To mark the one-year anniversary of Blog@Newsarama, we’re resurrecting one of our favorite features from the past year, “I ♥ Comics.” To help us celebrate, each Wednesday comics bloggers and creators will discuss the things they love about the medium.
This week, our guest contributor is Brigid Alversion, who maintains the indispensable MangaBlog and writes for Publishers Weekly’s Comics Week.
By Brigid Alverson
I know this is not what people expect to hear from a dedicated manga blogger, but my favorite comics of all time are not manga at all but the British girls’ comics of the 1960s and 1970s, all of which bore girls’ names: Bunty, Judy, Mandy, Diana.
Printed on cheap paper, with color covers and mostly black-and-white interiors, these comics were filled with gripping, episodic tales of boarding-school hijinks, hard-working orphans, and clever girls who had their own businesses walking dogs, modeling, or solving miscellaneous problems.
My aunts used to send them to me from Ireland, in big rolls tied up with brown paper and string. Each weekly issue contained two- or three-page episodes of five or six serials, plus a few single-page stand-alone comics. My sisters and I would sit down and binge on the whole roll, reading them all at once, and then wonder about the stories left unfinished.
Every Christmas we would get a big box of annuals, brightly colored hardbacks with more stories, these ones satisfyingly complete.
There was nothing like them in the U.S., and even as a child, I wondered why. I enjoyed my superhero comics, but the older I got, the less relevant they seemed to my life. Superman, Justice League of America, Thor, and Conan were entertaining but entirely outside my realm of experience. The girls in Bunty and Judy, on the other hand, were characters I could identify with: They were misunderstood by others, they struggled to be true to themselves, they got themselves into trouble and came up with ingenious solutions.
In fact, what attracted me to manga, many years later, was that they had the same sorts of stories: episodic, multi-character tales of plucky young girls struggling against the odds. Tohru Honda of Fruits Basket would have been right at home in the pages of Bunty. (So would Harry Potter, whose early adventures fit the formula in so many ways: He was an orphan who went to boarding school, where he was both celebrated and persecuted for his special talent, got into frequent trouble, and was buoyed by his loyal chums.)
Often the problems were trivial and the stories were lighthearted. Highly unrealistic depictions of boarding schools were a staple; the longest-running story in Bunty was The Four Marys, about four boarding-school roommates who solved people’s problems between rounds of field hockey and the occasional class. Flipping through my old annuals, I find a slew of stories about girls with interesting jobs: Jane, Model Miss; Jenny Proctor, Doll Doctor; Dopey Dora, School Governor; Pet Shop Pauline. Carol Lawson, the headmistress of Tumbledown Academy, had to use creativity and wit to keep a broken-down school alive. Lots of girls ran boardinghouses for pets or solved people’s problems for a fee. My family’s favorite story was “Wee Slavey,” about a Victorian maid named Nellie Perks who was smarter than her employers and often bailed them out of sticky situations.
Still, many stories had a darker side that was totally absent from American comics of the era. Parents lost their jobs and went on the dole; children were sent to the country to escape the bombing of London and ended up either mistreated or living in a haunted house; and Dickensian tales of Victorian orphans were served up with relish.
The backbone of every story, whether funny or melodramatic, was a smart, self-confident girl who was usually mature beyond her years. And here is where the Bunty girls part company with the girls of manga. While Japanese heroines often show great determination and resourcefulness, their submissive tendencies work against them. The girls in English comics don’t stammer and apologize, and they don’t let themselves be blackmailed; most are sturdy, sensible girls who would as soon whack you with a hockey stick as show their panties.
Still, I’m happy to see shoujo manga and now DC’s Minx graphic novels filling the need for girl-centered comics. Consider The Plain Janes, the first Minx title. While I haven’t read it yet, it looks like all the ingredients are there: A teenager, changed by a traumatic event (a 9/11-type bombing) tries to make friends with some of girls in her class. They give her the cold shoulder, so she gets everyone involved in a project and they become friends as they work together. Classic Bunty!
Jane would have had much in common with the heroine of Bunty‘s Pip at Pony School, a girl of modest means who attended a snooty boarding school on a scholarship. The mean girls constantly try to trip her up, but she manages to make friends and win the day, and each episode ends with the snobs getting their comeuppance. Similarly, the heroines of shoujo manga like Boys Over Flowers, Crimson Hero, and Crossroad fight against parents, teachers, and their classmates to keep their self-esteem and live as they choose.
The girls in British comics never ended up in refrigerators, or if they did, it was on purpose. I’m thinking here about Gelda, The Girl from the Glacier, a skater who was mysteriously kept young by ice and snow. Sunlight acted on her like Kryptonite on Superman. When she entered a skating contest, the over-enthusiastic father of another skater locked her in a refrigerated truck in an attempt to weaken her. It was just what she needed. She won the contest.
Bunty, Judy, and Diana were great because they were girl-centric. The girls were not incidental to the story. They were the center of the universe, and readers knew they would prevail in the end. I’m happy that shoujo manga, homegrown global manga, and graphic novels are finally filling the need I felt so many years ago. And I’m also grateful to the loving aunts who took the time to wrap up those comics and send them across the Atlantic, all those years ago, to delight my sisters and me.
