Tag Archives: B Jackson

Mandy Annual 2007

Mandy, , , , , ,

This Christmas I’m looking at the last Mandy annual published. While it’s common to call these books annuals, they didn’t actually say that on the cover majority of time, instead it would be some variation on “Title for girls” or “Title Stories for Girls”, a trend that stayed with Bunty up to its last annual in 2009. Mandy however did start adding in “Annual” on the cover in 1999, calling it Mandy Annual 1999 for Girls, then it this last book it drops the for girls, though it those have the splash of  “For girls Like You!” so you could argue that is part of the title.

Inside the book itself there are there is traditional multi part story that would appear in Mandy annuals. There are 3 photo stories, reprinted stories and lots of features. (For just a list of contents go to the next page)

 

Picture Stories

Rowan Lodge [4 parts] (Pages: 7-12, 52-57, 91-96, 110-115)

Art: Peter Wilkes

Alice “Allie” Raymond is spending her school holidays with her grandmother while her parents are abroad. While at her grandmother’s another older relative, Auntie Mac, takes a fall. Nan and Allie go to stay with her at Rowan Grange. Auntie Mac, is nearly 100 year old and her first name is also Alice. She tells Allie stories of her brother, Cyril who was killed in World War I. Allie is quite bored in the isolated house and unhappy staying in the old nursery with its old hard furnishings and barred windows.

Exploring the gardens she finds a walled off part with a locked door, she climbs a tree and sees a  a small lodge but Mrs Green, the housekeeper, stops her from investigating further. Later back in her room, she finds a photo of Auntie Mac and her brother from when they were young.  Then she hears some noises in the locked cupboard, that startle her, but she reasons it must be the old heating system. On a trip to village, she meets a girl, Kelly, who tells her there is a legend that there is treasure hidden in the house and that Lady Jane Grey once stayed there. This story makes Allie think it will be more interesting to stay at Rowan Grange after all.

At the house, Allie explores the attic, she doesn’t find treasure, but she finds out more about Auntie Mac as she finds a painting of her dressed up for her birthday and Cyril’s old war uniform and a page from diary. Mrs Green again interrupts her. Allie’s not giving up yet though, down town she looks at old war monument and finds out Cyril was killed on Auntie Mac’s birthday. She meets Kelly again and tells her about noises she heard and some funny things going on, Kelly tells her she has heard there is supposed to be ghost in a secret room near the nursery and she should stay away from it.  Allie does not take the advice and asks Auntie Mac if there is a key to the room, but when they go to get key it is missing but Auntie Mac tells her about another way to enter.

Allie gets in and finds a map addressed to Lally from Rilly. Hearing someone coming she hides and is surprised to see Mrs Green enter with Kelly. It turns out she is Mrs Green daughter and had no where to spend the holidays and had been hiding out in the house. Allie says they can talk to Auntie Mac and she is sure Kelly could come and hang out with her. Allie keeps the map secret, she realises the map refers to Rowan Lodge rather than Grange and must be the place in the garden. Allie dreams of Cyril who warns her not to trust the Greens, when she wakes up the map is gone. She tells Nan and Auntie Mac everything, they find the Greens at the Lodge,they are trying to figure out a riddle on the map but they run off when confronted.Auntie Mac then tells Allie where to look, the map referred to an old game she used to play with her brother. They find a doll that Cyril had bought his sister before going off to war. Unknown to them Cyril is watching over events. Mrs Green is reported to police and Auntie Mac gives the doll to Allie, to keep it in the family, rather than selling it off. Allie senses Cyril and promises to look after the doll.

Staying Over (Pages: 30-37)

Reprint of Living with Lucy from Mandy Annual 1996

Jane and Lucy are best friends and want to spend all their time together, so when Lucy’s parents go away on holiday, they are excited that Lucy will stay at Jane’s for 2 weeks, but of course it doesn’t go as planned. Sharing homework lands them in trouble, Lucy annoys Jane with her untidiness, Lucy is upset when Jane borrows her new skirt without asking and then accidentally rips it and Jane has to turn down  date because her mother insists she can’t go out while she has a guest. At the end of the stay the girls are no longer talking to each other but when they unknowingly end up on a double date together they make up.

