Category Archives: Mandy

The Sorrows of Laughing Anne

Mandy, ,

Plot

Anne Foster cannot help laughing when she sees a woman in a funny witch-like hat – but then she finds out the woman is a real witch. The witch takes revenge with a curse that makes Anne laugh with a loud, hideous, uncontrollable cackle. This gets Anne into a lot of trouble at home and school. When it gets to the point where Anne’s father decides to send her to special school, she goes on a desperate search of the witch to get the spell lifted.

With the help of a lady who realises she is under a spell, Anne finds the witch. The witch falls into deep water and pleads for Anne to help her, as the water will destroy her powers. Anne is tempted to laugh at the witch’s plight because it looks so funny, but resists it and helps the witch out.

The witch is very impressed at this, but tells Anne she has already broken the spell herself by resisting the urge to laugh. So she returns the favour by making everyone forget the trouble the spell caused.

sorrows of laughing Ann

Notes

Appeared

  • The Sorrows of Laughing Anne – Mandy: #534 (9 April 1977) – #543 (11 June 1977)

Mandy Annual 1986

Mandy, , , , , , , , , ,

 MandyAnnual1986Picture Stories

  • The Annabell–Rose Doll (Pages: 4-13) [Art: Andrew Wilson]
  • The Slave Girls (Pages: 17-21)
  • Home of Last Hopes (Pages: 25-31) [Art: Richard Neillands]
  • Angel (Pages: 33-43) [Art: Dudley Wynne]
  • Goldie (Pages: 45-48)
  • One and One is One (Pages: 49-57) [Art: George Martin]
  • Fay’s Fantasy Family (Pages: 59-68) [Art: Ron Lumsden]
  • The Lady in Black [Damian Darke story] (Pages: 71-79) [Art: Jim Eldridge]
  • Mandy (Pages: 81) [Art: Claude Berridge]
  • Valda and the Guardians of the Tomb (Pages: 82-95) [Art: Dudley Wynne]
  • Susie’s Last Chance (Pages: 97-105) [Art: Tom Hurst]
  • It’s a Dare! (Pages: 108-112) [Art: Robert MacGillivray]
  • The Bridge of Sighs (Pages: 114-118) [Art: Norman Lee]
  • Lucky in Love (Pages: 120-127) [Art: Wilf Street]

Text Stories

  • Give a Dog a Bad Name (Pages: 22-24) [Art: Claude Berridge]
  • Cindy’s Gift (Pages: 69-70)
  • Terror! (Pages: 106-107)

Features

  • How Brave Are You? (Pages: 14-15)
  • What Every Girl Should Know About…. Ballet (Pages: 16)
  • What Every Girl Should Know About…. Beauty (Pages: 32)
  • What Every Girl Should Know About…. Flowers (Pages: 44)
  • What Every Girl Should Know About…. Horses (Pages: 58)
  • What Every Girl Should Know About…. Horoscopes (Pages: 80)
  • What Every Girl Should Know About…. Boys (Pages: 96)
  • What Every Girl Should Know About…. Friends (Pages: 113)
  • What Every Girl Should Know About…. Owners (for dog’s only) (Pages: 119)

Mandy

Mandy, , ,
  • Mandy –  Mandy:  #01 (21 Jan 1967) – #1269 (11 May 1991)
  • Art: Peter Kay (early years), Claude Berridge (1990s)

Plot

The comic’s namesake ‘Mandy’ stayed on the cover of the comic for its whole run with just a few changes along the way.  The first issues were more concerned with advertising free gifts and that it was a new paper. After this it settled into the pattern of a full-shot of Mandy on a mostly white background. Mandy is instantly recognisable with her bobbed dark hair, her clothes changed but are always colourful and kept up with 70s fashions. Accompanying her, is her red and white dog, Patch. The main picture set up the theme for the story.   Each issue had a theme usually involving a play on words.  As well as the large picture there was one small panel in the corner, often this would be a contrast to the calmer/ happier main picture.  For example one cover has Mandy admiring a dalmatian, the smaller panel then has her running away from the bad tempered dog. Also on the cover a pun usually encouraged you to continue reading on the back cover like when Mandy gets sunburned and the line is “Have you “red” it all girls? Then turn to the back cover -”

Mandy_01   Mandy_02

These covers were very eye-catching, the colourful Mandy stands out from the white background. Also I think the cover is so effective by keeping it quite simple the expressions of Mandy and Patch with just a few props sets up the theme without over crowding  the page. Even the corner box isn’t intrusive but a nice hint of what’s to come. The back page consists of 6 panels often with the panels in pairs, continuing the theme. Sometimes the last panel would have things work out for Mandy but not always.

