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FAQ:
- Where can I buy these comics?
- This is just a fansite I like to talk about these comics but I don’t sell comics on this site. There are a few places that you can find these comics, the big places are ebay and London shop 30th century comic. Check out their website here. There are a few other specialist shops, car boot sales and websites that you may get lucky with too.
- I’m looking for the name of a story?
- Happy to help if I can, but good to note the more detail you can give the better, even if its just when you would have read the story. For example “A talented girl that is mistreated by cruel relatives” could be the plot summary for many stories! The comics uk forum is also full of helpful people: http://comicsuk.co.uk/forum/index.php as well as facebook groups like “Girls Comics – UK”.
Hi all,
Looking to identify another story. This one is called “Een hondeleven voor Hanneke” in Dutch, which translates back as “A Dog’s Life for Hanneke” (Hannah, maybe?) It was serialized in 17 3-page installments in 1984, so a total page count of 51 pages.
The story is a bit different. A teen girl follows her dog into the house of her high school science teacher. There, their minds (the dog’s and the girl’s) are accidentally swapped. The girl then has to keep her body safe while convincing everyone she is not a dog. Unsual, to say the least. Good artwork, a bit reminiscent of Jim Baikie’s, except for the dogs panels, but those seem heavily references, so may distort the art style.
Oh, a twist at the end: the science teacher is punished by having his mind transferred to the body of… a budgie.
Any bells?
Regards,
Ramon
Not for me. I know it definitely wasn’t in Tammy or Jinty, and it doesn’t sound like anything I know in the DCT titles (but then there are gaps in my knowledge there). Maybe it was in June? Jim Baikie drew a lot of stories for June.
It reminds me of a PSL, “Dogsbody Debbie”, where Debbie keeps moaning she’s a dogsbody. She is punished by a spell that turns her into a dog whenever she says the word.
Yeah, the theme is similar, but definately not Dogsbody Debbie.
Thanks for chipping in, mistyfan!
Regards,
Ramon
I was having a look at the serial on Last Dodo. The artwork looks like Peter Wilkes, so it could be DCT. I pasted the link so others could have a look at the sample. It might jog something.
https://www.lastdodo.com/en/items/77170-1984-nummer-28
Haven’t come across it either, I could rule out most DCT titles except Bunty or Mandy.
Is it possible the serial was in Girl (second series)?
Could “Een hondeleven voor Hanneke” (“A Dog’s Life for Hanneke”) have appeared in Penny? “Een vlieger voor Mischa” (A Kite for Mischa) has just been identified as a Penny story.
Hi!
Am trying to track down a mid-1970s annual or gift book. I can’t remember the title of it, but it had some colour pages on shinier paper than others, and one was a double page spread summarising “Pip meets Estella” from ‘Great Expectations’. Anyone recognise it, please?
Also – does anyone have any scans of ‘Pixie’?
Your Pip and Estella feature rings a bell, but I’m blessed if I can find it anywhere. I’ve checked the annuals for Princess, Princess Tina, June, School Friend, Girls’ Crystal, Sandie, Sally, Jinty and Tammy. I also did a quick check of the contents listings for the DC Thomson annuals, although these not likely candidates as they didn’t do glossy colour page inserts – the whole annuals were in colour, on good quality paper. Between them, they seem to cover most of the GCSE English syllabus, but nobody did Great Expectations.
Can you remember anything else about the book that might provide a clue, e.g. what the cover was like, or details of other stories?
I have the whole run of Pixie and would be happy to do some scans. Which parts were you interested in?
I’m interested in the serialisations of ‘A Little Princess’ and of ‘The Secret Garden’, please: to compare with the novels. I read them in Puffin at around the same time, and am interested now to see how much was included/omitted in the comic versions. I also recall the art work as esp lovely.
mlle_lermontova (at) yahoo.co.uk (Omit space and use ‘at’ symbol)
Re: the annual with Pip & Estella – I think it had a photographic cover. It wasn’t one of the usual annuals – think it may have been captioned ‘Gift Book’. I would think date probably 1973-77?