Long Distance (Pages: 60-64)

Reprinted from Judy Annual 1989

Art: John Armstrong

Jen uses her great grandmothers old fashioned phone as a prop for a play.One of the set people, Brian, says he will set up a ring for it, then during rehearsals when it rings Jen answers it and a girl talks about Bleriot flying over the English Channel. Jen thinks Brian has set up a fake message but he says that would be impossible on the old phone and that he hasn’t even set up the ringer. When leaving rehearsals, Jen hears phone ring again, she answers it and the same young girl asks for help, that she is trapped in a fire. Jen runs to the address given and finds herself transported to the past. SHe rescues the beridden girl before passing out from the smoke fumes. She wakes up her own bed, she tells her mom about the fire in her dream, her mom tells her its a funny coincidence that her great grandmother was rescued from a fire when she was bedridden as a young girl, and the girl who saved her disappeared. Jen believes she knows what happened, on the night of the play when the phone rings, she wonders what will happen.

Sadie’s Summer (Pages: 69-74)

Art: “B Jackson”

Reprinted from Bunty Annual 1998

Sadie works for a family in Victorian times, she is excited when the family plan to go to seaside and bring the servants with them, but the master cancels all time off, so they are expected to work and there will be no opportunity for Sadie to see the beach.  A chance encounter with a dog, she meets a young girl, who insists on rewarding her for catching her dog. She comes from an influential family and is able to get Sadie a day off so she can fulfill her wish to enjoy the seaside. Even better the family offer a Sadie a job so she gets a job with a nicer family and to live by the seaside permanently.

Lucky! (Pages: 81-87)

Art: Juan Velasco

Reprint of Lucky and Lisa from Mandy Annual 1996

This is another reprinted story, it’s also the only story in the annual that was a weekly serial originally appearing as Lucky and Lisa in M&J comic issues #211 to #231. In this story Lisa and her horse Lucky win a place at a European ‘Rural Riders’ Camp, which big-headed Maxwell is also going to. Maxwell is sure he will win the trophy for best rider at the end of the week. He goes to practice the cross country route, but his horse, Midnight, slips and gets stuck, Lucky and Lisa find them and help them out. Maxwell is even happy for Lisa when she wins the trophy at end of camp for a good showing at all events and being most helpful member.

Timeout! (Pages: 98-102)

Art: John Armstrong

Reprint of Wishing Your Life Away from Judy Annual 1989

A second John Armstrong story and both have a label of “it’s spooky”. In this story Sandy buys a second hand clock and finds she can use it to skip forward in time. She uses it to skip boring stuff like homework and tests and skip forward to when her favourite TV show is on and to the weekend, but she doesn’t think of the consequences disappearing for large chunks of time. As time still happens normally for everyone else, her parents call the police, when she doesn’t return from school. Sadie goes to shed to try and fix things winding the clock backwards, but it is slower process. She borrows her dads hand drill to help but then accidentally winds it forward 10 years! Eventually she manages to wind it back, injuring her hand but she is home and decides to give the clock back to shop.

 

Text Stories

The Kidnap (Pages: 26-27)

Writer: Susan Elizabeth Issacs

Art: Susannah Fishbourne

Clara has a lucky toy rabbit mascot named Carlos. Another girl Andrea teases her about it, so when Carlos goes missing with a note demanding money for his return, she accuses Andrea of stealing it and says she will tell her mom. Andrea breaks down crying that her mom left a few months ago. They come to an understanding, that Andrea has been teasing Clara because se was jealous of her home life, but they will be friends now. It turns out Carlos was stolen by some boys as April fools joke, and her friend Sasha was in on it.  One of the boys uses the opportunity to ask her to an upcoming dance, which she is happy about.

Considering how upset she was when Carlos was missing and how angry she was when she thought it was Andrea, Clara takes it surprisingly well, when it turns out to be a “joke” by her friend!

