Gina – Get Lost (artist Miguel Quesada)

Beattie Beats ‘Em All! (artist John Armstrong)

Dogs of the Duchess

Lulu – cartoon

Amanda Must Not Be Expelled (artist Jesus Redondo)

Star Struck Sister (artist Giorgio Giorgetti, writer Jenny McDade)

A Tammy Outfit Idea (feature)

Alison All Alone – final episode

Talk It Over with Trudy – problem page

Skimpy Must Ski! (artist Tom Hurst)

The Secret Ballerina (artist Roy Newby)

Maisie’s Magic Eye (Robert MacGillivray)

Cinderella Spiteful (artist José Casanovas)

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

A Special Tammy Portrait – Dave Cassidy

Tammy is three weeks into her first new year and approaching her first birthday. How has she developed so far? There have been some changes. Initially, she started off with too much emphasis on misery-laden stories with girls exploited by cruel employers/racketeers, attending harsh schools, or being treated like Cinderella by guardians. She was seriously lacking in lightweight stories for balance and another mainstay of girls comics – sport. Nearly a year on, she has struck more balance with her stories, thanks in part to the Sally merger, and there is more variety in her themes, although she remains strong and proud on abused heroines and cruel guardians/employers. One story, “Gina – Get Lost”, carries on the theme, and another, “Alison All Alone”, finishes this week. 

Speaking of Cinderella, the title “Cinderella Spiteful” puts a twist in it, but the plot has no bearing on Cinderella. Emma is staying with relatives but feels overshadowed by her brilliant cousin Angela. This week, Emma sets out prove herself at hockey, and when Angela falls ill, she seizes her chance. Next week will tell if it works out.

Ballet was also a frequent presence in Tammy from the first. Her current ballet story, “The Secret Ballerina”, is now on its penultimate episode, but there is sure to be another ballet story starting soon.

Humour was non-existent in the early Tammy, but now she has a bit more of it, with “Maisie’s Magic Eye”, from the Sally merger, and a regular cartoon, “Lulu”.

Sport began to pick up in Tammy as her first year progressed. Among them was “Skimpy Must Ski!”, which started in Tammy’s first Christmas issue. Despite being a semi-invalid, Skimpy wants to learn to ski, but she hasn’t gotten off to a good start. Grandad almost stops her skiing after she nearly dies in a night ski, and now he himself has a bad accident while trying to help her. “Beattie Beats ‘Em All”, who started when Sally joined Tammy, makes sport a regular in Tammy, and she offsets the misery-enduring Tammy heroines with a feisty personality that won’t be beat. 

Bella Barlow is still two years in the future, but Beattie shares some parallels with her: sports-crazy, outspoken, speaks with a Cockney accent, orphaned but free-spirited and determined to look after herself and stay out of “care”, and drawn by John Armstrong. The Bella team must have drawn some inspiration from Beattie.

Meanwhile, the gymnastics we see in Tammy right now is in “Amanda Must Not Be Expelled”, a gym-crazy girl who keeps getting herself expelled so she can go home to her gymnasium (like the school doesn’t have one too?). Her new friends keep trying to keep her from being expelled because they want her on the school gymnastics team. They manage it again this week, but how long can they keep it up? It’s not long before Amanda gets up to more tricks. After Amanda, there were no gymnastics stories in Tammy until Bella herself started in 1974, probably because Olympic gymnasts like Olga Korbut had put more spotlight on the sport. As Bella’s popularity grew, gymnastics really made its mark in Tammy. This was not just with the Bella stories and frequent comments on how popular she was, but also the Bella features and gymnastics-related competitions that she spawned in Tammy, plus getting her own book in 1981. 

The mysterious Duchess, who always keeps herself veiled, is on a crusade to help mistreated dogs. Pity she doesn’t treat Doris, the servant who helps with her campaign, with the same kindness she does the dogs. She punished Doris so harshly for failure that she collapsed, and when Doris asks the Duchess why she wears the veil, the Duchess slaps her. Another abused Tammy heroine, but it’s interesting to have an abuser who isn’t the usual sadistic/exploitative type in Tammy. Instead, it seems to be a case of the abuser having a psychological problem, and it’s clearly linked with what’s hidden under that veil and why.

An intriguing history of “Star Struck Sister” has been disclosed on the internet. Jenny McDade, who went on to become the first Bella Barlow writer, says “Star Struck Sister” was the first story she ever wrote for girls’ comics. A previous writer had “choked on” the story after the first episode, so she was commissioned to write the rest. The story itself concerns two sisters, Stella and Lesley, who are offered film parts, but the director is only interested in Stella, leading to jealousy from Lesley. So far this hasn’t led to anything really spiteful, but we know something will happen. Meanwhile, Stella wants to help hungry street urchins. How will it work out?

When it came to Molly stories about new/temporary servants, you could be sure of two things: first, they would bring trouble with them, and second, they would be gone by the end of the story, never to be seen or mentioned again. Mr Jenks, the butler standing in for Pickering when he is hospitalised, is no exception. Unlike Pickering, he’s a good sort. Unfortunately, he’s hopeless at running the staff – again unlike Pickering, whose slave-driving style at least kept them working – so work’s gone to pot at Stanton Hall. Jenks takes his leave now, but on good terms.