A breakdown of one story; it starts with Mandy skating on the ice on the cover, the smaller panel has her in trouble getting stuck when the ice melts. The bottom of the cover tells us to skate round to the back cover for more fun with Mandy.  The first panel on the back page has Mandy leaving the house to go babysitting, the next panel has Mandy covered in snow because the snow on the roof melted. The third panel Mandy is having trouble with her sitting charge who won’t stop crying. The next panel reveals she is crying because her snowman melted. On her way home in the next panel Mandy complains she has had nothing but trouble with melting things all day. Things work out for in the last panel as her Mum has backed her favourite biscuits Melting Moments.

Mandy_03By the middle of 1978 there was a slight change to the format. Mandy’s still on the cover but now there is no other panels, dialogue and the  picture is usually a more close up shot. The front cover slogan encourages potential readers to buy the comic, like when Mandy in on a boat the slogan is “All Aboard for the best picture stories “or when she is playing catch with Patch the slogan is  “There’s No Catch – if you like picture stories you’ll like Mandy”.  Sometimes the story continued inside the cover rather than the back cover but the format stayed the same. The last few years of Mandy the character had a bit of a makeover. A new artist takes over and now Mandy has longer hair in a pony tail but the format stays the same. After Mandy ends and joins with Judy their new strip M&J- Friends and Neighbours drops the play on words and is more ordinary life mishaps for the friends.

Mandy_04     Mandy_06

Thoughts

I’ve already talked about the Bunty and Judy characters previously and while they are enjoyable,  I think Mandy has the more interesting strip. The play on words is a fun angle instead of the usual straightforward mishaps characters have. A lot of other character strips like Judy & Co., Life with Bunty, Debbie weren’t very different from each other, so Mandy made a nice change. The art is also really good. My favourites are the early covers, like I said above these were very eye catching. The artist really captures a lot of expressions throughout the strip and there are more detailed backgrounds on the back page but he  still keeps things quite simplistic. I enjoy the different outfits Mandy wears, which are nice look back at the time period.

The character must have been a good selling point as she consistently stayed on the cover while other comic covers changed over the years. Although later issues would advertise some inside stories as well, these only took up a small portion of the page while Mandy still kept her place as the main focus of the cover. When Mandy comic merged with Judy comic the two characters became friends in a new strip M&J – neighbours and friends.

List of Appearances

  • Mandy –  Mandy:  #01 (21 Jan 1967) – #1269 (11 May 1991)
  • M&J – neighbours and friends– M&J: 01 (18 May 1991) – #46 (28 Mar. 1992)
  • The Diaries of M&J – M&J: #47 (04 Apr. 1992) – (?)

Other Appearances:

  • Mandy (x3) – Mandy Annual 1971
  • Mandy – Mandy Annual 1974
  • Mandy (x2) – Mandy Annual 1976
  • Mandy (a story without words) (x2) – Mandy Annual 1982
  • Mandy (a story without words) (x2) – Mandy Annual 1983
  • Mandy – Mandy Annual 1986
  • Mandy and Patch – Mandy Annual 1992
  • M&J – Mandy Annual 1993
  • M&J – Judy Annual 1993
  • M&J (x2) – Mandy Annual 1994
  • M&J – Mandy Annual 1995

The Double Life of Julie-Ellen

Mandy, ,
  • The Double of Julie-Ellen – Mandy: #539 (14 May 1977) – #552 (13 August 1977)
  • Reprinted – Mandy: #937 (29 December 1984) – #950 (30 March 1985)
  • Art: Tom Hurst

Plot

Julie Ellen Twain meets two boys she likes Tim and Des. As she can’t choose between them she  comes up with a solution to pretend to be twins and date both of them! She calls herself Julie with Tim and wears her hair in plaits. When she’s with Des she wears her hair loose and has glasses and calls herself Ellen. She keeps a chart to keep track of when she is with each boy, but things are made difficult as Tim and Des are friends, and most plots revolve around her having to do quite quick changes. For example one time both Des and Tim ask her to come cheer for them at the same match. Another time she ends up having enter a dance contest twice at the youth club.