It’s Magic! (Pages: 66-67)

Writer: Tracy Joy Holroyd

Art: Susannah Fishbourne

Amy likes a boy John who cycles by her house every weekend, she finds excuses to work in the garden but he never notices her. She talks about her troubles to her cat, Wush. She then has the idea to try out a magic spell, from a book her mom got her for the birthday. The next time she sees John, it seems he is going to ride straight by again, until Wush suddenly runs across him causing him to crash. Amy helps him and insists he come into house to recover. It turns out he likes Amy too but was too shy to say anything before. So Wush has helped Amy out, almost like he knew what he was doing!

Photo Stories

Only a Name! (Pages: 17-22)

Daisy is annoyed with her older sister, Poppy, who keeps calling her Daze and Dopey Daze. After talk with mom, Poppy promises to try and call her by her actual name. When Poppy’s boyfriend breaks up with her because a girl tells him Poppy has been cheating on him and Poppy can’t remember were she was, Daisy saves the day with her diary. She doesn’t mind sharing it with Poppy as it is only full of day to day activities rather than any secrets, though Poppy does notice, after all her complaining about her name, that Daisy has her own nickname, “Pops” for her sister.

The One For Me! (Pages: 41-47)

Reprint of “The Boy For Me!” from Bunty Annual 1998

Louise is excited when Paul asks her out but he does not get along with the dog her family are currently fostering.  The dog, Ben, is a bit troublesome, but Louise is hoping she can convince her parents to let her keep him, when Ben warns family about leak in the bathroom, they come around and agree he can stay. Paul isn’t happy to hear this news and gives her an ultimatum, him or the dog. It’s an easy choice for Louise and she chooses Ben.

Secret Admirer! (Pages: 120-125)

Dawn finds a note in her book from a secret admirer and with the help of her friend Steve is trying to track down who wrote it. She narrows it down to boys in her English class and can eliminate some as they already have girlfriends or are interested in in someone else. She eventually finds out it was Steve who wrote the note but was nervous if she would see him as more than a friend. Dawn is happy at the revelation, as she likes him too but also didn’t think he fancied her.

Features

There’s a whole variety of features, with puzzles, quizzes and factual features, plenty to keep reader occupied.

Puzzles

  • Spring: picture and wordsearch (Pages: 2-3)
  • Summer: picture and wordsearch (Pages: 28-29)
  • A B C (Pages: 38-39)
  • Criss-Cross! (Pages: 65)
  • Autumn: picture and wordsearch (Pages: 78-79)
  • Spot the Differences! (Pages: 90)
  • True or False? (Pages: 103)
  • Puzzles! Puzzles! Puzzles! (Pages: 106-107)
  • Winter: picture and wordsearch (Pages: 126-127)

Quizzes

  • How Superstitious Are You? (Pages: 16)
  • Dodgy or Divine? (Pages: 48-49)
  • Ready, Steady, Go! (Pages: 80)
  • Are You Psychic or Sceptic? (Pages: 108)
  • Best Friends! (Pages: 118-119)

Posters

  • Poster: Fearne Cotton (Pages: 6)
  • Poster: Girls Aloud (Pages: 40)
  • Poster: Konnie Huq (Pages: 75)
  • Poster: Hilary Duff (Pages: 97)

Reader Features

These articles focused on girls, around the readers age and different aspects of their life like what their bedroom is like, what their favourite hobby is and favourite things.

  • Girls! Girls! Girls! : Room to Talk! (Pages: 13-15)
  • Girls! Girls! Girls! : It’s Fun! (Pages: 50)
  • Girls! Girls! Girls! : Meet Me! [Sarah] (Pages: 76-77)
  • Girls! Girls! Girls! : Meet Me! [Caroline] (Pages: 104-105)

Factual Features

Different articles, from animals, celebrities, dolls houses and writing tips from Tracy Joy Holroyd, who wrote the text story “It’s Magic” for the annual.

