Dreamer 17 October 1981

• My Strange Sister (photo story)
• Shari King – Shark Girl (artist Juliana Buch)
• Dawn Dreamer (cartoon)
• Rose Among Thorns (photo story)
• Cliff Richards – pinup
• Pattern Printing – feature
• Ugly Duckling (artist Santiago Hernandez)
• Dog-in-the-Middle (photo story)
• The Silver Ballerina (artist Eduardo Feito)
• Who Stole Samantha? (photo story, writer Alison Christie Fitt)
• Shower Power! (feature)

Like Girl, Dreamer was a 1980s IPC title that was a blend of photo stories and picture stories, and the blend seemed to be more balanced than in her sister comic Girl, which consisted of mostly photo stories. Dreamer was probably inspired by the popularity of Girl, a title that lasted nine years. However, Dreamer proved to be another short-lived title. It lasted 35 issues, from 19th September 1981 to 15th May 1982. It then merged with Girl.

We are privileged to know the writer of “Who Stole Samantha?”. Alison Christie Fitt, who has been credited more often with emotional stories, is writing a detective story here. Cheryl Homes (not Holmes!) is investigating who stole her sister’s doll, Samantha. She has to check six suspects and it is a race against time because little sister is pining for Samantha so badly that she refuses to eat.

“My Strange Sister” is also a mystery story. Joanne, who has been wheelchair-bound since an accident, is noticing her sister Eve is acting very strangely all of a sudden and sets out to discover why. But that wheelchair could be a handicap to investigations.

A ballet story is always a guarantee in a first lineup, and in this case it is “The Silver Ballerina”, about two girls who accidentally had their identities switched as babies and haven’t a clue until the power of the silver ballerina bracelet begins to reveal itself. Eduardo Feito demonstrates that he can draw beautiful ballet, and it is a pity he wasn’t called upon more regularly to draw ballet stories.

“Rose Among Thorns” is the school story. Rose is having trouble settling in at her new school and crossing a lot of bullies. And snooty old Mum nearly breaks up the only friendship Rose has there because the girl is not good enough for her. A dog is causing problems with another friendship in “Dog-in-the-Middle” where two friends start falling out over who should own the dog.

Our shark girl is a real cheat who has cheated all her way to team captain. Now she’s got her swimming team cheating against other schools. No doubt readers are reading on to see how her comeuppance shapes up. Meanwhile Sandra Swann is dubbed “Ugly Duckling” and trying to turn herself into a swan by learning to skate. It would do her well to take more care with her appearance too.

 

 

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