Tag Archives: Stone Curse

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.