  • We Love Dolphins! (Pages: 23-25)
  • Focus on… Jennifer1  [Aniston] (Pages: 51)
  • House Proud! (Pages: 58-59)
  • The Write Way! (Pages: 68)
  • Mystic Maggies! (Pages: 88-89)
  • Focus on… Jennifer2  [Lopez] (Pages: 109)
  • Sleep Tight! (Pages: 116-117)

Final Thoughts

This is a good annual, although it has a lot of reprints, most readers wouldn’t have seen them before. Obviously the weekly M&J issues had long finished at this stage, and there is no big presence of regular characters here, only Lucky and Lisa appeared in M&J before. This is change from the previous years’ Mandy annual which had a lot of recognisable characters; Pennys Place, Angel, Wee Slavey and Cinderella Jones. I enjoyed the long story Rowan Lodge, with its mystery and supernatural elements, I think it’s not as strong as some previous long stories we’ve seen, but decent enough. Timeout! is my favourite story here, some memorable imagery with Sandy in the future.  While we get drama, mystery, spooky, I think we are missing some humour stories in this annual, the photo stories are fine, pretty standard, the text stories are fine, out of the two, I liked It’s Magic! best.

With this being the last Mandy annual,  I noted it has the same number of pages as previous annuals, while Bunty would go on to have 2 more annuals after this, there was a reduction in pages, likely due to decline in readership not able to justify the production costs. Mandy had a good run, 37 annuals, and ended its run decently.

Pages: 1 2

The Boot Laceys

Mandy, , ,

Plot

Paula Lacey and her twin brother and sister, Peter and Penny, were orphans. Along with their grandfather, they were travelling to Willowdene in a giant-sized boot which they had converted into a home with wheels. Mr Lacey was a skilled cobbler, and intended to go into partnership with his brother when they reached Willowdene.

Notes

  • Art: “B. Jackson”

Appeared

  • The Boot Laceys – Mandy: #294 (2 September 1972) – #299 (7 October 1972)

Other Appearances:

  • The Boot Laceys – Mandy Annual 1974

Lynn and the Lady in Black

Mandy, , ,

Plot

Twelve year old Lynn lived in Endervale Orphange. While exporing an old house nearby she met a strange veiled lady.  She at first mistook Lynn for her daughter who had died three years previously in a road accident. She had been Dame Elizabeth Dophan a famous concert pianist but since the accident had cut herself off from the outside world, with only her housekeeper Mrs Hacker, for company. Lynn continued to visit the dame in the hope she could get her playing piano again and bring her happiness.

Notes

  • Art: “B. Jackson”

Appeared

  • Lynn and the Lady in Black – Mandy: #267 (26 February 1972) – #271 (25 March 1972)

I’ll Ruin That School!

Judy, , , ,

Plot

Unknown to the pupils and staff of Clerkenwell College, an enemy was in their midst. Julie Dean’s father, the former janitor, had been driving to an interview for a new job, following a row with Miss Kane, the headmistress when his car crashed. Julie’s parents were killed and Julie blamed the school for their deaths.

Notes

  • Art:  “B.Jackson”

Appeared

  • I’ll Ruin That School! – Judy: #1509 (10 December 1988) – #1516 (28 January 1989)

Vanessa’s Voice

Judy, , , ,

Plot

Vanessa Vane, who lived in Virtorian times, was struck dumb after seeing her parents killed in a street accident. A Dr Forbes discovered he could restore her voice by hypnotism and planned to grow rich from her singing talent. Vanessa made many attempts to escape, but, each time she failed.

Notes

  • Art: “B. Jackson”

Appeared

  • Vanessa’s Voice – Judy: #1178 (7 August 1982) – #1186 (2 October 1982)
  • Reprinted – Judy: #1508 (3 December 1988) – #1516 (28 January 1989)

Remember Rhoda

Judy,

Plot

Jackie Hunter had moved to a school once attended by her now dead sister Rhoda, who had been so popular and talented that everyone expected Jackie to do just as well. But Rena Winters had discovered that Roda was not all she seemed and was making life difficult for Jackie. 

