Diane Gabbott: List of her artwork

[Goof]

This is something I’ve been thinking of trying for some time. Diane Gabbott (sometimes spelt Gabbot) is not considered one of the comic art greats and is now virtually unknown except to girls’ comic fans, but for me she was one of the best. Not a specialist in any genre, she had a highly original, spontaneous and expressive style which could bring any kind of story to life. She had a particular gift for catching facial expressions, and could build tension in a scene simply through the interaction of facial language between the characters. It also helped her create a formidable gallery of vindictive bullies, careworn father figures and deformed obsessives. By far the best of her known work was done for Tammy, who gave her a wide range of stories covering mystery, spooky, historical, sport and comedy, and she excelled in all of them.

I’ve tried to put together a list of her known work, with thanks to Tammyfan for most of the Tammy information, but to my eyes it seems far from complete. It’s true that a number of talented female artists had short careers, but Gabbott’s known work is largely concentrated into a single busy seven year period of work for Lindy and Tammy, although she was active for at least 16 years. Is this really all there was?

Although she was 33 at that time, a starting point around 1968 seems plausible, as she worked as a jewellery designer before she began drawing for comics. But her comics career seems to have come to an abrupt end in 1981, apart from some text illustrations done two year later. The end of her Tammy work coincided with the merger with Jinty, which no doubt led to a shake-up of their artists’ roster, but it seems strange that this should kill off her career when she was only 47 years old and at the height of her abilities. Did she retire altogether, or switch to non-comics work?

Also, she seems to have been active between the end of 1972 and starting the Lindy serial in 1975, but I’ve only been able to find a scattering of annual/special stories during this time. What else was she doing during this three year period?

As with the John Richardson list, I’ll be very grateful for any contributions – additional pieces of work, or corrections to mistakes. This is an artist who deserves to be much better known.

[Tammyfan]

"Only Time Will Tell" was reprinted as a Gypsy Rose story in Jinty 11 October 1980.

"Rosie of Ragged Row" ends 3 January 1981.

To be corrected: "Whispers on the Wind" is "Whispers on the Wire".

To be added: "The Face of Fear", Strange Story 29 November 1975. This one is very odd because it is the prelude to "Nightmare at Grimm Fen". It's moment the protagonists actually make the brass rubbing that unwittingly unleashes the evil ghost in the serial that appears later on. By the end of the story they realise it, and it ends on a cliffhanger. If "Nightmare at Grimm Fen" gets reprinted, this story should be republished as the actual first episode of the story.

[Tammyfan]

Thank you for the information about the Dreamer reprints. I didn't know about that and will add it to the Tammy index.

[Tammyfan]

This is something I’ve been thinking of trying for some time. Diane Gabbott (sometimes spelt Gabbot) is not considered one of the comic art greats and is now virtually unknown except to girls’ comic fans, but for me she was one of the best. Not a specialist in any genre, she had a highly original, spontaneous and expressive style which could bring any kind of story to life. She had a particular gift for catching facial expressions, and could build tension in a scene simply through the interaction of facial language between the characters. It also helped her create a formidable gallery of vindictive bullies, careworn father figures and deformed obsessives.

Yes, some of those that stick with me are Evie Moore from "Shirley Grey", Robert Le Mal from "Nightmare at Grimm Fen", Yablonski from "Circus of the Damned", and the witches from "One of Us Now", particularly the witch wearing earrings. That's not normally seen on a witch.

[Goof]

Thanks Tammyfan, amendments noted. Revised list below.

I still find it strange that I can't find more of her work. David Roach mentions in his recent book that she worked for June from the late 60's, but I've found no sign of this in the Junes I've seen. I think The Waxworks Mystery may well be a reprinted June Strange Story, and maybe she did more of these. I also find it odd that she should simply vanish after finishing at Tammy, but the internet is absolutely empty of any later mentions. The reprint rate of her Tammy stories (5 of the 12 serials were reprinted) suggests they went down well with readers. A great pity if she really gave up working as an artist while still at the peak of her ability.




