Jinty 9 February 1980

Pam of Pond Hill (artist Bob Harvey, writer Jay Over)

Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)

Spirit of the Lake (artist Phil Townsend, writer Benita Brown?)

The Perfect Princess (artist Trini Tinturé)

The Chamois Trail (artist Bill Mainwaring) – Gypsy Rose story

Alley Cat – Rob Lee

Toni on Trial (artist Terry Aspin)

Sports Pages – featuring Martina Navratilova

Winning Ways 5 (writer Benita Brown)

White Water (artist Jim Baikie)

When Statues Walk… (artist Phil Gascoine)

Spring Greenery – feature 

This week’s Gypsy Rose story (recycled from Strange Stories), brings readers some Bill Mainwaring artwork. The tale takes us to the Swiss Alps, where a trail of chamois carved on the mountains takes a mysterious hand in saving lives, and we’re left wondering if the spirit of the man who carved them take a hand also.

In “When Statues Walk…”, Laura discovers how to get into the cavern where these walking Viking statues are holding the captive princess, and plans for rescuing her are coming together.  

In “The Perfect Princess”, Princess Victoria’s latest trick almost gets rid of Sally, but she survives to fight another day. Victoria gets locked up in a tower for her conduct, and things backfire on her when she tries a cannon escape (obviously, her dumb father didn’t thoroughly check out the tower for all possible means of escape). Meanwhile, Sally’s imposture is in danger of discovery when her foster parents send a message that they are coming to visit. She has thought of something, and so far, it is working. But the next episode will tell.

The dragon hijinks continue in “Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost”, with Sir Roger playing St George to slay a dragon, which is actually people dressed up. Though he got things wrong, it has the benefit of taming another dragon – a dragon teacher – when he accidentally takes off her skirt with his lance, and everyone is laughing at the sight of her bloomers! 

Pam of Pond Hill contributes to the increased sports presence in Jinty with her current story, where Marty Michaels’ interfering sister Trina becomes her self-appointed sports coach. Talk about bossy! Trina ought to be in the Army. Worse, Mum and Dad are actually encouraging Miss Bossyboots and her bright ideas for training Marty. Then comes another complication: Marty disobeys teacher’s orders and takes a secret spring on the new school trampoline, but soon pays the price for her infraction when she hits her back on the trampoline. Ouch! That bang looks serious.

In the other sports stories:

Toni now realises she has an enemy sabotaging her at the sports club, but with so many people against her because of her mother’s disgrace, the suspects are many. She reaches breaking point and runs away – but it looks like she’s run straight into danger. 

Sneaky Cynthia’s accident (unwittingly caused by “The Spirit of the Lake”) is definitely making things difficult for Karen. Cynthia is unconscious, and Karen’s dreading what she will say about the accident when she wakes up. But the story has given us another beautiful cover.

Bridie finally gets a canoe, which was going second-hand, but only on deposit. She has to raise the rest of the money, but how? 

Tammy & Sally 5 June 1971

Neville’s Island/The School on Neville’s Island (artist Douglas Perry) – first episode

Glen – A Dog on a Lonely Quest (artist Jim Baikie)

Slaves of “War Orphan Farm” (artist Desmond Walduck, writer Gerry Finley-Day?)

The Cat Girl (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

The Secret of Trebaran – (artist Giorgio Cambiotti) – final episode

Maisie’s Magic Eye – artist Robert MacGillivray

Little Miss Nothing (artists Miguel Rosello, Luis Bermejo, Miguel Quesada, writer Alan Davidson) – first episode

Betina at Ballet School

Beattie Beats ‘Em All! (artist John Armstrong)

Sara’s Kingdom (artist Bill Mainwaring)

The Girls of Liberty Lodge (artist Dudley Pout)

“Our Janie” – Little Mum (artist Colin Merrett)

No Tears for Molly (artist Tony Thewenetti, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

For the month of June we are having another Tammy round, which will profile a Tammy issue from the month of June for each Tammy year. We begin with the first June issue of Tammy in 1971.