Notes

  • Art: “B. Jackson”

Appeared

  • Remember Rhoda – Judy: #1207 (26 February 1983) – #1216 (30 April 1983)

Bunty Annual 2002

Bunty, , , , , , ,

Picture Stories

  • The Comp (Pages 5 – 10) [Artist: Peter Wilkes]
  • Creep (Pages 12 – 15) [Artist: Eduardo Feito]
  • Backstreet Hospital (Pages 27 – 35) [Artist: “B Jackson”]
    • Reprinted from Bunty Annual 1992
  • The Four Marys [two parts] (Pages 36 – 39, 105 – 108) [Artist: Jim Eldridge]
  • Is it a Date? (Pages 43 – 46) [Artist: Ana Rodriguez]
    • Reprinted from Judy Annual 1990 “Saturday Date”
  • Flukey and Friends (Pages 54 – 55)
    • Part of the Dolphins and the Deep Sea feature
  • Toots (Pages 66 – 68) [Artist: Bill Ritchie]
  • Penny’s Place (Pages 69 – 73)
  • The Comp (Pages 82 – 87) [Artist: Peter Wilkes]
  • The Painting (Pages 92 – 104) [Artist: David Matysiak]
    • Reprinted from Bunty Annual 1991
  • It’s No Joke! (Pages 110 – 115) [Artist: Julio Bosch]
    • Reprinted from Judy Annual 1993  “New Year Resolution”

Text Story 

  • The Mansion of Strange Shadows –
    • Chapter One – The House Through the Woods (Pages 16 – 17)
    • Chapter Two – Cold Comfort (Pages 41 – 42)
    • Chapter Three – The Ghastly Gallery (Pages 74 – 75)
    • Chapter Four – Out of Time (Pages 89 – 90)
    • Chapter Five – The Vault of Shadows (Pages 118 – 119)

Photo Stories

  • To See or Not to See… (Pages 21 – 24)
  • Fussy Fliss (Pages 47 – 52)
  • All in a Good Cause! (Pages 78 – 81)
  • Mobile Moans (Pages 121 – 125)

Features 

  • Game – Let’s Party (Pages 2 – 3)
  • What’s In? (Table of Contents) (Page 4)
  • Seal Poster (Page 11)
  • Fun to Do – Surprise Parcels (Pages 18 – 19)
    • Taken from Anness Books’ Fun With Paper by Marion Elliot
  • It’s In The Stars (Page 20, page 109)
  • Quiz – Earth Lover! (Pages 25 – 26)
  • Hamster Poster (Page 40)
  • Dolphins and the Deep Sea Intro (Page 53)
  • Flukey’s Finny Facts (Pages 56 – 57)
  • Going Wild (Page 58)
  • Dolphin Poster (Page 59)
  • Water Puzzler (Pages 60 – 61)
  • Finny Friends (Page 62)
  • Flow Chart – Starry-Eyed? (Page 63)
  • Puzzles – Four by Four (Pages 64 – 65)
  • Puzzles – Colour In! (Pages 76 – 77)
  • Lion Cub Poster (Page 88)
  • Puzzle – Superstar! (Page 91)
  • Fun to Do – Chocolate Cups (Pages 116 – 117)
    • Taken from Anness Books’ Fun With Cooking by Judy Williams
  • Game – Jungle Fun! (Pages 126 – 127)

* Thanks to April Slocombe for information and pictures

Sue Spiker [1978]

Emma, ,
  • Sue Spiker–  Emma: #01 (25 February 1978) – #19 (01 July 1978)
  • Sue Spiker–  Emma: #44 (23 December 1978) – #63 (05 May 1979)
  • Sue Spiker– Judy & Emma: #1027 (15 September 1979) – #1038 (01 December 1979)
  • Art: “B. Jackson”

Plot

Sue Spiker ran for 3 series, two series in the Emma comic and it survived the merger with Judy to have one more series in that title.

