Tag Archives: John Johnston

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 31 December 1983

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Cover artist: Trini Tinturé

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

Christmas Chuckles

Bethlehem’s Come to Us (artist Maria Dembilio but credited as “Julian”, writer Alison Christie)

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

Christmas Chuckles

A Christmas Mystery (artist John Johnston, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – Quiz

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

Ralph Roisterham’s “Tiger” – a Pony Tale (artist Veronica Weir, writer Chris Harris)

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

Room for Rosie (artist Santiago Hernandez, writer Alison Christie)

The Crayzees (artist Joe Collins)

For the Christmas season we present the last Christmas issue of Tammy ever published. Inside, we have “Christmas Chuckles”; a Christmas story from the Crayzees where Miss T saves Christmas by helping to cure Santa of a cold; a special Christmas story from “Room for Rosie” (scans here), which ye Editor put on hiatus but informed us would return at Christmas; a Christmas story from Pam of Pond Hill in which we have morals about being organised for Christmas, but don’t be a power-driver over it; a Christmas quiz; and one of my favourite Tammy stories, “Bethlehem’s Come to Us…”, which is reproduced below. What can the Christmas spirit do for a family who are constantly quarrelling and back-biting because of the stress over Dad’s redundancy? So far, not much, and now it’s Christmas Eve. Is there hope yet? As Tammy would say – read on and see.

The Button Box does not have a Christmas story as it did in Tammy’s 1982 Christmas issue, but it has a story about the value of kindness, which is related to Christmas. It is the only Button story to have a foreshadowing, in which the button itself was shown in an earlier story but its story was not told at the time. Instead, its story is revealed at Christmas. 

An interesting note about Tammy artist John Johnston is that whenever he does spot illustrations for Tammy’s quizzes he uses a style based on Mad artist Paul Coker Jr., even using Coker panels from Mad as templates for some of the spot illustrations. One appears in the aforementioned Christmas quiz.

Tammy was big on adaptations, and it is currently running two: “Queen Rider” by A. D. Langholm and “First Term at Trebizon” by Anne Digby. There is evidence that “Queen Rider” was another book to start life as a girls’ serial, as “Bad Bella” from Tammy annual 1976 has a very similar plot (no, not Bella Barlow, whose title in the same annual has been changed to the once-only “That Barlow Kid” to avoid confusion). “Bad Bella” is no doubt a reprint from somewhere. Update: we have received information that “Bad Bella” is reprinted from Sally.

This week’s Pony Tale has a decidedly feminist slant to it, where Jane Dunnet disguises herself a boy to take over her brother’s “Tiger” job to an aristocrat, as the family badly need the wages. Of course she is discovered in the end, but she has conducted herself so incredibly well that everyone is all the more impressed at her being a girl. 

Tammy 8 January 1983

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Cover artist: Bob Harvey

  • Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)
  • Hold Tight, Please! (artist Peter Wilkes) – complete story reprinted from Misty
  • The Crayzees (artist Joe Collins)
  • The Button Box (artist Mario Capaldi, writer Alison Christie)
  • Romy’s Return (artist Juliana Buch, writer Charles Herring)
  • Fathers’ Footsteps (artist John Johnston, writer Gerry Finley-Day) – final episode
  • Pam of Pond Hill (artist Bob Harvey, writer Jay Over) – new story
  • Nanny Young (artist Phil Gascoine, writer Maureen Spurgeon) 
  • Cuckoo in the Nest (artist Tony Coleman, writer Ian Mennell) 
  • Make ‘n’ Match! (by Chris Lloyd) – feature

We continue our New Year/January theme with more January issues from Tammy. January was always a time for some old stories to finish and new ones to start for the New Year. What’s in the lineup for that in this issue? “Fathers’ Footsteps” comes to an end, to be replaced next week by Tammy’s smash-hit story of 1983, “E.T. Estate”. Pam starts a new story, and Nanny Young will start one in two weeks, as her current story is on its penultimate episode. “Cuckoo in the Nest” is now building towards its climax; Leslie learns his great aunt, the unknowing cause of all his troubles, is going to pay a visit soon. 

