Tag Archives: Julian Vivas

Tammy 19 April 1980

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Lucky by Name (artist Julian Vivas) 

The Stone Curse (part 3 of a 3-part Strange Story) – artist Bob Harvey

Peggy in the Middle (artist Tony Coleman) – first episode

The Sea Witches (artist Mario Capaldi) 

Edie (Joe Collins)

My Shining Sister (artist Douglas Perry, writer Alison Christie)

Living in the Past (Strange Story from the Mists) – artist P. Montero

Tasty Tuck-In (feature)

My “Brother” George (artist Mario Capaldi) – first episode

Donna Ducks Out (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

This is one of my favourite Tammy covers. Let’s hear it for ageism with this one!

Inside is another of my favourite Strange Stories from the Mist, “Living in the Past” (appearing below), with a clear message that you’d be wiser not to do so. The “good old days” are not all they’re cracked up to be, and some people, like the protagonist in the story, prefer to live in the present. The creepy flip side of “The Good Life” in the story is brought eerily and ominously to life with the atmospheric artwork of P. Montero. 

Tammy’s recipe feature, “Tuck-In with Tammy”, makes a reappearance this week as “Tasty Tuck-In”. Tuck-In had been appearing since 1978 until the Misty merger, but on occasion it made an appearance as a filler.

Edie and Miss T have combined forces as Tammy’s Joe Collins strip since Misty joined, but the title of the strip is uneven. Sometimes it’s “Edie”, sometimes it’s “Miss T”, but eventually it lists both names.

Two new stories start. The first is “Peggy in the Middle”, using a theme not seen much in Tammy – custody disputes. This one must have been popular as thousands of readers with estranged parents could relate to it all too well. The second is “My ‘Brother’ George”, with wacky hijinks from a gorilla that has been humanised and thinks he’s the kid brother of the family (not that it stops his taste for bananas or swinging around like he’s in the jungle). George was a really fun read, but it regrettably only lasted six episodes. Tammy invited readers to bring George back by popular demand, but the humanised primate never returned.

“The Stone Curse” concludes this week. Its replacement next week is Bella’s new story, where she makes her second bid for the Olympics. Her first bid only got her as far as participating in the opening ceremony, but will she have better luck this time?

“My Shining Sister” keeps causing trouble and embarrassment for Marnie because of her obsession with the number 6, as six is the number of her missing sisters (which we suspect are the missing Pleaides, which vanished after a meteorite shower). Are you quite sure you want this girl as your sister forever, Marnie?

Lucky’s first bid to win money for her cash-strapped family with show-jumping is a success, but the second is not. Clearly, show-jumping is not a guaranteed way of bringing money in. Also, Lucky’s rising success as a show-jumper has introduced the story’s antagonist, Hughie Morris, a syndicate talent-spotter who wants to buy her beloved pony and won’t take no for an answer. 

Despite the difficulties, Donna is still managing to secretly borrow and return the bathroom duck that gives her the power to swim. As if that difficulty weren’t bad enough, there’s also the problem of being too dependent on the duck. Donna discovers this when she uses the duck’s power to go to the rescue of a drowning child – but then the duck is removed from the water. What test will this be for her? 

In “The Sea Witches” the air base colonel is unmoved by pleas and protests to stop disrupting the nesting grounds in the swamps with his jets. But Katie sees the Sea Witches on the air force base with plans of their own to stop the disruption. Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble…

Tammy 12 April 1980

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Cover artist: John Richardson

My Shining Sister (artist Douglas Perry, writer Alison Christie)

The Stone Curse (part 2 of a 3-part Strange Story) – artist Bob Harvey

Sour Grapes for Sophie (artist Tony Coleman) – final episode

Easter Gifts to Make – Feature

The Sea Witches (artist Mario Capaldi) 

Wee Sue (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)

Lucky by Name (artist Julian Vivas) 

The Take-Over (Strange Story from the Mists) – artist Peter Wilkes

Miss T (Joe Collins)

Donna Ducks Out (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

One of my favourite things about Tammy was when her characters came together for a commemorative feature. These included Christmas, the 10th birthday issue and, in this case, the 1980 Easter issue cover. John Richardson used to be a Wee Sue artist, so he must have enjoyed drawing her again. Wee Sue shares the Easter cover with the Cover Girls, Bessie Bunter and Bella. 