In this issue, it’s the final episode of “The Secret of Trebaran”, one of the first stories from the first Tammy lineup. Its replacement next week is “Gandora the Golden”. Others from the first Tammy lineup, “Slaves of ‘War Orphan Farm’”, “Betina at Ballet School”, “The Girls of Liberty Lodge”, “Glen – A Lonely Dog on a Quest”, “No Tears for Molly”, and “’Our Janie’ – Little Mum” are still going strong, and it’s been four months since they started. Molly went on to become one of the longest-running regulars in Tammy, which showed she was the most powerful of the first lineup. Beattie, who joined later, is still going strong, and is the first Tammy strip drawn by John Armstrong. Cat Girl, “Maisie’s Magic Eye” and “Sara’s Kingdom”, which came over from Sally, are still going happily as well. 

Douglas Perry artwork appears in Tammy for the first time – and on the first page – with the start of Perry’s first Tammy story, “Neville’s Island”. Thirty girls from St Edburgha’s are lured to a mysterious island. And we all know what happens when girls are lured to an island in girls’ comics – it’s a trap! To make things even more mysterious, the plot is being engineered by a ominous-sounding elderly woman in a wheelchair who won’t show her face. Once the unsuspecting girls are in the trap, she says, “Now they shall begin to suffer. All of them.” But why? From the sound of it, it’s revenge for being bullied at the school, but there’s probably more to it than that. It all adds to the mystery that has to be solved if the girls are to escape. 

Also starting this issue is the first episode of “Little Miss Nothing” (written by Alan Davidson, not Pat Davidson aka Anne Digby, as has been sometimes stated). This story is noted for setting the “Cinderella” template that so many Tammy stories were to follow, the most famous of which was Bella Barlow. Update: an entry on this story has now been posted here.

“Little Miss Nothing” Annabel Hayes is regarded by her family as a nobody and they treat her as a drudge. It’s her younger sister Dora who gets the lion’s share in everything. Annabel shines at dressmaking, but her hopes of making a career out of it are dashed when the family move to be closer to Dora’s modelling school. Dad illegally yanks Annabel out of school to slog all day at the family market stall to pay for Dora’s school fees, makes her sleep in an attic, and not a word about her treatment or she’ll suffer. Wow, things are really piled on our Cinderella in the first episode alone. But then Annabel spots something in the attic that could turn things around. 

Tammy & Sally 1 May 1971

• Beattie Beats ‘Em All! (artist John Armstrong)
• Our Jane – Little Mum (artist Colin Merrett)
• My Father – My Enemy!
• The Cat Girl (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)
• The Secret of Trebaran
• The Girls of Liberty Lodge (artist Dudley Pout)
• Slaves of “War Orphan Farm” (artist Desmond Walduck, writer Gerry Finley-Day?)
• Betina at Ballet School
• Action Girl
• Glen – Loney Dog on a Quest (artist Jim Baikie)
• Maisie’s Magic Eye (artist Robert MacGillivray)
• Sara’s Kingdom (artist Bill Mainwaring)
• Castaways on Voodoo Island (artist Ken Houghton)
• No Tears for Molly (artist Tony Thewenetti, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

Hello, everyone. For something a bit different in the issue entries, we are going to have a round robin of Tammy, where one issue will be selected and profiled from each year Tammy was running.

Leading off in 1971 is the 1 May issue. We are now three months into Tammy’s run. How is it all going? Many of the stories from Tammy’s first issue are still going strong, though three look like they are near the end.

We are some weeks into the Sally merger and Sally’s contributions are still going too. The Cat Girl and Maisie’s Magic Eye are providing some light relief against the grimness of the Tammy stories that focus on cruelty and misery.

And what’s going on the stories?

Beattie wins a sports event despite dirty tricks from jealous rivals. But she is still on the run from the orphanage and her past is threatening to catch up, as she discovers when she is shown a newspaper.