List edited 2/3/22

[Tammyfan]

Shirley Grey, The Fairground of Fear and Donna Ducks Out were among my favourite Tammy stories.

[Goof]

Same here!

I didn’t know that anybody else liked Donna Ducks Out! I think her art is at its best in this story, with a lot of “finish” and some very atmospheric lighting effects. I love the night scene where Donna burgles the Winters’ houseboat to “borrow” the duck and ends up being stalked by duck hunters. Although realism isn’t its strong suit, there’s an endearing daftness about the whole story – I can’t help liking a story in which a baby greets her babysitter with “You again!”

I think Shirley Grey is one of the best girls’ comics stories I’ve seen, and one of the most powerful. There are plenty of stories which inflict more lurid ordeals on their heroines, but Shirley’s have more impact than most because the writer makes them so horribly plausible. Even the familiar parade of ineffectual, self-centred and brain-dead insensitive adults that Shirley has to contend with are compelling because the writer makes their motivation convincing. I still find it harrowing to read the part where Shirley comes home after trying to apologise to Mrs Wilkes, and her parents go right off the deep end.

I also like the way the story finishes. Endings seem to be the Achilles heel of comic serial stories. The pressure to keep producing cliffhangers up to the last possible moment too often resulted in a mad scramble to wind up the story in the last three pages. The Shirley Grey writer did it differently - maybe because poor Shirley was in such an awful mess by the climax of the story that a wind up in the last episode was impossible. In any event the ending shows how a complex story can be resolved over several episodes without losing suspense. A pity more stories weren’t finished like this.

[Tammyfan]

I would have liked to have seen the turning point where Shirley stops blaming herself for Trisha's accident. She had already stopped doing so by the time Trisha has woken from her coma and comes to say hello, but I would have liked to have seen how and why.

Shirley's parents don't handle things well, do they? By episode 3 Dad's ranting that Shirley needs to see a doctor, but he never organises one for her. They just lose it totally, and think far more of themselves than they do of Shirley. Yes, that is a harrowing bit where they lose it after hearing Shirley's blown it again with Mrs Wilkes. Dad is clearly on the verge of thrashing Shirley and kicks her out of the living room before he succumbs to temptation. But what I find even more harrowing is how they treat Shirley when the false shoplifting charge comes up. Although they believe her innocent they don't show an ounce of sympathy or support. Instead, they treat her harshly and think only of themselves.

[Tammyfan]

The writer for Shirley Grey may be the same one who wrote "E.T. Estate", because in part one of both stories, the protagonist (protagonists in the latter) is blocked from using the apartment elevator by a bunch of louts who cause trouble on the estate, and the line "This used to be a great estate before that lot moved in" is used in both instances. The writer for "E.T. Estate" is credited as Jake Adams, but this could be a pseudonym.

[Goof]

Yes, I agree that the story could have given more emphasis to Shirley’s realisation that she was wrong to make a fetish out of truth-telling, but I think I can perhaps guess why this didn’t happen. Shirley’s problems arise from her decision never to tell a lie, but what caused that decision? The crux of the story seems to me to be Mrs Morris’ hysterical overreaction to Trisha’s accident. The moment where she physically attacks Shirley, then point-blank accuses her of being solely responsible for Trisha’s injury, leads to everything that follows. It’s this, coming on top of her own guilt trauma about the accident, which decides Shirley to swear the truth-telling oath, and to interpret everything that goes wrong afterwards as a punishment for what she believes she has done. It’s only when she fully realises that her truth-telling is damaging other people as well as herself that she understands that her reaction has been excessive (the decisive moment seems to come immediately after she’s admitted to hospital, where a close-up panel shows her wondering what to do). However the main thrust of the story is that Shirley’s troubles don’t come about primarily through her own wrong decision, but through pressures imposed on her by the faults of others – not just Mrs Morris, but Mrs Wilks, Evie Moore and even Trisha, whose headstrong disregard of risk (and Shirley’s advice) starts the whole thing.