Inside, we have a Wee Sue Easter story (which even pays homage to the 1979 Wee Sue Easter story), a feature on making Easter gifts, and Miss T selling chocolate Easter eggs. Sadly, there are none for Edie because the chocolate chicken is exhausted. Cluuckkk…

It’s the final episode of “Sour Grapes for Sophie”. Nobody ever thought to actually speak to Sophie’s father about how his nonstop moving around is making her miserable until Sophie’s friend Jackie asks her father (who used to be the same) to do so. And so the story is resolved. 

Next week we have two new stories. The first is another Tony Coleman story, “Peggy in the Middle”, where Peggy Morrow becomes the focus of a custody battle. The second is “My ‘Brother’ George”, a Mario Capaldi story, and Capaldi’s already doing “The Sea Witches”. Talk about double duty. In part 2 of the story, although the locals are clearly scared of the Sea Witches, who migrate from Siberia in goose form, we are introduced to the true menace of the story, and it’s an ecological one – those pesky American Air Force jets that keep disrupting the nesting grounds. A jet has already hurt one Sea Witch while she was in goose form. Now that’s really going to get the Sea Witches’ feathers ruffled, and that spells trouble.

“My Shining Sister” continues to develop the characters of Marnie and Stella, but not in an endearing way. Marnie is possessive in keeping Stella as her sister, and Stella is annoying. Hopefully the girls will sort things out in the end, but we know Stella will not be Marnie’s sister on a permanent basis. She’s clearly one of the Pleaides, which disappeared after a meteorite shower, and she has to go back where she belongs. 

Despite a close call, Donna manages to get away with breaking and entering to get the bathroom duck that gives her the power to swim and return it without anyone realising it was gone – this time. But can she keep it up?

This week’s Strange Story has two sports rivals (one brilliant at sport, one not) in a road accident. Weird things happen in the hospital room where they are kept together that leaves the story on an ominous hint they switched bodies. 

The climax of the three-part Strange Story “The Stone Menace” feels like it’s too soon. The story could easily have done with more episodes. 

In “Lucky by Name”, Lucky, blaming herself for the accident that put her dad out of work, faces another problem – she may lose her pony Fortune because the family are now on sickness benefit and can’t afford him. She turns to show-jumping to raise the money to keep him, but the course is one heck of a toughie, and it’s her first event. Will it pay off?

Tammy 5 April 1980

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Cover artist: John Richardson

My Shining Sister (artist Douglas Perry, writer Alison Christie)

The Stone Curse (part 1 of a 3-part Strange Story) – artist Bob Harvey

Sour Grapes for Sophie (artist Tony Coleman)

The Sea Witches (artist Mario Capaldi) – first episode

Wee Sue (artist Joe MacGillivray)

Lucky by Name (artist Julian Vivas) – first episode

Edie (Joe Collins)

Flight (Strange Story from the Mists) – artist John Armstrong

Bessie Bunter – Arthur Martin

Donna Ducks Out (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

It’s the April Fool’s issue. The Cover Girls and Wee Sue commemorate the event, but in the case of Wee Sue, April fooling rebounds on her in the end.

Inside, three new stories start: The Sea Witches (migrating geese who are actually witches from Siberia); Lucky by Name (Lucky Starr blames herself for the accident that put her father out of work and turns to her show-jumping to raise money to cover the family’s financial shortfall from his redundancy, but finds herself dogged by fickle fortune); and a three-part Strange Story, The Stone Curse (about a Medusa statue with the power to turn people into stone).

This week’s complete Strange Story concerns Joanna May, who is so obsessed with flying like a bird she doesn’t think of anything else. Her schoolwork is full of drawings of birds flying. Will the story end with Joanna learning not be so obsessed or having her wish to fly?

My Shining Sister is on its second episode. Marnie thinks Stella, the mysterious amnesic girl she found, who has the power to glow in the dark and knock people flying with mysterious flashes when she’s annoyed, is the one to become her longed-for sister. But by the end of the episode she’s becoming possessive about keeping Stella that way, which is not making her very sisterly to Stella. 

Donna Ducks Out strikes further complications in which Donna now has to resort to breaking and entering to get the bathroom duck that gives her the power to swim. And she could be caught if she doesn’t think of something fast. 

Bessie makes one of the filler appearances she has been delegated to since Misty merged with Tammy. Edie appears solo this week, with no mention of Miss T.

