Diana, Debbie, Spellbound, Mandy, Nikki - some comic links

[helsbels]

I have noticed some interesting links between the above mentioned D C Thompson comics. Apart from the obvious link of sharing the same publisher, there is some history of stories being passed down (and some reprinted). Diana featured "Mary Brown's Schooldays" and "Up To Date Kate", both of which later appeared in Debbie comics and annuals. "The Fabulous Four" from Diana later materialised in Spellbound as "Supercats", although the characters retained their original first names (Helen, Fauna, Hercula & Electra). Spellbound's storyteller character Damian Darke survived the merger with Debbie, appearing on a regular basis and even went on to tell stories in Mandy when those two comics merged. Damian Darke even appeared in some Debbie picture libraries and I recently acquired a Mandy annual 1986 in which he appeared. Later issues of Mandy include reprints of Spellbound stories - notably "Poison Penny" and some of the text stories. In later issues of Nikki I have come across reprints of the "Cremond Hall" stories from Spellbound but with the house and it's custodian, Miss Hatherleigh renamed. It's quite interesting to note the connections between the various titles and how some characters and stories manage to survive multiple mergers (look at Bessie Bunter!!)