Our Janie Little Mum has been saddled with an additional problem to looking after her younger siblings – helping to hide a carthorse that has been earmarked for the slaughterhouse! And on the top floor of the apartment block too!

“My Father – My Enemy!” looks like it is on its penultimate episode. Father has been critically injured from violence during the miners’ strike, and his ramblings inform Julie just why he is so horrible to them – he blames them for his wife’s death. And quite wrongly, of course. Julie is now anxious to reconcile with him, but he has one foot in the door of death.

Glen looks like he is on his penultimate episode too. After a long, epic journey, he finally tracks down his mistress June. But she has been cornered by a vicious dog, and it’s a killer!

The Castaways of Voodoo Island looks like it is approaching its conclusion too. Jackie is cornered by the dreaded Devil God, but the blurb for next week says we will learn the truth about him.

The Cat Girl discovers her father has been set up to look like an enemy spy. She’s got to get to him before the British agents do.

On Trebaran, Abel the evil sorcerer (come to think of it, he was the only evil sorcerer Tammy ever had) is after a stone in Trudy’s possession. Surprisingly, he disappears when Trudy’s friends appear, but when she wakes up the following morning, it’s her friends have disappeared. Where have they got to?

The Girls of Liberty Lodge and their headmistress Miss Valentine are in a barge race against the rival school, Hardington School, which is run along the harsh, sadistic lines of Miss Steele, who hates Miss Valentine’s guts . As usual, Hardington plays dirty tricks against Liberty, but it backfires with Liberty finding helpers who get them to the finishing line first. And they have a new pupil – Lady Angela.

Kate frees one of the slaves of War Orphan Farm with the help of “Mad” Emma. Kate declines the offer to come too, because she wants to stay on and free more slaves. But nasty Ned and the evil Ma Thatcher have spotted the escape. What can Kate do to stop them?

Molly is also helping to liberate mistreated orphans, this time at an orphanage. The cruel staff look like they’ve conned Binks the chauffeur into helping them, but when they attack Mistress Clare he lashes back at them, and they get arrested. Well, that’s the end of the cruel treatment at the orphanage.

Betina is suspended from ballet lessons after being wrongly accused. Her confidence is so shattered that she has decided to pack her bags.

Sara is one step closer to finding the ruby that will cement her claim to the throne of Hunzir, but is warned to beware “the fat bearded one”. By the looks of things, he is the one heading up the mountain in a jeep to cut her off.

 

Jinty & Penny 19 July 1980

Cover artist: Mario Capaldi

• Pam of Pond Hill (writer Jay Over, artist Bob Harvey)
• Gaye’s Gloomy Ghost (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
• The Venetian Looking Glass – final episode (artist Phil Gascoine)
• A Spell of Trouble (artist Trini Tinturé)
• A Light for the Loyal – Gypsy Rose story (artist Bill Mainwaring)
• Behind the Screen – Top of the Pops (feature)
• Tansy of Jubilee Street (artist Ken Houghton)
• Minnow (artist Peter Wilkes)
• Winning Ways 18 – Javelin (writer Benita Brown)
• Blind Faith (artist Phil Townsend)

This issue sees the conclusion of the Venetian Looking Glass – and one of the most gruesome panels to appear in Jinty when Lucy opens her namesake’s coffin to put in the things to lay her ghost, and is revolted by the sight of her skeleton.

Pam has realised one of her classmates is shoplifting and doesn’t know what to do. And to make matters worse, Pam was given one of the shoplifted items, but trying to return it quietly has gotten her into trouble with the shop management, who think she stole the item!

Tansy is in the doghouse after she loses her neighbour’s treasured memories. Even the teachers at school are rubbing her nose in it. Fortunately the treasures are recovered and it turns out they weren’t all that lost. But in “Blind Faith”, Clare has an even more heartbreaking loss – her dog Caesar, who has accidentally been shot dead.

