Tearaway Trisha (1980)

Sample Images

Published: Jinty 8 March 1980 – 21/28 June 1980 (no episodes 17 May to 7 June due to strike)

Episodes: 12

Artist: Andrew Wilson

Writer: Unknown

Translations/reprints: None known

Plot

Trisha is hot stuff on a bicycle. Though not a downright hooligan on wheels, she is a reckless, carefree daredevil with no sense of safety or responsibility. People say the little pest is headed for trouble, and it happens when Trisha is not paying full attention on the road because of her goofing off. She fails to notice a greasy patch on the road and goes into a skid, which causes a car to plough right into a lamp post. This puts a girl named Fran Hayward in hospital with serious facial injuries.

Everyone is blaming Fran for it and giving her a hard time, notwithstanding the oil patch, none of the passengers in the car wearing seat belts, the site of the accident having a reputation as a “black spot”, and Fran’s mother admitting it was partly her fault too. (The episode is posted above for your own judgement about the accident.)

Trisha feels guilty and responsible when she sees the state Fran is in. Mrs Hayward says money is needed for Fran to have plastic surgery but she does not have the money.

Meanwhile, Trisha wangles her way to see a stunt cycling act by helping the performers. Then, when one of the performers lets her fellow performers down, they ask Fran to take her place. This proves successful, though the manager is not impressed when he finds out. Ultimately, it is inspiration for Fran to put on three cycling shows to raise the money for Fran’s operation and the newspaper is taking up the story.

However, Trisha keeps having brushes with the law, and her latest one almost cancels the deal with the press. The editor only agrees to continue with Trisha if she will have cycling lessons and get a proficiency certificate. This is most demeaning for Trisha. It is even more so when they find her bicycle is not safe (damaged from the accident and Trish has to do self-repairs, which make for a banged-up bike). The editor has to loan her one. What’s more, she’s making mistakes with her cycling that need to be corrected. But she is forced to continue because it will keep the peace with Mrs Hayward and she’s got to convince people that she’s changed. To add to her problems, some toughs play tricks on her. As a result, she ends up in an icky river and the editor is not pleased to see the state of the bike he loaned her.

Trisha finally manages to stage her first show and it goes well. But Fran, who is having constant hysterics over the state of her face, people staring at her, and terrified of the operation, runs off. Trisha manages to find her, but the incident has Trisha so shaken up that she bungles the second show and it’s a failure.

When Fran reads about this in the paper, she snaps out of her selfishness as she realises what Trisha is going through to help her. A nurse informs Fran that she’s heard some toughs intend to come to the third show and throw rotten fruit at Trisha, and Fran alerts Trisha. Trisha turns this to her advantage by turning the whole thing into an Aunt Sally on Wheels show, with each hit raising £1 for the fund, and Trisha’s stunts ensuring some missiles miss. Everyone thinks the show’s a riot and it’s a financial success. There is now enough money for the operation, and Fran, inspired by Trisha’s courage, finds her own courage to go through with the operation.

The newspaper bike goes to raffle to raise money for Fran to go on holiday. When she comes back, she realises how silly her hysterics were – nobody is staring at her. She and Trisha become friends. Trisha is now more responsible about biking, but she is still keen on it and can’t wait for her bike to come back from the repair shop.

Thoughts

This is Jinty’s second (and last) story about cycling, the first being “Curtain of Silence”. Like Curtain of Silence, it is a redemption story about a thoughtless cyclist who needs to change her ways. But unlike Curtain of Silence, it is not about the sports side of cycling. Instead, it is the stunt and fun side of cycling.

This is definitely a strong story about responsibility, especially on the road. When you think you know it all, you find there are still some things you need to know to improve your road safety and there are road safety courses you can take a lot of things away from. Jinty readers must have emerged from this one thinking hard about how much more responsible they could be about cycling. In fact, the first episode adds this caption: “Don’t be like Trisha! Always cycle safely, with care and attention.”