Sour Grapes for Sophie has reached its climax. Sophie is tired of being constantly uprooted and dragged around because her father changes locations so much, and now he’s set for another. Here we go again, groan, groan…unless something happens. 

Tammy 4 February 1984

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Foul Play (artist John Armstrong, writer Ian Mennell)

Julie’s Jinx (artist Julian Vivas, writer Nick Allen)

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

First Term at Trebizon (artist Phil Gascoine, writer Anne Digby) – final episode

The Crayzees (artist Joe Collins)

The Button Box (artist Mario Capaldi, (sub)writer Linda Stephenson)

The Last Rider (artist Jesus Redondo, writer Chris Harris) – Pony Tale

Fun Time

Queen Rider (artist Eduardo Feito, writer A. D. Langholm)

My Terrible Twin (artist Juliana Buch)

Work Out! (Mari L’Anson) – feature 

Over at the forum at comics.co.uk there has been discussion about recipe features in girls’ comics and annuals. So in this entry we take a look at a recipe feature Tammy ran during this period called “Tammy’s Tasties”, a sample of which appears below. Readers could make their own contributions to this feature, with presumably some money in return. Recipe features were nothing new in Tammy. Around 1978-1980 she ran “Tuck-in with Tammy”, a full page recipe feature. The feature did not always appear, but as it was page length it could serve as a filler or handy reprint.

In the stories, we have a whodunnit story, “Foul Play”, where Katie Johnson has a treble mystery to solve. The first is trying to unravel who is conducting a vendetta against her team for a foul she received at a hockey match, the second is trying to discover who fouled her, and the third is whether it really was a foul or just an accident. Now that shows just how much investigation anyone ever put into the incident in the first place.

Tammy has three horse stories this week. The “Julie’s Jinx”, where Julie Lee is faced with a mystery of her own: is a Romany doll she gave her friend Gloria a jinx as spiteful Cindy claims, or is there some other explanation as to why Gloria’s pony has been acting strangely ever since he started wearing it? The second is one of my favourite Pony Tales and Jesus Redondo stories. It features the famous Pony Express, and it appears below. Its title is “The Last Rider”, but its title might as well be “The Pony Wrecker” because of the way Pony Express rider Reuben Stone treats his mounts. Cindy Hubble, at the last staging post of the Pony Express, constantly rages at this and not being able to do much about it. Crunch time comes when Cindy faces her worst dread – Reuben riding her own pony. The third is the penultimate episode of Tammy’s adaptation of “Queen Rider”.

Tammy’s other book adaptation, “First Term at Trebizon”, ends this week. Its replacement next issue is the last Tammy story crediting Alison Christie, “Cassie’s Coach”. The artist bringing this Victorian period story to life is a surprising one: Tony Coleman. Perhaps his style is being used because the story has lighter moments as well as dark ones as Cassie Lord and her siblings face surviving on their own when their mother is falsely imprisoned and they are evicted from their home. 

By popular demand, Tammy is reprinting a 1979 story, “My Terrible Twin”. Parole doesn’t often feature in redemption narratives, but that is the case here. Lindy is on parole after serving time in a remand home for shoplifting, which hasn’t done much to change her. It’s an uphill battle for Lindy’s sister Moira to improve her character. Worse, Lindy’s irresponsibility constantly gets poor Moira into trouble while Lindy emerges smelling like roses.

In Pam of Pond Hill, bossyboots Cherry Laurence has been pure aggravation since she was made prefect, but when she takes the lead in having the class help out in a flu epidemic she becomes more endearing. Has this solved the prefect problem, or do we still have to wait and see? 

This week’s Button Box story is a feminist one, with women golfers demanding the right to use the same golfing course as men, in a period where mixed golfing is not accepted. It is agreed that a golfing match will decide the matter, between the owner of the golfing course and his granddaughter. The match ends in a draw (talk about equality between the sexes) and the first mixed golfing course. Mixed golfing still takes a while to be accepted, but the granddaughter becomes a golfing champion!

Tammy 14 June 1980

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

Lucky By Name (artist Julian Vivas)

My “Brother” George (artist Mario Capaldi) – final episode

This is Your Life (artist John Richardson) – Strange Story from the Mists

My Shining Sister (artist Douglas Perry, writer Alison Christie) – final episode

Edie and Miss T (artist Joe Collins)

Donna Ducks Out (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Peggy in the Middle (artist Tony Coleman)

The Sea Witches (artist Mario Capaldi)

One of the most impressive things about Bella is how unwavering her dedication to gymnastics is. However, there are times when something misdirects her from her mission in life. This week it’s a bit of luxury, which Bella is lapping up. But she is sharply reminded of where her path lies when she sees her favourite gymnast, Nelli Kim, on television. 

