Tammy 20 October 1973

• The Revenge of Edna Hack (artist Douglas Perry) – double final episode
• Mandy and the House of Models (artist Ana Rodriguez) – final episode
• Jumble Sale Jilly (artist Juliana Buch) – final episode
• The Power of the Indian’s Pipe (artist Candido Ruiz Pueyo) – final episode
• For Isabel with Love (artist Eduardo Feito) – double final episode
• Tammy Special Double Page Pin-Up (Anne-Marie David and Simon Turner)
• ‘A Mouse No More’ (artist Giorgio Giorgetti) – complete story
• No Tears for Molly (artist Tony Thewenetti, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

The previous entry was on the issue where Sandie merged with Tammy. This entry profiles the Tammy the week before the merger. Regrettably, I am not able to do the same with the final Sandie.

This was the last Tammy to have the “happy girl covers” who had been used on the cover from the first issue. The Cover Girls, drawn by John Richardson, take over with the merger issue. As everything starts new with the merger issue, everything currently running finishes this week, in two cases with double episode spreads. The announcement of the merger has a double page spread in the centre pages.

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One story to end with a double episode is “The Revenge of Edna Hack”. Like Mr Grand in “Village of Fame”, author Dame Edna Hack is going to extremes for TV ratings. In her case it is holding girls (in convict uniform costumes) on her island for her TV show “Captives of Thriller Island”, where viewers don’t realise that what they are watching are real captives trying to escape.

The other story to end with a double episode, “For Isabel with Love”, has an unusual ending: it ends on a cliffhanger and a sequel is promised. Now that will be something to see in the merger. The setup is, Jaki Holt wants to win a riding trophy for her friend Isabel Davey, who is in a coma, but she is having trouble persuading others to give her a chance. For one thing, she has a lame leg. In the final episode Jaki finally persuades the Colonel to give her that chance. But she hasn’t won yet!

“Jumble Sale Jilly” was Juliana Buch’s first story for Tammy. Jilly Burridge is in court, carrying the can for her horrible guardians who were stealing valuables. She hasn’t a hope – unless the only witness who can clear her, her natural mother, can get to the court in time.

In “Mandy and the House of Models”, student model Mandy Larkin is similarly carrying the can for a robbery, and her hunt for the real criminals has led her to Lowland Grange. But she’s been captured, tied up, and her attempts to escape are impeded by a sprained ankle and handcuffs. Talk about Houdini.

“The Power of the Indian’s Pipe” is a war between two brothers, one good, one bad, over a magic pipe. The pipe can be used for good – or evil – depending on which hands it falls into and what tune it plays. Angela, with the help of a similar pipe she has found, brings the war to an end and the pipe to safe hands.

Molly’s got a mystery on her hands to sort out: a baby, a desperate girl, and a whole mess of misunderstandings that are resulting in people being hurt. It all ends with Pickering being obliged to give the baby a kiss. Molly’s hopeful this is evidence of a soft spot in old misery guts.

Although Tammy is focused on finishing everything off and announcing the new spread in the merger, she still has room for a couple of fillers. We get a double-page pin-up and a reprint of a Strange Story (below). It must have come from the very early days of the Storyteller in June. It’s a surprise that the Storyteller had one appearance in Tammy that predates his arrival in the Tammy & June merger in 1974. The story is about a girl who is shy until she changes her appearance with a wig. All of a sudden she is confident and she is convinced it is the wig. Was it really the wig or did it just make her feel so different she discovered the confidence she didn’t realise she had? Whatever it is, she gets her future husband out of it. Aww…

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