Tag Archives: Juliana Buch

Tammy 13 January 1979

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Mouse (artist Maria Dembilio) – first episode

One Girl and Her Dog (artist Mario Capaldi) – return

My Terrible Twin (artist Juliana Buch) – first episode

The Moon Stallion (artist Mario Capaldi) – adaptation

The Upper Crust (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Molly Mills and the Haunted Hall (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – first episode

The Silent Swimmer – Strange Story

Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)

TEAM in Action (artist Carmona) – final episode

Tammy’s New Year’s issue, like her Christmas issue, came out a week later than scheduled because she lost an issue on 30 December 1978, presumably because of the 1978 strike. But it’s kudos to Tammy that she put out her Christmas and New Year issues all the same. Perhaps readers didn’t mind too much that things were a little late.

Molly, Wee Sue and Bessie Bunter honour the New Year, but as usual for Molly, the New Year isn’t all that promising. She’s lumbered with her kid brother Billy, who she has to mind for a bit, and there’s nowhere to hide him but Stanton Hall. She manages to smuggle him in during a New Year’s party, but she’ll get the sack if she’s found out. Billy’s high spirits and boyish mischief aren’t making it easy to hide him, and it’s already put bully butler Pickering on the alert that something’s fishy. “The Upper Crust” also has a New Year theme when Clarinda gatecrashes arch-enemy Mavis’ New Year’s party, but she made one mistake – she left her glove behind. When Mavis finds it, she’s all set to expose Clarinda’s gatecrashing, but her father has a better idea, for he knows Clarinda’s dad slipped into the party too and has a pretty good idea why. Is he right? Clearly, the approaching climax and resolution of the story will tell.

The Strange Story doesn’t have a New Year theme this time. It’s about a swimmer who gets overconfident and swims in a dangerous current. She nearly drowns and loses her nerve, just as she’s needed for a vital swimming event. But then help comes…from a mermaid?

As always with her New Year issues, Tammy was clearing out old serials and starting new ones for New Year. The serial being cleared out for New Year is “TEAM in Action”, and it’s a finale that delivers as much on the action as its title suggests. “One Girl and Her Dog” returns after being on hiatus, but the ending can’t be far away. Mario Capaldi is doing double duty on this serial and “The Moon Stallion” adaptation.

For the New Year lineup, we have “Mouse”, a serial ahead of its time for highlighting the issues of custody disputes and international parental kidnapping, and “My Terrible Twin”, about fraternal twin sisters as different as looks as they are in personality. Moira is hardly a beauty, but she is the responsible one, and Lindy is the red-hot looker but a delinquent who’s just been paroled from a remand home. But her time inside hasn’t changed her much. Moira gets Lindy a job at the department store where she works, and Lindy’s already into shoplifting. This serial was so popular that it spawned a sequel later in 1979 and a reprint by popular demand in 1984.

Tammy 7 November 1981 – Guy Fawkes issue

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Jump, Jump, Julia (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)
Rosie at the Royalty (artist Diane Gabbot(t)) – final episode
Wee Sue (artist John Richardson)
Molly Mills and the Gunpowder Plot (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – complete story
Sheena So Shy (artist Tony Coleman)
Edie (artist Joe Collins)
Catherine’s Wheel (artist Ken Houghton) – Strange Story
Real Sparklers! – feature
Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)
Lara the Loner (artist Juliana Buch, writer Alison Christie)

