Host characters in girls' comics - questions about Judy

[hypnojoo]

Hi everyone

I’m a longtime reader/lurker on this forum so thank you all for so many interesting discussions!

I’ve been writing a book about Misty for the past three years which is in its final stages. There's a chapter on host figures in British girls’ comics and so I was wondering if anybody knew anything about Judy’s two horror hosts - She of the Shadows and Bones. I’d really like to date their first appearances… I’ve been spending a lot of time going through the archives at the British Library but Judy lasted for a long time and I’ve turned up nothing yet. I’m running out of time and money to keep making this trip!

What I have found out so far:

The Storyteller seems to be the first host in British girls’ comics - introduced in June and School Friend on 30 January 1965
[thanks Kashgar for this post on this forum, and to Briony Coote for directing me to it!]

Man in Black is the second, first appearing in ‘Star of Doom’ (Diana #197, 26 November 1966)

Damian Darke features weekly from first issue of Spellbound (25 September 1976), first appearance in ‘Spectre from the Flame’

Gypsy Rose first appears in Jinty on 12 February 1977 in ‘Dream of Destiny’ and then gets her own section, ‘Gypsy Rose’s Tales of Mystery and Magic’, which debuts in Jinty on 28 November 1977 [thanks Mistyfan for this info in blog]

These are the only 'main hosts' I've found (I call them series hosts as they introduce a particular set of stories without continuity).
In addition there are a lot of serial strips with their own dedicated storyteller (what Briony Coote calls the ‘collective storyteller’) - I call them serial hosts as they are limited to a single strip, within which there is some continuity/recurring characters. The first one I have found of these is Jackie Flynn in ‘Bridget at War’ (Diana #146 on 4 December 1965), with later egs including Miss Hatherleigh in ‘Cremond Castle’ (Spellbound), Megan Dolwyn in ‘Dolwyn’s Dolls’ (Bunty), Tamsin Treco’s grandmother in ‘A Tale from the Toy Museum’ (Bunty), Beverley Jackson in ‘The Button Box’ (Tammy), and ‘Jade Jenkins’ Stall’ (M&J), etc.

Somewhere in all this is Judy’s She of the Shadows. who is then replaced by Bones. As Judy runs from 1960-91 I have been dipping in and out of various issues quite randomly hoping I will get lucky, but I’ve not found any appearances of either character yet… does anybody have any ideas please? I'm guessing Bones probably appears towards the end of the Judy run, as all of the egs I have seen of him so far come from M&J, after the merger. I have not yet found any appearances at all of She of the Shadows. Any suggestions about which years seem likely for her to appear would be very very welcome as I need to narrow my search a bit!

Would be very grateful for any help so that next time I’m at the British Library I can maybe start searching in the right decade at least lol… Also if there are any other hosts I have overlooked!

Julia

[Phoenix]

I'm just wondering, hypnojoo, if you are looking in the wrong story paper for the wrong title. The story title that immediately comes to my mind on reading your post is Valda And She Of The Shadows, which appeared in MANDY, as did all the series featuring Valda. The dates and issue numbers are as follows:- 839 (Feb. 13 1983) - 850 (Apr. 30 1983). These issues are certainly available in the British Library. If there is another She Of The Shadows, I don't recall her, but then again I'm definitely not infallible. As far as Bones is concerned, I don't think there is such a title in any of the eleven story papers for girls between the ages of 8/9 and 12/13 produced by D. C. Thomsons between 1958 and 2001. Is it possible that it appeared in a comic from a different publisher, such as Jinty or Tammy? I don't know a great deal about either. There are also some Damian Darke stories in DEBBIE, after she amalgamated with SPELLBOUND.

[peace355]

I believe the storyteller Bones that hypnojoo is referring to is from Skeleton Corner. I have listed a lot of the M&J Skeleton Corner stories here: http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2012/ ... -corner/2/

I know it was in the last few issues of Judy #1633 - #1635 (11 May 1991) but I don't have a start date.
It appeared in M&J first #11 (27 July 1991) and I believe last appearance was #194 (28 Jan. 1995), though it was not in every issue.

I did do a post about storytellers in general here though it's not detailed about dates: http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2015/ ... rytellers/

She of the Shadows I thought it appeared in Judy regularly but it may only been in annuals as I don't seem to have a weekly issue with the story. Here's the story from the 1976 Judy Annual:

[Phoenix]

I know it was in the last few issues of Judy #1633 - #1635

According to the notes that I made in the British Library, that particular run of Tales From Skeleton Corner started in 1632 (Apr. 20 1991). It did end in 1635, as you correctly point out, Lorraine. If She Of The Shadows had appeared in a weekly issue of JUDY, I can assure you that I would have noted that information down during the relevant visit to the British Library. Thank you for pointing out its appearance in an annual. I do have all DCT's annuals for girls but I haven't catalogued their content as I seem to be in almost permanent contact with the weeklies.