Julie-Ellen

One day while dressed as Julie she is ready to meet Tim, but Des turns up and tells her Tim can’t meet her until later. As Des isn’t meeting “Ellen” that day he suggests that him and Julie go to the fair together. While on the ghost train Julie gets scared and grabs Tim. He starts to flirt with her, saying that he fancies her almost as much as he likes Ellen. Julie storms off insulted and thinking he’s a rotter for trying to cheat on Ellen. She turns into Ellen with plans to teach Des a lesson, but she bumps into Tim instead. She isn’t too happy when Tim cosies up to her as well. Des comes along and a fight nearly starts between the boys. They ask Julie to fetch Ellen so they can sort things out. They also begin to get suspicious that they never see Julie and Ellen together. The boys are getting tired of the girls thinking they are a bunch of flirts stringing them along. Julie Ellen gets covered with mud while trying to hide from the boys. The boys laugh at her and she wonders why she bothers with either of them.

julie-Ellen_02

When her cousin, Liz comes to stay, she finds out the situation Julie-Ellen is in, and offers to help her out with the boys. This doesn’t please Julie-Ellen as she feels Liz is too happy to keep one of the boys occupied while Julie-Ellen is with the other. Julie-Ellen gets a chance to get back at Liz by inviting Liz’s boyfriend Pete to visit. Liz does help Julie-Ellen out of some tricky situations, so she thinks she will miss her when she  leaves, but on the other hand she doesn’t want to share the boys with anyone else.

But her problems aren’t over when a school friend Rita also finds out what Julie is up to and starts using it to her advantage. Rita asks Julie to lend her things like her new record, perfume and clothes with the threat that she might slip up around the boys if she doesn’t get what she wants.  Rita gets Julie-Ellen to lend her shoes for a visit to TV studio where she says she will meet up with a new neighbour Mike who is an actor. Des and Tim also invite the girls to go along, as it turns out the whole youth club are going. The boys turn up and there is no sign of Julie-Ellen, they are getting fed up of the girl always disappearing.

Meanwhile Julie-Ellen has gone through the wrong door and run into Mike. While helping Mike rehearse she doesn’t realise the club are watching on cameras. When she changes from Julie to Ellen the boys rush in to confront her. She runs off with Mike and they get away on the back of his motorbike. She explains the whole story to Mike who thinks it’s quite amusing. Tim and Des meanwhile have found some other girls, Sandra and Beth more appealing. Rita ends up alone, while Mike is happy to stick with Julie.

Julie-Ellen_03

Thoughts

This story is played for laughs, but I was still surprised that Julie suffered no consequences for her actions.  Her double life does lead to some awkward situations but in the end there’s no repercussions, its just happy endings and she even ends up with another guy, while the boys don’t seem to be too put out either. Only the “villain” ends up alone. While Rita blackmailing Julie-Ellen is not right, it’s not like any of the other characters can take the high moral ground. Even Des and Tim, while they are being deceived, Julie-Ellen has a point that from their perspective they have flirted with their girlfriend’s sister! Liz also has no problem in getting cosy with the boys while her own boyfriend isn’t around, she also forgets about his birthday and is only saved by Julie covering for her.

The situation is more ridiculous that the boys don’t find it more suspicious that they never see Julie and Ellen together. They remark how odd it is but never take it any further. Julie-Ellen is not a sympathetic character, in fact it is more satisfying when her double life causes her problems such as having to pay twice for Pete’s birthday present, falling in a lake or ending up covered in mud.  When she believes Tim and Des are two timing her with herself, she doesn’t really notice the hypocrisy of her indignation. Which is amusing in it self. While not a good role model, she is not a boring character and the story works on a funny level, the only disappointment is that she gets away with it all in the end.

Julie-Ellen_04

A similar story drawn by the same artist I think, is The Two in One Taylors, except in that story it is twins pretending to be one girl in order to join a youth club. They each have a romantic interest and the two boys have fights over what is actually one girl. When they get found out they don’t suffer any consequences either but at least they showed some concern over their potential boyfriends.