In the first series Sue is a troubled girl who has been kicked out of several schools, she now lives in Farewood Home, a home for deprived girls and the only available school in her district is the posh Farewood school. No-one is pleased by the situation, the head-mistress is reluctant to take her in and the pupils look down on Sue, but Sue isn’t one to be quiet about snide comments  she gets, which gets her into more trouble. At the home things aren’t much better as Mrs Crum, the Matron, is lazy and mean-spirited and leaves majority of chores to Sue as the oldest girl. She does gain one ally in Miss Graham the assistant games mistress. Sue has a talent for volleyball, in particularly spiking the ball, which gets Miss Graham’s attention and she puts her on the school’s senior team. While one of her teammates, Val, a prefect, is friendly the other girls still don’t accept her. One girl Elma accuses Sue of stealing her gym kit, just to stir up trouble, Sue not taking kindly to the accusation hits her. Elma’s parents call the police and the headmistress feels the school will be in disgrace when people see police there. At the police station Sue is calmer and even convinces them to let her play volleyball when she sees a game by the cadets. That along with Miss Graham coming to defend Sue,means  she is released and the police set up match between the school and  the cadets which relieves the headmistress as she can say that is why the police were at the school.

Sue shows she does have a softer side when she takes the kids to fair and wins coconuts for them, then sells the coconuts to buy treats. She also guards the younger kids from Mrs Crum.  After seeing her home Val tries to get her father to help but it ends with Sue being kicked out of the home as Mrs Crum blames all the problems on her (poor kids that are left behind!). Sue ends up in a tougher home for girls, but not for too long as her dad shows up again. He has remarried and has 3 young step children, he takes her in so she will look after them and do housework, while he and his new wife go out all night. Looking after the kids means Sue is late for school and volleyball and she also falls asleep in school. She has to take them to practice with her when the parents don’t return home. When the kids fall sick a social worker arrives and they have to go to hospital. Sue is left on her own and then because of unpaid rent , the furniture is taken and then the flat. Because of all this she is kicked out of school for not attending. Her only bit of reprieve is playing with the youth club. She finds out about the Midlands Juniors team that she was part of when she as in school are going to big final in London. She gets down to London to join the team and they win the game. At this stage she is finally tracked down by her social worker who she had been avoiding. She is put with a new, kind, foster mum and is let back into school when social worker explains case (it resolves pretty quickly).

When we return to Sue in the sequel, she is happy but that actually takes the edge off her game. The happiness doesn’t last too long, as her foster mother takes ill, her old social worker has moved away and Miss Graham gets a new job. She is put back with her father, who has allegedly changed his ways. In her new home, Sue has a run in with some hoodlums vandalising the tower block and things are no better at school as the new games mistress, Miss Collins, takes a dislike to her, and drops her from team. Sue’s father has of course not improved, he beats on his wife and she takes it out on Sue. Sue in turn takes it out on the gang that are still causing trouble.To escape this bad home life, she plays a volleyball marathon with youth club friends, but then has trouble in school the next day for being sleepy and out of uniform, because her father has pawned it! Sue runs away from home to escape a beating. She gets her things back from pawn shop and a job as night watchman at an allotment, she finds this situation much better than living with her family, but she doesn’t want the social workers to know she is living rough, so has to pretend to still live with her father. Meanwhile the thing that has always comes easy to her, volleyball, she is surprised at a match to meet some equals and realises she will need to learn more defense moves and not just rely on her spiking .

The school headmistress meanwhile is trying to get her transferred and Miss Collins has put her in the younger B Team, she instead chooses to play for the youth club.  The district judges see her play and she is chosen for district team, but then her makeshift home in the watchman’s hut is destroyed by vandals and she is left homeless. Some good news for Sue is when the chairman of the school sticks up for her and she gets to stay at Farewood. Then another bit of good luck when she gets a job and room at factory coaching team. Of course things can never keep going right for Sue so after accidentally hitting a teacher during a factory training session, when the school is on excursion, she is pulled from district team for being a professional. Her social worker finds her and puts her in front of panel, luckily Mrs Blane (who got Sue on the district team) and the factory manager stick up for her and she gets back on the team. Then she loses her cool with an American businessman visiting the factory and loses her factory job. Again this bad news is followed by some good news as she gets picked for the special English volleyball team (along with her friend Val) and has news that her foster mother will be out of hospital soon. After a tough match against the Netherlands, Sue makes the winning point of the game and then returns home to her foster mother.