[colcool007]

That's some nice Paddy Brennan art you have posted there Peace.

As the book you are working on is about Misty, I am going to assume you have her as one of the hosts. I can't think of any other hosts at this time, but if I find any, I will post any information I find on here.

[Tammyfan]

Diana had a host too. Her name was Gypsy Rosa or Gypsy Lee or something like that. But the Man in Black is better remembered from Diana.

Spellbound had Damian Darke.

M&J also had what is being collectively called Jade Jenkins' Stall (not actually titled as such). The titles were individual titles of the stories Jade Jenkins was telling about the items on her bring and buy stall. More can be found at http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/wp-ad ... ction=edit

[Tammyfan]

Debbie had Madame Marlova Remembers, in which Madame Marlova told her pupils tales about famous ballerinas, either to inspire or to teach a moral. Some of them were spooky. More can be found at http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2014/ ... remembers/

[Phoenix]

That's some nice Paddy Brennan art you have posted there Peace. As the book you are working on is about Misty,

It's hypnojoo that is writing the book, Col, not Lorraine (peace355).

[Tammyfan]

Oh yes, Tammy had The Button Box, in which Beverly Jackson tells a tale about a button from her box. It ran 20/11/82 -23/6/84 (no Button tale actually appeared in the 23 June 1984 issue, but I regard the issue as the end of the strip because of Tammy's sudden cancellation). Alison Christie was the main writer. Ian Mennell and Linda Stephenson were sub writers (who were not exactly used with Christie's consent), and drawn by Mario Capaldi.

[Tammyfan]

Dolwyn’s Dolls from Bunty had Dolwyn tell stories about the dolls in her shop. Some had a supernatural element http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2015/ ... yns-dolls/

Oh, and there were A Turn of the Key stories from Spellbound http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2011/ ... f-the-key/
There was no host though.

[hypnojoo]

Thanks so much everyone, some really helpful info there! I didn't know the other serial storyteller from Diana, will def try and track her down. Diana seems to have led the way for the spookier comics like Spellbound and Misty in many ways!

Phoenix, can I ask what Judy years you've gone through at the BL? If it's all of them then it's totally possible She of the Shadows only appeared in the annuals - some of the Misty stories (e.g. The Cilla the Chiller reprints) arent included in the weeklies. And Peace thank you so much for the scan, it's great to see a picture of her, and this gives me a date to work back from so is really helpful. Also for the dates re Bones, I will search back a bit from this on next trip and see if he pops up any earlier...

[Phoenix]

Phoenix, can I ask what Judy years you've gone through at the BL? If it's all of them then it's totally possible She of the Shadows only appeared in the annuals

Of course you can ask, hypnojoo. The simple answer is that I consulted every issue of JUDY that at the time I didn't own. During several visits to the British Library over a two/three year period, I also consulted my missing issues from D.C. Thomsons' ten other titles for girls aged 8/9 to 12/13, and made plenty of notes. I believe my notes to be thorough, and they do not contain any reference to a serial called She Of The Shadows. I'm pretty certain that I now have all the information that I will be needing for my book on the subject that I recently started to write, so further visits are almost certainly unnecessary. However, if it transpires that at some point or other my notes are less than thorough, I will order up the relevant volumes by phone, and pop down there again. I don't do jobs by halves.

[hypnojoo]

Thanks Phoenix - I will have a look through the early 70s when I’m next at the BL to see if she appears under another name as some others did but suspect you are right in that case, as the e.g. above clearly shows this as the title. Looking fwd to your book!

[Phoenix]

Looking fwd to your book!

Hopefully you will be one of many, hypnojoo. I suspect that the gestation period of BUNTY AND HER SISTERS will be approximately nine months, but rather more if Ray and I work simultaneously on our history of ADVENTURE, the slow progress thus far on the latter being entirely my fault.

[hypnojoo]

Thought I'd quickly update on my horror hosts research for those interested - thanks to everyone who gave help!

Bones/Skeleton Corner 'returns' in M&J #11 (17 July 1991) and runs for the rest of the year. It's flagged as 'the return of a very old friend' or similar, so I suspect will have to go well back in the Judy run to find the earlier appearances of Skeleton Corner. There are lots of puns and ironic commentary! He pops up intermittently in the following years, running for a few months at a time. At the moment I think his last appearance is in M&J #194 (28 January 1995) although there's no formal goodbye (how rude)

Gypsy Rose's first appearance is 29 January 1977 in Jinty and Lindy, in ‘The Ring of Death’.

Annoyingly, the BL are unable to find their run of June and School Friend (they keep just presenting me with a 1967 Holiday Special), so I don't have the title of the Storyteller's first tale on 30 January 1965. Also no sign of She of the Shadows yet in my random dips into the Judy run, but I live in hope...

Back to London this weekend for more reading!