted tone of the story.

Bunty- A Girl Like You    (Pages: 48/123)

Artist: Andy Tew

Bunty gets up to her usual amusing antics. In the first strip Bunty and her friends are annoyed by people in the cinema talking and eating loudly. Lisa convinces the girls that they can watch a video quietly while babysitting her cousins, but of course things don’t work out that way as the kids stay up banging on drums while the girls try to watch their film.

In the second strip Bunty builds a snowman but the next morning all the snow has melted. It starts snowing again so she build another one. Her mother tells her next morning her snowman is gone again but Bunty isn’t disappointed as this time it is because it snowed even more during the night and now she can build even more snowmen.

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Also of note is that Bunty appears on the first 2 pages and the last 2 pages inside the cover. It is more like the traditional way of the old Bunty; an amusing rhyme goes along with the images.

Pages: 1 2 3 4

It’s in the Book!

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  • It’s in the Book! – Bunty PSL: #336 (1991)
  • Artist:  J. Badesa

Plot

Sally Barton is a bookworm but her parents believe she should be out meeting new people and getting fresh air, so they sign her up for an adventure holiday on an American island. There are 7 girls signed up and their holiday leader is Miss Tuffnell. For no sensible reason (other than to serve the plot), Miss Tuffnell sails on in a powerboat leaving the girls by themselves following  in a motor boat. Fog splits the girls up from Miss Tuffnell and the end up drifting of course and landing on an uninhabited island. Janice a regular holiday adventurer and a bossy girl decides to take charge but it is Sally with all her book knowledge that is the better equipped to handle the situation.

After Janice leads them to the other side of the island where there is little food and only cliffs, Janice overhears Sally telling Liz they would be better off on the beach where they can fish and have better chance of being seen. Janice decides to present this idea to the rest of the girls as if it was hers. On their way back they run into a swamp with a crocodile but luckily get safely back to the beach. Janice does not like that Sally is taking control of things. While looking for firewood Janice sees she is being watched by some unidentified animal and runs back to camp. The situation starts taking its toll on her, Janice seems defeated and stops giving the orders. Sally and Liz discover Janice’s mysterious animal was a lost dog. The dog comes in handy when a storm washes away their supplies and he finds them again.  Also he leads his owners back to help the girls. Sally and the girls get home safely and promise to stay friends and keep in contact.

Thoughts

This isn’t the most original story, a bunch of people being stranded on an island has been told often enough, but it is still a good adventure story. Visually the island is interesting and well represented, from the swamps and dense forests to the open beaches and cliffs. There are no mysterious smoke monsters, just the normal hazards of islands like animals, storms and  poisonous food. While the girls do not crash on the island the boat does get swept away onto the rocks, which serves putting them in a difficult situation without dealing with injuries on top of it.

There are 7 characters and while visually distinctive most of them don’t have a lot to do. Of course the focus is on both Sally and Janice. Liz as Sally’s close friend gets to be supportive of her and put down Janice when needed. One other girl Eunice seems to have the trait of making things worse by scaring the other girls.

The other girls seem to be there just to complain or switch allegiances from Janice and Sally and follow who ever is favourable at the moment, like sheep. It is a short book so I supose can’t expect everyone to form distinct personalities. Both Janice and Sally get time to develop. Janice actually gets the most development. She goes from being bossy, arrogant and jealous to scared and unsure. She gets back to taking charge again but it is more driven by fear after the dog runs off and she forms a group to follow him. While bossy and jealous she is never shown to be nasty and softens up a lot by the end. Sally throughout maintains her practical and level headed attitude. She does gain friends that will take some of her time from reading and she is happier about the holiday than she was in the beginning but overall she stays the same. It is nice to see the bookworm triumph!

I do find Sally’s parents attitude quite funny. When they send her on holiday, I get that they want to her to socialise and exercise and such, but you wouldn’t think having a daughter that likes to read would be such a problem.

I don’t think reading too much is something that needs to be cured, it’s not something I want to be cured of anyway!

 

Yesterday’s Children

Bunty,
  • Yesterday’s Children –  Bunty:  #1605 (15 Oct 1988) – #1614 (17 Dec 1988)
  • Artist: Dudley Wynne

Plot

Two girls, Sally and Heidi, are on their way to a school camp when they get lost in some fog. They decide to camp out until the fog clears and soon fall asleep. When they wake up they find a sign for a village Little Swaydon, that isn’t on their maps. They find a very quaint village and everyone dressed up in old fashioned clothes . At first they assume some sort of pageant is going on, but then the villagers start getting aggressive and end up  locking them in stocks. They are helped by a young girl Mary who believes they are witches.