The third series, sees a change of setting, as Sue joins a holiday camp while her foster mother visits family in Canada. The Carson Sport Camp is a struggling holiday camp that takes Sue on after the snobbish Panton camp she was meant to work in, refuse her when they realise she’s a girl. After the cook quits the Carson’s Camp, Sue has to be cook, dishwasher, and waitress as well as volleyball coach. There are 2 guests Mike and Koolie that also keep causing problems, but the owner, Mr Carson, still tries to keep them happy as he can’t afford any bad reviews. Things start to look up as a volleyball enthusiast joins as cook. Sue encourages them to join a volleyball league, to earn some money to do up the camp. They get on well and start tidying up camp. They even attract some guests over from the Panton Camp. Sue continues to work hard and do favours around the town so she can improve camp. Then she gets surprise when her father, and family turn up. Seems Mr Carson thinks he was doing something nice to thank her for her work, little did he know! Sue’s upbeat enthusiasm takes a hit, and soon Mr Carson realises his mistake, especially as he sees her stepmother ordering Sue around. Mr Carson gets rid of them by saying  the condition of the free holiday is to help with the piles of dishes, which gets them moving quickly. They also clear out Mike and Coolie with all the new facilities, they can’t put a complaint in against the camp. To round things off they win  final volleyball match against Panton Camp, and now with all problems fixed Sue can relax and enjoy the rest of her holiday.

Thoughts

Sue Spiker is the character that appears the most in the Emma comic (just outdoing “Jodie and the Otter”), it had 39 episodes in total in Emma and a further 12 episodes in Judy & Emma. I can see the appeal, firstly the top art by “B” Jackson, then the story following a likeable character that seems to never be able to catch a break, she has to deal with abusive guardians, being unfairly treated at school, and homelessness. Of course her one talent, volleyball, may be the thing to get her a happy ending. It does follow a typical formula, but there is a reason readers like these stories, anticipating if the protagonist will overcome all the obstacles that keep getting flung at them.  Emma was a more experimental title than some other DCT girl comics, it may have been trying to compete more with IPC titles of the time, as we see with the character of Sue Spiker, a working class girl that has a lot of hardships and with a more unusual sport  that she is good at (tennis or hockey was more commonly seen in these titles), Sue would have fit right in with Tammy or Jinty.

The class divide is clearly against Sue from the start, not only are the girls snobbish and try and get Sue in trouble, the teachers are as equally (if not worse) at fault, being condescending, spiteful and looking down on Sue. Right away the headmistress declares her unhappiness to having Sue there, before she even meets her and is always looking for an opportunity to get rid of her just because she not the “right” class of student she wants in the school. There are few exceptions Sue finds a friend in Val, a senior, and Miss Graham. Although in the second series, Miss Graham takes a new job without even a goodbye or warning to Sue, which seems thoughtless. Miss Collins her replacement has similar attitude to the Headmistress, but also seems to be not a good teacher as Sue is able to teach girls more about volleyball than her. The teachers say she has a bad attitude, and while Sue might not always go about things right way, she won’t be bullied or talked down to which is what causes trouble. But she has had to learn to look out for herself since an early age and we are glad to see her take down some of the bullies at school.