Two stories finish in this issue: “My ‘Brother’ George” and “My Shining Sister”. There is an open invitation from Tammy herself for readers to bring George back by popular demand, but George never returned to Tammy. Perhaps the demand just wasn’t high enough or ye Editor decided against a George sequel. Wee Sue, who has been absent from the merger since it started, will replace George next week, and a Georgio Giorgetti story, “Tina’s Telly Mum”, will replace the Douglas Perry story, “My Shining Sister”. So no return of Molly Mills just yet. However, Bessie, who was reduced to filler status with the merger, makes an appearance this week. 

“Lucky By Name” is now heading for its conclusion, for this week it hits its climax. Lucky, in tears at the thought that her father is about to sell her pony Fortune to make ends meet, desperately runs off with him. She and Fortune can’t possibly stay on the run for long of course, but this act is clearly going to lead to the resolution of the story.

“Donna Ducks Out” is also nearing its climax. Donna has to travel up north to retrieve the bathroom duck that somehow gives her the power to swim. She’s got a feeling it’s going to be her longest day ever, so now we really know the climax is about to start. 

“The Sea Witches” has not yet reached its climax, but this week it takes a step further towards it. The Sea Witches, who have the power to transform into geese and winter in the nesting grounds, are hitting back at thoughtless jet manoeuvres from an Airforce base, which are disturbing the nesting grounds. They’ve been using witchcraft to strike down the pilots, and this week they up the ante – witchcraft against the Base Commander’s daughter Amy. As Amy is an obnoxious spoiled brat, this might actually set her on a redemption path. 

Peggy, caught between her divorced parents who are fighting for custody of her, overhears something that she mustn’t be told. What bearing does this have on the upcoming custody battle?

This week’s Strange Story from the Mists looks like it was written for Misty (although it’s brought to us by the Storyteller). It’s one of the best, and it’s drawn by the ever-popular John Richardson. It appears below.

Tammy 18 February 1984

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Cassie’s Coach (artist Tony Coleman, writer Alison Christie)

Foul Play (artist John Armstrong, writer Ian Mennell)

Julie’s Jinx (artist Julian Vivas, writer Nick Allen) – final episode

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

Where’s Your Valentine? – Quiz (writer Maureen Spurgeon)

The Button Box (artist Mario Capaldi, writer Alison Christie)

Dear Diary – I Hate You! (artist Maria Barrera) – first episode

Plans for a Wedding – (artist Carlos Freixas) – complete Valentine story 

Valentine Chuckles

My Terrible Twin (artist Juliana Buch)

Make His Heart Melt! – Valentine Cookery Feature

It’s Valentine’s Day, and we honour the occasion with Tammy’s final Valentine issue, from 1984. And now it is 2024 – forty years since the issue was published. Happy 40th!

Inside, Tammy honours Valentine’s Day with Valentine’s Day features, a quiz, and a story about an upcoming wedding with a problem – two feuding aunts who will both be attending. Will the aunts’ feud spoil the wedding, or will the family find a way to sort them out and have a happy wedding, aunts and all?

The Button Box could have also gone for something romantic for Valentine’s Day, but instead it’s a historical period tale about “Rebecca”, a 19th century protest movement against exorbitant road tolls, with the protesters smashing toll-gates while dressed as women. The protest in the story ends in arrest (except for the protagonist’s father, who manages to escape), but “Rebecca” makes its point and helps to standardise the tolls. 

The issue also marks where Tammy stopped printing credits, so it is not known who wrote her new serial, “Dear Diary – I Hate You!”. Susie Judd passes a scholarship exam to a top boarding school, but on arrival she discovers she unwittingly packed her sister’s diary, which says she cheated in the exam. This makes things awkward for Susie, as the school really means business about its motto, “Honesty Always”, which seems to be plastered everywhere the eye can see. She gets paranoid about what if someone finds out what’s in the diary. There’s one “what if” we can sense already, as Susie has been warned about a dodgy girl at the school. The girl hasn’t appeared yet, but it’s obvious she’s going to be the villain of the story.