As the cover (beautifully drawn by Bob Harvey) suggests, Bella is holding court at the Palace of the Shah. But this week she is courting trouble as she is pushing for women’s rights in a conservative Muslim country even more forcefully than the reformist Shah. She scores a victory for the women – this time – but others are worried about the backlash over it.

This week’s Button Box story is a moral lesson in the joys of sharing, which you won’t learn if you are selfish. For our complete story we get a reprint from Misty, “Hold Tight, Please!”.

“Romy’s Return” is a story that would not be out of place at DCT (a schemer, dirty tricks, and a girl who can’t find her feet again after she moves back). Linda Powell is enjoying the top spot at school after her best friend, Romy Benedict, vacated it when she moved to London. Then Romy moves back and wants to move back into top spot, but not if Linda can help it. The situation has Linda constantly oscillating between dirty tricks to keep her top spot and pangs of conscience. Which will win this week? At the beginning of the episode it is Linda’s conscience, but by the end of it she goes back to dirty tricks when she loses her form project to Romy.

Tammy New Year Issue 1 January 1983

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  • Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)
  • Romy’s Return (artist Juliana Buch, writer Charles Herring)
  • Fathers’ Footsteps (artist John Johnston, writer Gerry Finley-Day)
  • The Button Box (artist Mario Capaldi, writer Alison Christie)
  • Tammy Wall Diary – feature (writer Chris Lloyd)
  • Pam of Pond Hill (artist Bob Harvey, writer Jay Over)
  • What’s Your New Year Resolution? – quiz (artist John Johnston, writer Maureen Spurgeon)
  • Nanny Young (artist Phil Gascoine, writer Maureen Spurgeon)
  • Cuckoo in the Nest (artist Tony Coleman, writer Ian Mennell)
  • The Crayzees (artist Joe Collins)

For New Year we profile the 1983 New Year issue of Tammy. Inside, Tammy provides readers with a wall diary and a New Year quiz. “Fathers’ Footsteps” joins the New Year celebrations when both feuding families become snowbound and take refuge in a barn, where they start a New Year barn dance to keep themselves warm. The Crayzees and Pam of Pond Hill also have New Year themes.

January was a common time for girls’ titles to start new stories, so what is coming up this time? “Fathers’ Footsteps” is clearly about to end, so a new story will replace it soon. Pam will start a new story next week. The current Nanny Young story looks like it is headed for its conclusion, which means she will soon start a new story too. However, Bella and the other serials look like they still have a way to go before they reach their conclusions, so there will not be much else new in the Tammy lineup over January 1983.

Tammy Christmas Issue 25 December 1982

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Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

The Fireside Friend (artist Douglas Perry) – complete story

Father’s Footsteps (artist John Johnston, writer Gerry Finley-Day)

The Christmas Roses (artist Peter Wilkes) – complete story

Tammy Christmas Box! – Christmas quiz

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

Cuckoo in the Nest (artist Tony Coleman, writer Ian Mennell)

Nanny Young (artist Phil Gascoine, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

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

Crayzee Christmas (artist Joe Collins)

It’s Christmas time, and here is the Tammy 1982 Christmas issue. It’s dated the Big Day itself, so we have to wonder how and when the issue was distributed. Did readers have to wait until after Boxing Day for their copies? That must have been agony for them.

All the way through the issue Tammy has beautiful holly borders. Two complete stories (recycled from Strange Stories), a Christmas Quiz, The Button Box, Nanny Young, Pam of Pond Hill and Crayzee Christmas all add their bit to Christmas with a Christmas and/or related themes, such as snow and fireside. Mind you, Miss T is rather reluctant to do so as Christmas isn’t for witches, but Edie isn’t giving up that easily (below). Father’s Footsteps (where both feuding families suffer the biggest trick yet from sneaky Joy and Kim but of course will blame each other for it) is heading for a snowbound situation, so in a way it also adds to the theme. Only in Bella and Cuckoo in the Nest is it business as usual. 

