British girls' comics flourished in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from the 1950s through the 1970s, before beginning to decline in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. Publishers known for their girls' comics included

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Dundee Courier'', ''The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Post'' newspapers, and the comics ''Oor Wull ...

and

Fleetway Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that merg ...

/ IPC. Most titles appeared weekly, with the content primarily in picture-story format. The majority of the stories were serialized, with two or three pages per issue, over eight to twelve issues. They were marketed toward young teen girls. British girls' comics were often titled after common girls' names. Examples include ''Judy'', ''Diana'', ''Jackie'', ''June'', ''Penelope'', ''Mandy'', ''Tina'', ''Sally'', ''Tammy'', ''Sandie'', ''Debbie'', ''Misty'', ''Emma'', ''Penny'', ''Tracy'', ''Suzy'', and ''Nikki''. Long-running titles included ''

Bunty ''Bunty'' was a British comic for girls published by D. C. Thomson & Co. from 1958 to 2001.Gibson (2003)p. 91/ref> It consisted of a collection of many small strips, the stories typically being three to five pages long. In contrast to earlier ...

'', ''

Mandy Mandy or Mandie may refer to: People * Mandy (name), a female given name and nickname * Iván Mándy (1918-1995), Hungarian writer * Mark Mandy (born 1972), Irish retired high jumper * Philip Mandie (born 1942), a former judge on the Supreme Cou ...

'', and '' Judy'' (all

) and '' Tammy'' ( IPC).

History

Origin

Girls' comics were the natural evolution of a trend that started with

story papers A story paper is a periodical publication similar to a literary magazine, but featuring illustrations and text stories, and aimed towards children and teenagers. Also known in Britain as "boys' weeklies", story papers were phenomenally popular ...

. As boys' story papers like ''

The Magnet ''The Magnet'' was a British weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1,683 issues. Each issue cost a halfpenny and contained a long school story about the boys of Greyfriars Sch ...

'' and ''

The Gem ''The Gem'' (1907–1939) was a story paper published in Great Britain by Amalgamated Press in the early 20th century, predominantly featuring the activities of boys at the fictional school St. Jim's. These stories were all written using the pe ...

'' gained readerships of young teens, publishers like

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

looked to expand the market by producing story papers for girls. Titles like ''

School Friend ''School Friend'' was the name of two different British weekly publications marketed toward girls, both of which were pioneering in their respective categories. The first ''School Friend'', published from 1919 to 1929, was the first story paper ...

'', '' Schoolgirls' Own'', and ''

The Schoolgirl ''The Schoolgirl'' was a British weekly story paper aimed at girls. Published by Amalgamated Press (AP), ''The Schoolgirl'' ran in two series, the first from 1922 to 1923, and the second (essentially continuing a sister publication) from 1929 to 1 ...

'', all launched in the period 1919–1922, established a girls' market."Schoolgirl's Own,"
Friardale Website. Retrieved March 10, 2021. By the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, story papers were phasing out in favor of comic books and television. The first girls' comics,

' ''

'' and

Hulton Press Sir Edward George Warris Hulton (29 November 1906 – 8 October 1988) was a British magazine publisher and writer. Early life Hulton was born to Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet, a newspaper publisher and racehorse owner originally from Mancheste ...

' ''

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

'', appeared in the early 1950s. (The ''

'' comic was in fact the descendant of the ''School Friend'' story paper from the 1920s.) The girls' comics trend took off in the latter half of the 1950s, with the long-running titles ''

'' and '' Judy'', as well as titles like ''

Boyfriend A boyfriend is a male friend or acquaintance, often specifying a regular male companion with whom a person is romantically or sexually involved. A boyfriend can also be called an admirer, beau, suitor and sweetheart. The analogous female te ...

'' and ''

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

'', all debuting in the years 1956–1960. (British

romance comics Romance comics is a comics genre depicting strong and close romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published t ...

, marketed toward older teen girls and young women, also flourished from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Other than a few examples, however, romance titles had petered out by the mid-1970s.) DC Thomson had published its first girls' magazine, ''

'', in 1958. The success of this title led the company to publish '' Judy'', which was also successful: between them, ''Bunty'' and ''Judy'' achieved a circulation of over one million. DC Thomson went on to launch other similar titles in the 1960s, including '' Jackie'' (1964), '' Diana'' (1965), and ''

'' (1967).