Tammy’s historical period serial, “Cassie’s Coach”, is on its second episode. Cassie and her siblings find an old coach from a junkyard to live in after their mother is wrongly jailed and they lose their home. However, this week it stirs up jealousy from both the upper class (the previous owner of the coach) and the lower class (Cassie’s old neighbours), and Cassie cops the spite at both ends. Fortunately, at both ends there are also helpers to the rescue.

“Julie’s Jinx” reaches its final episode. Julie Lee does not know whether a Romany corn doll she gave her friend Gloria is a jinx or not, but Gloria’s pony has been acting strangely ever since she had it, and now spiteful Cindy has spread rumours about it being a jinx. What a relief when they find a rational explanation – the doll was giving the pony an allergic reaction. 

That’s one mystery solved, but in “Foul Play”, the mystery of who is conducting a vendetta against a hockey team after an accusation of foul play (with nothing proven about it) continues. This week, the vendetta strikes several members of the team in one blow. 

Pam of Pond Hill also starts a new story, which enters the world of ballroom dancing. Pam’s classmate Francesca, after splitting up with her ballroom dancing partner when she’s close to a ballroom competition, chooses Goofy to be her partner instead. Pam is seriously wondering what the hell Francesca is thinking of – and, considering Goof’s disco dancing disaster at the beginning of the episode, we do too.

“My Terrible Twin” Lindy gets away with gatecrashing a fashion parade, but it was still gatecrashing. What does that say about how far she is on the road to reform after being paroled? A test for her looms when the landlady wants the flat redecorated. 

Jinty 1 April 1978

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  • Concrete Surfer (artist Christine Ellingham, writer Pat Mills)
  • Sue’s Fantastic Fun-Bag! (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
  • Slave of the Swan (artist Guy Peeters) – first episode
  • Waking Nightmare (artist Phil Townsend)
  • The Zodiac Prince (artist Trini Tinturé)
  • Paula’s Puppets (artist Julian Vivas)
  • Rinty ‘n’ Jinty – cartoon
  • Shadow on the Fen (artist Douglas Perry)
  • Impossible Dreams! (competition story, writer Katy Buxey, spot illustration artist unknown)
  • Darling Clementine (artist Richard Neillands, writer Alison Christie) – final episode
  • Grabby Bag – Feature

Now we are in April, so here is Jinty’s 1 April issue for 1978. Strangely, despite the date, there’s no April fooling in it. Not even from Alley Cat, who doesn’t appear at all this week. And instead of having fun on April Fool’s Day, Henrietta the Fun-Bag shows Minnie the Moaner that the good old days are not all they’re cracked up to be, and she should appreciate modern times more. A session in the stocks in the 18th century (as shown on the cover) certainly teaches Minnie that!

However, in Jinty’s new ballet story, “Slave of the Swan”, we have a girl who’s about to be fooled all right, but in a most terrible way. Katrina Vale goes to seek help from Mum’s old friend Rosa Kachinsky after Mum is hospitalised. But she contracts amnesia along the way, and Kachinsky, who has gone from being Mum’s friend to her worst enemy, is all set to take advantage of this when she sees it. 

It’s the final episode of “Darling Clementine”. It’s nice to see it doesn’t end on the cliché of the heroine miraculously rising from her sickbed to win the waterskiing contest and the prize money her dad so badly needs for a country cottage. Instead, she’s not sufficiently recovered from her hospitalisation to be on top form and is placed third, and then it’s the power of the press and human interest stories to the rescue. 

Concrete Surfer Jean’s annoyed that there’s no skateboard park around and wants to do something about it. She’s also trying a lot harder to get along with her relatives, but as she doesn’t trust her cousin Carol, it’s not going to be easy.

Poor Paula! She has seen how the destruction of her father’s factory has made Marnie and her family suffer and is finally learning to look beyond herself. She tries to do something nice for Marnie, but it blows up in her face and makes her enemies worse. And here’s another development – Dad has escaped from prison. 

In “Waking Nightmare”, Phil finally reads what has been in the newspapers about their escape – she’s actually busted a mentally ill girl out of an institution where she was receiving medical treatment. What does she do about it? She and Carol carry straight on, to where Carol’s gran lives – only to find gran isn’t there and the people who are don’t look very nice.

For once, Dad has praise for the Zodiac Prince when he helps a girl to prove herself as a mechanic. 