As the cover says, it is pandemonium at Pam’s Pond Hill “Snow White” panto. Much of the problem is Di’s hero-worship of the lead, “Divine” Davinia, because she is so sophisticated. Di takes it to such extremes that it is interfering with the panto, annoying the class and upsetting her friends. Worse, Davinia is using it to take advantage of her. Di’s obsession with Davinia even lands her in a kettle drum in the orchestra pit during dress rehearsal! This week, Pam finally brings Di to her senses by getting her to see Davinia for what she really is: a selfish creep. So selfish that she cuts the panto to attend a concert and then has the gall to come back to be a star when the concert is cancelled – but she reckons without Pam.

Miss T is not into the Christmas spirit. From Tammy 25 December 1982.

Tammy 6 November 1982

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Cover artist: Juliana Buch

A Horse Called September (artist Eduardo Feito, writer Anne Digby)

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

Hand of Fortune – complete story (artist Juliana Buch, writer Ray Austen) 

Tomorrow Town (artist José Casanovas, writer Benita Brown)

Fathers’ Footsteps – first episode (artist John Johnston, writer Gerry Finley-Day)

Nanny Young (artist Phil Gascoine, writer Tom Newland)

Rae Rules O.K. (artist Tony Coleman, writer Gerry Finley-Day)

Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

For Guy Fawkes, we bring you the Tammy Guy Fawkes issue from 1982, with a nice cover from Juliana Buch. Inside, Buch illustrates a spooky complete, “Hand of Fortune”, about a promising pianist whose music career seems dashed when she damages her hand. Then something – or someone – takes a hand to lead her to an even better career path as a violinist. 

“A Horse Called September”, “Rae Rules O.K.”, “Tomorrow Town” and the current Pond Hill story are all on their penultimate episodes. So we should expect quite a big lineup of new stories starting soon, some of which are presumably part of the buildup to Christmas.

Meanwhile, a new story starts, “Fathers’ Footsteps”. It is one of those comical family feud serials. What are the two families fighting over? Scottish dancing vs. Morris dancing. Caught in the middle of the feud (as usual with these types of stories) are the daughters from the families, who never wear anything but school uniform, even on weekends. Ditto the two scheming girls whose tricks on both families make the feud even worse.

Nanny Young finally seems to be making headway with spoiled Elmer, but his father sticks his foot in it, sending things back to square one for poor Nanny.

Bella arrives in a Muslim country for her new job as a gymnastics coach. The job pays well, and it makes a change, coaching gymnastics in a palace. But the Islamic culture is already causing problems for Bella, especially when it clashes with her independent streak. And in a country where females are expected to know their lowly place, things look set for a lot of clashing. 

Tammy 30 October 1982

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Cover artist: Bob Harvey

A Horse Called September (artist Eduardo Feito, writer Anne Digby)

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

Bella – new story (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

Nanny Young (artist Phil Gascoine, writer Tom Newland)

There’s Magic at Halloween… (artist Ted Andrews, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – quiz

Cross on Court – final episode (artist Mario Capaldi, writer Gerry Finley-Day)

Tomorrow Town (artist José Casanovas, John Johnston as filler artist on two pages, writer Benita Brown)

Rae Rules O.K. (artist Tony Coleman, writer Gerry Finley-Day)

Slave of the Clock – final episode (artist Maria Barrera, writer Jay Over)

For this year’s Halloween issue, we profile the Halloween issue from Tammy 1982. Pam and Co lead it off with a nice Halloween party cover, which is one of my favourites. Although Pam and Co aren’t in Halloween costume, they’re giving us laughs in tricking as well as treating. Inside, we have a Halloween quiz and on the back a Halloween feature on suggestions for your Halloween party. Sue, Molly, the Storyteller and Bessie are no longer around to help give things more Halloween flavour. There’s no complete story to help with the Halloween theme either, but there isn’t room for one anyway.