Industry consolidation

In the period 1958 to 1968, a series of mergers and acquisitions led to the girls' comics industry consolidating into two main publishers:

and the newly created IPC. In January 1959

Cecil Harmsworth King Cecil Harmsworth King (20 February 1901 – 17 April 1987) was Chairman of Daily Mirror Newspapers, Sunday Pictorial Newspapers and the International Publishing Corporation (1963–1968), and a director at the Bank of England (1965–1968). Bio ...

, chairman of the

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

newspaper group, acquired

. Within a few months he changed its name to Fleetway Publications, Ltd. Shortly thereafter,

Odhams Press Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and th ...

absorbed both

Newnes Newnes (), an abandoned oil shale mining site of the Wolgan Valley, is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The site that was operational in the early 20th century is now partly surrounded by Wollemi Nationa ...

Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education *Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada *Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies *Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...

and the

. King saw an opportunity in this to rationalise the overcrowded women's magazine market, in which Fleetway and Newnes/Pearson were the major competitors, and acquired Odhams. Fleetway took over Odhams in March 1961. In consequence, King controlled two national daily and two national Sunday newspapers, almost one hundred consumer magazines (including comics), more than two hundred trade and technical periodicals, and interests in book publishing. In 1963 all the Mirror Group companies were combined by the creation of a parent (or "holding") company called the

International Publishing Company TI Media (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its tit ...

(known informally as IPC). All of the existing companies continued to operate, but as IPC subsidiaries.Birch, Paul
"Speaking Frankly,"
''Birmingham Mail'' (14 December 2008). When the dust cleared, IPC controlled five girls' comics titles — ''

'', ''

Girls' Crystal ''Girls' Crystal'' was a British weekly story paper and then a comic book published by Amalgamated Press (AP) that ran from 1935 to 1963. Along with ''School Friend'' and ''Girl'', it was one of the first British girls' comics. Publication histo ...

'', ''

June June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

'', and ''

'' — while DC Thomson controlled three — ''

'', '' Judy'', and '' Diana''. (

City Magazines City Magazines was a British publisher of weekly comics and men's magazines that operated from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. The company's most notable publications were comics magazines based on licensed television properties, including ''TV Ce ...

was still in the mix as well, with their title ''

''.) IPC set up a management development department in 1965 so that its various subsidiaries would no longer be in competition with each other for the same markets. This led to a reorganisation of the Group, in 1968, into six divisions, with

IPC Magazines TI Media (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its tit ...

in charge of all comics content. In the period 1960–1970, there were between seven and ten girls' comics in publication in the UK at any one time, with one estimation that the girls' comics market was larger than that of

women's magazines This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of women. Currently published *'' 10 Magazine'' (UK - distributed worldwide) *'' Al Jamila'' (Saudi Arabia) *''All ...

"Hatch-match-dispatch"

The 1970s was a period of tumult for the British girls' comics industry.

's ''Bunty'', '' Judy'', '' Jackie'', and ''

'' (as well as the "little girls'" comic ''

Twinkle Twinkle may refer to: * Twinkling, the variation of brightness of distant objects People * Twinkle (singer) (1948–2015), born Lynn Annette Ripley, English singer-songwriter * Twinkle Khanna, Indian movie actress * Twinkle Bajpai, female conte ...

'') continued strong through the decade. IPC, on the other hand, changed gears editorially — as writer/editor Terence Magee details, "

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfather o ...

and

John Wagner John Wagner (born 1949) is an American-born British comics writer. Alongside Pat Mills, he helped revitalise British comics in the 1970s, and continues to be active in the British comics industry, occasionally also working in American comics. ...