In “Minnow”, Minna’s swimming teacher decides it’s time to ask Minna’s mother what light she can shed on Minna’s strange panics in the pool – but she doesn’t know Minna is swimming behind her mother’s back, so Minna’s secret is in danger!

The Gypsy Rose story recycles another Strange Story, about how will o’ the wisp saves a fugitive from Norman invaders. But the panels of Gypsy Rose that replace the Storyteller must rank as one of the worst instances of Jinty artwork ever.

In “A Spell of Trouble” Carrie gets even more infuriated with her gormless cousin Angela when Angela tries to impose her taste in television upon her – a cartoon called Marmaduke Mouse (oh, really, Angela, at your age!) instead of the pop programme that is Carrie’s favourite.

Sir Roger is not impressed with Americans – and even less so when a Texan wants to buy Stoney Hall and ship it to Texas! We have to wait until next week to find out what Sir Roger and Gaye do to prevent this. And haunting the Texans won’t work because they love having “a real English spook!”.

Jinty Annual 1986

• Tessa Trot and Her Trusty Blot
• Stop Those Nasty Habits (feature)
• The Slave Girl and the Prince (artist Ken Houghton)
• Miss Clever Thinker (artist Douglas Perry)
• You’ll Never Swim Again!
• The Test of Love (feature)
• Oh I Wish I Had Beautiful Nails… (feature)
• Gi-Gi of the Circus and Her Horse Go-Go
• Things People Say… (feature)
• A Chinese Love Story
• No Horse Like Hamlet
• Gloria
• Why Do We Say These Things? (feature)
• Christmas Creations (feature)
• The Adaptable Animals (feature)
• Locket of Fate (artist Shirley Bellwood)
• The “Ghost” of Miss Clare
• Autumn’s Child (artist Shirley Bellwood)
• Friends (quiz)
• The Waxworks Mystery (artist Diane Gabbot)
• If Inventors Had Their Way… (feature)
• The Diary (artist Bill Mainwaring)
• Weather: The Rhyme and the Reason (Feature; artist Joe Collins)
• Heart of Ice
• Beautiful Tales: La Prima Ballerina
• Miss Moneybags (artist Jim Baikie)
• Holly Takes the Plunge! (text story)
• Sad, Sad Susannah (artist Rodrigo Comos)
• Rudolph’s Relatives (feature)
• Caravan Christmas (artist Phil Gascoine)

The last two Jinty annuals were not a distinguished run. There was no recognisable Jinty content anywhere. They were a collection of stories, features and jokes that could either be reprints from non-Jinty sources or a mix of such stories and new material. Economics may have been the reason for the drop in quality. But when compared to the Tammy and Misty annuals of the period, this hardly seems a convincing explanation. Both Misty and Tammy continued to run their own material, even if they did fall back on reprints. In 1986 Misty also produced her last annual. This annual had a far reduced number of pages, indicating something serious behind the scenes which may have some bearing on the Jinty annuals. But at least it was still Misty and she was still producing her own material in her annuals. Yet this was not the case with the last Jinty annual of the same year. There was no Jinty content anywhere, just a collection of stories and features. It was Jinty in name only. Some stories, such as “Miss Clever Thinker”, “The Diary”, “Heart of Ice” and “Autumn’s Child” I recognise as reprints from older annuals, including Girls Crystal. “Holly Takes the Plunge!” is also a reprint – ironically, it also appeared as a reprint in the first Jinty annual!

The drop in quality began in the 1984 Jinty annual. While it still had some Jinty material to make it a substantial Jinty annual, the Jinty material had been reduced and some of the content gave way to reprints from older sources. The 1985 annual dropped her Jinty content altogether and was just a collection of stories and features that could make it any old annual (and very likely taken from older non-Jinty annuals). Why was there such drop in the quality of the last two Jinty annuals, particularly when compared to the Tammy and Misty annuals of the same years? Internal politics or economics? Lack of budget? Or something else? We will never know.