The Randell Road Girls

Debbie, Mandy,

Plot

Soap like story set in Randell Road Comprehensive School. Life was never dull for the friends; Alice, Bessie, Muriel and Diane. Some of the boys had their share of problems too. In one story Nigel Greene decided to leave home as his mother was driving him around the bend. Meanwhile  Alice Evans has to deal with some trouble at the tennis club she’s hoping to join, after a girl lets everyone know Alice’s father is in jail for fraud.

randell road girls

Notes

  • Photo Story
  • Continued in Mandy after Debbie merges with that comic

Appeared

  • The Randell Road Girls –  Debbie: #448 (12 September 1981) – #518 (15 January 1983) [no episodes in #456 or #457]
  • The Randell Road Girls –  Mandy: #836 (22 January 1983) – (?)

Angel

Lucky Charm, M&J, Mandy, ,
  • Angel – Mandy :  #529 (05 March 1977) –  #548 (16 July 1977)
  • Art: Dudley Wynne

Overview

In Victorian times, a wealthy young girl, Angela Hamilton, discovers has only a year to live. She decides to dedicate her remaining time to helping the poor waifs of London and earns the name Miss Angel. Despite her story being concluded, the character proved to be popular enough to return in sequels. These sequels were framed by girls reading untold stories from Angel’s diary or in the case of some Annual appearances stories told by the children she helped.

Plot

In Victorian London, 14 year old Angela Hamilton lives with her wealthy parents. While out with her parents she thinks how unfair it is that she has so much, while there are children on the streets suffering such poverty. When she brings this up with her parents, they tell  her not to distress about such things, they want her to be happy and carefree. She plans to use her education and position to help the poor when she is older. But soon after she collapses and the doctor diagnoses her with a rare condition that has no cure, he tells her parents that she only has a year to live. Her parents are devastated by the news but decide they must keep it secret from  Angela so they can  make her last days happy.  Angela overhears them talking and makes her own plans, she pretends not to know anything and then fakes her death, thinking this would be less cruel and drawn out for her parents. Then she will devote what little time she has left to the poor in London.

angel_1

Her first day in her new life, she gets lost on the way to the market. She meets a young boy Alfie and after helping him against some thugs, Alfie shows her the way and she buys him food. He then takes her to his young sister, Sarah,  who has an injured leg. Angela takes her to a hospital where they bandage her leg but refuse to give her a bed. The lodgings where Angela is staying also refuse to let her bring in two dirty urchins with her. Angela, Alfie and Sarah end up under the railway bridge for the night with other children.  One of the children asks Alfie who she is, Alfie says her name is Miss Angela but he reckons she should be called Miss Angel.  The next day Miss Angel finds better accommodation in a big stables. Starting with the small group of children she soon adds more to her group. A humpback named Annie she rescues and also gives her more confidence by encouraging her musical talent and teaching her to play the violin.  Usually each child she rescues has other problems other than a need of food and shelter, such as Harry who is very prideful and doesn’t like to take charity or Mary who is distrustful and  seemingly deaf making communication difficult. Miss Angel always comes up with a scheme to help the children. Also Angel helps them in practical ways, teaching them skills they can use to work and earn money after she is gone. As time goes on Angel gets weaker and knows her time is short.

angel_2

One day Miss Angel and the kids come across the Hamiltons, as Angel hides Julia Hamilton encourages her husband to buy flowers from Alfie as she remembers Angela being an advocate for such children. When Alfie tells them of Miss Angel and her work she tells him to send her to their home to get spare  blankets and warm clothes for the Winter. Angel knows the children will need such things but wonders how to get them without revealing she is alive. A child gives her the idea to cover herself in spots so she can cover up and say she has a rash. After this Angel continues her work helping not only those in the stable but others in the street too. One day she helps a drunk man, who turns out to be a doctor who turned his back on medicine after a mistake led the death of a patient. Angel helps him sober up and after convincing him to return to medicine, she has found a helpful ally.

Coming to the end of her time, Angel visits her old home one last time. Concerned Alfie follows her and gets her back to stablehouse after she collapses. When Dr Shaw exams her he understands her condition and breaks the news to Annie and Alfie that she will not live long. Alfie thinks if they had money for medicine she would live longer, so he goes to the house he saw Angel visit. He tells the Hamiltons of Miss Angel and how he thinks she is their daughter. The Hamiltons are surprised but come to the stable house and are reunited with Angela. They stay by her side for 3 days until Angela passes away. Before she goes her parents tell her that along with Dr. Shaw, they are going to continue her good work. After the funeral the Hamiltons give over their house for as a home for Angel’s waifs and erect a statue in memory of Miss Angel.