Leading off for November is Tammy’s Guy Fawkes issue from 1981. Molly and Wee Sue have Bonfire Night stories. Pickering is furious to see a Guy Fawkes guy dressed up to look like him and throws it in the river, but it’s rescued and goes on the Stanton Hall bonfire. The fireworks party itself almost gets cancelled when a hooligan with fireworks causes Lord Stanton to have an accident, but of course Molly finds a way to save the day. In the Wee Sue story, Sue almost causes the school bonfire party to be cancelled when she accidentally ruins the fireworks, but luckily she made a valuable find that can raise money for replacement fireworks. John Richardson, who hasn’t drawn a Wee Sue story since 1977, is guest artist for Sue’s Guy Fawkes story. Edie brings us a reminder of the fireworks code at a bonfire party and a feature advertising jumpers uses a Guy Fawkes theme. Perhaps most striking of all is the fireworks-related Strange Story from medieval England (below), and the warning of approaching plague sets it in 1348. Even the Storyteller admits this version of the origin of the Catherine wheel is a bit fanciful. Still, it’s an engaging story, and it has the bonus of Keith Houghton artwork.

Bessie makes an appearance this week, but her story is not related to Guy Fawkes. Instead, we get a double Bunter helping with Bessie’s brother Billy as guest star. It’s always extra fun when he shows up in her strip.

Things just keep getting worse and worse for “Lara the Loner” because of her fear of crowds. This week, her hopes of adoption are raised, but her phobia is threatening to dash them. Plus, it could land her in trouble for shoplifting when she panics at a crowded department store and runs off – with an unpaid item in her hand! Incidentally, the next episode of this story features Guy Fawkes night.

“Sheena So Shy” finally has a friend, Terry, who is willing to help her prove herself. But Sheena’s spiteful cousin Sabrina is really out to sabotage anything she does to do that. She does it again this week, but at least Sheena’s getting suspicious of her.

“Rosie at the Royalty” ends this week. Despite Rosie’s brilliant dancing performance, there are no job offers from ballet companies for her, just because of her rag-and-bone background. Then something does come up later on, and Rosie tells us, “I’m gonna show the lot of them…just you wait…but that’s another story…” However, it’s not one that turns into a third Rosie serial. Perhaps it had something to do with the departure of Diane Gabbot(t) from Tammy (except for spot illustrations in the 1983 Trebizon story adaptation). “Rosie at the Royalty” was her swansong.

In “Jump, Jump, Julia”, Julia Smith is being temporarily cared for by the wealthy Turnleys while her dad is in hospital. Mrs Turnley has inspired Julia to train her pet pony, Dasher, as a show jumper – but not if her jealous daughter Clarice can help it. And so the stage is set for the rest of the story.

Tammy 31 October 1981 – Halloween issue

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Jump, Jump, Julia (artist Giorgio Giorgetti) – first episode
Edie (artist Joe Collins)
Digital Watch – special Tammy offer
Sheena So Shy (artist Tony Coleman)
Molly Mills and the Royal Visit (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – final episode
Pumpkin Specials for Halloween
Shadows of Fear (artist Ken Houghton) – Strange Story
Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)
Lara the Loner (artist Juliana Buch, writer Alison Christie)
Rosie at the Royalty (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

There’s nothing on the cover to show it except the date, but this is Tammy’s 1981 Halloween issue, brought out for the spooky season. The Cover Girls are no longer around to bring us Halloween covers, but inside we have Halloween costumes, festivities and parties with Edie, Molly Mills and Wee Sue, and there’s a Halloween pumpkin feature. This week’s Strange Story does not mention Halloween, but it’s creepy enough with demons, living monster shadows, an evil influence from the Underworld taking over the royal palace in Tsarist Russia, and most horrible of all – Ivan the Terrible. He’s now that way because although the evil influence was driven from the palace, the imprint it left behind drove him insane.

Bella is on break, so leading off the cover is part one of Giorgio Giorgetti’s last serial before he died, “Jump, Jump Julia”. As the title suggests, it’s a show-jumping story.

This week, it’s part two of “Sheena So Shy”, where Sheena Willcox has terrible shyness problems. Her unhelpful mother, lack of confidence, blushing and stammering, lack of friends, constant bullying from classmates and teachers who expect her to live up to her mother’s famous reputation only serve to worsen the problem. Added to that, she now has to contend with a spiteful cousin who keeps sabotaging her every move to rise above it all.