I have scans of both the June & Schoolfriend Books of Heroines, if you are interested. (I have them in hard copy and have made pdfs for preservations!)
Further re: the Pip & Estella feature… Was there a gift book or annual called ‘Hazel’ or even ‘Princess Hazel’?
I’ve never come across this. As far as I know, the only girls’ comic annuals called Gift Books were the Princess books, and I’ve checked all these. However, I have found a book called the “Gold Star Gift Book for Girls” for 1973 (published 1972). This has a photo cover of twin girls with blond hair. I don’t have it, and don’t know of any others in the series, but there are copies for sale on eBay and Amazon, and the sellers may be able to tell you whether the Pip/Estella item is included.
I’ll scan the Pixie stories later today and email them to you.
Are you thinking of the version of “The Secret Garden” illustrated by Giorgio Trevisan? It appeared in “Princess Tina” in 1965. Lovely work. The Book Palace has five original pages you can see here:
https://bookpalace.com/acatalog/The_Secret_Garden_Trevisan_Art.html
Clicking on each page takes you to a larger image.
No, in Pixie. Although I was a precocious reader, I was only born in 1965 so certainly not reading comics then!
The artist for Pixie’s The Secret Garden (and A Little Princess) was Mike Hubbard.
Thanks!
Am racking my brains… It was an annual or gift book I got in Boyes’s (Yorkshire equivalent of Woolworths), marked down, probably a remainder.
I don’t know whether you are still looking for the elusive Great Expectations, but I have found a possible lead. The Book Palace has the artwork for a series of illustrations to an adaptation of the novel, said to have been published in Look and Learn in 1975. Here’s a link:
http://bookpalace.com/acatalog/Charles_Dickens_Lacey.html
Many thanks, Goof! I notice that Hubbard uses Sir John Lavery’s ‘Spring’ as the portrait of Lilias Craven.
Hi!
(I’m reposting this comment – hope that’s ok.)
I am looking for the name/a copy of a story that I think was published in Girl Magazine some time in the 1980s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_(UK_comics))
The story was about a girl who keeps seeing the reflection of a scary clown but later finds out that she used to have a small doll of a clown when she was younger (and possibly something about her parents having died in a car crash).
Any help with tracking it down would be greatly appreciated!
This sounds a lot like the TV series ‘Ashes to Ashes’: given how steeped that was in ’80s nostalgia, I wonder if that’s where they got the idea.
Could be!
I don’t have any of the 1980s Girl series (the issues are a bit rare to find it seems) I did have a thought it might be The Four Faces of Eve, just because of the parents dying in car crash and she dress as a clown at one point, but no clown doll in it so probably not.
https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/GRN553/misty-book-1
Thanks for the thought!
Hi there,
I have a very specific request that I would be extremely grateful getting some help with. My mum submitted a story that got published in a fan letters section, and I’m trying to find out which issue it was and track down a copy for her. She thinks it may have been 1962 or 63, perhaps April to July. The story was illustrated with a picture of two newly-weds standing outside a church, covered in spaghetti (her little sister had mistakenly called the rice that).
Any help tracking down this issue would be greatly appreciated; I haven’t found any info on reader submissions yet. Thanks a lot!
Sorry, I forgot I wasn’t on the specific page anymore. It was in Bunty.
I don’t have a lot a Buntys from 1962/63, I have checked the couple I have and can’t find anything matching that description. It is always harder to track down a one off thing in an issue compared to a story that appears over multiple issues. I will ask if anyone can help on other comic groups I’m part of.
Thank you! Sorry I can’t be more specific, but that’s all she remembers.
I’m afraid have had no luck, with tracking this one done, others have looked but also have gaps in their collection. If you really want to track down an issue and if London is not too far away you could try the British Library, they have Bunty collection that you could check through issues.
https://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=moreTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=BLL01011737485&indx=1&recIds=BLL01011737485&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&frbg=&&dscnt=0&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BLCONTENT%29&tb=t&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&vl(297891280UI0)=any&srt=rank&tab=local_tab&dum=true&vl(freeText0)=bunty&dstmp=1691942094858
I am looking for Bunty PSL #324, “My Brilliant Friend”. Can anyone help with a copy or scan, please?