In “Shadow on the Fen”, our heroines get a nasty shock when the Witchfinder shows up at school as the new archaeology teacher! What’s his game now? Is it connected with the apothecary’s shop being unearthed at the archaeological dig?

Jinty 18 March 1978

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  • Concrete Surfer (artist Christine Ellingham, writer Pat Mills)
  • Sue’s Fantastic Fun-Bag! (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
  • Two Mothers for Maggie (artist Jim Baikie)
  • Alley Cat (artist Rob Lee)
  • Waking Nightmare (artist Phil Townsend)
  • The Zodiac Prince (artist Trini Tinturé)
  • The Cat ‘n’ Mouse Story – feature
  • Cliff Richard – feature 
  • Paula’s Puppets (artist Julian Vivas)
  • Shadow on the Fen (artist Douglas Perry)
  • Shooting Stars! – feature 
  • A Day I Won’t Forget! (competition story, writer Alison Owens, spot illustration artist unknown)
  • Darling Clementine (artist Richard Neillands, writer Alison Christie)
  • Just Joking
  • Rinty ‘n’ Jinty – cartoon
  • Pick Up a Potato! – Feature

“I need air!” Jean thinks at how her aunt and uncle are fawning and fussing over her smarmy cousin when she dresses up for the theatre. Barf bags might be in order too. Blechh! 

Spotty Muchloot’s put in charge of minding his dad’s prize sunflowers, but he prefers to mess with Alley Cat. The results are the sunflowers coming a cropper and Spotty being kicked out of the house. Now wishing you’d stuck to the sunflowers, Spotty?

In “Waking Nightmare”, Phil plunges even deeper into the nightmare when Carol takes another strange turn, causing her to take a nasty plunge over some hills. What’s more, Carol’s conduct has caused Phil to lose her suitcase and most of her money on a bus. That would be a vital clue to anyone looking for them.

Can “Paula’s Puppets” be used for good when they’ve only been used for revenge so far? This week, Paula puts it to the test. She uses their power to see if it gets Lindy, who’s in a coma because of it, to recover. But Paula doesn’t realise that while she’s doing it, one of her enemies is spying on her.

Meanwhile, Ella succeeds in bringing Clem out of her coma despite Val Lester’s tricks to stop her. Will she finally be able to prove it was Val and not her who was responsible for Clem’s accident?

Sue wishes she and her friends are on Cloud 9. Oh dear, watch what you wish for when your fun-bag’s around, Sue! 

“Two Mothers for Maggie” reaches its penultimate episode. Maggie goes all out to help Miss Keyes make a go of the rundown theatre she’s bought over, and the results are promising. But what’s Mum, who’s never liked Miss Keyes, going to say about her return? And so the stage is set for the final episode.

In “Shadow on the Fen”, our protagonists clash with hoons, and things get worse when the Witchfinder recruits their help to destroy the witch ball, which is their protection against him. He fails this time, but he’ll try again, of course.

The Zodiac Prince and Shrimp decide to move – only it looks like they’re moving on straight into more trouble. The Zodiac Prince looks like he’s about to run someone over!

Jinty 11 March 1978

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Concrete Surfer (artist Christine Ellingham, writer Pat Mills)

Sue’s Fantastic Fun-Bag! (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)

Two Mothers for Maggie (artist Jim Baikie)

Alley Cat (artist Rob Lee)

Waking Nightmare (artist Phil Townsend)

The Zodiac Prince (artist Trini Tinturé)

Feature – Say “Please” to the Pleasers!

Paula’s Puppets (artist Julian Vivas)

Shadow on the Fen (artist Douglas Perry)

Just Joking

The Church Mice (competition story, writer Rosalind Savage, spot illustration artist Paul White)

Darling Clementine (artist Richard Neillands, writer Alison Christie)

Get It Taped! – Feature

For this March issue we’ve got a fun cover, with fun with skateboarding and fun with juggling. And inside, Sue’s Fantastic Fun-Bag uses a spell to teach a stuffy man about fun.

Concrete Surfer Jean writes an essay on skateboarding, and is surprised to find teach liked it better than smarmy cousin Carol’s. Jean’s delighted to have triumphed over her sneaky cousin at last. Or has she? We know all too well that Carol will pull a fast one to stay top dog if her nose gets put out of joint. 