Further reading:
DC Thompson & Co., which still publishes Bunty, Mandy and Jackie annuals
Judy entry at 26Pigs; click “bibliography” for some nice cover scans
BBC.com article on girls’ comics
Paul Gravett wrote a book on British comics, but the website seems to ignore the girls’ comics altogether.
June 6th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
I used to love those comics – I got a load from someone’s sister and was particularly addicted to a serial called The Perils of Penelope. It must have been Jackie or something like that.
June 6th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I just bought a Misty annual (from 1980, I think) on ebay. I’m just starting to crack open this world of girls’s weekly comics–and they’re a lot of fun, from what I’ve seen so far.
Granted I’m a 40 year old man…but what can I say, I like serialized stories and these comics have a unique vibe. And I agree, they have a dark undercurrent that’s absent from much of American comics. Good adventure comics junk food.
June 6th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
As the youngest sib of the author, I can vouch for the in-house popularity of these stories. One could never get enough of Hattie the Hatter, Wee Slavey and The Four Marys. The content, plots and positive role models far surpass much of the drivel available to young girls today. Long live Bunty!
June 6th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Nice job, Brigid! Thanks for writing this for us.
June 6th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I’m a huge fan of British girls’ comics. I particularly like those Bunty stories of the 1970s that were written by people like Pat Mills. The supernatural title Misty has very high standards. I adore The Four Marys and have a great affection for very late Bunty strips like The Boyfriend From Blupo, which were very sweet and whimsical. It’s terrible, in this age of manga, that there’s no current girls’ news-stand title in Britain.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:36 am
Brigid – great article. You may be interested in the recent reprint of GIRL (a slightly older girls’ comic, produced as a sister paper to EAGLE). One thing that’s taken off here in the last couple of years are ‘annuals’ of things like JACKIE, but sadly these seem to be strip-free nostalgia-fests, focusing more on the pop band feature content and photo-love-story strips.
Paul (hiya, sorry I missed you at Bristol!), there’s an excellent online MISTY resource at mistycomic.co.uk. There were some great studio artists working on it…
June 7th, 2007 at 5:12 am
This is a great story. I’d never never or even heard of theses comics although I love manga (shoujo, shonen, etc.).
I also love the I [Heart] Comics features. I was very disappointed when they just sort of stopped appearing, last summer. Some of the best articles out there in the comic book blog-o-sphere are the nostalgia ones. Bring this feature back and keep it coming, Newsarama.
June 7th, 2007 at 7:13 am
Wow, thanks for your comments, everyone. It’s nice to know that people still appreciate these great comics. I’ll keep an eye out for the GIRL reprints! And Cece, who just lugged a stack of annuals to Boston a few weeks ago, is right. I’m sure it’s the steady diet of Bunty and Judy comics, and Enid Blyton stories, that made us the upstanding adults we are today.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:28 am
The Best of Girl was published by Prion Books, an imprint of Carlton Books. The details are on this webpage. I’ve posted a few scans from it on my blog here (anoyt 2/3 of the way down).
June 9th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Not to forget the pervading air of sadomasochism that permeates a lot of these stories. The would-be ballerina is inevitably a cripple who is constantly undermined by her evil stepfather and jealous schoolmates.
It’s also interesting that the heroines come from varied social backgrounds. There are the inevitable princesses, but you also get a lot of characters who live in poverty.
June 10th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
I’m from Canada and always read the girls comics from England. I still buy loads of Bunty papers and annuals at antique malls and flea-markets. Long live the Four Marys !
June 11th, 2007 at 3:35 am
Ahhh, great article!
Some of the first comics I ever read where my elder sisters old Mandy annuals. I used to love them when I was a little girl, and it is true that the Minx line is pretty much trying to achieve the same thing.
You have inspired me to dig out those Mandy annuals out!
August 28th, 2007 at 3:40 am
I LOVE my old comics from the `1950s and 60s!!! I’ve just finished a “Silent Three” ( from “School Friend” weekly)( ripping yarn and am amused at the archaic language as the girls discuss “bowling out” the vicious, sneaky Head Girl, Stella Lancing, who plotted to get her mitts on a hidden treasure.
The girls in these stories are great role models- brave, honest, truthful, confident, resourceful, etc. If anyone can tell me where to buy old copies of “June”, first published in 1961, I’d be so grateful!
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I am made about Schoolgirl comics of the 1950s. I especially adored as a young girl growing up in this time the School Friend and Girls Crystal comics.I would somehow con the money out of my mother to buy these, also Schoolgirl Picture Library books and Schoolgirls Own. I am trying to locate any School Friend or Girls Crystal comics of this era and would be grateful to anyone who could help me on this. Does anyone remember The Silent Three, Princess Anita of Sylvanberg Babette and the Boy Commando (this serial I adored) Penny, Vic and Gerry on Mystery Trail etc.
These great stories kept me going for hours, weeks on end!
Hoping to hear from all you comic lovers out there!
November 29th, 2007 at 3:25 am
Gabrielle. I have some spare comics. Where do you live?
December 15th, 2007 at 6:10 am
Francoise – I live in New Zealand and have only just logged on to the website again. I hope you still have those spare comics! Can you email me on gng.rothwell@clear.net.nz. I would just love to buy the books if they are still up for sale.