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am letting all those with an interest in girls comics to make there way to the Anderson and Garland auctions where you will find approximately 60 girls Fleetway original comic covers from my collection up for sale. I am not getting any younger, and I have to admit that even that this is what I have to do to make a start on reducing my collection. I believe that the catalogue is already online by Anderson and Garland. If you need me to answer any questions please feel free to contact me on E.Bay at bigpetehansen@gmail.com.
Mr Hansen–A remarkable collection of covers! Can you explain one puzzling thing? A number of the covers are labelled (in the same hand) with the brand of board they’re painted on, e.g. “Arne F1.” Why is that? Also you might tell the auctioneers that the main headlines on several of the pieces say “Fleetwood” rather than “Fleetway.” Thanks for the opportunity to see these originals. Good luck on the auction.
They decided to start selling these images after I hassled the auctioneer to put them out and if not I would be looking elsewhere to sell them! Once they pulled them out they were really excited. So hard to identify the artists though! I know a few but not all. It would be great if the ladies are able to identify some of the artists!
I think that quite a few of these are by Peter Kay, who did a lot of Girls’ Picture Library covers for Fleetway in the 60’s. Here are a few suggestions:
• Lot 747: No 255 looks like Peter Kay
• Lot 752: Schoolgirls PL 321 (“Invader from the Stars”) and 326 are Peter Kay, and possibly 316 also
• Lot 755: Sue’s Stone of Mystery: Peter Kay. The other (which is the cover for “Penny-Farthing Plot”) is Jack Hardee
• Lot 757: Runaway in Ballet Shoes (June and School Friend PL 441 rather than School Friend): Antonio Bosch Penalva
• Lot757A: Peter Kay. This is J&SF PL 455 “Sue on Telstar”
• Lot 758: Nos 359 and 363 (J&SF PL “School Romance” and “Yank at St Celia’s”) are Peter Kay, and probably 361 (“Film of Peril”) also.
• Lot 762: No 322 (Jacey’s Date with Danger) is Peter Kay
• Lot 764: Walter Lambert (as noted on the back)
Some lovely artwork, wish I had such spare cash!
I could identify the ones that you already know, so probably not much help.
I agree with Goof about the Peter Kay ones (though I’m not sure about 316 from lot 752)
Lot 751 no 245, seems very familiar to me, reminds me of a children book illustrator, though the name isn’t coming to me so may have to do further look.
Hey Peter,
Sad to hear you are parting with them, hoping they will end up with someone who loves them as much as you do.
Regards,
Ramon
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am letting all those with an interest in girls comics to make there way to the Anderson and Garland auctions where you will find approximately 60 girls Fleetway original comic covers from my collection up for sale. I am not getting any younger, and I have to admit that even that this is what I have to do to make a start on reducing my collection. I believe that the catalogue is already online by Anderson and Garland. If you need me to answer any questions please feel free to contact me on E.Bay at bigpetehansen@gmail.com.
I am 68 years old now Ramon with a collection that fill’s an 1800 sq. ft. barn, so in reality 60 pieces are a drop in the ocean. But I have to do something to get the collection down to perhaps 250 sq. ft. and this is the way to do it. I thought about e-bay but that would be a much longer road to ride on having to get rid of them in one go. I have 12 banana boxes ready to go to another comic auction. Problem is I still have around 920 boxes full of material. Not to mention my personal collection of comics, toys, and 512 bound volumes of yearly comics including a third of which I bought from from the IPC Archives.
Hello I am a Research Fellow with the Open University and University of Liverpool working on the ancient world in modern media including recent comics, and am very keen to do some work on British Girls Comics – I was born in 1970, and in the late 1970s read Bunty and Mandy, and was very partial to historical/supernatural story specials. There are a couple of stories I particularly remember that I’d like to revisit, one being a time travel story from Bunty where Boudicca (probably Boadicea then) appears, and a story special set in ancient Rome/Egypt where a girl is sold as a slave and escapes being eaten by the lions by feeding them first (I may have mis-remembered this). Any ideas on how I can find these and other ancient world stories?
