Looking for Judy comics from the early 80s... or information

[Audiate]

Hello all, I'm new to the board, and I'm writing an article on Judy comics. The time period I'm focusing on is the early 1980s (which is when I was addicted to them). I remember some of the artwork as being exceptionally good, so I'm trying to track down some issues from that period. So far no luck finding any...

1. Do any of you have any, and could send me a couple scans?
Unfortunately I don't know the name of the artists, although I'm not sure they were even credited! - but if you could provide some story titles, those might jog my memory.

2. I'm willing to buy these Judys, to get a hold of them, but so far I've had no luck on Ebay or the online comic stores I've tried. Anyone have any to sell?

3. The only thing I was able to find available for sale were some annuals - 1980, 81, 82 and 84. It's rather expensive for me to 'speculatively' buy them as I'm overseas, so postage is astronomical... does anyone have any of these annuals and could give me a list of what stories are in them?

And if you have any Judy artwork/stories that you particularly love, please do let me know, because I'd love to gather more material for my article!

thanks!

[Muffy]

As well as ebay www.26pigs.com have some for sale:

http://www.26pigs.com/tech/details_coun ... time=A1980


Good luck in finding them

I was a 1980s 'Tammy' reader myself

[Audiate]

Oh WONDERFUL, thank you so much - I'd been to 26pigs but had only found the page with (some) Judy annual covers; had missed this. Cheers!

BTW, if you're a Tammy fan, there's a wonderful article about it in this month's Crikey! magazine. Unfortunately there was a printing error (a chunk of the article went missing) so it will be reprinted in the August issue, so you might want to wait for that. I was fascinated to read about Tammy; didn't realize it was so different from the others. Wish I'd discovered it at the time!

[Audiate]

I'm puzzled... when I search on just "Judy" on 26pigs, I get only a few results; yet you had a narrower search (1980s) and somehow got pages of results... are there some searching tricks I should know about, for that site?

[helsbels]

Have you tried 30th Century comics (30thcenturycomics.co.uk)? They are a shop in London and they have quite a few Judy comics on sale, though offhand I'm not sure how many from the early 80s.
I collect Judy comics and annuals myself, though at the moment the majority of my comics are from the late 80s to early 90s. I have most of the annuals from the 80s and quite a few others, so if you want a list of stories from any/all of these I can get back to you.

Good luck with your search!

[philcom55]

Hi Audiate! It's really nice to see more comic fans of the female persuasion posting here - as far as I'm concerned British girls' comics were just as well-drawn, and frequently better-written than the boys' ones, yet they've been all too often neglected by collectors in the past. Speaking personally I'm afraid I'm more of a Bunty man myself - 'ahem!' - but coincidentally I did happen to pick up a copy of the 1981 Judy Annual for just 50p last week. Apart from Nellie Perks (who as the hard-pressed Victorian Maid nicknamed 'Wee Slavey' was arguably the best-known character to emerge from Judy over the years ) it seems to contain a surprisingly high percentage of 'mystery and imagination' style stories, involving elements such as time-travel, ghosts and magic. As an example here's a complete 5-page morality tale about an evil girl receiving her just deserts - a nice subversion of the sort of ballet stories that used to be such a staple of all British girls' fiction. It's drawn by the excellent Ian Kennedy:




...Hope this is of some interest. Normally I'd have no hesitation in recommending the Annual (where you are at least safe from the dreaded 'continued story syndrome'), but given the cost of transatlantic postage you're probably better off concentrating on buying the comics themselves instead - especially if they turn out to contain stories you remember reading the first time round. Please feel free to ask if you want any more information.

- Phil Rushton

[Peter Gray]

that story literally sent a chill up my spine...
a strong story..

[Audiate]

Have you tried 30th Century comics (30thcenturycomics.co.uk)?

Super - thanks for the tip!

I have most of the annuals from the 80s and quite a few others, so if you want a list of stories from any/all of these I can get back to you.

If you have time, that would be wonderful!

[steelclaw]

Hello all, I'm new to the board, and I'm writing an article on Judy comics. The time period I'm focusing on is the early 1980s (which is when I was addicted to them). I remember some of the artwork as being exceptionally good, so I'm trying to track down some issues from that period. So far no luck finding any...