angel_3

Thoughts

I can see why this is a popular story the art is beautiful and the story is well told. It doesn’t shy away from the tragedy, of the situation, Angel gets progressively sicker and weaker as time goes on and there is no miracle cure found in the end.  While each issue tends to focus on a ‘waif of the week’ that Angel can help, it doesn’t come across as repetitive. One reason is we can see the passage of time, while earlier stories sees her help fight of thugs, later stories see her struggle to carry a basket. Often the person she is helping also ties in with her situation, such as when a previously well off boy, Phillip, who has fallen on hard times comes to the stables, the others give him a hard time. Angel knows she has not much time left and comes up with a scheme to get Phillip accepted as she knows the children will have to rely on each other when she is gone. Another good episode is when she sees her parents, it is hard for her not to go to them, but in the end she knows she is happy with her new family.

Perhaps one problem is the character can be a bit too noble and self sacrificing, in fact a lot of the people she takes in or befriends are a little too good and conscientious. Her parents are equally good people although at least they show some flaw as in the beginning they do not think to concern themselves with lower classes. Angel’s only flaw appears to be her illness, otherwise she is a good, unselfish person who is also shown to be smart, talented and can easily pick up a scrub brush or wash clothes despite never having needed to before. While it may make her character unbelievable to be so good, these saintly qualities of Miss Angel do fit in with the religious undertones of the story.  Often characters thank God or ask God to give them strength, one character swears on a bible in front of Angel to prove that she will less reckless with money. Just before Angel dies she hears the laughter of children and a light shines down on her implying an ascension into heaven. Also the statue erected in the honour and her nickname of Miss Angel all point to her heavenly and saintly attributes.

angel 4

The character proved to be so popular that even her death didn’t stop new stories coming out about her.  She returned twice in the Diary of Angel where her diary (that was kept in a museum) would be read by a girl and was full of untold stories that happened in the last year of her life, she also appeared in several annuals. There were many other stories about champions of the poor, Angel was not even the first. The Children’s Champion (Bunty) appeared in 1974 and had a wealthy girl, Hester,  leaves her home to help the poor on the London streets. The difference here is she leaves her home because her parents disapprove of her work and actually disown her. Although they do come around in the end. Another Haven of Hope (Bunty again) appeared in 1979, had Hilary turn over her house to the poor after her parents die. Unlike her other wealthy counterparts, while good hearted, she could also a bit too trusting and naive, falling for the schemes of a young boy working for the Beadle. While these stories were popular they don’t seem to have made the impact that Angel did. Maybe readers preferred more tragedy in their stories and coupled with Dudley Wynne’s art, is why Angel became more popular and well remembered.

List of Appearances:

  • Angel – Mandy :  #529 (05 March 1977) –  #548 (16 July 1977)
  • Reprinted – Mandy: #923 (22 September 1984) – #942 (02 February 1985)
  • Reprinted-  Mandy : #1256 (9 February 1991) – #1269 (11 May 1991)
  • Reprinted – Lucky Charm #7 (1980)
  • Angel – Mandy: #780 (26 December 1981) [special Christmas story]
  • Angel Diary–  Mandy: #781 (2 January 1982) – #806 (26 June 1982) ?
    • Reprinted as The Diary of Angel – Mandy #1080 (26 September 1987) – #1092 (19 December 1987)
  • Angel – Mandy: #1197 (23 December 1989)
  • The Diary of Angel–  M&J:   #01 (18 May 1991) – #15 (24 August 1991)

Other Appearances:

  • Angel – Mandy Annual 1979
  • Angel – Mandy Annual 1984
  • Angel – Mandy Annual 1986
  • Angel and the Box of Comforts – Mandy Annual 1988
  • Angel – Mandy Annual 1994
  • Angel – Bunty Picture Story Library #355

Translations:

  • Angel (1977 series), reprinted and translated to Dutch as “Angela” (not Angel)  – Debbie #16 (1979)

The Jealousy of Jemma

M&J, Mandy, ,
  • The Jealousy of Jemma–  Mandy:  #601(22 July 1978) – #611 (30 September 1978)
  • Reprinted – Mandy #1174 (15 July 1989) – #1184 (23 September 1989)
  • Reprinted (as Mandy Classic) – M&J: #286 (02 November 1996) – #296 (11 January 1997)
  • Translated into Dutch (as “Jaloezie” – Jealousy)-  monthly Debbie Stripstory #4/1980.
  • Art: Kim Raymond (?)