In “Darling Clementine”, it’s now well and truly the end of Ella trying to win the waterskiing competition on Clem’s behalf. She turns to getting Clem out of the coma, but Val Lester, the girl responsible for Clem’s condition, is pulling dirty tricks to stop her. 

Phil continues to protect Carol in “Waking Nightmare”, but it’s marred by Carol having strange mood swings between hysterics and happiness. A headline, which says a sick girl is missing, could explain things, but Phil fails to notice it. 

The Zodiac Prince uses the power of the Zodiac wheel to give hopeless girls new talents, but soon finds it wasn’t the way to help them. They’ve gotten cocky and carried away with their new gifts, which has led to trouble. Can the Zodiac Prince find a way to put things right?

In “Two Mothers for Maggie”, Maggie tracks down Miss Keyes after she disappeared in the previous issue, but is shocked to find her cleaning in a rundown theatre. 

A man throws a cricket ball at Alley Cat for disturbing his sleep when poor Alley Cat wasn’t even doing it. It all rebounds on the man when the ball goes his neighbour’s way instead. 

Speaking of balls, in “Shadow on the Fen”, the girls find a witch ball can ward off the Witchfinder. Now that’s a funny twist – weren’t witch balls supposed to ward off witches? 

After the power of the puppets causes an accident, Paula vows never to use them again. But she soon finds that the temptation to use them is hard to resist, not only because so many people are against her but also because the puppets won’t be destroyed.

Jinty 4 March 1978

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Concrete Surfer (artist Christine Ellingham, writer Pat Mills)

Sue’s Fantastic Fun-Bag! (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)

Two Mothers for Maggie (artist Jim Baikie)

Alley Cat (artist Rob Lee)

Waking Nightmare (artist Phil Townsend)

The Zodiac Prince (artist Trini Tinturé)

Feature – Lewis Collins…a British “Hutch”?

Rinty ‘n’ Jinty – cartoon

Paula’s Puppets (artist Julian Vivas)

Shadow on the Fen (artist Douglas Perry)

Just Joking

Leonora (competition prize story, writer Christine Foreman, spot illustration Terry Aspin)

Darling Clementine (artist Richard Neillands, writer Alison Christie)

For Mum…On Her Day! – Feature

It’s now March, so we present some March issues from Jinty. Mother’s Day (UK) is coming up, and in this issue, Jinty gives instructions on how to make a gift for her. 

In Concrete Surfer, Jean’s trouble with her smarmy cousin Carol worsens. Jean has overheard Carol telling her parents something she didn’t want Jean to know about, but Jean couldn’t pick up what. There can be no doubt this is a gun in Scene 1 that is set to go off in Scene 3, and when it does, it will spell more trouble for Jean. Later, Jean’s hopes are raised that smarmy Carol will be caught out at last, but we wouldn’t bank on it. Not until the final episode, Jean, and that’s not for some episodes yet. 

Concrete Surfer must have started a skateboarding craze. Alley Cat’s arch-enemy Spotty Muchloot has caught the bug, and his skateboarding is making him even more of a pest than usual for Alley Cat. But of course Alley Cat turns the tables on him and his skateboard in the end. 

In a fit of pique, Sue tells her fun-bag she’ll have better luck without her around. Now that really is asking for a spell of bad luck – literally. 

In “Two Mothers for Maggie” Maggie finds that one of her mothers, Miss Keyes, has put up her house for sale. Is it just one mother for her now?

Phil continues to hide Carol from the authorities although something’s now telling her that she should be checking things out more. As the two continue to travel together, it’s not only instinct that makes Phil uneasy – it’s Carol’s strange conduct as well. 

The Zodiac Prince learns a few lessons about Earth food this week – like bath soap is not a food. Fortunately, he’s stopped before he gets a mouthful of soap, and later it’s his astral power to the rescue in cooking up a feast. 

Paula uses the power of the puppets to get revenge on the people who are bullying her because of her jailed father. But the inevitable happens – it goes too far and now a girl’s injured because of it. This looks like the shock Paula badly needs to snap her out of her selfishness and set her on the path to redemption that is also part of the narrative. 

The Witchfinder in “Shadow on the Fen” also causes a nasty accident, at an archaeological dig, which has unearthed a 17th century apothecary’s shop. A clear sign that our heroines are sniffing too close to something.

In “Darling Clementine”, Ella sprains her ankle, which puts paid to her entering the water-skiing heats on Clem’s behalf. She’s braving it all the same, but is her ankle up to it?