Historical stories set in the ancient world were fairly common in girls’ comics. I haven’t myself seen the two you mention, although I do know a short story set in ancient Rome where a shy girl goes back in time via a magic wishing well, and finds herself about to be eaten by lions with a group of Christians in the games arena. She doesn’t actually feed the lions, but does manage to save herself and the others by making friends with them. I have seen this in Tammy Annual 1972 (called “The Wishing Well”), but this is likely to be a reprint, probably from June and School Friend. Happy to provide a scan of the story if it’s of interest.
You may also find it worth looking at Diana comic, which ran a series called “Lorna at Court” in the late 1960s. This was about a girl who could be taken back in time to various historical periods, usually by the rather bizarre means of eating a cheese sandwich. I think some of these involved trips to the ancient world – I know of one called “Slave of the Romans” in the Diana Annual 1972, where she saves a camp of Ancient Britons from surprise attack by a Roman legion. Again, happy to provide a scan if it would be of use.
As well as stories involving trips back in time to the real ancient world, there were quite a few where the ancient world intruded by magic into the present time. A good example of this is the Misty serial “The Cult of the Cat” and its sequel “The Nine Lives of Nicola”, where an ancient Egyptian cult goes forward in time to claim a modern day girl as their new “chosen one”. Another Misty story is ”A Leap in Time”, which takes the heroine back to ancient Crete, where she finds herself obliged to train girls in “bull dancing”, a dangerous and athletic sport which the story bases meticulously on frescos from the palace of Knossos. Synopses of these and other Misty stories can be found here:
https://www.juliaround.com/misty
I can’t recall a Boudicca story. The girl been sold as slave and escaping lions does sound familiar, I was thinking it might be the story Messalina Potts but I don’t have any issues on hand to check: http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2022/09/messalina-potts/.
There has been a number of stories set in ancient rome/egypt, so might not be that one but some other stories that come to mind that might be of interest:
Greek Mythology: http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/tag/greek-mythology/
http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2022/07/the-cat-princess/
http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2014/12/maid-of-the-lion-dogs/
http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2013/01/time-witch/
http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2015/05/the-shop-at-shudder-corner/
http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2013/09/lorna-at-court/
http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2022/11/the-voyage-of-the-black-albatross/
http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2011/08/jennys-magic-patch/
This is probably to early to be the story you are looking for, but in Mandy #444 July 19, 1975 has a story that features Queen Boadicea. It is a “Millie’s Magic Mirror” story. These were published in 1975. The mirror takes Millie back to Roman times in Roman Britain. She escapes them with the help of her umbrella and meets Queen Boadicea. She rides with Queen Boadicea in her cart and helps fight the Romans with her umbrella. There was also a Jenny’s Magic Patch where a patch on her jeans took her back in time. It was published in 1974, but the only one of these set in Roman times involved Hannibal.
Hi you probably know this already but Sean Phillips started his comics career drawing girls comics. He remembers lots of horses! https://seanphillips.co.uk/
Thank you yes I was aware, he did a few stories for Nikki comic and started off working with Ken Houghton on a Bunty storyn”The Secret of Penny Farthing”.
Still so many unknown creators it is always good when find extra information.
Another research question. I have a 1994 Dutch reprint of a UK story. The title is “Zeg maar Nico!” which translates as “Call Me Nico!” In it, a teen girl moves to a new city and on her first day stumbles upon an open air audition for a new television series. Because of her boyish looks, she is mistaken for a boy and gets a part. She then has to keep pretending to be a boy, in order not to lose the role.
I am 99% positive the art is by Ron Lumsden.
Any bells?
Regards,
Ramon
Ramon,
I believe the story you are looking for is: “OH, BOY!”. It began in Bunty # 1845 (May 22, 1993) and ended in #1854 (July 24, 1993). The girl’s name was Charlotte, but she was called Charlie. Her family had just moved to town. She was mistaken for a boy by the director and got a part. In the end she is found out to be a girl by the director, but he didn’t fire her as she was the most popular character in the show. He just decided to add a twin sister to the show.