I also agree that Shirley’s parents’ reaction to the shoplifting charge is horrible. It’s part of a quite relentless succession of adult blindness, weakness and incompetence. Even the smallest bit-parts display it, like Mrs Morris’ banana-spined husband, who must know that her behaviour is outrageous but will do no more than bleat ineffectually from the side-lines. Still more perhaps Mr Wilks, who doesn’t even appear but adds his bit to the accelerating injustices by allowing his wife’s wounded vanity to determine whom he should promote in his business. The only active adult intelligence in the story comes from Nurse Jones, whose defiance of Mrs Morris leads to Trisha’s awakening; and the swimming teacher, who redeems her mishandling of the team’s boycott of Shirley by triggering the final reconciliation, when she offers Shirley the chance to tell a lie to protect the other girls.

I would love to know for certain who wrote this story. The repetition of the lift incident in “E T Estate” does look potentially significant – it’s not the most obvious thing to pick on if you’re simply looking for something to suggest the violent character of a housing estate. I see that Jake Adams was also credited with “Spell of Fog”. He certainly seemed to do a strong line in the darker side of human nature.

[Tammyfan]

Everyone keeps telling Shirley she's got to cut out that vow of hers because it's unrealistic and it's ridiculous to blame herself for the accident, but she's not listening although she realises the trouble it's causing. And instead of realising the trouble she's getting into comes from blaming herself and taking her vow too far, she thinks it is a punishment for the accident.

A turning point could be where Shirley runs away. A thought bubble shows her thinking she can't take any more, she's hurt too many people with that no-lie vow of hers. Even after her own accident and she's admitted to hospital, she's still blaming herself, but we don't seem to see her getting into any more trouble because of that vow.

The band of troublemakers on the estate in Shirley Grey don't even get punished and serve little more than to be a nuisance, but a very nasty one. In one episode they set fire to a lady's washing. Still, their presence would explain why Mrs Grey goes into such hysterics about being stuck on the estate, unable to afford a home, after Shirley messes up her father's promotion hopes with her excessive truth-telling.

The leader of the troublemakers in ET Estate gets it far more - he is one of the first to fall victim to the crystal aliens.

[Tammyfan]

I also agree that Shirley’s parents’ reaction to the shoplifting charge is horrible. It’s part of a quite relentless succession of adult blindness, weakness and incompetence. Even the smallest bit-parts display it, like Mrs Morris’ banana-spined husband, who must know that her behaviour is outrageous but will do no more than bleat ineffectually from the side-lines.

Hey, I like your expression "banana-spined"!

It's not clear just what Mr Morris' view is about Shirley or his wife's attitude beyond telling her to stop attacking Shirley in the first episode. He doesn't lash out at Shirley like his wife does, but he appears far less often than his wife in the story, so it's hard to judge.

It is somewhat similar in Jinty's "Waves of Fear". Mrs Mitchell goes all horrible against Clare Harvey in the wake of an accident involving her daughter Rachel, but it's her who takes the lead in doing angry, irrational things against Clare, including demanding Clare be expelled, just because she won't have her daughter at the same school as Clare. Her husband seems to take the same stance, but he doesn't even say a word in the story. He's just there on the sideline with his wife when he appears, which is far less often than her.

[Goof]

Yes, it’s hard to pin down the exact moment when Shirley changes her mind about truth-telling. It seemed to me that the nearest we get to a turning point is while she is sitting by Trisha’s bed soon after she's admitted to hospital. She is still blaming herself for the accident at this point, but seems to recognise that her truth-telling has harmed other people, and is in a genuine quandary about whether she was right to reject all lies. That’s as far as it goes. By the time the subject next comes up (in discussion with Trisha) she has decided that she was wrong to refuse to tell white lies which are intended to spare people’s feelings. Also, we can’t really tell when, if at all, she stops blaming herself for the accident. She still does so while she is trying to rouse Trisha. Perhaps Trisha’s taking the blame on herself makes a difference. Perhaps she feels that she has expiated her fault by waking Trisha from her coma. Among all the reconciliations of the last couple of episodes, it seems that her sense of guilt is allowed to die a natural death.