Trisha is definitely one of the most ballsy, gutsy protagonists in Jinty. Although she gets depressed several times she never quits and she always bounces back. We all love her instantly because she’s no Pollyanna, and the artwork of Andrew Wilson (best remembered for “The Happy Days”) really brings off her irrepressible character.

Though not a bad person at heart, Trisha is clearly irresponsible and we know she is set for a long road to redemption about learning responsibility. However, she’s not wallowing in self-blame as many protagonists do in girls’ comics, which is refreshing. Initially she resists the idea that she is to blame, as there were other factors involved in the accident as well. It takes the shock of seeing Fran to make Trisha realise she must take some responsibility for it and she becomes more sober. It really is to Mrs Hayward’s credit that she is taking some of the blame as well and is not holding any grudges against Trisha or turning bitter towards her (unlike some parents in girls’ comics, such as Mrs Mitchell in Jinty’s “Waves of Fear”).

Trisha being an inspiration to Fran is a brilliant plot twist. At the hospital, Fran falls into the trap of self-pity, refusing to be helped, having hysterics etc, etc. We see this a lot in girls’ comics and can only wait and see what snaps the girl out of it. It is a delight to see it is the courage of the very girl who was partly to blame for her condition.

The most exciting parts of the story have to be Trisha’s bike stunts themselves. They are thrilling to watch and the highlight is definitely the Aunt Sally on Wheels. There can be little doubt Trisha will follow in the footsteps of the cycling performers and have a career in her own cycling shows. They also help to keep the story more lightweight and humorous, so the story, though a redemption and guilt complex story, is not overly dark or emotional.

Princess Tina 27 May 1972

Cover artist: Purita Campos

• Stop ‘n’ Chat with the Tina Gang (writers Linda, Jeffy (Jennifer) and Horace) – feature
• Patty’s World (artist Purita Campos, writer Phillip Douglas)
• Clueless – the blunderdog (artist John Richardson)
• No Swimming Allowed! (artist Santiago Hernandez)
• Pop People (feature)
• Princess Tina cookbook cover – feature
• Briony Andrews (artist Rodrigo Comos) final episode
• Ross – Student Nurse (artist Colin Merrett)
• The Happy Days (artist Andrew Wilson, writer Jenny Butterworth)
• Summer Line-up (feature)
• Problem Pony (artist Edmond Ripoll)
• Freedom Island (artist Juan Solé Puyal)
• Fifty Tote Bags to Win! (competition)
• Make this with Jeffy (real name Jennifer) – feature
• Princess Tina Cook Book – feature
• Flower Arranging – feature
• Janey (writer Jemma) – text story
• “Fire!” (by Horace) – text story
• Jinny below Stairs (artist Julian Vivas)
• Tina Aims for the Top! (artist Candido Ruiz Pueyo)
• Tell us about it – letters page

We continue our exploration of older titles with a look at Princess Tina. Princess Tina started on 23 September 1967 by merging Princess (first series) and Tina. Well, it makes more sense than “Princess & Tina”. In 1973 Princess Tina merged into Pink (best remembered for Sugar Jones, the scheming celebrity you love to hate, though you have to love her for being a sex symbol). 

Princess Tina is a larger size than her contemporary sisters. Princess Tina is also striking for giving credit to some of her writers and her creative teams. These tend to be the writers who write features such as Jeffy (Jennifer), who puts up cut-out dress patterns and text stories, and Horace, writer of the Horace Scope (horror scope). Now that is a nice touch, showing a human face to the creative team. There are even photos of these writers attached to the features. Horace also took part in the artwork; Stop ‘n’ Chat says he painted the cover you can cut out for the Princess Tina cookbook (which has been removed from this copy).

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The Princess Tina covers were drawn by Purita Campos and featured happy girls doing very happy, everyday things; in this case they are eating watermelon. Many Princess Tina covers found their way into reprints on other covers, such as the Katy series and the Dutch Tina.