Yes, that is what exactly what happens in the translation! Great!
So “Zeg maar Nico” ran from Tina 7/1994-16/1994. It was later reprinted in 2002, have yet to research the exact issues.
Thanks!
Regards,
Ramon
I used to read these annuals when I was a child in the 1970s. The annual Mandy had some funny Grim Warnings and the uniform in the magazine was the the same colour as my high school one then I moved onto Smash Hits.
Hello, I am trying to remember this one Bunty comic. I believe it was called ‘They’ll Never Part Us,” or maybe something like that. It enters around 2 girls that live in an orphanage who are best friends. Their names are Mo & Mary. Then one day, a rich lady comes to the orphanage, & decides to adopt Mo in order to bring her up as a lady. However, she doesn’t want to adopt Mary, nor does she want Mo to have anything further to do with her. Would you or one of your readers remember this comic, or what it was actually called?
Thank you in advance.
There is a story named “They’ll Never Part Us” in Bunty beginning in #1066 (June 17, 1978) and ending in #1082 (October 7, 1978). However, Mo and Mary are not the girls names in this story. Their names are Trudy and Marie (known at the orphanage as the inseparables. In this story a Mrs. Blakespear adopts Trudy but leaves Marie behind. She will not let Trudy have anything to do with Marie. In the end after Trudy gets Mrs. Blakespear to let her go back to the orphanage, she comes back with her husband who has been there with a head injury. In the hospital he mistakes Marie for Trudy and will not let her go. They take both girls on a holiday, and it ends with the Blakespears adopting both of them. I don’t know if this is the story you are thinking of or not. It is possible also that it was printed twice with the names changed as you did not give the possible years you read it in.
Thank you. Sounds a bit similar, but, slightly different. It was published around that time though (late 70s, early 80s). I do not recall that the rich lady was married. Just that she wanted to adopt one of the girls, & completely sever the friendship between the 2 of them.
I looked at the Bunty’s from 1977 through 1980 and this is the only one I found. I forgot to mention this in my last post.
Thank you.
I’ll look at early 80’s Bunty’s over the weekend. This story doesn’t mention the lady being married until the end, just that she wants a daughter and tries to break up the friendship. It also suggests a tragedy in the lady’s life which makes Trudy think he was dead.
Oh okay. Thanks.
I looked at the Bunty’s from 1981 through 1983 and there is no story resembling what you are looking for. If the story from 1978 isn’t the one you are asking about than it must have been in another comic. Sorry.
Okay thanks.
Hi, I wonder if you can help. There used to be a comic strip in one of the British girls’ comics of the 1960s. Possibly Bunty, but I’m really not sure. It featured a young girl on an island who trained for the swimming championships with coconuts tied around her waist. I’d love to know what it was called and i which comic it featured. Thanks!
I can’t think off hand what it is from but there are number of stories with girls training for swimming championships I’ll have a check if I can find anything that fits.
Thanks! I’d be really grateful.
I believe the story you are looking for is: Nerissa the Sea Nymph. It begins in Bunty #504 (September 9, 1967). Nerissa lives on the island of Madagona and swims with coconuts tied around her waist to make swimming harder. She leaves the island to become a champion swimmer to help her island which is poor. She always trains with coconuts tied to her waist. I don’t have the ending, but it ends between #519 and #524. I’m missing those issues.
Thank you, Ronnie. I used your information to put up an entry on the story, as there wasn’t one. You don’t by any chance have a scan from the story, which could be used for the entry?
I’m afraid I don’t. I don’t have a scanner. Sorry.
Thank you! Yes, that is it! I really appreciate everyone’s help! A silly thing I know but it was bugging me.
Not that silly. You drew our attention to a story that hadn’t been added to the list.
Hi everyone, I am trying to track down a bunty annual for my mam but I am looking for a specific year that had a story about a vampire and some reference to using grapefruit to protect yourself against them. Not sure if it’s a Bunty or Mandy annual. Could anyone help me nail this down?