/nowiki>were brought in/nowiki> to shake things up. The safe and gentle middle-class stories gave way to gritty, working-class yarns." The company introduced a slew of new titles, most of which lasted a few years before merging into other company titles — IPC's "hatch-match-dispatch" method. Examples include '' Sandie'' (1972–1973; merged into '' Tammy''), ''Pixie'' (1972–1973; merged into ''

''), ''Lindy'' (1975; merged into '' Jinty''), and ''Penny'' (1979–1980; merged into '' Jinty''). The IPC Fleetway stablemates '' Tammy'' (1971–1984), '' Jinty'' (1974–1981), and ''

Misty Misty may refer to: Music * ''Misty'' (Ray Stevens album), an album by Ray Stevens featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Richard "Groove" Holmes album), an album by Richard "Groove" Holmes featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Eddie "Lockjaw" ...

'' (1978–1980) existed somewhat outside this trend, although in the end both ''Misty'' and ''Jinty'' ended up absorbed into ''Tammy'' (which absorbed four other titles during its run — '' Sandie'', ''

Sally Sally may refer to: People *Sally (name), a list of notable people with the name Military *Sortie (siege warfare), Sally (military), an attack by the defenders of a town or fortress under siege against a besieging force; see sally port *Sally, ...

'', ''

'', and ''

'' vol. 2 — before being merged itself with IPC's ''

'' vol. 2 in 1984). By 1974,

's girls' comics had fallen off somewhat — ''Bunty'', ''Judy'', ''Mandy'', and ''Debbie'' had a combined circulation of 750,000 that year — but remained the market leader. At its height in the late 1970s, ''Tammy'' sold 250,000 copies per week.McDade, Jenny
"Creating Tammy: A True Story,"
''Down The Tubes'' (12 October 2008).

Transition to slick magazines

Starting in the mid-1970s, IPC introduced a line of slick girls' magazines that downplayed the traditional comics content, instead featuring mainly product-related articles and

photo comics Photo comics are a form of sequential storytelling that uses photographs rather than illustrations for the images, along with the usual comics conventions of narrative text and word balloons containing dialogue. They are sometimes referred to ...

. Titles in this line included ''

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

'' (1973–1980; merged into ''

Mates Mates is an English surname, and may refer to: * Mates (born 1964), British newsreader and journalist * Michael Mates (born 1934), British politician * Frederick S. Mates, founded the Mates Investment Fund in 1967 that crashed in the bear market o ...

''), ''

My Guy "My Guy" is a 1964 hit single by Mary Wells for the Motown label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's rejection of a sexual advance and affirmation of her fidelity to her boyfriend, who is her ideal an ...

'' (1978– 2000), '' Oh Boy'' (1976–1985; merged into ''My Guy''), ''

'' (1975–1981; merged into ''Oh Boy''), ''

Blue Jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...

'' (1977–1991), and the second iteration of ''

'' (1981–1990; merged into ''My Guy''). Meanwhile, DC Thomson's girls' titles which had launched in the slick format in the 1960s, such as '' Jackie'', continued in that format; and others, such as '' Diana'' (1965–1976; merged into ''Jackie'') and '' Judy'' (1960–1991; merged with ''

''), changed to become slicks.

Decline

By 1980, there were eleven girls' comics titles in publication (not counting the slicks, which had much less comics content), but the last girls' comics of any note to debut happened in 1985: '' Nikki for Girls'', which only lasted until 1989. Even DC Thomson's girls' titles fell victim to "merger mania": ''

'', which began in 1967, absorbed ''

Debbie Debbie (or Debby or Deb) is a feminine given name, commonly but not always short for Deborah (or Debra and related variants). Notable people * Debbie Allen, American actress, choreographer and film director * Debbie Armstrong, American athlete * ...

'' (which itself had previously absorbed '' Spellbound'', published 1976–1978) in early 1983. ''Suzy'' (published 1982–1987) merged into ''Bunty''. And by the time ''Mandy'' merged with '' Judy'' (launched in 1960) in 1991, that title had previously absorbed ''Emma'' (1978–1979) and '' Tracy'' (1979–1985). By 1990, only four girls' comics were in publication, all published by

: ''Bunty'', ''

'', '' Judy'', and ''

'' (the latter was a separate category of comics for "little girls"). The last girls' title, ''

'', was canceled in 2001.

Back catalog reprints

The Fleetway/IPC back-catalog is now owned by

Rebellion Developments Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford, England. Founded by Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for its ''Sniper Elite'' series and multiple games in the ''Alien vs. Pre ...