Hoping to hear from you.
Gabrielle
December 31st, 2007 at 3:02 pm
He he this made me happy. I still get the annuals. I have a collection that is quite large. I have a School Friends from the 20′s. Thanks for a great blog
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:14 am
I loved GIRL as a young girl . I still have some comics which I passed down to my grand daughters. I am looking for volumes 1- 4- 5 and 6 featuring WENDY AND JINX STORIES. I would like to buy them if there are any for sale.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:11 am
I loved ‘The School Friend’ (3d.weekly). I won a competition in the School Friend and I was offered a doll or pram, blackboard & easel, desk or ball-point pen. I chose the ball-point pen because they were new and it didn’t last five minutes because it leaked. I also learnt from the School Friend, finger spelling sign language and I’ve never forgotten it. It has been useful with teaching students with learning difficulties. I wish The School Friend was still available.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:18 am
Hi Edna,
You and me fellow lovers of School Friend. Those were the days! I have met up with Francoise – she’s one of us and she sold me some School Friends. What a friend she is!But this is a disease! I’m still looking for more! I can’t sleep at nights! Dammit – its 2.30 in the morning in New Zealand and here I am crazily surfing this site in the hope someone will take pity on me and find me some more 1950a School Friends! I hope someone out there will read this! No, I’m not mad, just a little crazy!
Gabrielle at gng.rothwell@clear.net.nz
February 25th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Hi from Malta! I too used to read School friend weekly of the 50s. An older cousin used to buy them ( and also Schoolgirls Own Library / Schoolgirls Picture Library and Princess Picture library) and she used to lend them to me in the summer months. How many happy hours I spent reading!!
Today, many years later, I’m trying to find copies of these and build up a small collection. Some of the old magic does come back.
Anyone who can help me or who would like to share experiences, do email me on mprvtll@yahoo.co.uk. I would love to get to know you.
Michelle
March 16th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Hi from Australia, I also love the old British girls’ magazines, and have a collection of the Schoolgirls’ Picture Library, Schoolgirls’ Own Library, Princess Picture Library and a few other libraries and School Friend and Girls’ Crystal Annuals. I have about 40 Girls’ Crystal magazines from the 1950′s and quite a few spare Schoolgirls’ Own Library and Picture library available to swap. At present I’m looking for the Schoolgirls’ Own Library published before 1941, the ones with the yellow, black & white pages. I’d love to hear from others with similar interests. My email address is a_r_ainsworth@hotmail.com
Cheers, Alison
March 21st, 2008 at 1:21 am
bloody hell i love british girl comics too!
March 24th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
June and School Friend amalgamated in mid sixties with Girls Crystal. I lived for Luckys Living Doll. The Silent Three. Shirley, Vere and can anyone remember the third girl? What were the names of the other stories? They haunt me but I cant remember their names. I was a reader from 1964 to 1967
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I am glad to have found this site to share in my passion for Girls Crystal, School Friend and Schoolgirls own Library. Years ago I would hot foot down to the newsagents for my weekly and monthly fix of the above. When they eventually finished the only places I could find them were in second hand bookshops. Sadly that avenue closed and I thought that was the end, so I let them slip out of my mind until one wonderful day I came upon a shop that had had a house clearance and yipee there were about a hundred of Schoolgirls Own Library and my passion was reawakened. I do tend to be a little selective but I did find quite a few of my favourite stories amongs them. I am still hunting for certain ones both in the first series and the second series so perhaps they may be some one out there who might have some of these which I would be prepared to consider buying. It is nice to know that I am not the only one suffering from this dreadfully wonderful addiction, I have a friend who also suffers from this. Happy reading everyone.Cheers from Berylhill25@myway.com
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:44 am
Stone the bloody crows! I can’t believe there are others like me out there! I thought I was the only one and haven’t confided this addiction of mine to even my closest and dearest friends!
I think I have started something out there because every time I log on to Ebay or something similar all I get up now is Schoolgirls Libraries and School Friend! Way to go! Yea!
April 25th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Annie, I don’t know who Shirley or Vere were. The Silent Three were Betty, Joan and Peggy.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:13 am
Actually my first comment is I’m amazed at how many of the comments to this (great) article are from guys! I mustn’t have been the only guy growing up reading his sister’s Jintys!
You mentioned that in addition to the comics, you also received the Christmas annuals? Well, for a long time I’ve been trying to track down a ‘complete’ story that appeared in one of the Christmas annuals, I’d guess between 1976 – 1980. I can’t even remember if it was Bunty, Jinty or Mandy.
It was the first story in the Christmas annual of that year, and was about a girl and her family who arrive home from some Christmas shopping to discover the water tank has burst, flooding the house and forcing the family to spend Christmas in an old stately home (classic). Our heroine (Jen?) discovers this place is haunted, but befriends the ghost of a young man. He introduces her to all the other ghosts, and between them they arrange a fancy-dress ball for the entertainment of the bored ghosts, and of her family, who never suspect these other ‘guests’ in fancy dress are actually ghosts.
If anyone out there knows this story, and in which annual it appeared, please let me know!