I am not sure there would be any story about grapefruit being used as a repellent against vampires or a Bunty annual even daring to use a vampire story. However, the description does remind me of “Blood Orange” from Misty annual 1979, which might be what you are thinking of. A girl named Amy works on her father’s market stall, but the hours do not give her much scope for sleep. She’s dead on her feet and keeps dropping off. She unwittingly sells some special oranges reserved for R.A. Claude and discovers the special oranges are full of blood instead of juice. She goes after Claude as he now has the wrong order, but he has already discovered this and is spitting out normal oranges, much to his annoyance. Amy realises he is a vampire and his name is an anagram of Dracula. And now he has an aversion towards oranges. She tries to flee from him and he is almost upon her when she wakes up and discovers it was all a bad dream. Seeing this, her father decides she really needs sleep and sends her home. She reckons her nightmare was brought on by a passing man in a sandwich sign advertising a Dracula play.
If the story does involve a vampire being chased away by grapefruit, I would guess that it’s probably a comedy. However, there’s nothing like this in either the Bunty or Mandy Annuals.
I reckon it’s a confused recollection of “Blood Orange”. It’s the only known story (the only one I know of, anyway) using the odd combination of vampires and citrus fruit.
Yes, it’s pretty unlikely that they would have used this twice! I think you’ve probably got it. I certainly can’t recall another story like this elsewhere in the annuals.
Hi, do you know the artist of the Debbie picture story #142, published 1989, ‘Poor Little Paula’, please?
I was the little girl on the left of the cover image, I was a ‘model’ for may stories by the artist across several of the comics, mostly Judy and Tracy I think and a story in one of the annuals. His name was possibly John (?) and I will have been in stories from 1985 onwards I think. I did have all of the comics at the time but they have sadly since been lost through several house moves.
The artist was John Armstrong.
Fascinating to hear from somebody who was involved in the creation of these stories, thank you! Was that your own hairstyle at the time? I think I remember seeing you in several other stories if so.
Hello
i promise i have searched and searched through Google first for quite sometime but just cant seem to find the answers
does anyone know the picture story library comics that Dudley Wynne and Claude Berridge drew for? I can see the annuals and A4 comics info in the tag section,
Most internet places only seem to show the cover and it was so often the case that the front cover artist wasnt the actual content artist. if i said I was obsessed with these two childhood happy memory artists that would be an understatement, and wanna snatch any stories of their i can find.
Any assistance would be so very much recieved
Both of these were pretty prolific as picture library artists. Here is a list of the ones that I know of, and it won’t be complete:
Dudley Wynne
Schoolgirls Picture Library
149: I Want to Dance!
173: Young Nurse Angela
190: Babs at Ballet School (also June and School Friend Picture Library 470)
242: High Jinks at Manor School (also June and School Friend Picture Library 577)
283: Her Horse Came Too!
June and School Friend Picture Library
330: Lucky’s Living Doll
333: Maypole – Tallest Girl in the School
337: Tina the Tiny Bandit
348: Tina’s Terrible Chimp
360: Detective Tina
424: The Elusive Mam’selle X
Princess Picture Library
6: Sally on TV (also June and School Friend Picture Library 378)
20: Sally in Switzerland
22: Sally’s Ballet School
39: Sally’s Fiesta Ballet
32: Sally and the Ugly Duckling
36: Sally in Pantomime
38: Sally and the Fifteenth Doll
44: Ballet Cruise for Sally
46: Sally Dancer in Disguise
54: Royal Command for Sally
60: Three Cheers for Circus Sally!
64: Sally and the Castaway Dancer
Bunty Picture Story Library
96: They Shall Have Music!
144: Ghostly Gloria
154: The Milkfloat Marathon
Mandy Picture Story Library
54: Wendy’s Secret War
151: Valda
Claude Berridge
Bunty Picture Story Library
301: The Perfect Girl
326: Vive La Comp!