In “Lara the Loner”, it’s a phobia that keeps sabotaging Lara Wolfe and everything she does, and it’s constantly landing her in trouble at school and the children’s home where she lives. This week, it even lands her in hospital.

“Rosie at the Royalty”, the sequel to “Rosie of Ragged Row” and the last serial Diane Gabbot(t) drew for Tammy, reaches its penultimate episode. Rosie’s had to contend with snobbery and classism at her new ballet school, along with nasty tricks, a spiteful rival (who she finally makes peace with in this episode) and now her rotten brothers. They drag her away on the rag-and-bone rounds when she has to dance at a vital performance, and they don’t care squat that she’ll be expelled if she doesn’t show. Then, she has a sudden ray of hope.

Tammy 17 January 1981

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Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

Wee Sue (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)

Push-along, Patti (artist Juliana Buch)

Two Leads for Luther (artist Mario Capaldi) – final episode

Tune-In – feature 

Belinda Bookworm (artist Giorgio Giorgetti) – first episode

Molly Mills and the Winter of Discontent (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

Behind the Locked Door! (artist Peter Wilkes) – Strange Story from the Mists

Edie and Miss T (artist Joe Collins)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Rita, My Robot Friend (artist Tony Coleman)

Four stories – Bessie, Wee Sue, Molly Mills and the Winter of Discontent, and Edie and Miss T – remind us that it’s still the freezing winter season. For Molly & Co, it’s an outright fight for survival when the snow cuts Stanton Hall off from the outside world. They’re on their own, but how long can they keep it up, and how can they get help? To add to Molly’s problems, the crisis doesn’t stop Pickering picking on her. Wee Sue & Co have a winter battle on their hands as well. They are up against meanie Miss Bigger’s economy drive, which entails cutting off the school heating in winter cold, leaving them to freeze in class while she keeps herself warm with secret thermals. While Bigger’s back is turned, the girls turn to disco dancing and loud music-making to keep warm, but the noise soon leads to discovery. Things are about to get hot for the girls, but it’s the winter snow to the rescue. It also puts the freeze on Miss Bigger’s economy drive and gives the girls the rest of the day off school. Hooray!

A disastrous talent contest for Bella has an unexpected result – a gymnastics coach named Mrs Carne spots her and offers to train her. But from the start, there is definitely something strange about this woman. It’s unsettling, and it has us worried about what Bella might be getting herself into. 

This week’s Strange Story is a “curiosity killed the cat” tale, featuring maidservant Poppy Higgs at a Victorian lodging house. Poppy won’t stop snooping into the lodgers’ belongings despite the warnings, clips around the ear and now threats of dismissal from her angry mistress. One guest in particular rouses her curiosity – but she is soon cured of her curiosity when it leads to a bad fright at “some horror from the grave!”, a fall downstairs and a dislocated arm (which is quickly treated). And what was that horror from the grave, you ask? Just a doctor’s skeleton.

They say a man can’t have two masters. Neither can a dog, as “Two Leads for Luther” shows. Two friends, Kim and Lisa, inherit a dog, Luther, but it’s led to constant arguments, heaps of trouble and a strain on their friendship because they have opposing views on how to take care of him. Luther’s had enough of the bickering and runs off, leaving them both in tears. The story ends with the girls making a deal that if they find him, only one of them will be his mistress. The clincher will be whoever he runs to first. They succeed in finding him, and now it’s the moment of decision. Will Luther choose Kim or Lisa, and what about the girl he doesn’t choose?