Princess Tina is best remembered for Patty’s World and The Happy Days. This particular issue is the last to feature Patty’s World in black-and-white. Next issue Patty is going to be produced in colour, “in all its shades from happy sunshine yellow to the blues”. Ooh, nice! In the story itself, Patty is looking forward to leading a majorette’s parade but has to cancel out because of a funeral. At least such a sombre thing should be out of the way in time for Patty to start enjoying her colour episodes.

In “The Happy Days” Sue has to find a missing will but the dog has torn it up. Let’s hope the dog hasn’t eaten it too! At least trying to find the dog helps a man in trouble.

In this issue, John Richardson makes one of four appearances as filler artist for “Clueless – the Blunderdog”. The other dates Richardson drew Clueless are 22 April, 29 April and 15 July 1972. The Richardson artwork for Clueless in this issue appears below.

“No Swimming Allowed!” is, as you might expect, an unreasonable ban on swimming. In this case it’s a headmistress imposing it on an entire school (because her fiancé drowned) instead of a parent or guardian imposing it on the protagonist. Of course the swimming continues in secret, with help from a surprising source: an aristocrat named Lady Squires. She and her husband have wangled it so the team will compete for the junior swimming trophy match, but the unpleasant head girl is suspicious.

Briony Andrews, a shy but good-natured girl who has elevated from “country mouse” to a confident model, finishes her story this week. But next week she starts another, “Designed for Danger”, so she must have been popular.

Jan Ross, a student nurse, is wrongly dismissed thanks to a forgetful nurse, Sister Mott. But now she finds Mott’s forgetfulness is having even more dangerous consequences: forgetting the warning that her car brakes are bust – and now she’s driving it!

“Problem Pony” is such a problem that Hazel Green has run away with him. His problem is that nobody can ride him unless his dog pal, Dodger, is near him. Then, when Dodger runs off, problem pony does the same. This will most certainly mean he will gallop into trouble.

“Freedom Island” is home to a school where children of UN delegates can be free. All the same, one girl, Pauline, is unhappy and sets off – in shark-invested waters. Even after being rescued from all those sharks, Pauline just won’t say why she tried to run off.

Jinny below Stairs is a good-natured maid who agrees to help a fellow maid, Mary, hide her brother Bert, who is on the run from the police. But doing so gets her into trouble and she is now in danger of being sacked. Then there is even worse danger – Bert is forced to come up to the house and it looks like the horrible housekeeper is about to catch them all red-handed.

In “Tina Aims for the Top!”, Tina has been ordered to find out why girls are leaving an office training course at Maire Castle. Tina suspects it is because the trainer, Fay Petrie, is up to tricks. Caught snooping in Fay’s office, Tina has no choice but to confront her with her suspicions. What is Fay going to say next week?

Pixie #4, 15 July 1972

• Marion of Sherwood
• Rex Varney – Pixie Pin-up
• Those Sums! (poem)
• Looking after Egbert: A Story of the Happy Days (artist Andrew Wilson)
• Giggles Galore! – cartoon
• Doll Cut-out
• The Secret Garden – adapted from the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett (artist Mike Hubbard?)
• The Mikado – adaptation
• Enid Blyton tells the story of The Naughtiest Girl in the School (artist Tony Higham)
• Puzzle Fun
• Milly-Molly-Mandy (told and drawn by Joyce Lankester Brisley)
• Gussie the Girl Guide and Her Good Deeds (cartoon)
• A Story to Remember (text)
• When Black Beauty Was Young
• Mini Ha-Ha: Big Laughs with a Little Indian Girl – cartoon

A while ago we had a request to put up some entries on older girls’ titles if possible. So here we will take a look at one: Pixie. Pixie ran 24th June 1972 to 13th January 1973 (30 issues) and merged into June.

