Comics UK

helsbels wrote:

Tammyfan wrote:
There was a mystery as to why, in Jinty's Make-Believe Mandy, Mandy's family hated her. But I guessed right away that it was because she was not related to them by blood. Which left another question - who was she really?

Wasn't she actually a princess by birth who'd been smuggled out of an obscure European country due to unrest/revolution? Thus yet again playing out the scenario of wealthy (and blue-blooded!) origins! For some reason she'd been fostered out to the family who despised her! I'll have to re- check my Jinty comics to find out how they came to have Mandy in their care.

Yes, I know it was something like that. We can discuss it more on the new Unhappy Families thread.

Marionette wrote:I've noticed that a lot of writers don't seem to understand the distinctions between someone who has been fostered, adopted, or has a step-family.

I think you're right. As you can see, Tania's 'step-father' suddenly became her 'foster father' at the beginning of the next episode:




Another Sally character with super powers was Atlanta, the time travelling 'Girl from Tomorrow'. In her case, however, the Justice League analogy breaks down as her mind reading and telekinetic abilities made her seem much more like Jean Grey of the X-Men.





- Phil Rushton

Keep 'em coming, Phil! Any chance of seeing what Thunk is like, please?

At this rate Phil will have given us the entire first issue soon! Thanks Phil.

Did you manage to find the first episode of Schoolgirl Princess (Sara's Kingdom) yet? I think it must be somewhere around October 1969.

Hmm, I wonder how Atlanta got back to 2200? Maybe the uncle came to 1969 with the ol' rescue. Or maybe it wore off or something. Surely the uncle must have thought of some way of getting back.

I'm pretty certain 'Schoolgirl Princess' began in Sally no.22 (8th Nov. 1969), though it could have started in the previous issue. It certainly wasn't in no.20, while the story was in full flow by no.23 - unfortunately I can't put my hands on the relevant issues at the moment so I can't check for sure.

Continuing with Sally's strong SF bias - though in this case with a more humorous slant - here's the whole of the first appearance of 'Thunk' (...the Martian Manhunter?).





And also from the first issue here's the first episode of 'Legion of Super Slaves' - a title that was clearly inspired by DC's Legion of Super Heroes, even though none of the characters had any super powers as such (if anything the plot itself seems to have more in common with TV's 'The Prisoner').







In all that makes seven strips with a marked Fantasy/SF theme - a remarkable total in any British comic, and one that's quite amazing for a girls' title launched in the 1960s! The remaining contents of the first issue were more 'normal' for the period, but if anyone's interested in seeing them as well I'd be happy to complete this snapshot of an unjustly forgotten comic that prepared the ground for later, more famous titles like Tammy and Misty.

If nothing else, this thread wouldn't be complete without a brief reference to the wonderfully-titled 'The Castle Kids and the Very Important Cow'!



- Phil Rushton

It's an impressive line up, even without the Very Important Cow. It's easy to see where Jinty and Misty got it from.

Philcom: Thank you for more scans from Sally!

There's a rather fine and only a bit silly commentary on the Sara Kingdom strip referenced earlier here: http://diehideouscreaturedie.blogspot.c ... ction.html

Poor Tamara. She's an athlete. Until now nobody has expected her to do more with her brain than follow lines around a track. How will she escape that tower?

Despite Sally's unusually strong SF lineup, it was Jinty that became the IPC title known for its SF/fantasy stories. Ironically, Jinty didn't have any SF among her first stories; they were more in line with the Tammy fare.

Yes, I thought that was odd.

Marionette wrote:Poor Tamara. She's an athlete. Until now nobody has expected her to do more with her brain than follow lines around a track. How will she escape that tower?

Too many years of steroid abuse meant that she starved to death there and was never heard from again!

(...In fact she cleverly escaped by falling through a trapdoor! )

- Phil R.

Marionette wrote:There's a rather fine and only a bit silly commentary on the Sara Kingdom strip referenced earlier here: http://diehideouscreaturedie.blogspot.c ... ction.html

Thanks for posting that marvelous analysis of 'Sara Kingdom, Space Security Agent' Mari. It'd be interesting to see what the same writer made of Sara's other appearances in the Dalek Outer Space Book - though to be honest some of them are pretty weird without any commentary:





- Phil Rushton

Marionette wrote:...Did you manage to find the first episode of Schoolgirl Princess (Sara's Kingdom) yet? I think it must be somewhere around October 1969.

I've finally managed to track it down and 'Schoolgirl Princess' began in Sally no.22 (8th Nov 1969). Here's the first episode (though I do wonder if it was quite as 'new' as they said).





...How very different from the home life of our own dear Queen!

- Phil Rushton