We now have three stories where girls are made miserable and friendless at school by mean classmates. For “Push-along Patti”, it’s just because she has no bike. When all she can get is a push bike, the school bikers turn up their noses at it and her. What a bunch of snobs. You’re too nice for them, Patti. Angelina keeps Jenny James ostracised at school, just because she doesn’t like her grandfather, so Jenny has turned to “Rita, My Robot Friend” for companionship. This week, there’s a new problem for Jenny in keeping the secret of Rita from Angelina: the science teacher turns on a huge magnet and unwittingly starts magnetising Rita’s metal parts. And in new story “Belinda Bookworm”, Belinda Binder is scorned by everyone at school, and also picked on by the school sports stars, because she is a bookworm and apparently hopeless at sport. But when she discovers she might have a sports talent after all and just needs confidence, training and a chance to prove it, she sets out to secretly train as an athlete – in the school library of all places – when she is dropped from games at school.

Tammy 14 March 1981

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Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

The Ancient Ones (artist Veronica Weir) – Strange Story from the Mists

Belinda Bookworm (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

Push-Along Patti (artist Juliana Buch) – final episode

New for Nights – Feature 

Pop Poster Part 3

Molly Mills at Castle Craygarry (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – first episode

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Spirit Rappers (artist Ken Houghton) – Strange Story from the Mists

Edie and Miss T (artist Joe Collins)

The Black and White World of Shirley Grey (artist Diane Gabbot(t), writer Jake Adams?)

Mrs Carne is one of Bella’s more disturbing coaches. She pushes Bella too hard, her mental state is questionable, and she even seems to have a power over her. Bella’s friends have grown so concerned they try to pull her out. When Bella resists, the sheer force causes the balcony they are on to collapse, and they’re all threatening to fall. Oh dear, are we going to see some hospital cases next week?

It’s the final episode of “Push-Along Patti”. After being picked on at school because she only has a push bike while her classmates have flash models, Patti Collins finally settles things with the bullies and decides her push bike is all she wants. Next week we see two new stories: “No Haven for Hayley” and “High-Rise Hazel”. The blurb for Hayley is unusual in that it has a spot panel drawn especially for it, instead of the usual practice of using a panel or a bodged composite panel from the story. The spot panel does such an impressive job of summing up the premise of the story that the blurb is included here.

Bessie makes one of the filler appearances she has been reduced to since the Misty merger. She enters a carving competition, but she soon discovers she is better at eating food than carving it and lands in hot water. Her punishment leaves her feeling all carved up. 

“Belinda Bookworm” finds her secret training to become sporty like the girls who pick on her is beginning to pay off. But now it’s about to face a big test when she falls from the skylight into the school swimming pool. She has been training for diving and swimming, but not in real water. Will her secret training pay off again, or will she find herself in deep water this time?

This week we have a double helping of Strange Stories, both of which feature pranks that take a sinister turn. One of them, “Spirit Rappers”, appears below. If you’ve ever been plagued by pesky kids who keep ringing your doorbell and running off, then this one’s for you. Plus, it is drawn by the ever-popular Ken Houghton.

Molly starts a new story. Stanton Hall is off to Scotland to participate in a film shoot. Sounds exciting? It should be, but they’re off to a bad start when they arrive. They’re spending the night in a power blackout because the power generator has broken down. Next week we find out if things brighten up. 

In the space of only one day, “The Black and White World of Shirley Grey” has grown blacker and blacker for Shirley because she keeps going to extremes about not telling lies after blaming herself for her best friend’s accident. After a long, horrible day of it, she comes home dreading her parents’ reaction when they hear she’s blown it again with the boss’s wife for being too truthful about her attire (“hideous”) and now Dad’s got no promotion. Their reaction is even worse than she expects: Mum goes into hysterics and bawling that she’s going to have a nervous breakdown. What a drama queen. Well, you can’t have seen the worst yet, Mum and Dad. The trouble that’s already started will surely escalate, and Shirley’s extreme truth-telling is bound to cause even more trouble as, despite all your yelling and screaming about it (“Oh, not that again!”), you’re not getting through to her at all. What’s more, you’re too focused on yourselves to even consider where it’s going to all end up for Shirley – which is bound to be something dire before the story gets to its resolution.