This is #4 of Pixie. Like Penny, she is meant for a younger audience. This is evidenced right from the cover, which has a very young cover girl. And the content inside is clearly meant for a younger readership. But there is no denying Pixie is much more gorgeous than Penny. She has so many colour pages and the artwork is eye-catching, whether it is serious or humorous. Some examples are posted in this entry. The young girls must have simply loved it and bought the issues for this reason alone.

It would have made them enjoy the adaptations far more and want to read the originals. Pixie put a high emphasis on adaptations. The ones here are Enid Blyton and The Naughtiest Girl in the School, The Secret Garden, Milly-Molly-Mandy, and The Mikado. Elizabeth Allen, the Naughtiest Girl in the School, is a spoiled girl who is trying to get herself expelled from boarding school. But things get awkward when Elizabeth finds the school is beginning to grow on her. Sounds like Elizabeth set the template for serials on problem girls who like to get expelled, such as “Amanda Must Not Be Expelled” and “Queen Rider” (both from Tammy).

 

Other stories were inspired by popular literature or folk tales, such as “When Black Beauty Was Young” and “Marion of Sherwood”. The artwork is amusingly cartoony in places and would not be out of place in a Disney animated feature.

We also have The Happy Days, possibly a Princess Tina reprint (update: information received indicates it was unlikely). At the dreaded dentist Sue reads about a missing dog in a magazine and then finds the dog. But then she realises she forgot to note the owner’s address from the magazine and it’s been thrown out! While trying to find the owner she leaves the dog in the house, and the yappy thing scares the wits out of her mother. Oh, dear.

The text features should have amused the readers. One, “Those Sums”, is about a girl who struggles with maths (yep, many of us can relate to that). “A Story to Remember” would not be out of place in a book of fairy tales. A milkmaid is taking a jug of milk to market on her head, but gets caught in a dream about the riches it will make for her. It inflates her ego too much and she tosses her head, causing the milk to go for a burton. The moral it reminds her: don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

Pixie also had her share of cartoons. Mini Ha-Ha is one that enjoyed a good run in the June & Pixie merger until June merged with Tammy, but she might be considered a tad un-PC today.

Jinty and Penny 26 April 1980

Stories in this issue:

• Pam of Pond Hill (writer Jay Over, artist Bob Harvey)
• Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
• Seulah the Seal (artist Veronica Weir)
• Alley Cat (artist Rob Lee)
• Tearaway Trisha (artist Andrew Wilson)
• Rinty N Jinty
• Lost in Time! – board game to pull out and play
• The Venetian Looking Glass (artist Phil Gascoine)
• Tansy of Jubilee Street (artist Ken Houghton)
• Blind Faith – first episode (artist Phil Townsend)
• Stories of the Stars: Evonne Goolagong
• White Water (artist Jim Baikie) – last episode

‘Start collecting our super colour 3 part game’, the cover announces. I remember thinking that the game (which involves moving between various eras such as Ancient Egypt and a time of dinosaurs) looked quite fun, but I would never have pulled the centre pages out to put a game together! I am not totally sure if the cover is done by the same artist who created the interior pages with the game – which look to me to have been done by Ken Houghton.

Everyone is teasing Pam about her friendship with Goofy Boyle, making like they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Pam denies everything but of course that is also quite hurtful to Goofy, especially when Pam intervenes to save him from being beaten up by bullies.

Seulah and his human friend Bonnie are still looking out for each other, and miss finding each other by a very close call. Instead Seulah finds a narrowboat with a feast fit for a king – or a hungry seal – in the form of a huge salmon all laid out! But when the owner returns, he is trapped…

Tearaway Trisha has Trisha and Fran reconciling their misunderstandings – Trisha goes up onto the hospital roof to talk Fran down from the edge, but in the end Fran is the one who rescues Trisha when she wobbles and nearly falls off the side. All seems like it is going well for Trisha at the end of the episode, but she is too ready to be tempted by her old, rambunctious friends.