Two stories say goodbye this week. The first is “Cross on Court”, where Sarah Cross’s efforts to control her temper are tested beyond limits she didn’t expect, and she amazes herself at how she pulled through. Now she has full confidence she can handle her temper. The second is the Tammy classic “Slave of the Clock”, where Madame Margolia (who is more frightening than any Halloween costume) finally realises that hypnotising apathetic ballet students into dancing whenever they hear a clock ticking is not the way to make them more dedicated to ballet. She reverses that hypnotism on Alison Thorne after seeing it has only caused trouble (what else did you expect, lady?). Madame Margolia then redeems herself a bit with hypnotism on Alison’s friend Kathy to cure her of a psychosomatic limp.

“A Horse Called September” (one of Tammy’s adaptations of the Anne Digby books), “Rae Rules O.K.”, “Tomorrow Town” and the current Pond Hill story are clearly approaching their conclusions, so new stories can’t be far off. 

Nanny Young has her hands full with a spoiled rich boy, Elmer, and his difficult behaviour. And now the rotten brat’s run off! 

Bella starts a new story. A cleaning job in a hotel leads to another job in the Islamic country of Ramaski, where she is again coaching gymnastics. Her pupils are none other than the Shah’s daughters. As Bella is about to find out, the job is not only going to be a clash of wills with yet more spoiled rich kids but also with the Islamic culture, patriarchal traditions, and backlash from fundamentalists. 

Tammy and Misty 1 August 1981

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Cover artist: John Armstrong

Bella (artist John Armstrong)

The Breaking of Faith (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

Wee Sue (artist Mike White)

Linda’s Fox (artist and writer Ron Tiner) – final episode

Are You Set for Summer? (artist John Johnston, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – quiz

The Look of Things (artist Jaume Rumeu) – Strange Story from the Mists

Tune-in (pop and TV gossip feature)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

No Love for Lindy (artist Eduardo Feito) – first episode

Stella Stirrer (artist Tony Coleman)

For the first Tammy issue for August 1981, Bella takes over the cover spot after Sandy finished last week. Oh dear, no sooner is Bella back on the cover when she’s really put her foot in it by thinking circus tricks (learned from the circus she is staying at) would impress the judges at a gymnastics competition. Now she realises it was one of her worst mistakes, never, ever to be repeated. It not only makes her lose badly but also causes terrible trouble when the audience reacts angrily to the marking. Still, anyone who’s read Bella for long enough will know that when a competition goes badly for her, it means she’s about to undergo a new course in plot direction. Sure enough, somebody comes to the circus wanting to speak to her. Whether for good or bad, it’s definitely the upcoming plot change. 

Bessie’s appearances have grown more intermittent since the Misty merger, but she appears this week. Stackers has the pupils making calendars for a sale of work, but soon finds out Bessie is about as good at making calendars as she is at classwork. 

Tammy’s August issues always had a focus on getting us primed for summer and holidays. Sure enough, her first August issue for 1981 has a summer quiz. The Strange Story from the Mists has a holiday theme, with the Carstairs family on holiday in Malaysia. Unfortunately, daughter Geraldine is spoiling things with her rudeness towards anything or anyone she does not consider attractive. She even throws a stone at a tortoise, calling it “such an ugly-looking brute”. Geraldine’s parents don’t look like they are doing much to crack down on her conduct, but punishment comes, of course. Geraldine is cursed to see nothing but the face of a mysterious old lady she didn’t find attractive. The curse lifts by the time Geraldine returns home, but it would surely have been otherwise if the story had appeared in the original Misty. August is also time for shopping. Wee Sue goes Christmas shopping in August while she has the money, but eventually she uses her Christmas shopping to help some hard-up kids who want to celebrate a birthday, and they hold an August Christmas birthday party. Now, that’s the Christmas spirit! And Tammy is offering holiday coupons.

The new story, “No Love for Lindy”, looks like it could be following similar lines to Sandy Rawlings; perhaps it is the same writer. As with Sandy, the protagonist (Lindy Allen) tells her own story and there’s a boyfriend figure. He’s the only thing making staying at the Westons (who turned out to be no better than the countless failed foster families Lindy’s had already) worthwhile. 