They in turn help her with her sick brother. They discover he has an earache and Heidi uses her hot-water bottle, to help ease the pain.  Soon the rest of the villagers come for help from the girls and their “magic” bag of tricks. The girls stay at Mary’s house and get jobs with the local squire. They use their bag of equipment to help out. They are quite shocked at some of the hardships of the time; particularly the way women and children are treated. They try to bring some modern thinking to the people. Including encouraging the Squire’s daughter, Jane, to go to art college. But unfortunately the Squire wants to marry off to an unpleasant man, Lord Boshley, to settle his debts.

Jane actually has her eye on someone else and on the day of her wedding plans to elope with an inventor, James. The squire catches her but the girls interrupt the wedding by setting off stink bombs. An even bigger interruption happens when the dam breaks. The girls help get a lot of people to safety but are swept away themselves. When they get to dry land they find themselves back in the present. They are eager to find out what happened to the village. They learn that it was flooded but most got out safely thanks to some witches, and Jane ended up marrying James, having a museum dedicated to them. Their friend Mary went to work for them and they all went to America. Even the squire managed to get their debts paid off.

Thoughts

The art is done by Dudley Wynne probably most famous for the strips ‘Valda’ and ‘Angel’ Mandy.  Although he has drawn modern stories, his style seems to particularly suit historical stories, he captures the dark and grimy look of the past.

Its actually a few issues in before the girls actually realise they are in the past. While at first they think the village is doing some pageant, when it becomes evident they aren’t playing about, they think the villagers have decided to opt out of the modern world. It is a slow realisation that they are actually back in the past.

Most of the story-lines involve the girls helping around the village. Because of their modern gadgets they are considered witches. This is nothing new for stories involving time travel to the past, new inventions  seem like magic.  Despite some hardships and the girls objecting to some standards particularly how women and children being treated, it balances these with some humorous situations, such as stealing the neighbours cockerel so he doesn’t disturb the Tench family.  The neighbours son lose their jobs as they aren’t woken up in the morning. They solve this by giving them an alarm clock and get them new jobs as well.

There is a good variety of characters in the village. The girls main friends though  are Mary Trench and Jane. They try to help Jane escape a marriage to Boshley which they consider a fate worse than any prison sentence. Luckily they manage to disrupt the wedding and the dam bursting puts off any chances of repercussions. The girls help get most people to safety, though they get caught up in the water themselves along with another villager. While they end up back in the present, he is not so lucky.

The story while dark at times, it has it light moments too. The girls spend their time in the past trying to help people, and particularly get better treatment for the women of the time. They are accepting of their circumstances. That’s not to say it is an immediate acceptance, they are frightened at the thought of never getting back to present but they don’t dwell on it.  Its nice to see them concentrate on their relationships with the people around them. While the girls get back to the present as suddenly as they left, the story is still  nicely wrapped up, all the important characters get their ending.

 

The Secrets of Charlie Chatterbox

Bunty, , ,
  • The Secrets of Charlie Chatterbox – Bunty: #1603 (1 Oct 1988) – #1615 (24 Dec 1988)
  • Artist:  Norman Lee

Plot

Fiona Parker is given an old ventriloquist dummy named Charlie. Only Charlie can really talk and he convinces Fiona to start performing with him. Money is tight for her and her mother, who is a widow. Mrs. Parker is working all hours to provide for them, so Fiona sees this as an opportunity to help out. Things don’t run smoothly for Fiona when Charlie  causes problems by insulting people. Also she is worried as he seems to have an agenda of his own.

They make an enemy of a wealthy influential woman, Mrs. Grant, when Charlie insults her. When Mrs. Grant tries to get her own back, Charlie  soon puts her in her place as he knows some of her family secrets. Charlie is eager to tour about the old theatres, and when Fiona catches the eye of agent Ted Alcorn, they get their opportunity to tour.  Fiona starts to suspect Charlie is up to something when she finds him rooting around Alcorn’s office.

He also scares Fiona at times, and he comes across as threatening. She is particularly cautious after an old stage hand, Bob,  appears to have been attacked and Charlie has blood on his sleeve. Fiona gains some advantage with Charlie as she realises he needs her to carry him around. Then they get an opportunity to appear on TV, while on TV he sings his special song and it appears to have affect on another doll Daisy-Belle, who is owned by two old ladies. Meanwhile Mike Harris, a reporter, is investigating Charlie, after a magician  Solesto who tried to steal Charlie, and who claimed Charlie could talk. Harris follows Charlie, but Charlie gets the better of him locks him in a shed. He goes for Daisy Belle who is delighted to see him. He wants Fiona to perform with both of them. Instead Fiona decides to retire and gives Charlie to the old ladies. Mrs. Parker has put away enough money to open up a shop, so money won’t be a problem any more. Mike not being able to report on the talking dummy, writes a “fictional” novel about Charlie, which gets turned into a film. He shares the profits with Fiona and also ends up marrying her mother.