Lucy Craven is under the spell of the Venetian Looking Glass: it has similarities to “Slave of the Mirror”, not least because they both include mirrors in the story title, but the fact that Lucy is enslaved by a set of shoes that her evil ancestor forces her to wear is a little spookier in some ways. Cousin Rosalind is in hospital because she fell from her horse, but that only happened because Lucy spooked her horse.  She vows never to hurt her cousin again but the ghost of her evil ancestor has other plans.

It’s the start of “Blind Faith”: one of the least plausible stories in girls comics, as it features a blind showjumping horse who is coached into winning events by his dedicated owner. In this first episode Cromwell is taken over the water jump by Clare, the daughter of his owner: she wants to prove she can help the horse overcome his nerves. Sadly there is an accident and Cromwell hits his head – which turns him blind. “You little fool!” says the unsympathetic father. “A few minutes ago we had a horse with a slight problem. Now we don’t have a horse” – as he leads Cromwell off to the knackers.

I don’t know much about tennis player Evonne Goolagong but her name has always stuck in my head, not though I could tell you much of what is contained in this short piece about her without re-reading it. (She won Wimbledon in 1971, I see.)

Canoeing story “White Water” comes to an end in this issue – Bridie Mason and her frenemy Jocelyn get themselves into trouble because of a challenge they talked themselves into. They are in serious danger in the water and only great paddling gets them back to safety. The experience leads to them making things up with each other and coming to terms with their own foolish actions.

Jinty and Penny 14 June 1980

Stories in this issue:

• Pam of Pond Hill (artist Bob Harvey, writer Jay Over)
• Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
• Tearaway Trisha (artist Andrew Wilson)
• Snoopa
• Seulah the Seal (artist Veronica Weir)
• The Venetian Looking Glass (artist Phil Gascoine)
• Tansy of Jubilee Street (artist Ken Houghton)
• Virginia Wade and Winning Ways 13: The Crouch Start (writer Benita Brown)
• Minnow (artist Peter Wilkes)
• Blind Faith (artist Phil Townsend)

I have just received this issue from an ebay purchase, so am making the time for a quick post. Shockingly, the seller had packaged it up in an A4 envelope when the comic is noticeably wider than that – and s/he actually rolled / folded the edge in order to get it into the packaging! Blimey, not sure what the world is coming to, though at least it was a very reasonable price.

Pam and her class are doing a school show, but Pam is busier trying to bring together her boyfriend Goofy’s fractured family… and they are both trying to manage to do sewing and woodwork respectively, and wishing they could swop over those classes!

“Tearaway Trisha” is a less well-known Jinty story, by an artist who had a very long run in girls’ comics but only this story in this title. Trisha is trying to raise money for an operation to help the girl she injured with her careless riding, but Fran has worked herself up into a right state and isn’t having any of it. They make it up in the end but everything is weighing on Trisha’s mind and her ‘Fran appeal’ show with spectacular cycling stunts doesn’t go well and raises little money as a result. We are promised a resolution in next week’s episode though.

Seulah is saved from attack by murderous yobs through the intervention of a tramp, and Seulah’s friend Bonnie is greeted with the excellent news that the coastline and seal island have been declared a sanctuary – but Seulah still has miles to go before he is back home and safe.

The Venetian Looking Glass is not my favourite of the ‘evil object’ stories printed in Jinty. We get some nice glimpses of the past in this episode, and of course Gascoine’s artwork is lovely, but it does all feel a bit ‘done before’.

The text sports pages tell us about Virginia Wade at Wimbledon, and about the Crouch Start in Sprinting.

“Minnow” is an odd story that works quite well. Minna isn’t allowed to swim by her mother; in this episode she is told that this is because her father drowned at sea when she was a baby. Nevertheless, as is always the way with these things, she starts to learn anyway, but finds that odd things happen – not magical like in “Combing Her Golden Hair“, but psychologically disturbing instead. Quite effectively done.