“Linda’s Fox”, written and drawn by Ron Tiner, finishes this week. It sounds like writing a girls’ story was a new experience for Tiner, but he did very well on it, and it must have been a popular story. It was one of my favourites, anyway. The ending is well crafted and thought out in how it handles the clearing of Linda’s father, what happens once he’s out, and keeping Linda’s friendship with Ross the fox intertwined. Tiner ought to be proud of it. Its replacement next week is a repeat of a popular 1976 Giorgio Giorgetti story, “Tag Along Tania”.

Speaking of Giorgetti, his current story, “The Breaking of Faith”, is now on its penultimate episode. Faith discovers the truth about her friend Claire after (finally) checking things out at the home Claire was staying at. Now she has to decide what to do. Her decision will certainly involve what to do about Claire running away, terrified of her finding out the truth.

“Stella Stirrer” saves her friend Katie from drowning in the school swimming pool although she can’t swim. Later, she’s back to stirring things up for snobby Harriet when she discovers Harriet has stolen the credit for the rescue!

Tammy 11 June 1977 – Jubilee Issue

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Cover artist: Audrey Fowley

Bella (artist John Armstrong)

Babe at St. Woods (José Casanovas)

What’s Wrong with Rhona? (artist Eduardo Feito)

25 Years Ago This Week – Jubilee feature

Wee Sue (artist Richard Neillands)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Molly Mills and the Comic Capers (artist John Johnston, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – final episode

The Caliph’s Jewels (artist Hugo D’Adderio) – Strange Story

Witch Hazel (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

Time Trap! (artist Tony Higham) – first episode

For the 1977 issue in our Tammy June round, it just has to be the Jubilee issue, seeing as the Queen’s Jubilee is topical this year. For the commemorations, Tammy takes a flashback look at the Coronation, and Wee Sue and Bessie both plan Jubilee pageants but run into obstacles that threaten to derail everything. It takes a bit of quick-thinking, determination and strokes of luck before things work out happily. The Bessie Bunter episode looks like it was a reprint, with a bit of new text bodged in to give it the Jubilee context.

The Crown Jewels cover also adds the theme of jewels to the issue, which carries on in the Strange Story, “The Caliph’s Jewels”, in which the Storyteller retells the Dutch folktale of The Lady of Stavoren, a cautionary tale about treating food with respect. So it’s not about jewels, then? The arrogant Lady of Stavoren discovers too late that food becomes as precious as jewels when you face starvation. There are over 27 versions of the tale. The Tammy version appears below. It is illustrated by Hugo D’Adderio, whose artwork is always popular.

The new story this week, “Time Trap!”, is a gem too. Tammy takes on the subject of reincarnation and hypnotic regression, which is a novel thing for her to do. Another gem, now on its penultimate episode, is “Witch Hazel”, which looks like it was inspired by Catweazle. A 16th century apprentice witch comes to the 20th century to learn witchcraft, but she doesn’t understand that witchcraft is not exactly on the curriculum of 20th century schools, nor can she grasp how the 20th century works. Another jewel in Tammy’s crown is the hugely popular “Babe of St. Woods”, starring a gangster’s daughter who uses all her gangster know-how to get herself and her friends out of all sorts of scrapes at boarding school. And “What’s Wrong with Rhona?” is a sparkler. Rhona has been acting very strangely ever since she picked up a strange doll. Things hit their nadir this week when her odd behaviour makes her steal a calculator, and now the police are on her doorstep! Help, is she on her way to juvenile court? 

The Bella story takes a surprise turn this week. Bella is giving us her origin, as told to her American Indian friend Oona Tall Tree. She tells Oona (and us) how she started on gymnastics before her orphaning (which doesn’t quite fit her first story on how she discovered gymnastics while window-cleaning for Jed and Gert) and how she lost her parents. It’s a surprise to see the flashback shows Bella did not have her trademark pigtails or overalls back then.

The latest Molly story, the “Comic Capers”, is Molly’s funniest story ever. It takes the unusual twist of parodying itself through a satire of Stanton Hall and its staff, which Pickering submits to a magazine, and it is drawn by a comical artist (John Johnston), who has been doing a number of Wee Sues of late. Sadly, it ends this week, and Molly will be back to business as usual with her usual artist next week. 