Plot

Julie and Jemma Granger are twins, who are extremely close, their parents even remark that sometimes it is like they can read each other’s thoughts. For their 13th birthday they recieve gold lockets, later they exchange lockets and make a vow to each other that they shall never be parted and nobody will come between them. A week later while Julie is in school while the Grangers take Jemma to the dentist, but the car veers off a cliff. Julie instantly senses something wrong. When she hears her parents and Jemma are dead she collapses and lies in a coma for weeks.  When she wakes up she finds her Aunt Mavis and Uncle Roger with their daughter Ruby. Julie has never met them before but they say they will take care of her now and they take her back to her own home which they have moved into.

jealousy of jemma 1

The Daces seem kind and friendly, but are secretly just there so they can live in a grand house and use Julie’s inheritance. Weeks later, Mavis pretends to be pleased for Julie when she says she can manage by herself but tells Roger and Ruby they’ll stick around in case she relapses. That night Julie hears Jemma’s voice calling to her reminding her they promised never to be parted. While her relatives try to comfort her, telling her it was just a bad dream, Julie doesn’t believe this. Jemma’s voice returns but Julie is scared she is so possesive now. When an old family friend Mrs Preston visits and when Julie tries to make a friend with Sara a girl she knows from school, Jemma tells her she doesn’t need friends. She even tells Julie her new friend will get hurt if she visits.

jealousy of jemma_3

The Dace’s call the doctor and he tells Julie she is over strained and needs rest. Ruby is impatient as she wants the doctor to take Julie away, but Mavis tells her to be patient. At Julie’s insistence they contact a psychic Madame Zenith. She senses two departed people who rest peacefully but she cannot sense any ghost, though she does warn her of evil. Mavis tells Julie the evil she senses must be her illness and Julie begins to believe it’s all in her mind.  Julie goes to hospital and feels safer and secure, while she’s there the Daces are enjoying parties in her home. When Julie begins to wonder why she doesn’t hear voices at the hospital. In order to stop her suspicions,  Ruby sneaks to the hospital and using information from a secret book the twins wrote in convinces Julie it really is Jemma she is hearing.  The Daces bring her home to keep a better eye on her, but soon Julie does some investigating and she finds microphones in the attic. She escapes and visits Mrs. Preston, telling her the story. Together with her lawyer the Daces are plots are revealed and they are arrested. Mrs Preston moves in with Julie and a few weeks later, Julie gets a better surprise when she hears Jemma’s voice again and it turns out she had survived the crash and had been taken by boat to France. So the twins are happily reunited.

jealousy of jemma_5

Thoughts

The twins seem overdependent on each other from the start. On their thirteenth birthday they don’t invite anyone else as they don’t really have any other friends. Their parents thinks its great that they are so close and don’t need anyone else, but actually its quite unhealthy! Even when Jemma first gets into the car Jemma already feels lost and alone at school. It’s never good to cut yourself off and depend on only one person. Even without the evil relatives it’s understandably difficult for Julie to cope without any network of friends to help and support her.

jealousy of jemma_2

It is surprising to find Jemma alive at the end, although there was a hint when Madame Zenith didn’t sense Jemma’s spirit in the house (either restful or vengeful). There is very little explanation of how she survived or why she hadn’t been in contact before or how the lawyer tracked her down. Perhaps she had been in a coma or had amnesia (a common reason for prolonged absence in these stories) but it is never addressed here. There is a tie in with the real Jemma’s voice sounding kind rather than spiteful, so it works fine. Although I think it could have worked out as a happy ending with Julie just moving on with her life, maybe meeting up with Sara.

After the set up in the first issue of the twins vowing to be together for ever, it wouldn’t have surprised me if the story turned out to be Jemma’s ghost haunting Julie. It might have been better if the writer held off on showing the true colours of her relatives initially. He/she could have build up the creepiness and the mystery of Jemma’s voice. It still works as an interesting story as the relatives drive Julie insane. There has been many stories of devious relatives cooking up schemes to gain inheritances, inflicting psychological damage on their niece is particularly devious. While Roger shows some discomfort over what they are doing, it’s more that he doesn’t like watching Julie’s decline but is happy to reap the benefits. Mavis and Ruby are clearly the brains behind the scheme. The dark tones of the art and the expressions of fear on Julie really help sell the story, it does make it very creepy.