July 4th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I loved reading all the old british school girl comics and annuals. I would love to buy some so that my daughter’s too could read them but its so hard to find any here in USA. I am originally from Sri Lanka
August 18th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Cant believe someone else stays awake wondering about Shirley, Vere and who was the other one? What was the strip called? Lucky’s Living Doll was called Tina. Remember Kathy at Marvin Grange. Mystery Dog of the Moor. School Friend joined with June in Jan 1975. I too was an addict between 1964 and 1966.Used to dream of getting the Annuals at Christmas.
August 18th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Sorry, error in last post. June joined School Friend in Jan 1965, of course, NOT 1975. The Best of June and School Friend is (or was) available in Britain in WH Smith bookshop, published by Prion books. It is rather disappointing in the sense that it is too wide ranging, none of the stuff from the 1970s resonates with me, for example. I started reading the comic in 64 when it was School Friend. I would love if someone could remind me of the different stories, titles and characters from that era. Shirley, Vere and who? Angela Barrie wrote fashion tips.Mam’selle X was a French agent. Vanessa from Venus…
September 1st, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Got some June And School Friend on ebay. Shirley and Vere were part of a strip called CHERRY AND THE CHILDREN. Cherry had a brother called Skip. There was a story MY FRIEND SARA, written by Wendy Lee. In School Friend there was JUDY OF JUNIPER CREEK, MISSISSIPPI SHOWBOAT, CASTAWAY ISLAND, PRINCESS SARINA, A HORSE FOR LUCY (called Painbox). A dog called Fred who chatted to his spaniel friend Charles about the goings-on of Mumjones, Dadjones, and Youngannjones. There was an awful lot of smuggling (treasure, not drugs), jealous schoolmates etc. The Silent Three were Betty Roland, Joan Derwent and Peggy West. Oh, nostalgia
September 13th, 2008 at 4:04 am
I was an avid reader of Girl’Cyrsyal in the late 40′s and early 50,s. I couldn’t wait from one week to the next to continue the serial stories. I travelled to Australia with the Merrymakers as each week they had adventures aboard the ship and on land. I remember ‘With Lucinda in London’ but alas can’t remember much more about other stories that kept me enthralled. Then I remember buying the first copy of School Friend which had the story of ‘The Fourth grey Ghost’ with the wonderful picture in the front page of TFGG riding along on a bike. A few years ago my sister sent me from England a Girl’Cyrstal annual from ’49 which I pick up and read at times. I would love to hold one of the weekly mags in my hand again – especially from those years.
September 13th, 2008 at 4:06 am
yLiam Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 13th, 2008 at 4:04 am
I was an avid reader of Girl’Cyrsyal in the late 40’s and early 50,s. I couldn’t wait from one week to the next to continue the serial stories. I travelled to Australia with the Merrymakers as each week they had adventures aboard the ship and on land. I remember ‘With Lucinda in London’ but alas can’t remember much more about other stories that kept me enthralled. Then I remember buying the first copy of School Friend which had the story of ‘The Fourth grey Ghost’ with the wonderful picture in the front page of TFGG riding along on a bike. A few years ago my sister sent me from England a Girl’Cyrstal annual from ‘49 which I pick up and read at times. I would love to hold one of the weekly mags in my hand again – especially from those years.
September 13th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Annette, where do you live? I have some spares.
November 2nd, 2008 at 5:02 am
Hi there, I am Marina from Sri Lanka. I used to read Schoolgirl Picture Library comics when I was a school girl and still continue to do so. I particularly love the Silent Three and all the mystery stories. I would love to buy these books from anyone who is selling. Could u please let me know from where I can get these books as I have not been very successful. I love the old series. Please reply soon. Thanks.
Please contact the following email -
dilshad_saheed@yahoo.com
May 2nd, 2009 at 3:56 am
Well, I am trolling the web at almost 3 AM California time, amazed that there are many people such as myself who have a vivid memory of these stories – and I only got one or two of the papers on a visit to the UK many years ago. The one I remember most was a story titled “Sink or Swim Sarah” – I can’t remember if this one was had the cruel villainess in S&M clothes, who enslaved the swim team on her private island so she could win some prize, or if I blended this with another one (might have been a hockey team). If I recall, Sarah was the child of one of the workers at school, and on her lay the fate of the entire civilized world, if only she could get that butterfly stroke right.
I don’t even know the name of this paper I got in the 70s. Apparently I waited too long to get the rest of the story…
July 11th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Interesting reading! I am a 49 year old Australian male who also read these comics when on my summer holidays. I recently bought a dozen or so June and School Friend comics at a book fair. I have some Silent Three, Madamoiselle X, Sue Day, The Grey Ghost and some others. I read them and loaned them to my older sister and they took us back to a carefree time in life! We even rememebered those exact stories…. I’m going to try to find more of them …but they are really hard to obtain!