As for Mr Morris, I took his inactivity to be the measure of his weakness! He’s forced to intervene to stop his wife assaulting a child, whom she quite irrationally accuses of being entirely to blame for Trisha’s injury, and all he can find to say about it is “Agnes, for goodness’ sake!”

I confess that I find “Waves of Fear” difficult to read, despite its interesting and innovative subject matter. I’ve never found it easy to relate to plots about people being ostracised for “cowardice”, even in stories from the 50’s and 60’s when the idea that cowardice was dishonourable still had some currency. In a more modern story like this, the vindictive passions aroused by the kind of incident in which many people might lack the courage to act simply seem deranged. The reactions of Clare’s parents in particular are fit for the madhouse. However I may be doing the story an injustice as I know it only from the Girl PL reprint, which is heavily cut.

[Tammyfan]

I confess that I find “Waves of Fear” difficult to read, despite its interesting and innovative subject matter. I’ve never found it easy to relate to plots about people being ostracised for “cowardice”, even in stories from the 50’s and 60’s when the idea that cowardice was dishonourable still had some currency. In a more modern story like this, the vindictive passions aroused by the kind of incident in which many people might lack the courage to act simply seem deranged. The reactions of Clare’s parents in particular are fit for the madhouse. However I may be doing the story an injustice as I know it only from the Girl PL reprint, which is heavily cut.

Yes, Clare's parents turn into a right pair of ogres, don't they? Comparing it to how bonkers Shirley's parents get, I wonder if it was the same writer. In a sense, Shirley's parents are even worse than Clare's, who at least had the excuse that they did not realise what was wrong. By contrast, Shirley's parents knew exactly what was wrong but didn't do much beyond shout the house down about the trouble it was causing, despite mentioning twice that Shirley needed to see a doctor. If they'd been more proactive there, they could have reduced the trouble. In both cases their crazy attitude drove their daughter to run off before they realised how badly they had handled everything.

The PL reprint actually cut out even more nastiness from Rachel's mother and also from Clare's parents. Sadly, it also cut out the only sensible person in the story, who becomes Clare's friend: Priscilla Heath, the coach of the orienteering club.

I do have scans of the original story if you're interested.

[Tammyfan]

Yes, it’s hard to pin down the exact moment when Shirley changes her mind about truth-telling. It seemed to me that the nearest we get to a turning point is while she is sitting by Trisha’s bed soon after she's admitted to hospital. She is still blaming herself for the accident at this point, but seems to recognise that her truth-telling has harmed other people, and is in a genuine quandary about whether she was right to reject all lies. That’s as far as it goes. By the time the subject next comes up (in discussion with Trisha) she has decided that she was wrong to refuse to tell white lies which are intended to spare people’s feelings. Also, we can’t really tell when, if at all, she stops blaming herself for the accident. She still does so while she is trying to rouse Trisha. Perhaps Trisha’s taking the blame on herself makes a difference. Perhaps she feels that she has expiated her fault by waking Trisha from her coma. Among all the reconciliations of the last couple of episodes, it seems that her sense of guilt is allowed to die a natural death.

Shirley had already stopped blaming herself by the time Trisha comes over to see her and accepts responsibility for the accident. She says, "After your accident I blamed myself" - past tense. Nurse Jones said it helped Shirley a lot to be able to talk to Trisha. Maybe focusing on bringing Trisha out of the coma instead of blaming herself shifted her mindset and her guilt complex just died away from the distraction. Perhaps that happened without her even noticing until Trisha visits her, and then she suddenly realised she has stopped blaming herself.