The last story is the rather ridiculous, but again beautifully-drawn, “Blind Faith” – the blind show jumping horse whose owner doesn’t want to give up on him. I reproduce this episode for you to see. It’s not obviously ridiculous apart from in the premise – but that’s quite enough.

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Jinty 5 April 1980

• Spirit of the Lake (artist Phil Townsend, writer Benita Brown?)
• Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
• Bridge of Heart’s Desire – Gypsy Rose story (artist Trini Tinturé?)
• Wildflower Wonderland (feature) – last part
• The Venetian Looking Glass – (artist Phil Gascoine)
• Alley Cat
• Toni on Trial (artist Terry Aspin)
• Sports Pages – Lorna Vincent; Winning Ways 11 (writer Benita Brown)
• Rinty ‘n’ Jinty
• White Water – (artist Jim Baikie)
• Easter Bonnet Crossword
• Tearaway Trisha – (artist Andrew Wilson)

This is the issue before Penny merged with Jinty. The announcement (above) says that next week we say hello to Seulah the Seal, Tansy of Jubilee Street and Snoopa. So what ends in this issue that gives way to them?

Nothing much, really. Pam takes a break in this issue. But then her previous story finished last issue and they clearly wanted her to start with a whole new story for the merger – a wise decision. It is the last part of Wildflower Wonderland. And it sounds like it is the end of “Toni on Trial” soon, because Toni has at last found someone who could help clear her mother, and the blurb for next week tells us there will be another clue. Just as well, because the town is really rubbing Toni’s nose into her mother’s disgrace this time, with a cruel headline: “Brave Girl Saves Cup Her Mother Stole!” Poor Toni is in tears!

But all the other stories are still going strong and clearly have a way to go. “White Water” has been going as long as Toni, but there is no hint of it ending yet. Maybe there will be in the next episode or two. Trisha finally has an idea to raise the money for Fran’s operation, but Fran is not impressed with all the publicity and turning on Trisha big time. And Lucy is still haunted by the evil mirror and shoes that make her do things and go places she does not want.

The Gypsy Rose story, “Bridge of Heart’s Desire”, fills in the Pam slot this week. It is reprinted from June and will later be reprinted in Tammy. The story prompted a letter from one reader who said she turned this story into a play when her drama class was assigned a task of putting on their own play and nobody had any idea what to do. She went through her old Jintys and decided this story was just right for it. The teacher thought the end result was “very good”.

Jinty 29 March 1980

• Pam of Pond Hill (writer Jay Over, artist Bob Harvey)
• Wildflower Wonderland (feature)
• Spirit of the Lake (artist Phil Townsend, writer Benita Brown?)
• Rinty ‘n’ Jinty
• Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
• The Venetian Looking Glass – (artist Phil Gascoine)
• Alley Cat
• Toni on Trial (artist Terry Aspin)
• Sports Pages – Suzanne Dando; Winning Ways 10 (writer Benita Brown)
• White Water – (artist Jim Baikie)
• Tearaway Trisha – (artist Andrew Wilson)
• Sandwich Crunch – feature

In Pam of Pond Hill, the school dinner dilemma has gotten worse, not better, with the departure of Mrs Harvey. Mrs Bounty refuses to return, and the temps are producing dinners that are completely inedible.

Talk about life (or death?) imitating art – Karen discovers that when she was alive, her phantom coach starred in a movie where she played a ghost who haunted a lake and taught a child to skate. Now she’s doing it for real as the “Spirit of the Lake”.

The ghost that haunts the “Venetian Looking Glass” forces Lucy to rip up her cousin Rosalind’s embroidery. And she doesn’t even remember what happened afterward.

Resident ghost Sir Roger does not think much of Gaye’s disco gear (and it does look kind of ridiculous). He thinks the Elizabethan dress in a portrait is more becoming for her. Gaye is surprised to find that Sir Roger is right – the dress does suit her once she tries it on. What’s more, it comes in dead useful when a thief tries to steal the portrait!