Tammy 20 September 1980

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

Running Rosie Lee (artist José Casanovas)

Dulcie Wears the Dunce’s Hat (artist Mario Capaldi)

The Face of a Cat (artist Tony Higham) – The Strange Story

Plain as Pearl (Artist Juliana Buch)

Wee Sue (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)

Cut-Glass Crystal (artist Tony Coleman)

The Loneliest Girl in the World (artist Jaume Rumeu)

New additions to the collection.

“Eek!” goes the Cover Girls cover this week. Little sis cops the joke this week rather than big sis, who usually does. It’s probably because big sis doesn’t have those pigtails that fly up cartoon style in fright. 

Inside, Bella is discharged from hospital, and she seeks out Uncle Jed and Aunt Gert for the first time in years. They’ve abused and exploited her since episode one, but in her opinion, better them than a children’s home. She hasn’t reached them yet, and already she’s in trouble. She chose to walk 25 miles instead of using the money she was given for fares, but now she regrets it. Her weak ankle can’t handle the distance, she’s run into trouble with crooks, and now she’s falling foul of scheming gypsies. And at the end – if she gets there – will it be the same old drudgery again? She has been out of touch with Jed and Gert for years, so things must have changed in the interim, but we doubt leopard’s spots will be among them.

Poor Dulcie Dobbs is forced to wear the dunce’s hat, not just at school but all the way home as well, so her father can see her shame (luckily for her, he keeps missing the dunce’s hat and remains unaware of her shame). This week, Dulcie gets an independent opinion on her academic ability, which informs her that she is not a dunce at all. Indeed, it shows that if it weren’t for those spiteful girls who keep sabotaging her school work because they get a kick out her wearing the dunce’s hat, she would be top of the class. But as long as they keep doing so, she’s got no chance to prove it or be free of the hat.

This week’s Strange Story, “The Power of the Cat”, is about an evil cat brooch. But as all it takes to break its power over is to throw it out of the window (for maybe someone else to find), it can’t be all that powerful. 

Karen Chalmers, “The Loneliest Girl in the World”, thinks a mad scientist was behind the robot doubles of her parents, but now her real parents are back and her nightmare is over. Yeah, right. At the end of the previous episode it was stated that she was fooled into believing all that, but it can only be a matter of time before she finds out, as whoever (or whatever?) is behind the façade keeps making mistakes with it. Sure enough, they made more slip-ups that Karen quickly detects, but there’s worse to come. Karen now finds her best friend is a robot double! Here we go again. 

Noise pollution is the problem facing Wee Sue this week. An inconsiderate teen keeps riding his new motorbike up and down the street where she lives, driving everyone mad with the racket he’s making. His father won’t listen to complaints or stop his son making the racket, but he says something that gives Wee Sue one of her famous brainstorms for comeuppance as well as stop the noise.

An editor’s comment on “Plain as Pearl” says it was a very popular story. There certainly is much in it to make it popular. Pearl Kent thinks she is plain until she finds out she has what it takes to be a model. She’s using her new modelling job to save up to buy her sick mother a holiday, but she keeps it a secret because she fears the jealousy of Claire Myles, the vain daughter of the family she is staying with. But of course secrecy and deceit cause complications for her. Worse, Mum keeps having relapses because she won’t stop stressing over the money problems that made her ill. If only she knew, but Pearl can’t risk telling her because shock isn’t good for her. Will she ever recover enough to go on Pearl’s surprise holiday?

Cut-Glass Crystal, a girl from a posh background, is having problems fitting into a working-class mining town after her father comes down in the world. Poor Crystal is trying so hard to be helpful this week, but it seems she can’t do anything right.

Running Rosie Lee is a school/sports story played for light relief. It may be a bit on the silly side, but it has the ever-popular José Casanovas artwork. Rosie Lee turns into the bionic woman at sport every time she has a cup of tea. Snobs at her school don’t like her and pull tricks on her, but in the end it always blows up in their faces and Rosie comes out on top after a good cuppa. 