, which since 2016 has reprinted a number of ''Tammy'', ''Jinty'', and ''Misty'' serials, and is due to republish further series as part of ''The Treasury of British Comics''. In October 2017 Rebellion published a '' Scream! & Misty Halloween Special'', which contained all-new stories featuring characters from those comics.

Content

Girls' comics generally offered a mix of romance, pathos, school, and girl-next-door stories, thriving well into the era when consumer, fashion, and

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia East Asia possess ...

fare became popular in girls' magazines. The stories were generally moralistic in tone, with long-suffering heroines finally achieving happiness, while villainous relatives or girls who were liars, cheats, and bullies received their comeuppance.Smith, James Cooray
"The dark, forgotten world of British girls’ comics is about to be resurrected: The UK’s most surreal and innovative comic strips have long been gathering dust. As a publisher acquires the archives, they could be heading for a renaissance,"
''The New Statesman'' (27 September 2016). Also popular were stories of girls confronting adversity and overcoming it.Rayner, Jac
"Paper Worlds: Why girls' comics were wonderful,"
BBC (18 June 2014). One of the earlier titles, ''

'', founded by the Rev. Marcus Morris (with the close participation of fellow clergyman

Chad Varah Edward Chad Varah (12 November 1911 – 8 November 2007) was a British Anglican priest and social activist from England. In 1953, he founded the Samaritans, the world's first crisis hotline, to provide telephone support to those contemplati ...

), was very much an ''educational'' magazine whose heroines, including those who got into scrapes, became involved in tales that had a moral substance. A considerable number of pages were also dedicated to real-life tales of heroic women in various fields. Common girls' comics storylines included: * orphans forced to live with cruel or uncaring relatives * girls enduring blackmail, hardship, or unpopularity to protect a secret (often on behalf of their family) * girls slaving for cruel employers or criminals * saving animals from cruelty * cruel factories, shops, boarding schools or workhouses * heroines adopting masked identities to secretly help people * spiteful girls causing trouble for an unsuspecting cousin, foster-sister or classmate * girls becoming unpopular because events keep conspiring to make them appear jealous or selfish * blundering girls getting into one scrape after another * girls pretending to be disabled in order to take advantage of people * girls who were put under a curse or came into possession of apparently supernatural objects which adversely affected their lives, but of which they were unable to rid themselves until they worked out how * boyfriend-themed stories (by the 1980s) The various strips in the girls' comics were usually broken up by letters pages, competitions, featured readers, puzzle pages, promotions, next-week previews, and advertisements. ''

'''s ''The Four Marys'', drawn by

Barrie Mitchell Barrie Horace Mitchell (15 March 1947 – 24 January 2021) was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward for Dunfermline Athletic, Aberdeen, Tranmere Rovers, Vancouver Whitecaps, Preston North End, York City, Greenock Morton and Wigan Athl ...

, was the longest serial in girls' comics, running from the magazine's creation in 1958 to its end in 2001. It centered on four young teens — each named Mary — in a girls-only boarding school in the fictional location of Elmbury, who often had problems with studying, staying alert, or helping the other girls and teachers. Of the four main characters, two were middle-class, one was the aristocratic daughter of an

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

, and one was working-class, attending the school on a scholarship.Gibson (2003)
p. 92
/ref> Three related

titles — '' Tammy'' (launched 1971), '' Jinty'' (launched 1974), and ''

'' (launched 1978) — had their own particular focus. ''Tammy'' concentrated on sadder ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

''-themed stories and dark tales of tortured heroines. Many stories were full of cruelty and adversity, based on research showing that girls wanted stories that made them cry.Paul Gravett
Comics Britannia Part 2 - Girls and Boys
paulgravett.com, 2 December 2007. ''Jinty'' concentrated on

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

or otherwise fantastical stories. ''Misty'' concentrated on supernatural and horror stories, featuring plots such as "pacts with the devil, schoolgirl sacrifice, the ghosts of hanged girls, sinister cults, evil scientists experimenting on the innocent and terrifying parallel worlds where the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

won the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

." Writer

, later to become famed for his work on '' 2000AD'', scripted many strips for all three titles.