The grandparents won’t allow Toni to go to the celebration party for winning the trophy, because it was at such a party that the cup was found in her mother’s bag and she was branded a thief. Toni goes anyway, but it looks like the grandparents had the right idea after all – Julie is now accusing Toni of stealing the same trophy!

Bridie finds out too late that Jocelyn had tricked her; she feigned trouble to have Bridie come out and rescue her, but things looked the other way around to the campers. And things get even worse when Bridie ends up as Jocelyn’s servant and at her beck and call all the time.

Trisha goes to a cycling show, and is picking up tips from the performers themselves. But she gets more than she bargained for when the female performer nips off just before a performance to get some food (naughty, naughty!) and the other performers ask her to fill in.

Jinty 22 March 1980

• Pam of Pond Hill (writer Jay Over, artist Bob Harvey)
• Pressing Flowers – feature
• Spirit of the Lake (artist Phil Townsend, writer Benita Brown?)
• Meet the Glibbs – quiz
• Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
• The Venetian Looking Glass (artist Phil Gascoine)
• Toni on Trial (artist Terry Aspin)
• Sports pages – Gillian Gilks; Winning Ways 9; writer Benita Brown
• White Water – (artist Jim Baikie)
• Alley Cat
• Tearaway Trisha – (artist Andrew Wilson)
• A Page for the Contrary Mary! (feature)

“Spirit of the Lake” is a story with a theme and artwork that naturally lends itself to beautiful covers, and this one is no exception. It is no wonder that this story featured on so many Jinty covers, including the covers that feature panels from the first and last episodes. The haunting gets even more mysterious when Cynthia spitefully smashes the record with the theme the ghost uses on it – but then Karen hears it out of nowhere! Could it be that she still has a ghostly coach although the lake they were using has now melted?

The other ghost in the issue, Sir Roger, is put out that there is a fancy dress banquet at Stoney Hall and he is not included. Of course there’s hijinks when he gatecrashes ghost-style.

The issue has a quiz that tests your assertiveness skills and dealing with horrible people who like to cause misery. In the quiz you have to deal with the Glibbs, who are a whole family of such people.

In the last issue, Pam was worried that they would be in trouble with Mr Gold the headmaster after their demonstration against Mrs Harvey’s health menu went too far and turned into brawling – and it’s hit the headlines too! But Pam gets a real surprise when it’s Mr Gold who ends up in trouble – with the county council for not following regulations when he appointed Mrs Harvey as dinner lady or agreed to her menu. But Pam and Tracy could be in trouble anyway, because they got trapped in Mr Gold’s office while the row was going on and are hiding in the cupboard. They need to find a way to escape before they’re caught!

Lucy finds out more about her namesake who haunts “The Venetian Looking Glass” and why. But the haunting gets worse when Lucy puts on the ghost’s shoes and becomes completely possessed with the ghost’s quest for vengeance!

Toni wins the very same cup that her mother was accused of stealing. But it’s a bittersweet victory because of the past, and Toni’s enemies just won’t stop going on at her about it. On the other hand, Toni hears something that could be another clue to the mystery.

Tearaway Trisha is humiliated when a policeman says she needs cycling lessons and her mother agrees. But there’s a more important worry when she hears that a huge sum of money is needed for plastic surgery for the injured Fran and is resolved to raise it – but how? Perhaps there is a clue in the poster of a cycling act in the last panel…

In “White Water”, things get worse for Bridie on the camping trip when she is branded a sneak and sent to Coventry. The coach advises her to sort things out with her enemy Jocelyn, and there could be a chance when Bridie sees her heading into danger.