Thoughts

This is a story that can go in the classic list. It is mysterious and creepy, with good characters and nice atmospheric art. The story was published around the same time as horror film Child’s Play came out. The film has Charles “Chucky” Lee Ray a serial killer possess a doll. So while there is no serial killer aspects to this story there does seem to be a few similarities. But The Secret of Charlie Chatterbox is actually the scarier of the two and definitely the better story.

There is a slow build up to what it is Charlie is after, you also don’t know what he is capable of doing to get what he wants and Fiona definitely doesn’t know whether to trust him. He is quite nasty to Fiona at times, calling her stupid and threatening/blackmailing her. The readers do see some sort of a redemptive side to him when the old stage hand sees Charlie walking around, he has a heart attack and Charlie tries to help him. Charlie calls an ambulance, but he does let Fiona believe it was him that attacked him to keep her doing what he wants.

He makes trouble for Fiona with other people on the theatre tour, being rude to them. Charlie also keeps Fiona going along with things by making her feel guilty about her mother working all the time. When Fiona gives out to him about his rudeness, he makes things difficult by not speaking on stage. In the end though he has a rough manner, his objective is to find his love Daisy Belle.  He would not really go through with any threats.

The story is developed well. There is a nice progression in the story. Even hints of what Charlie is after, such as when he gets upset when Fiona says she doesn’t care who he used to sing his song to. The character of  Mrs Grant and her daughter could have been the typical snobs and antagonists throughout the whole thing, instead she is quickly dealt with and the plot moves on focusing more on Charlie. Mrs. Grant after being insulted, fires Mrs. Parker so you are glad to see her get her comeuppance when Charlie reveals her family secrets on stage. But it also shows Charlie’s nasty streak and that he obviously has a lot of knowledge and history.

The dynamic between Charlie and Fiona is well done. Fiona is doing the gig to help her mother and sometimes Charlie scares her. But at the same time she isn’t afraid to argue with him and point out his rudeness. She also gets the better of him at times like when he won’t speak she starts singing his song to get a reaction out of him. Charlie can be scary particularly in the early issues. But he also is very set on achieving his goal. So rather than any real maliciousness on his part, he is just trying to reunite with his love, which sometimes makes him oblivious to others around him. Its interesting to see how Fiona and Charlie interact together.

While Fiona and Charlie have the main dynamic, side characters do get a bit of time too. Mike is an ambitious reporter, knowing he could have a great story on his hand, but he is also a nice guy he is actually concerned about ruining Fiona’s career if he tells Charlie’s story.  Eddie and Liz are acting as chaporones to Fiona, they seem to mostly be there to get the brunt of Charlie’s rudeness, but they do try to help Fiona out.

How Charlie and Daisy Belle could talk in the first place is never explained. They touch on it in the last issue but it is a  bit of a cop out as they say we’ll never know!

 

But on the other hand the focus of the story is more concerned with Charlie finding Daisy Belle and his relationship with Fiona. So I guess there really isn’t a need to know why he can talk and it can be fun to come up with theories.

So my verdict is this was a good strong story, nice build up to its conclusion, a good mystery and creepy in parts. It is also well drawn, the framing and use of shadows to make Charlie more imposing despite his size, is good and the character of Charlie should be remembered as one of the greats.

 

Mirror Image

Bunty, ,
  • Mirror Image – Bunty PSL: #437
  • Artist: Veronica Weir

Plot/Thoughts

This is a story about Alternate Worlds. I personally love stories with alternate worlds, Fringe, Man in the High Castle, It’s a Wonderful Life are some of my favourite stories. While this story doesn’t reach the high levels of storytelling of the latter, it is still a fun read.

The main character, Donna, isn’t too happy with her life. She wishes that her family and life was different. She would like to live in a better modern house and have parents that are less eccentric and more attentive like her friend Denises. Denise on the other hand thinks Donna has a great life, a good family, a cool house and Donna is an A student.

When her Mum buys an old  three way mirror at an antiques fayre, Donna discovers it has special qualities.