October 2nd, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Kathy of Marvin Grange was my childhood hero! I wanted to be just like her! Some distant cousins from England used to send an assortment of their old comics to us in Canada and we just devoured them! Of course they were not sold in Canada and in those days sending money overseas was much more complicated than now with email money transfers, bank cards that work internationally, etc. Fortunately for me and my 3 siblings, my mother had some money in an English bank account which she used to buy each of us a year’s subscription to an English comic! So for 6 years my Christmas present from my parents was a year’s subscription to June, which later became June and School Friend! It was so much fun reading them and waiting eagerly for the next one to arrive to find out what happened next. I was able to read my sister’s “Princess” and my brothers’ “Tiger and Hurricane” and “Ranger” comics too! The girls in June and School Friend and Princess had just as many fascinating and nerve-wracking adventures as the boys in my brothers’ comics. I know that those girls helped me to grow up with the sense that life was rich and varied and that, no matter the circumstances, girls with “pluck” would always manage to make it through the challenges and tough times and emerge wiser, kinder and stronger. For 2 years I myself was able to live my own exciting adventure while my family lived in Portugal where I went to an English private school (as a day student, not a boarder like Kathy) with uniforms, prefects, and detentions, and where I learned to play field hockey, rounders and netball! Some of my fellow students also had subscriptions to June and School Friend and a whole new level of excitement was added to my comics experience when we discussed what had happened in the latest issue and speculated on how different stories would develop. I received just about every issue from 1963 through 1968 with only a few being lost when we moved. I saved them all and loved being able to re-read each of Kathy’s adventures from start to finish, as well as read a complete serial. Some stories involved political turmoil and intrigue, often set in Nazi-occupied Europe or in fictional countries based on those which were actually behind the Iron Curtain then. There were many stories featuring a wide variety of sports – I especially liked Alona the champion diver from a south sea island; science fiction- remember Vanessa from Venus?; nursing and flying doctors; girls with gifts for music, drama, art, trying to improve their talents and find recognition; and more everyday girls in families – dealing with sibling rivalry, parental distress – major illness and job frustration or loss, parental disapproval of a girl’s choice of friends, boyfriend, or career; moving to a new place,etc.
Believe it or not, I still have all those comics!!! I will not sell them for any amount. What I am wondering is whether it might be possible to reproduce some of them by photocopying or scanning them and in some way make them available to all the many people out in the wide world who remember them vividly and fondly? I am a teacher so my time and resources are limited but I would be interested to know whether enough people would be interested in obtaining some of these old comics’ stories to make it worth my while to get them copied somehow. I wonder whether anyone out there knows what happened to the rights to these English comics after they ceased publication? As I recall, no authors or illustrators were specifically credited for any of the stories so I am assuming that the publisher held the copyright on them. Is anyone aware of a website featuring English comics similar to the New Yorker cartoon bank or the official sites for various North American cartoons and comics? Meanwhile, it is Friday night and I’m going to relax after a long week at school by reading some of my old “June and School Friend” comics.
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:07 am
A Misty reprint edition is out in big UK newsagents right now, with a hardback collection on the way from Titan!
October 13th, 2009 at 4:51 am
I am from Australia and am getting on in years lol. I am a big fan of June & School Friend, Bunty, Debbie, Judy and all such. I have many annuals which I have collected over the years and enjoy reading every one. I read them when I am feeling miserable or when I want to relax free from the stress of study (doing my Masters). I am in fact supposed to be doing research for an essay at the moment and, on a whim, put in June and School Friend and got this wonderful blog. I am so amazed that there are so many others who love reading these comics. Good taste all of you lol. To Peter G (Also an aussie) I sure would like to borrow those issues that you got at Garage Sale – I can lend you some of mine in return lol. I loved Mamselle X and also the Silent 3 and many more! Glad to see lots of others like me exist. Happy Reading all!
November 7th, 2009 at 9:31 am
I was wondering if anyone remembers the story from an annual, not sure if bunty, judy or one of the others. Its about a ghost train ride and her hair turns white at end. Been trying to track down for years.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Hi Elizabeth,
I have been waiting & searching for years to buy or borrow a few copies of the School Friend, or School Girl Pictur Library comics. Iloved reading the Silent 3, Mamselle X & others.
In case you are able to make legitimate copies as mentioned in your note I will be very very interested in buying them.
Or if anyone is selling your spare copies….I did not realise there are so many like me crazy about theses school girls comics. I live in Canada & it is a pity we cannot get the same quality comics these days.
December 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Eileen, the story you mention about the girl on the ghost train ride whose hair turns white featured in a Diana annual from the 1980s (I’d have to go and check my collection to see which one!). It’s great to see there are more people out there who love the old British girl’s comics!!
December 29th, 2009 at 3:54 am
I wasn’t a Bunty collector, but being a lover of British girls’ comics I took a look at her along with all the others. Some of my Bunty favourites include:
“Witch!” (newcomer Ellie Ross is harassed by backward villagers who still believe in witches).
“The Change in Claire” (Claire Harvey persecutes a family because she blames the son for her sister’s accident).
“The Imposter” (a Victorian girl is tricked into trading places with the maidservant).
“My School Chum Mum” (which you could say is “That’ll Teach ‘Em” in reverse).
“Donna Must Dance” (who’s sabotaging Donna’s dancing?).
“Lonely Lyn” (Lyn Walsh sets out to destroy friendships because she doesn’t have one).
“Down with St Desmonds!” (the Bunty classic where a girl is out to bring down a school).
January 4th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Hello, I just wanted to say that I also love British girl comics (hehe).