jealousy of jemma_4

Mandy Annual 1974

Mandy, , , , , , , , ,

Picture Stories

  • Valda (Pages: 6-11) [Art: Dudley Wynne]
  • The Farmer Wants a Wife (Pages: 12-16)
  • Sisters in Sorrow [2 parts] (Pages: 17-22, 59-64) [Art: Len Potts]
  • Have-A-Go Flo (Pages: 23)
  • The Slave Girls (Pages: 24-28)
  • My Sister Jinx (Pages: 34-41) [Art: Guy Peeters]
  • Aunt Kate’s Household Companion (Pages: 43-48) [Art: Hugh Thornton-Jones]
  • Gertie the Greatest (Pages: 52)
  • Stella Starr –  Policewoman from Space (Pages: 53-58) [Art: John Richardson]
  • The Boot Laceys (Pages: 69-72) [Art: “B Jackson”]
  • Caroline and her Camera (Pages: 73-76)
  • Mighty Minnie (Pages: 82-89)
  • Mandy (Pages: 90) [Art: Peter Kay]
  • Queen of Koko Island (Pages: 91-95) [Art: Tony Higham]
  • A Mystery for Melody Jones (Pages: 100-108) [Art: Claude Berridge]
  • Netta’s Newshound (Pages: 114-119)
  • Melinda – You’re a Marvel! (Pages: 120-125) [Art: Tom Hurst]

Text Stories

  • The Tide of Fortune [3 parts] (Pages: 29-32, 65-68, 97-99)
  • Nikki the Story of an Otter [3 parts] (Pages: 49-51, 77-80, 109-112)

Features

  • The ABC of Jobs for Girls [7 parts] (Pages: 2-3, 33, 42, 81, 96, 113, 126-127)

Susan of Sunnysides / Sue of Starholme

Bunty, Mandy, , ,

Plot

Susan “Sue” Anderson was an Assistant Housemother at Sunnyside’s Children’s home. It was a job she thoroughly enjoyed, though it could be tiring. Sue returned as matron at her own children’s home Starholme.

susan at sunnysides
Susan of Sunnysides (Bunty)

sue sunnysides
Sue of Sunnysides (Mandy)

Notes

  • First appeared as a text story, it had a sequel with a different title.
  • It was later updated into picture story format with the original title
  • Unusually as well as being in Bunty, it appeared as text story in Mandy (possibly a reprint) under the slightly revised title “Sue of Sunnysides”
  • Art: Hugh Thornton-Jones (Bunty 1982 series)

Appeared:

  • Susan of Sunnysides (text story) –  Bunty:  #90 (3 October 1959)  – #108 (6 February 1960)
  • Sue of Starholme (text story) – Bunty #138  (3 September 1960)- #156 (7 January 1961)
  • Sue of Starholme (text story) – Bunty #177 (3 June 1961) – (?)
  • Sue of Sunnysides (text story) – Mandy:  (?) – #42 (4 November 1967)(reprint?)
  • Susan of Sunnysides –  Bunty:  #1288 (18 September 1982)  – #1291 (09 October 1982)
  • Susan of Sunnysides –  Bunty:  #1304 (8 January 1983)

Other Appearances:

Annual Appearances

  • Susan of Sunnysides (text story) – Bunty Annual 1961
  • Sue of Starholme (text story) – Bunty Annual 1962
  • Susan of Sunnysides – Bunty Annual 1980 [Artist: Peter Kay]
  • Susan of Sunnysides – Bunty Annual 1984 [Artist: Hugh Thornton-Jones]

Summer Specials

  • Susan of Sunnysides – Bunty Summer Special 1984 [Art: Hugh Thornton-Jones]

 

The Girl With No Name….

Mandy, ,
  • girl with no nameThe Girl With No Name…. – Mandy PSL:  #170  (1992)
  • Sequel:  She’s Back! The Girl With No Name – Mandy PSL:  #172 (1992)
  • Artist: Andre’s Klacik

Plot

Unusual for these picture story library books, this story was split up over two books. The first part of the story introduces us to a young girl on a remote island, that swims with seals and runs faster than a hare. She lives with a woman, Megan who has raised the girl to prove her theories that a human can be raised to reach their full potential and use all their brain’s processing power. One day a supply boat arrives early to the island and Professor Megan Pugh is confronted by a Dr. Lee, he leaves but promises to return. Megan tells the girl they must leave and tells her to push a boulder in front of their cave top hide it. They start to row away from the island the girl wonders what Megan is hiding and she also questions her about her own name. Megan says she will tell her when the time is right. They get caught in a storm and are separated. Dr Lee listening on radio hears about a girl being rescued by a fishing boat asking about a Megan.