Writers and artists

Despite the intended audience for the comics being female, the vast majority of the writers and artists responsible for the girls' comics industry were men. One notable exception was Marion Turner, who wrote hundreds of strips for DC Thomson's line, especially for ''Mandy'', ''Judy'', and ''M&J''.lorrsadmin
"Marion Turner – DCT writer,"
''Girls Comics of Yesterday'' (25th October 2019). In general, artists and writers were not credited in girls' comics (or indeed most British comics of that era). As was common practice in the 1960s and 1970s, many illustrators were recruited via art agencies, including ones that specialized in Spanish artists (the UK was a popular market for Spanish artists as the exchange rate meant the work paid well) — notable Spanish girls' comics artists included

Luis Bermejo Luis Bermejo Rojo (12 August 1931 – 12 December 2015) was a Spanish illustrator and comics artist known for his work published in Spain, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. He has illustrated a number of novels, and worked for a while ...

, Purita Campos,

Carlos Freixas Carlos Freixas i Baleitó, also known as Carles Freixas i Baleitó, (Barcelona, October 31, 1923 - February 26, 2003) was a Spanish cartoonist and illustrator whose most famous creation was '' "Pistol" Jim''. Biography Beginnings The ...

Jesus Redondo Jesús Redondo Román (born 8 August 1934)
Down the Tubes, 9 June 2011 is ...

, and Jordi Badía Romero. Artists can sometimes be identified by their work in '' Tammy'' (which moved to a system of crediting creators in the early 1980s) or in boys' comics such as '' 2000AD'', which brought in such a policy from earlier on. In other cases, it is possible to identify the artists from their signatures on the pages of the comics themselves. Identification of writers in girls' comics is currently dependent on information provided by the writers themselves.

Notable writers

Ruth Adam Ruth Augusta Adam, née King (14 December 1907 – 3 February 1977), was an English journalist and writer of novels, comics and non-fiction feminist literature. Early life She was born on 14 December 1907 in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, daughter of ...

— ''

'' (''Lindy Love'',Peter Kay at Lambiek Comiclopedia
/ref> ''Susan of St. Bride's'') *

Angus Allan Angus Peter Allan (22 July 1936 – 16 July 2007) was a British comic strip writer and magazine editor who worked on ''TV Century 21'' in the 1960s and ''Look-in'' magazine during the 1970s. Most commonly known as Angus Allan and sometimes credit ...

— ''

Lady Penelope Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward is a fictional character introduced in the British 1960s Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'', which was produced by AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment. The character also appears in the film seque ...

'' (various strips) *

Charles Chilton Charles Chilton MBE (15 June 1917 – 2 January 2013) was a British presenter, writer and producer who worked on BBC Radio. He created the 1950s radio serials ''Riders of the Range'' and ''Journey into Space'', and also inspired the stage ...

— ''

'' (''Flying Cloud'') *

Primrose Cumming Primrose Cumming (1915–2004) was a British writer of children's books. Her writing career spanned over 30 years, and produced some fine examples of the pony book genre, combining accurate observation of human and equine with a certain wry hum ...

— '' Tammy'' (''Bella Barlow'') *

Anne Digby Anne Digby (born 5 May 1943 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey) is a prolific British children's writer best known for the Trebizon series published between 1978 and 1994. Digby attended North London Collegiate School before becoming a magazin ...

— '' Tammy'' (''Olympia Jones'') *

Gerry Finley-Day Gerry Finley-Day (born 1947, Broughty Ferry, Dundee) is a Scottish comics writer, prolific from the 1960s to the 1980s, best known as the creator of "Rogue Trooper". Career He began his career at D.C. Thomson & Co., before becoming the edit ...

— '' Tammy'' (''The Camp on Candy Island'') *

Scott Goodall Scott Goodall MBE (7 November 1935 – 7 March 2016) was a British comics writer. Career Goodall started out his comics career in the early-to-mid 1960s. He was part of a rotating cast of writers for the spooky strip ''The Strangest Stories Ever ...