 

So she is able to travel to alternate dimensions. She finds her first wish coming true, as in this world her parents are well off so she lives in a big modern house and has expensive clothes and all she ever wanted. Her mother is a famous professional artist and her father is a successful business man. Of course things aren’t as perfect as they first seem, her father is all smarmy calling her princess all the time and at her mum’s art exhibition she has a very boring evening with her parents ignoring her. Things don’t get any better when she goes to school next day and finds her friends are all stuck up. Having enough of this world she travels back to her own world. She discovers that hardly any time has passed in her world. Out of curiosity she decides to check out other dimensions.

She finds herself in a life where she isn’t smart and struggles at school. Her home life is dreary, her parents are strict. Her mother’s an art teacher and a dragon of a teacher. Which doesn’t make Donna popular with other students.

Donna is quick to leave this world and she decides she has enough of travelling to other worlds. But when she goes to talk to her parents they are both too busy to talk, feeling fed up Donna decides to give the mirror another go. She finds herself in a similar world to her own except that her and Denise are partners in competitive disco dancing. When Denise makes a mistake at a competition, Donna’s mum is quick to get rid of Denise and get Donna a better partner.  It turns out she’s a very pushy controlling stage mum, Donna begins to appreciate her own mother.

She is panicked when she discovers this mother has given away the mirror, she worries she will be stuck in this world forever, luckily she finds it at a jumble sale and is able to travel back. She is happy to be home and has realised she has a Wonderful Life after all.

It’s fun to explore alternate worlds. The art is good at representing the different people and worlds, Donna’s mother looks snobby in the first world , old fashioned in second world and sharp in the third world but they are all recognisable as the same person.  The moral is nothing new discovering that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, but its a fun story anyway.

 

 

The Change in Claire

Bunty, ,
  • The Change in Claire –  Bunty:  #1697 (21 Jul. 1990)  – #1708 (06 Oct. 1990)
  • Reprinted: Bunty #2165 (10 July 1999) – #2176, (25 September 1999)
  • Artist: Matías Alonso

Plot/Thoughts

Jane Cook is happy when she finds out her friend Claire is moving back to the neighbourhood, but Claire seems to have changed in her time away and has it out for Jane’s family. She starts out with small things, such as knocking over Jane’s books so Jane misses the bus, of course she acts all nice afterwards claiming it was accidental. It’s not just Jane she’s making trouble for though, Jane’s Dad’s car gets scratched and Claire causes Jane to break her Mum’s favourite teapot. After Claire turns the class against Jane, Jane is determined not to get tricked again and also get to the bottom of why Claire has changed.

When Jane’s cousin Andy comes to stay, his dog goes missing, Jane believes Claire has something to do with it she confronts Claire. It seems Claire has mistook Andy for Jane’s brother Mike. Jane begins to wonder if Claire has something against Mike in particular. After a trip to a funfair, Claire appears to be getting more dangerous, nearly pushing Claire’s Mum out of a ferris wheel carriage, while pretending to have vertigo.

Claire’s little tricks have now become more psychotic as she actually tries to injure some of Jane’s family. While out riding with her cousin Jenny, Claire startles the horse causing Jenny to fall off and get injured. She reveals to Jane that her change seems to be something to do with her sister Sara/Fay. ( It seems the writer/editors, had a hard time keeping track of Claire’s sister’s name. In issue 1697 it is Sarah, then in issue 1704, she is called Fay and in 1707-1708 she is back to being called Sara, though without a h!)

Continuing on the road of nearly killing the Cooks, Claire invites them over to the house while her parents are out. She acts all nice for a while, then pops out. She leaves the central heating on full blast, then locks all the doors and windows so they can’t escape.

Luckily Claire’s parents come home in time. Meanwhile Jane has discovered that Claire’s room is covered with pictures of Sara. (Jane describes it as a shrine, creepy much!?) Later Claire confirms that she is making the Cooks pay for what they did to her sister. Jane not having any idea what that could be, is happy that her brother Mike is coming home from college so she can talk about Claire with him.

Claire is excited her sister Sara is coming home too, she boasts a lot about her. Mike goes cycling on his new bike but Claire cuts the breaks, even though Jane can’t prove it. So another kill attempt, the girl is seeming like potential bunny boiler material!  After the accident Jane remembers  that Mike and Sara had been on an adventure holiday together a few years ago. Mike is reluctant to tell her the story, but does eventually.