There has also been a notable change in the artwork of Wee Sue. It used to be an artist doing a long stint (Mario Capaldi, John Richardson), but now there is a trend towards more variety of art work in her strip; artwork from John Johnston and Richard Neillands is now appearing. This trend in a variety of Wee Sue artwork would continue, with Hugh Thornton-Jones, Mike White, Jim Eldridge and Robert MacGillivray added to the mix. 

Tammy 8 January 1977

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Babe at St Wood’s – artist José Casanovas

Towne in the Country – Mario Capaldi

Curtains for Cathy – artist Douglas Perry

The Joker’s Last Laugh (The Strange Story) – artist Hugo D’Adderio

Bessie Bunter

Molly Mills and the Gipsy Gymnast (first episode) – artist Tony Thewenetti, writer Maureen Spurgeon

Nightmare at Grimm Fen – artist Diane Gabbot(t)

Wee Sue – artist John Johnston?

Katie on Thin Ice (first episode) – artist John Armstrong

This is one of my favourite Tammy covers. There’s also a dash of panto, which ties in with the Christmas theme from last month. Also tying in with the panto/Christmas theme is this week’s Bessie Bunter story, where Bessie plays fairy godmother to a needy girl (below). This is one of my favourite Bessie stories.

Tammy’s first new story for 1977 is “Katie on Thin Ice”. It’s beautifully drawn by John Armstrong, who proves with this story that he can handle historical period stories and ice skating as adroitly as the Bella strip. Katie Williams is looking forward to seeing her father return from the Battle of Waterloo – only to find he died in it. She’s now an orphan, with nothing but the ice skates and some money he bequeathed her. But we all know what happens to 19th century protagonists in girls’ comics who suddenly find themselves all alone in the world – they jump from the frying pan into the fire by falling foul of a villainous 19th century type. In this case it’s a female Fagin named Mrs Winter, who starts blackmailing Katie into using her ice skates for crime. 

Bella is on New Year break, but Molly looks after the gymnastics theme in her new story. The staff are going to have a sports day against staff another establishment, but they lack a decent gymnast. Then Molly finds one among the local gipsies camping nearby. But will Pickering be persuaded to give the gipsy girl a chance?

In “Nightmare at Grimm Fen”, Robert le Mal hits the airwaves with his evil influence. He even times it with the football results to get plenty of viewers to watch his broadcast and become instant followers. Now they’ve turned into ugly mobs ready to attack anyone who is not paying him homage. Now that’s pretty crafty use of 20th century technology for a medieval knight!

Wee Sue’s story this week is a lion-taming one. Satan the lion is acting strangely. His behaviour rings a bell with Sue, but she can’t remember why – until Miss Bigger’s trademark gnashers jog her memory. Then it’s an emergency dash to the circus to save a lion tamer from a lion with toothache!

In “Towne in the Country” the camel train across the Sahara continues but is striking serious problems. Their first oasis is dry, two camels get shot and are only saved when Val treats them, and now a sandstorm strikes. Instead of waiting it out like the others, Val takes off into the sandstorm to find one of the camels she treated, and now she’s lost in the storm.

It’s midnight feast time at Babe at St Wood’s, but the sneaky snobs tip off the prefects and the feast gets confiscated. Babe applies her gangster skills to get their teacher to re-confiscate the food for a butterfly walk. So the girls get the food after all, and Babe gives the snobs a very grassy revenge for grassing – a ton of turf dumped all over them. 

Whoever is trying to drive Cathy away from the theatre is really getting to her now. Cathy is so freaked out she almost runs away, and when she decides to return, she suddenly finds blood all over her face and hands. How did that happen?

In the Strange Story, Sheila laughs at the idea of ghosts. So she refuses to be put off by rumours that a local inn is haunted. A man at the inn warns her not to laugh at things just because science hasn’t proved their existence, and challenges her to enter the haunted room at midnight. Still scoffing at ghosts, Sheila accepts. Wow, where is this challenge going to end up, especially when it’s a Strange Story?