Jinty 15 March 1980

• Pam of Pond Hill (writer Jay Over, artist Bob Harvey)
• Wildflower Wonderland (feature)
• Spirit of the Lake (artist Phil Townsend, writer Benita Brown?)
• Tearaway Trisha – (artist Andrew Wilson)
• Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
• The Venetian Looking Glass – (artist Phil Gascoine)
• Toni on Trial (artist Terry Aspin)
• Superstar Superbrat! – feature
• White Water – (artist Jim Baikie)
• When Statues Walk… – final episode (artist Phil Gascoine)

Tearaway Trisha’s getting the blame for a girl’s accident, despite the fact that it was due to her slipping on an oil patch and the site of the crash having a reputation as a “black spot” that has already been the scene of several accidents. Guess that’s what comes of building up a reputation as a dangerous cyclist.

Meanwhile, poor Toni is back in the game, but still can’t shake off her reputation as a thief because of what her mother was accused of. And now salt really is being rubbed into the wound, because Toni is about to compete for the same trophy her mother was accused of stealing.

It’s the last episode of “When Statues Walk…”. The stone warriors track down the evil Hel, who has possessed Laura’s body, but will they be in time to switch them back? Laura’s trapped in Hel’s body, which is showing no more signs of life. If she really is dead, Hel stays in her body and wins the day. Meanwhile, in Gascoine’s new story, “The Venetian Looking Glass”, another evil form of possession is now establishing itself over Lucy Craven.

In Pam of Pond Hill, the protest over the school’s new health menu has gone too far and Pam now fears the wrath of Mr Gold, the strict headmaster. However, next week’s blurb informs us that Mr Gold is going to be eating humble pie. Things are not going well for Bridie either on the canoeing camping trip. And we are told that it’s going to get worse next week, when she becomes the camp outcast.

In “Spirit of the Lake”, Karen’s now accepted she has a ghost for a coach. Trouble is, she still has a spiteful cousin for an enemy. And “Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost”, who had taken a break last week, is back. Sir Roger has found out a banquet is being prepared at Stoney Hall, and his interference could ruin it. We have to wait until next week to find out if there will be a feast or a fast.

Jinty 8 March 1980

• Pam of Pond Hill (writer Jay Over, artist Bob Harvey)
• Wildflower Wonderland (feature)
• Spirit of the Lake (artist Phil Townsend, writer Benita Brown?)
• Tearaway Trisha – first episode (artist Andrew Wilson)
• The Venetian Looking Glass – first episode (artist Phil Gascoine)
• Toni on Trial (artist Terry Aspin)
• Girl on a Chestnut Champion – feature
• White Water – (artist Jim Baikie)
• When Statues Walk… (artist Phil Gascoine)

This issue starts the only story that Andrew Wilson, best known for “The Happy Days”, drew for Jinty – “Tearaway Trisha”. Trisha is a good-natured girl, but no sense of safety or consideration when it comes to cycling. Sounds like a recipe for disaster? Yup, and it happens when her bike slips on a greasy patch in the road, which causes a girl named Fran to end up in hospital. Trisha is blamed, which I personally think is a bit unfair. Okay, so she might have noticed the patch if she had been cycling a bit more carefully, but it was there when it shouldn’t have been.

Gascoine has a history of overlapping stories in Jinty, and this one is no exception. He starts on “The Venetian Looking Glass” (following the Jinty tradition of evil images in mirrors) while still working on the penultimate episode of “When Statues Walk…”. Steve’s discovered the body switch the evil goddess Hel pulled with his sister Laura, and is shocked to find Laura trapped in the ageing body of Hel, which could give out any minute now. If it does, Laura will die while Hel continues to wreak havoc in Laura’s body!

In “Pam of Pond Hill”, health food takes over at the school canteen after it pushes Mrs Bounty out. But the kids don’t take to it and want their chips and Mrs Bounty back. And that means protest action!

“Toni on Trial” has lost her resolve because of the shadow from her mother’s disgrace has gotten too much. Sharon Peters is taking unusual action to get Toni back in the game. In “White Water” Bridie’s on a camping canoe holiday but things are not going smoothly – not least because of jealous Jocelyn. And can the “Spirit of the Lake” meet Karen at the ice-rink now the lake has thawed? Oh yes, and now Karen realises who she is!