— ''

'' (some episodes of ''The Strangest Stories Ever Told'') *

Peter Ling Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

— ''

'' (''Penny Starr'', ''Two Pairs of Skates'')Steve Holland
Peter Ling (1926-2006)
Bear Alley, 21 September 2006 * Terence Magee — '' Tammy'' (''Spartan School''), '' Sandie'' (''Slave of the Trapeze''), '' Jinty'' (''Merry at Misery House'')Terence Magee: Interview
A Resource on Jinty website (May 13, 2014). *

— '' Tammy'' (''Becky Never Saw the Ball'', ''Thursday's Child'', ''Glenda's Glossy Pages''); '' Jinty'' (''Girl in a Bubble'', ''Land of No Tears'', ''The Human Zoo'', ''Concrete Surfer''); ''

'' (''Moonchild''; ''Hush, Hush, Sweet Rachel'') *

Frank Redpath Frank Redpath (1927–1990) was a Hull poet. He taught at Hull College of Further Education, after a period writing for children's comics (including ''School Friend'') in London. He features in Douglas Dunn's 1982 anthology of Hull poets ''A Ru ...

— ''

'' (''Lucky's Living Doll'') * Betty Roland — ''

'' (''Angela Air Hostess'', ''Laura and the Legend of Hadley House'', ''Pat of Paradise Isle'', ''The Rajah's Secret'', ''Vicky in Australia'')Steve Holland
Betty Roland
Bear Alley, 8 September 2006 * Malcolm Shaw — '' Jinty'' (''The Robot Who Cried''); ''

'' (''The Sentinels'', ''The Four Faces of Eve'', ''End of the Line''); '' Tammy'' (''E.T. Estate'') *

— ''

'' (various strips) *

— '' Tammy'' (''School for Snobs'')

Notable artists

* John Armstrong — '' Tammy'' (''Bella Barlow''); ''

'' (''Moonchild''), ''

'' *

Jim Baikie James George Baikie (28 February 1940 – 29 December 2017) was a Scottish comics artist best known for his work with Alan Moore on ''Skizz''. He was also a musician. Biography Baikie served as a Corporal with the Royal Air Force in 1956–1963 ...

— ''

'' (''Gymnast Jinty'', ''Tilly's Magic Tranny''), '' Jinty'' (''Left-Out Linda''; ''The Kat and Mouse Game''; ''Face The Music, Flo!''; ''Ping-Pong Paula''; ''Miss No-Name''; ''Willa on Wheels''; ''Rose Among the Thornes''; ''Spell of the Spinning Wheel''; ''Fran'll Fix It!''; ''Two Mothers for Maggie''; ''Wild Rose''; ''The Forbidden Garden''; ''Village of Fame''; ''White Water''; ''Left-Out Linda''); '' Tammy'' (''Glen — Lonely Dog on a Quest'') *

— ''

'' *

H. M. Brock Henry Matthew Brock (11 July 187521 July 1960) was a British illustrator and landscape painter of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He was one of four artist brothers, all of them illustrators, who worked together in their family ...

— ''

'' (''

Lorna Doone ''Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor'' is a novel by English author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, published in 1869. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly ar ...

'') * John M. Burns — ''

'' (various strips), ''

'' * Purita Campos — ''

Princess Tina ''Princess Tina'' (at times known as ''Princess Tina and Penelope'' and then simply ''Tina'') was a weekly British girls' comic published from autumn 1967 to summer 1973 by the International Publishing Company, initially under the Fleetway Pu ...

'' (''Patty's World'') *

Evelyn Flinders Evelyn Betty Flinders (21 March 1910 – 31 October 1997) was a British comics artist who worked in girls' comics. She entered the Hornsey School of Art at the age of fifteen, and in 1928 got her first job with the Amalgamated Press, drawing for ...

— ''

'' (''

The Silent Three ''The Silent Three'' (originally ''The Silent Three of St. Kit's'') was a British comic strip published in the girls' comics magazine ''School Friend'' from 1950 to 1963, written by Horace Boyten and Stewart Pride, and originally illustrated by Ev ...

'') *

Cecil Langley Doughty Cecil Langley Doughty (7 November 1913 – 26 October 1985) was a Great Britain, British comics artist and illustrator, best known for his work in the comic ''Knockout (UK comics), Knockout'' and the educational weekly ''Look and Learn''. His hist ...