She stays with the fishing family, they notice strange things about her, such as enhanced hearing and not feeling the cold. When she sees Dr. Lee asking the family questions about her, she runs away. She then hears on the radio Dr. Lee claiming she is an escaped patient. She manages to avoid him and joins up with a circus. She first befriends a woman Mrs. Boggles (a clown) and her monkey Lord Chumley. She shows amazing talent at trapeze and  the ringmaster asks if she would like to join the act. Although this doesn’t please one the other trapeze acts. She contacts Dr. Lee who drugs the girl and takes her away. He tells her Megan had taken her from an orphanage and how he was an old colleague that hadn’t believed her theories. The girl begins to remember the orphanage and meeting Megan. She breaks away and finds Dr. Lee is also holding Megan prisoner. He tells Megan they can work together, bit she tells him not to cross her and knocks him out. Megan and the girl leave but the girl does not want to go with Megan and decides to run off and find out who she could have been.

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shes back girl with no nameThe second book picks up with the girl back in the circus doing a high wire act. Some flashbacks cover events of the previous book. Her act catches the attention of two men Murdo and Skeggs. They follow her while she is out shopping with Mrs. Boggles. She suddenly has a memory of being at the orphanage, she tracks down a ruin with a name plate; Lady Brodie’s Orphan home. While she is examining the building the two men capture Lord Chumley. They send a letter to the girl if she wants her monkey back she will have to meet them at midnight.

They want to use her to break into a building. A third man called Professor is also there to turn off any alarms. Tight-roping across two buildings. She does as they ask in order to get Chumley back. After they get the jewels the three men cross back to the other building, as the girl is walking back Murdo cuts the wire, as she would be able to identify them. She manages to swing onto a window ledge. She tracks down the thieves and confronts them. Murdo says he will take her to the monkey but locks her into a safari park. Chumley is in a cage while she is left out in the open with wild animals, including a bear. She escapes with Lord Chumley and stops the gang from leaving on a plane. She ties them up and contacts the police.

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Meanwhile Mrs Boggles has been doing some investigating into the girl’s past. She has found out that she was taken into care after her parents were lost presumed dead. When they turned up alive it was too late because Megan had taken her into hiding. She goes to her parents house and see that they have adopted a girl that she used to be friends with at the orphanage. She decides not to interrupt, but she does ask Mrs Boggles what her real name is. It is Selina Smith, she keeps the name and decides the circus is now her family.

Thoughts 

I really like the first book. There is tension and mystery story. Megan while not really the villain of the piece, her attitude towards the girl is more clinical than motherly. While I don’t think she’d want any harm to come to the girl, her priority seems to be her research. Dr. Lee is a good antagonist, he is smart and crafty. Broadcasting on the radio that she is an escaped patient that needs help, he gets people on his side. His history with Megan also makes me interested in their background. He makes a better villain than the second book’s villains.  The girl while strong and smart she also shows a soft side. She is shown to secretly want a family and she is grateful to the people who help her. She also is concerned for Megan, when she believes she is danger. The art in both books is good throughout and the covers are appealing. There are some good action sequences in both books too. It is very similar both in looks and storyline to the Mandy story “Wonder Girl!”. In that story Jay has been raised to peak human capabilities on a remote island by scientist Harriet Dene, the difference there being that Harriet actually cares for Jay, and they go to mainland together to test her abilities.

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For years I never had the second book, the cover makes it look quite exciting and I was eager to read about her journey to track down her past.  So it was a bit of a disappointment when I read it and most of the plot just involved a gang of thieves unrelated to her past. I found it didn’t have the tension and urgency of the first book either. The middle part seems to go off on a tangent, then suddenly wrapping up the truth of her name and past in the last few pages. I can understand that maybe they needed villains and action to show off her enhanced human abilities, but it may have been more interesting if maybe Dr. Lee returned to pursue her or even Megan not willing to lose her years of work. Also the ending feels a bit rushed when she sees her parents with a girl, she remembers the girl being a friend, but none of her previous flashbacks indicated that.

I did like that she stayed with the circus and it was good to see her friendship with Mrs. Boggles continued. Also I thought it was good that while tracking down her past was important, she was also able to let it go and move on when she sees her parents happy.

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