Wow is it ever interesting to see how many there are of people on here responding to this.
But yes I read Bunty as a young girl before I even knew about manga. And I am now consider myself a very rabid shoujo manga collector! As for Bunty I would get one every year starting in 1995 until i was out of highschool in 2001 (I guess Im showing my age here.. as a 26 year old female XD). And I can still look back on my Bunty collection fondly. I especially crave the older version of Bunty and interestingly older mangas as well – if I think back on it, it seems Ive always been attracted to classic and retro comics.
I think these observations goes to show that we are true comic fans. It isn’t just the location of a comic that I am interested in, but interesting stories from all location and eras (despite preferring older titles) that are geared to young women
Thanks for the great article.. it is nice to connect with others as well
February 7th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
FOR AN AUSSIE MUM!
Hey. My mum really regrets years ago getting rid of all these comics that you guys are talking about. Is there anyone who knows where abouts in Australia you can buy them or at least have another read of them? She’s SO annoyed at herself for getting rid of them!
thanks
Nick
maddogmcloud@hotmail.com
April 28th, 2010 at 11:12 am
If you liked Bunty you may like this blog. It’s a loving pastiche of such school girl adventures.
May 5th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Have you ever been to Rochester?
May 18th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Hello,
First of all excuse me for my english for I am french. I am 48 and when I was a little girl, in the sixties and early seventies, I was reading a children magazine, with a story and a character who ran for years in numerous episodes. It looked to be the french translation of an english story. I could never find the author title (it doesn’t appear on the pages). None of my searchings on Google could help me to find a track. Obviously all the names in the english version have been changed so telling them wouldn’t help.
It is about a blond beautiful and very nice and helpful girl, both sensitive and sensible, who is a newcomer (in the beginning) to a boarding school. She is the daughter of a famous actress but doesn’t know it at the very beginning. One doesn’t know anything about her father. This young girl (she is maybe 12, she has extremly discreet breast) makes best fiend with 2 other girls she shares a room with. Both her fiends are brunettes, one has braids. But she has an annemy : another dark hair girl.
The different stories are often dramatic.
Does this recall you something ?
I’d like so much to learn more about it !
June 9th, 2010 at 12:04 am
Hi Isabelle,
The girl that you were asking about is Kathy Summers and the Series was published in “June” weekly and was called “Kathy at Marvin Grange”. I don’t know when it started but the copy that i have- dated 25th March 1961 showed Kathy on a train enroute to Marvin Grange where she was to begin attending as a student. That series went on for years.I am happy that I found this website because, like most of you, I love June and school friend Picture library comics and am trying again to build up my collection(my father made me throw away all my comics as a child)All the best to all of you.
July 7th, 2010 at 7:32 am
What a great interesting post.
I never did read these British comics but still enjoyed the post.
I guess these old comics had that same ‘thing’ that attracts kids today to Harry Potter – the British cozy boarding school atmosphere.
July 9th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Loved the June and Schoolfriend/Schoolgirls comics. Have a couple of hundred of them.
Would be keen to network with others who have these classics and see how we can digitally (at least) complete our individual collections?
Let me know on aggarwal.ashwini@gmail.com…
Cheers!
July 13th, 2010 at 5:49 am
Have loads of annuals in loft…bunty judy girls crystal schoolfriend etc etc….. keeping them forever….so many memories..selling some comic picture libraries on ebay…june and schoolfriend..debbie etx
August 4th, 2010 at 2:52 am
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September 8th, 2010 at 8:30 am
I’m in Australia in my forties and also a great fan of British girls’ comics of the sixties/seventies. Like some others here I am haunted by a story and would love to read it again..all I can remember was that it was in a comic called Sandy and the main character was called Rena and I think she was possessed or something. The artwork was really impressive. Still have a few Sandy, Misty and Jinty comics (very ragged looking now)..and many annuals – June, Mandy, Diana, Girls Crystal, Sally, Princess Tina,Judy, Bunty…would love to know more about the writers and artists who brought the stories to life..seems to more they deserve a lot more kudos then they get. Anyhoo, good to know I’m not the only one who likes to revisit the likes of Patty’s World, Mamselle X, Miss Adventure, Barbie the Model Girl, Molly Mills…feel sorry that today’s young girls don’t have such fun role models..
November 10th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Just found this blog and all these wonderful comments! I attended a catholic girls’ school in Lebanon where there was an English nun who subscribed to June & School Friend for us. I absolutely loved them. Loved the stories about “Kathy at Marvin Grange”, and I remember an orphanage where there was a terrible matron. Also a written story called “The Silent Pool”. I would read my June & School Friend comics over and over again. And then my mother gave them all away, thinking I was all grown up and over them at 17!!!! I STILL miss them. How wonderful to have found you all and read your comments. Yay!!!
