Favourite Stories from Girls Comics

[bookmum08]

Inspired by the favourite children's books thread I was interested in people's fave stories from the old weekly girls comics - Bunty, Mandy, Tammy etc.
My favourite was definitely Angel in Mandy Comic. The story of a rich Victorian girl who discovers she only has a year to live so she fakes her death, runs away from home so she can devote her time to caring for homeless waifs and strays in the poor part of London.

I loved the Valda stories in Mandy. And The Four Maries in Bunty.

I remember a story (Misty?) about a poor girl with a loving family who was insanely jealous of her wealthy neighbour's perfect life, pony, beautiful home. She devised a magic spell to swap bodies and lives. She wakes in her neighbour's body to intense stomach pains, discovering that the girl was in fact dying.
Her formerly wealthy neighbour wakes in the jealous girl's body, delighted with her adorable family and happily perfect health.

Misty did love a good moral in its stories

Bella at the Bar. I think it was in Bunty. She was a teenage gymnast from the poorer end of town. Had tiny pigtails (I think modelled on Olga Korbut) and always wore dungarees.
I'm sure that story lasted for years.
Used to love getting my weekly comic!

Ooh that Misty one sounds great.
Other favourites were The Guardian Tree - orphaned children live in a cave under a tree to escape going to the workhouse.
Hateful Harriet - a girl in an orphanage secretly helps the lives of her fellow orphans.
I did like a good Victorian Orphan story!

Oh and modern orphans too - one about some kids who hide from the authorities by living in a building on the roof of their block of flats. But the flats are due to be knocked down...

Was just coming on to say Valda and the Four Marys! Although not after they changed artists for the Marys, I liked them all nice and tidily drawn, not with the later scrappy brushstrokes! My friend and I used to act out the stories, she always bagsied Simpy so I usually ended up as Fieldy as I had a similar haircut Those were the days...

Puddle Bella was in Tammy. You can currently buy a book of some of the stories. It's published by Rebellion publishers I think.

I loved Misty. I still have a few of the annuals somewhere. The four faces of Eve was one favourite, totally creepy but awesome.

I collect the annuals. I have a ridiculous amount. I recently bought the 1975 Jackie annual. With the ones of that era you can play a great bingo style game with the posters of the pop stars - I call it Dead Now, Turned out to be Gay and Turned out to be a Perv. Who is in the 1975 one -oh look it's Gary Glitter!

^sorry that's a bit poor taste.

I loved the Four Marys! I vaguely remember a story (not the 4M’s) where a servant was running to the front of an Edwardian? house and the lady of the house cried out ”Edwin, she’ll fall!”

I have no idea why that particular bit has stuck in my mind.

I LOVED Bunty and read it for years.
The Four Marys were a fave - I had a crush on Dr Gull!

I remember a story about an acorn that was planted on the day that a baby was born into a wealthy family. The story then followed her life - things that happened to her also happened to the tree. Plenty of drama and tragedy - her parents were killed one night in a carriage crash, the horses bolted in fear of a lightning strike which hit and killed the two bigger oak trees next to her tree (i.e. its parents). She broke an arm, it broke a bough, etc.. I think on the day she died the tree was cut down to make way for a new road or houses.

I also remember enjoying "The Balloon of Doom" - about an evil balloon that followed a girl around and caused bad things to happen. Oh! And also one about a possessed camera - bad things happened to anyone unlucky enough to be snapped by it. The girl in the story could only destroy it by taking a picture of it in the mirror.

I remember a story about 4 young ballet dancers, possibly the 4 swans and one scene in which scribbled over the mirror was the swan must die! Don’t know why I remember it apart from dreaming of being a ballet dancer despite no dancing lessons at all!

An Evil Balloon
I remember the camera story too.
I can remember there being two Downton Abbey style stories in two different comics from the maids point of view. They were similar so I often confuse them.

Found it!
The balloon of doom

When I found out that Bunty was going to stop being published (it was the last of the weekly comics to go) I wanted to get a copy but I missed it. So I wrote to DC Thomson the publishers - an actual handwritten letter sent by post - to say how sad I was at the comic ending. They sent me a copy of the final issue. So lovely. I was aged almost 26 then. Kinda out of their age range but I still loved those comics.

Mecha there was one in Mandy Comic about an evil doll called Moppet. I remember that actually creeping me out.

I remember I loved The Four Marys (although I can't remember much about it) also a ballet-themed one (with Moira??)

Does anyone remember School Friend? Stories such as ‘Belle of the Ballet’, ‘Fleurette, Brave Daughter of France’.

The Four Mary's in every issue of Bunty - so that's 1958 to 2001 yet they never made it past the Third Form. Poor girls. I wonder if they are still there despite now being very old ladies!

Can anyone remember an annual in 70s, ‘Mandy’ (?) that contained a story about climbers/Christmas/snow/mountain climbers? Featured a girl called Trudi & her friend & like someone upthread had a line in it: ‘but disaster struck at Trudi’ ? Trudi had a fall & hurt her leg or something. Like a PP upthread this one line always stuck in my head.

TrickyD I have a 'Best of June and School Friend' book. It has an article about careers. You can choose between Children's Nurse, Hairdresser or Air Stewardess.

The Four Marys, and I liked the ballet strips. My favourite bit of Bunty though was the dress up paper dolls.

I remember the first ever Bunty. a free gift ladybird ring and a story about a circus , as I remember it I cried as the heroine's mother fell from a trapeze and was killed, talk a bout a cliffhanger for the following week.

Moved on to Princess (not a patch on Bunty) and then Petticoat. I sometimes wonder how my generation managed to push through the sexual revolution given our early influences!

The Four Marys were a fave - I had a crush on Dr Gull!

Yes! I'd totally forgotten all about that but I had many happy saturday afternoons imagining detention with Dr Gull after reading my new comic.

Does anyone remember School Friend?

My mum's most precious possessions are her School Friend annuals. As a little girl reading them I desperately wanted to be in the Silent Three.