Despite all these problems at school, it is still better than her home life, filled with abusive and neglectful guardians.  At least Sue finally gets a good home in the end, but I feel sorry for the kids she left behind, particularly her stepsisters. In the first series both with the foster home and her family, they neglect the kids, don’t give them enough food and let Sue do all the housework and looking after the kids. Her father and step mother are particularly bad, coming back late at night and having parties and leaving the kids on their own for long periods. So it is a surprise that the kids are given back to the parents with only a fine. In the second series we see the abuse escalate to physical abuse, while it doesn’t seem like the younger girls get hit, it is still wrong that they get left behind. In the third series, everything seems a bit more toned down, the parents show up and take advantage and talk down to Sue but don’t come across more lazy than abusive and are quickly gotten rid of.

The third series is the weakest story, while Sue has challenges to overcome, they are less personal, she is just trying to help Mr Carson out, the biggest conflict is when her family arrive but they don’t hang about too long. While we always want protagonist to win in the end, I’m sure part of Sues appeal was the hardships she faced, so there is less drama here and perhaps that is why she didn’t last another series after this one.

Bunty Summer Special 1991

Bunty, , , , ,

Picture Stories

  • Bunty – A Girl Like You (Page 2) [Art: Andy Tew]
  • The Four Marys (Pages: 3-8) [Art: Andy Tew]
  • Pony School (Pages: 13-15)
  • Haggis (Page 17)
  • Monkey Business (Pages: 19-21) [Art: Andy Tew]
  • Girl Talk (Page 21)
  • Teacher’s Pet (Pages: 27-29) [Art: Guy Peeters]
  • The Girl in White (Pages: 32-34) [Art: Bert Hill]
  • Backstreet Hospital (Pages: 36-38) [Art: “B Jackson”]
  • Clothes Sense (Pages: 39-41) [Art: Terry Aspin]
  • The Comp (Pages: 42-47) [Art: Ron Lumsden]

Photo Stories

  • All for Nothing (Pages: 10-12)
  • Luv, Jeff (Pages: 16-17)
  • Holiday at Home (Pages: 30-31)

Features

  • Flying High! (Page 9)
  • Summer Styles (Page 18)
  • Summer Special or Winter Wonder (Page 22)
  • Summer Sizzlers! (Pages: 23, 26)
  • Danni Minogue and Mat Stevenson Poster (Pages: 24-25)
  • Club Corner (Page 35)
  • Phillip Schofield Poster (Page 48)

 

*Thanks to Goof for the information and cover picture

Mandy Annual 1990

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Picture Stories

  • The Guardian Tree (Pages: 4-12, 33-43, 81-89, 118-127)
  • I Can’t Stand My Sister! (Pages: 13-16)
  • I Hate Humpty! (Pages: 19-26) [Art: Veronica Weir]
  • Meddling Maggie (Pages: 28-31) [Art: George Martin]
  • My Little Green Prince (Pages: 44-48) [Art: Wilf Street]
  • Something to Hide (Pages: 44-56) [[Writer: Alison Christie, Art: “B Jackson”]
  • I Want to Win! (Pages: 49-64) [[Writer: Alison Christie, Art: Bert Hill]
  • The Daffodil Dancer (Pages: 67-74) [[Writer: Alison Christie, Art: Pamela Chapeau]
  • Atlanta’s Tale (Pages: 76-80) [Art: Tom Hurst]
  • The Return of Ted (Pages: 90-96) [Writer: Alison Christie, Art: Andrew Wilson]
  • Princess Dinah (Page 101)
  • The Secret of Cousin Tania (Pages: 102-111) [Art: Carlos Freixas]
  • My Best Friend? (Pages: 113-117) [Art: Leslie Branton]

Text Stories

  • Face the Music (Pages: 17-18) [Writer: Alison Christie, [Art: George Martin]
  • Tidy Your Room! (Page 32) [Writer: Alison Christie]
  • Swing High (Pages: 65-66) [Writer: Alison Christie, Art: Claude Berridge]
  • The Phantom of the 13th Floor (Pages: 98-100)

Features

  • Christmas Puzzles (Page 27)
  • Have a Handy Boyfriend Hanging Around! (Page 57)
  • Best of Breeds (Page 75)
  • Book-End Girls (Page 9)
  • Play the Game! (Page 112)

* Thanks to Goof for information and picture