— ''

'' (''The Untold Arabian Nights''),Eagle writers - Geoffrey Bond (1920 - 2009) aka Alan Jason
Eagle Times, 31 December 2009 ''

'' (''Terry Brent'') * Derek Charles Eyles — ''

'' *

— ''

'' (''Angie’s Angel'', ''My Family, My Foes!'',''Wild Girl of the Hills''), '' Jinty'' (''The Valley of the Shining Mist''), ''

'' vol. 2 (''Miranda's Magic Dragon'') * Phil Gascoine — ''

'' (''The Twin She Couldn’t Trust''!), '' Jinty'' (''Girl in a Bubble'', ''Fran of the Floods'', ''The Green People'', ''Gail's Indian Necklace'', ''Badgered Belinda'', ''No Cheers for Cherry'') * Harry Hargreaves — ''

'' (''Scamp'') *

Tom Kerr Tom Kerr was a British comic strip artist whose work has appeared in comics such as ''Look-in'', the ''Eagle'', '' Valiant'', and '' TV21''. He has also drawn for many annuals of the 1960s and 1970s, including the ''Monkees'' annuals, ''Look-i ...

— ''

''; ''

'' (''Orphans Alone'') *

Sean Phillips Sean Phillips (born 27 January 1965) is a British comic book artist, best known for his collaborations with Ed Brubaker on comics including '' Sleeper'', ''Incognito'', the '' Criminal'' series of comics, '' Fatale'', '' The Fade Out'', and ' ...

— ''

''; '' Judy''; ''

Nikki Nikki may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Nikki (Barbie), a fashion doll in the Barbie toy line * Nikki (comics), a Marvel Comics character * Nikki and Paulo, from the TV series ''Lost'' * Nikki, the mascot of Swapnote * N ...

'' *

Jesus Redondo Jesús Redondo Román (born 8 August 1934)
Down the Tubes, 9 June 2011 is ...

— ''

'' (''Hangman's Alley'', ''Amanda Must Not Be Expelled'') * Jordi Badía Romero — ''

'' (''Wolfsbane'', ''Hunt the Ripper'', ''Screaming Point!'')''Misty Presents The Jordi Badia Romero Collection'' (Rebellion Graphic Novels, October 17, 2019) * John Ryan — ''

'' (''Lettice Leefe, the Greenest Girl in School'')John Ryan entry

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

's Comiclopedia. Retrieved 30 Aug 2015. * Ron Smith — ''

''; '' Judy''Michael Molcher, "Brush Strokes of Genius: Ron Smith Part One", ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' #288, 15 September 2009, pp. 16–22 *

John Millar Watt John Millar Watt (14 October 1895 – 13 December 1975) was a British painter, illustrator and comics artist who created the comic strip ''Pop''. Early life Born in Greenock on the River Clyde, Scotland, the son of James H. Watt, an engineer, ...

— ''

'' (''Daughters of Adventure'', ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

'')

Notable examples

Timeline

Notes

References

Sources

* Freeman, John
"British Girls Comics: There Should Be A Book...,"
DownTheTubes.net (Aug. 27, 2020). * * Holland, Steve

''Collecting Books and Magazines'' (2001). * * * Scott, Jenni
"Female writers in a girls’ genre,"
''A Resource on Jinty: Artists, Writers, Stories'' (February 28, 2015).

External links

Jac Rayner's Blupo Blog
about British girls' comics
Girls Comics Of Yesterday
fansite
Dr Mel Comics
website of a British comics scholar
Girls Comics UK Facebook group
* Carroll, Michael Owen
"Eaglution of British Comics, part 3,"
Rusty Staples Comics Blog (June 30, 2018). * Carroll, Michael Owen
"'Remind me again… What’s the publisher's daughter's name?'"
Rusty Staples Comics Blog (June 19, 2020).
My Guy Family Tree
— graphic showing the merging of AP, Fleetway, IPC (mostly) girls' titles over the decades {{DEFAULTSORT:British girls' comics Children's magazines published in the United Kingdom Romance comics History of women in the United Kingdom

History

Origin

Industry consolidation

"Hatch-match-dispatch"

Transition to slick magazines

Decline

Back catalog reprints

Content

Writers and artists

Notable writers

Notable artists

Notable examples

Timeline

See also

Further reading

Notes

References

Sources

External links