Comics UK

I am trying to place a proto-Bella story that appeared in an annual somewhere - Sindy, Sandie, Sally, or something like that. It was called A Leap for Lindy or A New Leap for Lindy. It was drawn by John Armstrong. Like Bella, Lindy trains on makeshift gym apparatus at home and has unpleasant guardians. Lindy’s uncle bears a striking resemblance to Jed Barlow. A coach called Liz Leap comes to the rescue. Can anyone help with what annual it appeared in, please?

Many thanks for any help.

Even though this request of yours, Briony, relates to IPC comics rather than the output from Thomsons, about which you normally seem to need information, it is nevertheless a request for information. Can I, in my turn, given that you do ask members for an awful lot of information, ask you why you want all this information? Presumably you do have some kind of end product in mind, otherwise there would appear to be no joined-up purpose to your queries. Are you planning to write a book or two?

As a matter of interest I just picked up a load of late Bunty's, one of which also features a John Armstrong strip starring a young gymnast character who seems to be the spitting image of Bella (presumably based on the same real-life model).

philcom55 wrote:As a matter of interest I just picked up a load of late Bunty's, one of which also features a John Armstrong strip starring a young gymnast character who seems to be the spitting image of Bella (presumably based on the same real-life model).

What issue numbers are they, Phil?

It sounds like Phil is referring to "Secret Gymnast" that appeared in Bunty #1873 (4 December 1993) - #1884 (19 February 1994). Funnily enough I was looking for issues of that recently as I'm missing a few episodes, so that's why it's fresh in my mind.

Spot on Peace! Here's a page from the final episode.

peace355 wrote:It sounds like Phil is referring to "Secret Gymnast" that appeared in Bunty #1873 (4 December 1993) - #1884 (19 February 1994)

Thank you, Lorraine, for that information. I do have all those issues.

philcom55 wrote:Spot on Peace! Here's a page from the final episode.

Whoa, she’s even got the same leotard as Bella! Only her hairstyle separates her from Bella. Doing this strip must have brought back fond memories of Bella for John Armstrong. In his interview in Misty Halloween Special 1 he said he was very upset when Bella came to an end (and it was a very rude ending what with Tammy’s sudden disappearance from a strike).

Phoenix wrote:Can I, in my turn, given that you do ask members for an awful lot of information, ask you why you want all this information? Presumably you do have some kind of end product in mind, otherwise there would appear to be no joined-up purpose to your queries. Are you planning to write a book or two?

Sensible questions deserve sensible answers, Briony. I look forward to your reply.

Prompted to think about that story again and regretting not taking a scan of it.

Tammyfan, the story you are looking for is in Girls' Crystal Annual 1976.

Thank you, Goof, for the information!

Phoenix wrote:

Phoenix wrote:Can I, in my turn, given that you do ask members for an awful lot of information, ask you why you want all this information? Presumably you do have some kind of end product in mind, otherwise there would appear to be no joined-up purpose to your queries. Are you planning to write a book or two?

Sensible questions deserve sensible answers, Briony. I look forward to your reply.

I'm not sure if Briony's answer about being prompted to think of the story by regretting taking a scan of it is intended as an answer to your question, Derek, and I may be speaking out of turn in trying to reply on Briony's behalf - but of course she is a co writer on both the Jinty blog and Peace's DCT blog and I would say that those two sites would give enough joined-up purpose to her queries by themselves. On the Jinty blog in particular we are definitely interested in tracing antecedents to the stories that are the main focus of the blog.

The Jinty blog is getting a bit misnamed in fact as we are covering other titles more and more - I am writing posts on Sandie right now, so really we are covering a range of IPC comics. Briony has also written quite a few posts about Commando too though, which gives some interesting fodder for comparisons.

Having said all that, if Briony did want to write a book or two I'm sure many of us would be very interested to know more

comixminx wrote:I'm not sure if Briony's answer about being prompted to think of the story by regretting taking a scan of it is intended as an answer to your question, Derek

On reading the thread through again, Jenni, I can see how you could well be right. That would, of course, mean though that she hasn't yet replied to my questions. For a long time now I have invariably replied to her questions, and she to mine. I'm merely wondering now why she is changing her modus operandi.

Seeing as Lindy was in 1976 and Bella started 1974, could Lindy have been a Bella imitation? The premise of the two gymnasts is very similar: a young gymnast struggling to make the break against enormous odds, makeshift gym apparatus at home, nasty guardians, and Lindy's uncle bearing a striking resemblance to Jed Barlow.