Judy Picture Story Library
2: Sandra and the Phantom Ballerina
23: Ballet at Bleak House
32: Sandra and the Snow Ballet
41: Born to Dance
47: The Black Dragon File
49: Where is Our Father?
64: Vicky and the Green Cross
284: Junior Nanny
Mandy Picture Story Library
153: Tough Gal Terry!
193: Nurses
270: Holiday on Mystery Isle
You should be able to find a few of these on eBay or at 30th Century Comics. Happy hunting.
You ruddy star..THANKYOU so much Goof!!!❤️
Two more PSLs drawn by Dudley Wynne (covers by other artists):
Bunty Picture Story Library
306: “Run, Nippers, Run!”
Debbie Picture Story Library
144: Harrow House
Claude Berridge:
Drew “Time Slip” in Mandy PSL #272 “Scream!”
thankyou Mistyfan!! 🙂
Would anyone know whether artist Maria Dembilio is still alive?
Here is a link to her (in Spanish): https://www.tebeosfera.com/autores/dembilio_maria.html
Regards,
Ramon
I haven’t heard of her passing, she was still alive around 2019. You can try Jenni Scott over on the jintycomic resource site, she was in contact a few years ago, with a Jose Ruiz del Amor who was translating some comic strips for Maria.
Hi, I’m trying to find a Christmas story that was in a girls Christmas annual I received as a child, it would have been in the early 1980s and was about a family who visited their great uncle in his mansion at Christmas, he wasn’t there and they had to complete a sort of treasure hunt which ended with them being gifted the mansion.. I have searched for years to find it as I used to read it over and over.
I’m having a look through my annuals, I’ve ruled out Debbie annuals so far, but will keep looking.
Thank you so much
Hi Jo,
I haven’t had any luck finding the story, I don’t have much books that are not DC Thomson. I checked, the Bunty, Mandy, Judy and Diana books I have from 1978 to 1989 but I have few gaps.
I’m missing Mandy annual 1984 and 85, there’s a story named the Gift that is a possibility in Mandy 1984. I’m also missing Bunty 1981 and Diana 1979 to 1981.
Do you have any more details, such as maybe the publication, were you likely to get Bunty, Mandy, Tammy books? I can check other groups that may have it.
The story isn’t ringing any bells with me either. I can tell you the story was not in the Tammy or Jinty annuals, though.
If I remember right, “The Gift” was about two girls from an orphanage who are put out as servants, and they’re not treated well. One covers for the other when she accidentally damages a gown belonging to a duchess who is staying at the house as a guest, but at the price of being punished by missing out on the Christmas celebrations. The duchess, being a kind lady, intervenes, and both girls are taken into her household, where they are treated much better. Or was that a different story with the same title?
I was looking at the contents of Bunty annual 1981 on the site. Could the story be “The Laird of Hee-Haw!”? There are no illustrations or story description, so I wouldn’t know.
Hi, no I’m afraid that’s all
I’ve got, I thought it might be in a Tammy annual but I’ve bought a couple of early ones and can’t find it either, thank you so much for looking for me.
Neither of these, I’m afraid. “The Gift” is about a girl who has dreams that foretell the future – including her own death. “The Laird of Hee-Haw” is about the impecunious owner of a Scottish estate who is told by an American tourist that he has a very valuable painting (“The Scowling Cavalier”). After dreams of paying all his debts, he decides to preserve it for the nation – fortunately, as it was painted by one of the locals.
Ok, thanks Goof. Maybe the story was in one of the June, School Friend, Girls Crystal or Princess Tina annuals?
These are unlikely because of the date. Fleetway had a bonfire of their girls’ annuals around this time. Girls’ Crystal and Princess stopped in 1976, School Friend and Princess Tina in 1981 and June in 1982. However, I’ll check the last couple of years of these, and any others I can think of that ran into the 80’s.
Sounds like a good idea. You never know. Memory isn’t that good, and the annual could be one that was picked up second hand from somewhere.