Tammy 14 February 1981

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Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

Push-along Patti (artist Juliana Buch)

The Black and White World of Shirley Grey (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

Tammy and Misty Jokes

Will You Be Our Valentine? (artist John Johnston, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – Quiz

Molly Mills and the Echoes from the Past (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

Another Self (artist Juliana Buch) – Strange Story from the Mists

Belinda Bookworm (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

Pretty Things – Feature

Starry Eyed – Horoscope

Edie and Miss T (artist Joe Collins)

Rita, My Robot Friend (artist Tony Coleman)

For Valentine’s Day we bring you Tammy’s Valentine issue from 1981. The Cover Girls are no longer running, so for the first time in years we have no Tammy cover commemorating Valentine’s Day. So what does Tammy have for Valentine’s Day? Inside, Edie is astonished when Miss T receives a Valentine, and we have a Valentine quiz. Tammy could have done a bit more for Valentine’s Day as Bessie is back this week and could have recycled one of her Valentine’s Day episodes, and the “Pretty Things” craft feature could have been a Valentine feature. 

As the cover indicates, Bella has a coach who drives her hard – perhaps too hard – and we also have reason to question the coach’s mental state. Others are already concerned as to where it will end up.

Juliana Buch does double duty on “Push-along Patti” and the Strange Story, “Another Self”. The former is about a girl with bully problems at school, just because she doesn’t have a flash bike, and hardships at home because her dad’s out of work. The latter is about twins who were separated by their parents’ separation, but it can’t separate the bond between them.

It’s part 2 of “The Black and White World of Shirley Grey”. Shirley has vowed not to tell lies in the wake of an accident she irrationally blames herself for, and this episode shows she is taking that vow a bit far, to the extent of not even telling white lies. And now it’s caused trouble. Will it have Shirley reconsider things?

“Rita, My Robot Friend” sounds like it is approaching its climax when Angelina and her gang decide to sneak into Jenny’s house to find out just what is going on with that mysterious friend of hers (actually, it is a robot, which Jenny is using for friendship because Angelina has kept her friendless at school, just because she doesn’t like Jenny’s grandfather). So far, Jenny has managed to keep herself and Rita one step ahead of Angelina, with lots of close shaves along the way, but will she be found out this time?

“Belinda Bookworm” is secretly training as an athlete (using library equipment of all things), but when a hockey ball goes flying through the library window, could this lead to her being discovered?

Molly has to block the sale of one of Lord Stanton’s horses after hearing the buyer is in the horse meat trade. When Lord Stanton refuses to listen to reason because the buyer is an earl’s son, Molly decides proof is warranted, but getting some requires some time and planning, and time could be in short supply. 

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 and Misty 22 November 1980

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Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)
The Black Stallion (text story adaptation)
Sandy and Steve (artist Juliana Buch)
Tune-in (feature)
Wee Sue (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue (artist Tony Coleman) – final episode
Gipsy – Strange Story from the Mists (artist P. Montero)
Jolly’s Hockey Stick (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)
Edie and Miss T (artist Joe Collins) 
Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)
Rosie of Ragged Row (artist Diane Gabbot(t))
 
One of Tammy’s frequent messages was decrying anti-Roma prejudice and warning of dire consequences when you pick on gypsies. This week’s Strange Story from the Mist (below) must be the most frightening example of this that Tammy ever published, and it’s worthy of Misty herself. The artist drew a number of Strange Stories from the Mist for Tammy. Sadly, they drew nothing for Misty; the style is brilliant for dark stories and would have made plenty of Misty stories come to life. Can anyone identify the artist? Update: David Roach has identified the artist as P. Montero, a 2000AD artist. Thank you, David!
 