His version of the story is that him and Sara were friends, but then she started to tell everyone  they were engaged and Mike didn’t know how to handle it.  (So I wonder how much of a casual “friendship” this was, either way Sara is delusional to announce their engagement. Seems this family is full of issues! ) So Mike not wanting to embarrass her waited til he was home and wrote to her saying he wasn’t ready for that sort of thing. I would think so, as Mike is just in college now and the holiday was a a year ago how old were they when Sara created this engagement? I’m guessing way too young to be planning a wedding.

So Jane tells Mike what has been happening. They go to see Claire. Sara is home and they are surprised to see her in a wheelchair. Turns out Sara had an accident on her horse a couple of weeks after Mike’s letter and Claire has blamed Mike  and hated his family since, because its rational to hold a vendetta against the entire family over what she perceived Mike did wrong. Anyway Sara knows it was just bad luck, and she was over the Mike break-up at that stage (would have been nice if she told Claire that!) Claire’s upset at this revelation.

In a few weeks everyone’s feeling better and apparently there are hints of Sara and Mike getting together, yep because nothing is  more attractive than a delusional girl and her psychotic sister, that nearly killed you and your family. Seriously hope Claire got some professional help, her obsession with her sister and basically attempts to kill people isn’t something that should be that easy to get over in a few weeks….in the real world at least!

 

The Sailor Doll / Sam

Bunty, , ,
  • The Sailor Doll – Bunty PSL: #265
  • Reprinted as  Sam –  Bunty PSL: #396
  • Artist: Peter Wilkes

Plot/Thoughts

This month is the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking.  I’m sure  with all the books on the subject that have been released and James Cameron 1997 film Titanic is being re-released in 3D, that it has been pretty hard to miss. So with the month that is in it I thought it was a good time to look at the story “The Sailor Doll”.

The story is drawn by Peter Wilkes and is a mystery/ ghost story involving a girl Jackie and a sailor doll that was on the Titanic. Jackie is going on a school trip with her friends Donna and Fran, they are taking the cruise ship “Odin” to New York then onto Disneyland for a week.  It must be some fancy school school these girls went to, if they can afford a cruise ship to America and a week in Disneyland on top of it. I also wonder about the logistics of the trip so they get a ship to New York then do they fly to Disneyland, because presumably if it’s in California that’s a really long drive to take!

As a mascot Jackie’s father gets her a sailor doll named Sam from a junk shop. When they are sailing off Jackie nearly drops Sam into the water. It’s the first sign that there may be something strange going on.

In the standard procedure of these stories,  more strange things happen when the girls keep finding their porthole window open and Sam beside it. At first these things are dismissed and Jackie’s friends are particularly cynical that there is something unusual with Sam. Then Jackie has a nightmare in which she is drowning she also see a young girl in old-fashioned clothing, looking for Sam.  While she tries to forget these nightmares and just have fun, she starts to see visions during the daytime.

 

So the only reasonable theories Jackie can have is that she is hallucinating or that Sam is trying to tell her something. Later from a tear in his jacket she finds a note.  She can’t read all the note but she can make out the date of  April 1912 and words “exciting, cold and  big ship” also the name of the ship ends in ‘anic’.  So Jackie researches the information and finds out about the sinking of the Titanic. I would have thought this is something she would of heard of before in school at some point but apparently not. She notices that there are similarities between the Titanic and the trip they are on now, they are travelling the same course, between the same dates and their captain is also name Smith.

Jackie tries to convince her friends that there is a connection with their trip and the Titanic. When more strange things happen Fran and Donna agree to help investigate. Jackie sees the young girl again and falls down steps chasing after her, ending up with a concussion. Fran decides to throw Sam overboard thinking if he’s gone all the trouble may stop. Jackie is upset when she finds out this, she is also convinced their ship is going to sink as well and only Sam could have helped them. Not sure how Sam could have helped him but instead of finding Sam sinister and creepy, Jackie thinks he is a good spirit.

Luckily it turns out Sam fell onto a lower deck when Fran dropped him so Jackie finds him again. She figures that the girl would have been saved if she hadn’t gone back looking for the doll, while Sam was rescued from the water and now he wants to be reunited with the girl. The girls decide they need to toss Sam overboard on  April 14  at 11.46pm.

After this the ship arrives safely at its destination. Fran and Donna believe they let their imaginations run wild but Jackie believes Sam and the girl are happily reunited.

The story is quite a common one; strange occurrences, ghosts and cynical friends. It has the more accurate historical setting which is a bit more educational than the usual made up ghost history. A lot of these tortured ghosts were looking to be reunited with a beloved item, if there is a lesson to be learned I think its if your ship is sinking/house is on fire/school collapsing etc… do not go back for your favourite toy/ locket because you will be killed and end up haunting some girl 60 years later.