When I was a young kid in the ‘90s, in the UK, I remember every time we went to mass I would take a comic (could’ve been a hardback annual, I can’t remember) out of the toy box at the back of church to read. I can’t remember the title. The only thing I can remember is one story about a deranged girl with a creepy maniacal look on her face pulling the wings off insects, or legs off spiders. I’m sure there was a crypt involved in the story too, with bones inside. I can’t find it anywhere and I can’t remember any other details. I’m pretty sure it was drawn in black and white. Chat GPT says it could be a Misty annual but the stories it has guessed don’t seem to be the right fit. Any ideas?
Sounds like Secret of the Skulls, a reprint from Tammy in Girl annual 1986. It has a crypt full of skulls, and at one point a possessed girl rips the wings off a butterfly and then crushes it in her hand. A discussion of the story can be found at https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2021/04/11/secret-of-the-skulls-1976/
Hi, I read a story think it was called the sign of the acorn, I read it in roughly 1975/6 ,I’ve looked for years to find it!! Its quite haunting and I loved it… wonder if anyone knows it?
Hi Cheryl, I don’t have a picture of the story, but 3 part story “The sign of the acorn” appeared in Mandy annual 1975, cover and contents here:
https://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2020/05/mandy-annual-1975/
There is copy available on ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=mandy+annual+1975&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p4624852.m570.l1313
I don’t know whether contributors already know this – it’s not been much publicised – but DCT have just released a book of several stories reprinted from Spellbound. It’s been available in download form for some time, but this seems to be its first print issue.
DCT don’t seem to have bothered to mention it on their own website, but it can be ordered from Amazon. Lew Stringer has reviewed the book on Facebook, and reckons the print quality is reasonable (it’s printed on comic rather than book-quality paper, and is quite a bit smaller than the original). Amazon shows delivery dates in 2026, but this seems to be a mistake. The book is print on demand, but it seems to be available now, and to take around 5 days or so to deliver to the UK.
Thanks Goof, I did see a facebook post about this, I do have the digital version, but it is always nice to have a print version when it’s available!
Anyone have from the Debbie issue from 18 March 1978 handy? I am looking for 3-pager called something like “Terror in the Big Top” (no, that longer story from Judy).
It was translated into Dutch as “Angst in de nok” and published in Debbie #8 (1978).
Regards,
Ramon
Ramon, the title is indeed “Terror in the Big Top”. It is A Damian Darke story. A young girl (Carla) an orphan who is scared of heights is forced to go up on the trapeze by her aunt. Her father was a great trapeze artist. His ghost helps her. Her aunt and uncle retire from the circus convinced he was punishing them for the treatment of his daughter. Carla than went to ballet school as she wanted to.
This reminds me of “Slave of the Trapeze” from Sandie, where a girl is blackmailed into working on the trapeze – and she’s scared of heights. It was a smash-hit story, one of the best in girls’ comics.
Thanks, Ronnie! I have updated the listing on comics.org.
Regards,
Ramon
In the late seventies to mid-eighties there was a humour feature reprinted in Dutch magazines of British origin.
It was called “Pony praat” (Pony Talk) and featured one or two teen girls in riding gear (including cap and whip) that discussed humorous situations involving horses/ponies.
Most were two to four panels, on half a page, a few were two-thirds of a page or a full page. But of course they may have been reformatted to fit the reprint books.
The style was sparse: cartoony figures and scarce backgrounds.
The original British publication dates may have been from early seventies on.
Does this ring a bell for anyone?
Regards,
Ramon
Hi Ramon, it sounds like Pony Tales from Judy.
https://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2014/12/pony-tales/
It had quite a few annual appearances, and in the comic it would often appear as just part of page with rest taken up by mag features.
That’s it! Absolutely! I wonder why I didn’t find those when searching for “pony”? Never mind, I have it confirmed now! I’ll add the Judy appearances I have found there!
Thanks!!
Regards,
Ramon
Judy’s “Donkeys in the Nut Orchard” starts in #593 (22 May 1971) and runs until #602 (24 July 1971).
Translated into Dutch as “Ezels in de boomgaard” and published in Debbie #19 (1980).
Regards,
Ramon