1. Do any of you have any, and could send me a couple scans?
Unfortunately I don't know the name of the artists, although I'm not sure they were even credited! - but if you could provide some story titles, those might jog my memory.

2. I'm willing to buy these Judys, to get a hold of them, but so far I've had no luck on Ebay or the online comic stores I've tried. Anyone have any to sell?

3. The only thing I was able to find available for sale were some annuals - 1980, 81, 82 and 84. It's rather expensive for me to 'speculatively' buy them as I'm overseas, so postage is astronomical... does anyone have any of these annuals and could give me a list of what stories are in them?

And if you have any Judy artwork/stories that you particularly love, please do let me know, because I'd love to gather more material for my article!

thanks!

Audiate what happened to all your comics? Did you throw them away?

[Audiate]

as far as I'm concerned British girls' comics were just as well-drawn, and frequently better-written than the boys' ones, yet they've been all too often neglected by collectors in the past. ... it seems to contain a surprisingly high percentage of 'mystery and imagination' style stories, involving elements such as time-travel, ghosts and magic.

Thanks very much for posting this, Bill!
I think there are a few reasons girls' comics have been neglected:
1) they carry the stigma of being all ballerinas and ponies (and looking at many of the covers... it appears to be a deserved stereotype!)
but also,
2) Serial comics take a lot of commitment, because you can't just read one here and there: you have to buy ALL, sequentially, to get into them! (I grew up in Canada and was randomly sent ones; imagine how frustrating that was!) By contrast, comics like the Beano had their Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx etc. icons, and you could abandon the comic for weeks, months or even years, then come back to find your favourite characters still there. Not so with story comics!

There will be two main points to my article: first, that much of the girl-comics artwork was SUPERB, and second, that they were not ALL stories about ballerinas and ponies! I remember ones that were much more serious, sometimes even dark. Those are the comics I'm trying to track down! - so if any of you have any that fit this bill - stories that were weightier/darker (and thanks for sharing that spin on the ballerina story - that WAS great!) or artwork that you think deserves recognition, please let me know.

cheers!
...and nice to meet so many comic fans...

[Audiate]

Audiate what happened to all your comics? Did you throw them away?

*breaks down weeping*
Well, GAVE them away (to Oxfam), so at least I'm not guilty of putting them in the rubbish... but I'm so cross with myself now, for getting rid of them -- who knew I was sitting on a future fortune?
If they went to a good home then that's some consolation... I just hope they didn't eventually hit the rubbish bin (and yes, that thought tortures me!)

[steelclaw]

I have just 4 Judy comics I bought from the carboot sale, it's quite rare to find any comic at a carboot so I buy anything when I see it.

[steelclaw]

Audiate what happened to all your comics? Did you throw them away?

*breaks down weeping*
Well, GAVE them away (to Oxfam), so at least I'm not guilty of putting them in the rubbish... but I'm so cross with myself now, for getting rid of them -- who knew I was sitting on a future fortune?
If they went to a good home then that's some consolation... I just hope they didn't eventually hit the rubbish bin (and yes, that thought tortures me!)

I did the same with my comics 20 years ago, and I still have nightmares about throwing but all of a few of my comics away, but I'm pleased to say I've got them all back and more thanks to ebay so I'm feeling a bit better now.

[Peter Gray]

Nice seeing that Steel Claw..

Might use the Gordon Bell one for the blog if thats Ok..
as it is aa reprint in the 1990 Judy...wonder what year it comes from roughly..


the cover of the photo of the girl..wonder what she looks like now...

[Audiate]

I did the same with my comics 20 years ago ... but I'm pleased to say I've got them all back and more thanks to ebay so I'm feeling a bit better now.

Honestly, I'd have to win the lottery to be able to do that. Me and my brother gave away (LARGE) stacks of Beanos, Dandys, Judys... when I see how much those go for now, it DOES make me want to cry!
Far too distressing a topic...

OOH, that Dark Lady story looks FAB, wish I could read the whole thing!