''Twinkle'', "the picture paper specially for little girls," was a popular British
comics magazine, published by
D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd from 27 January 1968 to 1999 (1,612 issues). It was aimed at young girls and came out weekly, supplemented each year with a Summer Special and a hardcover Annual (the first annual was dated 1970).
The comics were introduced by Twinkle herself and featured comic strips, dress-up dolls, a Twinkle Club letters page, and, often, puzzles. Among the most popular comic strips were ''Nurse Nancy'' (illustrated by Sabine Price), ''Jenny Wren'', ''Witch Winkle'', ''Polly's Magic Paintbox'', ''Goldilocks and Her Three Bears'', ''My Baby Brother'', ''The Three Pennys'', ''Patsy Panda'', ''Patty Pickle'', ''Sally Sweet'', ''Molly and her Dollies'', and ''Dandy Lion''.
''Twinkle'' was given a makeover in the late 1970s and again in the late 1980s, but essentially the character of Twinkle, the comic strips and the essence of the comic remained the same throughout its life.
On 19 March 2012, the ''
Royal Mail'' launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history.
The collection featured ''
The Beano
''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-run ...
'', ''
The Dandy
''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after '' Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 O ...
'',
''Eagle'',
''The Topper'',
''Roy of the Rovers'', ''
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 ...
'',
''Buster'',
''Valiant'', ''Twinkle'' and
''2000 AD''.
List of strips
*''Caroline and her Magic Car'' - Caroline has a magic car that will take her anywhere.
*''Dandy Lion''
*''Goldilocks and her Three Bears''
*''Goody Gumdrops'' - Goody lives in Sweetie Town, where everyone is named after
sweets
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...
.
*''Jean Genie'' - every time Gemma slaps the back pocket of her jeans a genie appears to grant her wish. The story is probably named after
the song by David Bowie.
*''Jenny Wren'' - Jenny is a little girl who likes to dress up and make herself look pretty.
*''Jilly of Jingle Bell School''
*''Molly and her Dollies''
*''My Baby Brother'' - The adventures of a young girl and her baby brother.
*''Nurse Nancy'' - Nancy and her grandad have a toy hospital.
*''Patsy Panda''
*''Patty Pickle'' - similar to Silly Milly.
*''Polly's Magic Paintbox'' - Whatever Polly paints comes to life because of her magic paints.
*''Sally Sweet''
*''Silly Milly'' - She tries to do things right but always lands in a muddle.
*''The Three Pennys'' - The adventures of 3 girls, all named Penny.
*''Witch Winkle'' - Wendy Wilson has a very unusual friend - a witch called Winkle.
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
*
DC Thomson Comics titles
Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom
1968 comics debuts
1999 comics endings
Defunct British comics
British girls' comics
{{UK-comics-stub