''Judy'' was a British pre-teen and
teen girl's magazine, primarily in
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
form. ''Judy'' was extant from 1960 to 1991.
[ From 1991 to 1997 it was combined with another title in '']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'' magazine.[ ''Judy'' was published by ]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 ...
.
Publication history
Background
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 ...
had published its first girls' magazine, ''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 ...
'', in 1958. The success of this title led DC Thomson to publish ''Judy'', which was also successful: between them, ''Bunty'' and ''Judy'' achieved a circulation of over one million.[ DC Thomson went on to publish other similar titles: ''Diana'' (published 1965–1976), '']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 ...
'' (published 1967–1991), ''Debbie'' (published 1973–1983), and ''Suzy'' (published 1982–1987).[
By 1974, DC Thomson's girls' imprints had fallen off somewhat (''Bunty'', ''Judy'', ''Mandy'', and ''Debbie'' had a combined circulation of 750,000 that year) but remained the market leader.][ Whether in imitation or not, British girls' magazines of this era typically bore a single female given name as title; besides the DC Thomson titles, other magazines were ''Tracy'', '']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 ...
'', '' Sandie'', ''Diana'', ''Sally'', ''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 ...
'', '' Tammy'', ''Lindy'', and ''Penny''.[
]
Mergers
As was common in British comics of the period, it was standard practice to merge a comic into another one when it declined in sales. Typically, three stories or strips from the cancelled comic would continue for a while in the surviving comic, and both titles would appear on the cover (one in a smaller font than the other) until the title of the cancelled comic was eventually dropped. ''Judy'' was emblematic of this practice. It absorbed ''Emma'' in 1979 and ''Tracy'' in 1985; as a consequence, the title was known as ''Judy and Emma'' from issue #1027 (15 September 1979) to issue #1049 (16 February 1980), and ''Judy and Tracy'' from issue #1306 (19 January 1985) to some time before issue #1443.
Even though ''Judy'' had debuted earlier than ''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 ...
'', when the two titles merged in 1991, ''Mandy'' was listed first in the new merged publication. ''Mandy & Judy'', also known as ''M&J'', merged with ''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 ...
'' in 1997.
Content
''Judy'' 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 insouciant Bobby Dazzler was a recurring character.][
Among the fare offered by ''Judy'' was stories of girls confronting adversity and overcoming it — for instance, ''Nobody Loves Dixie'' (1964) tells of a shunned girl who wins a trophy and rises from her wheelchair to collect it — or succumbing to it — for instance, in the harrowing ''Nothing Ever Goes Right'' (1981), the heroine, beset with poverty, orphanhood, and health problems, dies][Rayner, Jac]
"Paper Worlds: Why girls' comics were wonderful,"
BBC (18 June 2014). of heart failure while rescuing children from an abandoned house.
Strips
* ''Bess’s Secret Brother'', written by Marion Turner (1984); reprinted as ''Her Brother’s Keeper'' (1990)
* ''Bobby Dazzler''
* ''Bobtail the Beach Rescue''
* ''Boomerang, the Horse that Always Comes Back''
* ''Cold As Charity'', written by Marion Turner (1986–1987); reprinted in ''Mandy & Judy'' (1994)
* ''Cybela'', written by Marion Turner (1979–1980)
* ''The Honourable SJ''
* ''Judy & Co.'' (1985–1991) — starring Judy, the "host" of the comic, and her schoolfriends Emma and Tracy, both of whom joined after ''Judy'' absorbed their respective titles.
* ''Marina and the Monster''
* ''Nobody Loves Dixie'' (1964)
* ''The Nobody of the School'', written by Marion Turner (1982); reprinted as ''The Veiled Lady'' (1988); reprinted as ''The Nobody of the School'' in ''M&J'' (1994)
* ''Nothing Ever Goes Right'' (1981)
* ''Patience in the Saddle''
* ''Part-Time Supergirl'', written by Marion Turner (1983)
* ''Petra the Party Maker''
* ''The Princess Who Never Was'', written by Marion Turner (1986)
* ''The Rivals''
* ''Sally of Studio Seven''
* ''Sandra of the Secret Ballet''
* ''Supergirl'' — Jenny Brown (not related to DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
' Supergirl
Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...
)
* ''Topsy and the Scientist's Secret''
* ''The Unwanted Ones'', written by Marion Turner (1980–1981)
* ''Where Is Melanie Forbes?'', written by Marion Turner (1982); reprinted (1989)
See also
* British girls' comics British girls' comics flourished in the United Kingdom 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 and Fleetway/ IPC. Most titles a ...
References
Sources
*
*
External links
Scan of 1982 Annual
{{D. C. Thomson Comics
1960 comics debuts
1991 comics endings
British girls' comics
Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom
DC Thomson Comics titles
Defunct British comics
Magazines established in 1960
Magazines disestablished in 1991