Bessie Bunter makes an appearance this week (she’s been reduced to filler since the merger). Miss Stackpole clamps down on noise at the school to the extent that the pupils are forced into silence. It’s a relief for everyone when “Stackers” decides it’s too damn quiet and rescinds her order. Meanwhile, Wee Sue is roped into helping Miss Bigger at the stables when she wants to go to a rodeo. Surprisingly, it’s not one of Sue’s trademark brainstorms that helps her out of this dilemma but Miss Bigger’s lousy horsewomanship.
 
The Tony Coleman story (the title is now too long to repeat) finishes this week. Its replacement next week is “Two Leads for Luther”, a tale that shows the old saying that a man cannot have two masters is the same for dogs as well, but it’s a wrangle between two girls to decide the ultimate ownership of Luther. 
 
The power of the music box returns and pulls Rosie back to the ballet school of the past. But now the pianist who plays the magic tune has gone walkabout, leaving Rosie trapped in that time period. In her own time she heard that the whole ballet school will ultimately perish in a plane crash, so what does this mean for her?
 
The power of Jolly’s hockey stick has the school bus rushing to the wood where it originated because there’s a fire and it wants to bring in help to save the trees. It’s making the bus go a bit fast and Jolly’s worried. However, we’re sure the stick knows what it’s doing.
 
Bella does well at a gymnastics competition, but before she can claim her medal there’s an urgent phone call for her. We have a horrible suspicion it’s about that tough gang she’s trying to turn around with gymnastics.
 
In Sandy and Steve, Sandy and Richard lose their loved ones, who have finally been evicted and forced to move on. Is it goodbye forever? 

Tammy 8 November 1980

1980, Issues, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)
  • The Black Stallion (text story adaptation)
  • Sandy and Steve (artist Juliana Buch)
  • Tune-In (feature)
  • Rosie of Ragged Row (artist Diane Gabbot(t))
  • The Sisters of Slyneham (artist Peter Wilkes) – Strange Story from the Mists
  • Edie and Miss T (artist Joe Collins)
  • Jolly’s Hockey Stick (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)
  • Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)
  • Something Old, Something New… (artist Tony Coleman)

Although this is a November issue it appears for the Halloween season as the Strange Story from the Mists (below) is perfect for it. Pity Tammy didn’t publish the story in October. Could the story have been originally written for Misty? It has a four-page spread, just as the Misty completes did. The story concerns two witches who hide their spell book before they face the stake so they can rise again when someone finds it. Now, you might ask: if they’ve got the power to do that, why can’t these dumb witches do something to save themselves from the stake in the first place? Like hop on their broomsticks and fly off when they see the witch burners coming for them? Well, this kind of enigma is something you see a lot in girls’ comics. And here’s another question to ponder: is the man who tries to warn the girls about Slyneham a descendant of Dying Thomas or his friend Jethro? We’re not told, but it wouldn’t be surprising.

We no longer have the Cover Girls to commemorate Guy Fawkes, so Miss T and Edie do the honours although Miss T hints she does not like fireworks. This is a gag that will appear again in the cartoon. 

Can Rosie of Ragged Row dance without the power of the music box? It’s a challenge she faces this week when an upcoming demolition of the old ballet school negates its power. And it comes just when Rosie badly needs a dance routine to help her win a talent contest to help her father out. 

Jolly faces a different sort of challenge this week with her magic hockey stick – it plays up during the first round of a hockey match, which causes Jolly’s team to lose badly. 

Sandy resorts to one of the oldest tricks in the book to stop her father delivering the eviction order that will cause her to lose Steve – she throws a faint. It works a bit too well; her parents are so alarmed they pack her off to hospital for a checkup, but it saves Steve from eviction. For now, anyway. There are those out there who still want Steve and his labouring gang gone, especially Sandy’s father. 

Bella gets back into a gym club and proper training, but she’s still got to train the tough gang and she’s got window cleaning. That sounds like a lot.