November 10th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Hi Everyone, It’s an honour to be in the company of so many avid readers of good, entertaining, classy comics. My favourte, for which I have been searching for two years now is a series featuring a young (11, 12, 13 yrs. old at the msot) school girl based in U.K. Can’t remember if her name was Megan, Judy or Sue (could be Sue Day, but the storylines don’t match). She used to solve mysteries with the help of her ballerina friend, Sally. Her family consisted of a very vain older sister, Gloria, her Mom and Pop, baby twin brother and sister and an older brother whom she adored. The mysteries were very suspenseful, the stories were good, and usually featured with a ballet performance, or a night at the opera, or mountain skiing. I was always enthralled. I took most of my meagre allowance to buy these comics every week. During my school years I traded some and when I grew up and left home, I lost them all and want them back now. The nuns at school condemned them and called them trash, but these were differet. Does anyone out there recall these picture library comics for young school girs? Would love to hear from you…Thank you
November 18th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Thank goodness for your page! I read Girl and Princess as a young teen and loved all the stories. My favourite ones were about a dancer who got her face hurt and had to wear a mask to join a dance company and then by the time she was revealed, her face had healed.
The other one I have been trying to find is about a girl who finds a glossy catalogue and whenever she circles an item in there, it appears in her home. Does anyone know what comic it is from and if it is in any annuals? I remember reading it in either a Girl or Princess comic.
Thanks so much!
December 17th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
HI Christina, I remember the dancer with the injured face..the story was called Mask for Melissa and I have it in its complete form in a 1984 Tammy annual..
December 31st, 2010 at 8:52 am
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January 17th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
Wow, what a very informative piece! Thank you so much for doing such a fantastic job with this, i’ve bookmarked your site so I can stay up to date with your stuff.
January 17th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
I like this site and saw it on Google search. I guess your thoughts on Blog@Newsarama » Blog Archive » I ♥ British girls’ comics are right on. Thanks for blogging about this and looking forward to reading more on your site.
January 17th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
I like this site and saw it on AOL search. I thought your thoughts on Blog@Newsarama » Blog Archive » I ♥ British girls’ comics are right on. Thanks for writing about this and looking forward to reading more on your site.
January 19th, 2011 at 1:36 am
Anyone relate to Princess comics of the mid-60′s..? Trying to write a script based on the Jane Bond character.
January 25th, 2011 at 4:14 am
This is a really good read for me, Must admit that you are one of the best bloggers I ever saw. Keep it up.
January 26th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
This is a great site. I have read most of the Schoolgirls Picture Libraries and own a few. There is one particular Sue Day I wish to find. I would gladly pay for a photocopy. It is Sue’s Party Treasure Hunt June and Schoolfriend 435 . I think it was republished as Princess Picture Library no. 35 Sue’s Christmas Treasure Hunt. There were three clues which led to the treasure. (One clue was the phrase ‘Bats in the Belfry’. ) Is there anyone out there who could respond by e mail to me please
January 26th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Hi Ellen, (Gullap Collins)
You have got the characters of two completely different series mixed up. They appear in the Princess Picture Library series.
One is Sue Day whose family consists of Father Mother Gloria Sid Sue herself about 13 years of age and the twins – sevenish , a boy and a girl. She solves little mysteries with the help of her friends, Tommy and Edie Potter. The other series is Sally Doyle. The ballerina and as you say the story was mix of an adventure and a ballet performance.
If you wish, let me have your email address and I will send you the list of Princess PLs.
January 26th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Hi Stephsonpal,
There wasn’t any Jane Bonds in the Princess issues. But there was a Jacey North in the June and Schoolfriend series.
Lima
lima.soris@gmail.com
January 26th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Hello Elizabeth, (in response to your post of Oct 2nd 2009!)
The publishers of the Schoolgirls Picture Library was Fleetway Publisher and copyrights are generally reserved for fifty years. So SPLS are well past this stage. I would be VERY KEEN to get photocopies of some of these SPLS.
Do please contact me
lima.soris@gmail.com
February 1st, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Amazing. such unique information on the subject!
March 7th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
I have been reading your blog and all the comments with great interest. i too loved Schoolgirls Own Library, Girls Crystal and School Friend Comics and received the annuals for Christmas each year. Unfortunately all this collection was lost when moving house, but I have managed to acquire one Schhol Friend Annual 1959 and one Girls Crysatal Annual 1964. I have also found a great site where some of the first series of Schoolgirls Own Library have been scanned.
http://www.friardale.co.uk/SGOL/SGOL.htm
If it doesn’t work just google Friardale
March 9th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Reading this blog has transported me back 50 years and more! Every few years I try and track down a particular annual I had in the mid to late 1950′s. I always thought it was a ‘Girl’ annual and can picture some of the story lines in it, but my most vivid memory is of the four colour plates in the book, depicting four types of dance: the Quadrille, Polka, Waltz and Jive. I’ve bought all the Girl annuals from the 1950s in the past, but none of them had these particular colour plates in them, so I’m wondering if my memory is playing tricks on me and that it wasn’t ‘Girl’ after all (although the layout of all the Girl annuals I’ve seen seem identical to how I imagined ‘my’ book was). Can anyone shed any light on this? I’d do anything to get hold of a copy of my favourite childhood annual!
