Jinty 23 February 1980

• Pam of Pond Hill (artist Bob Harvey)
• Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
• Spirit of the Lake (artist Phil Townsend)
• The Perfect Princess (artist Trini Tinturé)
• Oasis of Dreams – Gypsy Rose story (artist Phil Townsend)
• Toni on Trial (artist Terry Aspin)
• White Water (artist Jim Baikie)
• When Statues Walk… (artist Phil Gascoine)

This is no lightweight cover with happy images of “Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost”, “Pam of Pond Hill” or whatever. It is a cover with two tantalising panels of drama, thrills, terror and danger. We know that big things are happening in these two stories. The next cover will be even more dramatic, for it features Gothic images.

Inside we have a quiz that tests our fashion sense and how we would fare in a fashion shop. Jinty‘s sports pages cover hockey and ice skating. We also know that we are due for a new story soon because the final episode of “The Perfect Princess” is scheduled for next week. Princess Victoria thinks she has finally got rid of her latest rival for the crown and means to be crowned on roller skates. In the final episode we will just how she is going to be disappointed on both counts. And there is already a hint of it in the final panel.

“When Statues Walk” is approaching its climax with this issue, with Laura finding out she has jumped to the wrong conclusion about everything – with fateful and possibly deadly consequences for her. And the cover gives you a very strong hint of what those are. There are fateful consequences building up in “Pam of Pond Hill” as well, when Pam also draws to the wrong conclusions about Trina’s training for Marty after she sees the bruise on Marty’s back. In the next episode we will see just what those consequences will be.

In “Spirit of the Lake” and “Toni on Trial”, both our heroines save lives in this issue, but this does not resolve their problems. We are not sure if Cynthia likes Karen any better, despite Karen saving her life, and Toni is still branded by her mother’s disgrace. But she does draw the (correct) conclusion that her mother’s trouble must have been because she had an enemy, just as Toni does now. Unfortunately all the nastiness has worn Toni down and now she vows not to run again. So now we wait to see what changes her mind.