March 18th, 2011 at 9:25 am
@gabby
Hi Gabby, I do not have a computer of my own andhave to travwel 16 miles to my library to hopefully find my SGOLs. I am searching for four of them at the moment (3 of the old series and 1 of the new series. You mention Friardale, does that mean we can obtain actual copies from scanned originals. The ones I am looking for are no.657 Her cavalier of the caves, no. 691 The girl whoe searched in secret. no.728 The spectre marred their friendship. New series No.11 Maureen and the boy who didn’t care/All of these were by Renee Frazer.I do not have the time to search on this site but wonder if you could keep a look out for any of these. Nice to know there are so many of us that love these gems. Hoping to hear from you/ You can e=mail me if you like. Have a great week. my e-mail is berylhill25@myway.com
April 10th, 2011 at 10:54 am
Just to share that Lima and I have collectively been working at pooling our collection together..and I have already digitised over a 100 of the JSFs…we expect to pool together and cross 300+ mark over the next few weeks! The process is simple. I digitise the photocopies on a HP ScanJet 7000 fast speed Document scanner. Covers are scanned on a HP OJ 7500. The content is quality tested and then stitched with Adobe acrobat. If you are keen to join the group, let me know on aggarwal.ashwini@gmail.com
April 24th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
I have many of the early Schoolgirls’ Picture Library magazines which I used to buy as a child. Most are in excellent condition, no damage to pages or covers, some slight damage to the spines on a few of them and also very slight rust marks where staples are on a few of them. I have all issues from No.3 to No.52 (with the exception of 33, 35, and 48) and No.61.
I have seen some of them for sale for more than US$11.00 on ebay. I would prefer to sell to a collector who would buy the lot for a reasonable amount. I live in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
May 31st, 2011 at 7:24 am
how much are u selling for all issues?
July 20th, 2011 at 3:13 am
Hi Elizabeth,
Could you please let me have your email address. I have a friend in Melbourne who would be keen on buying the SPLS.
Lima
August 8th, 2011 at 10:00 am
Hi Elizabeth,
Could you please email me on lima.soris@gmail.com
about these Picture Libraries.
Lima
September 7th, 2011 at 8:06 am
Love them and wish I still can read them and now many thanks to Gabby for sharing this site which had scanned some of the first series of Schoolgirls Own Library for sharing !!! So HAPPY to find this site http://www.friardale.co.uk/SGOL/SGOL.htm
Pls share here the info of any site scanning these old girls’ comics for sharing.
Blessing to you all.
January 10th, 2012 at 12:27 am
Ahhh! Thanks for transporting me back in time. Was thinking about the Girls Crystal & Schoolgirl comics and Annuals today – went looking and found this site. I used to have an order at the newsagents when I was a young girl in the mid 1950′s. Probably from the age of 9yo. I bought these with my own pocket money which I earned in various ways. Every year an Annual would come out at Xmas. I would expect one of these in my stocking or under the tree. I would probably have the book read from cover to cover by the end of Boxing Day, or at least the day after. The books were read and reread and much valued and loved. Unfortunately, along with my collection of comics, Saturday Evening Post and Life mags plus Aussie New Ideas they were sold by my well meaning mother while I was living away in another state in my twenties. I have never been able to find any others who had even read the girls comics. It has been so fascinating reading all the comments from different ages and walks of life.
Thank all you for sharing. Cheers dears!
January 15th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
I have been reading these comics since the late 60′s. I still have some copies left and read them every now and then. I would love to purchase some. If anyone can tell me where can I purchase them either from Australia or New Zealand via online.
April 10th, 2012 at 9:48 pm
Hi Ruby,
If you email me I could share a few magazines with you. Lima
lima.soris@gmail.com
August 2nd, 2012 at 7:15 am
I found this website while looking for information on my 60 year old ‘Girl doll’ to take to show at a ‘Doll’ museum today . I have had her since I was a little girl in Liverpool England in the 1950′s. Each week on Wednesday I would run to the newsagent after school to pick up my copy of ‘School friend’ and on Friday I collected my ‘Girl’ comic and ‘The Eagle’ for my brothers’.We did get others but the titles escape me.
I read it from cover to cover and loved the front page story ‘Jinx and Wendy’ . There was a story about a young nurse,and a funny strip called ‘Lettuce Leaf’. Each week I could hardly wait to read the serialized print story (no pics!) I think the quality of those comic books engendered in me the love of reading and I am delighted that people are still talking about them . My ‘Girl doll’ still has her original dress and panties it has the comic logo (a Girl’s head which I believe represented the character Jinx) Each month, I would send for a sewing pattern featured in the comic and I would stitch my doll a new outfit;how I wish I had kept those patterns and all the clothes I made her ! I emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada in 1965 and the ‘Girl doll’ came with me! Unfortunately I couldn’t pack all my Girl comic annuals, which I received every year at Christmas, all day we would be found with our noses in our new ‘Annuals’ such great memories! Thanks for your Blog, I enjoyed reading it. Maureen McCartney.
September 16th, 2012 at 1:55 am
I loved reading these comics many many years ago. It would be wonderful if some of the people who own copies could put them online like the friardale site. Most of us have only memories of these books and are unable to afford the present prices for old copies. If there is no copyright infringement this would bring so much joy to loads of fans all over the world.
October 13th, 2012 at 7:13 am
Does anyone know in which yearly issues of Schoolfriends Anual the stories of Princess Anita (Sarina) have appeared? I am from Holland and she is my favourite also appeared in Sjors, a weekly in the 60s.
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