Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Discuss all the girls comics that have appeared over the years. Excellent titles like Bunty, Misty, Spellbound, Tammy and June, amongst many others, can all be remembered here.

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philcom55
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by philcom55 »

Yes. In some ways it turns the traditional girls' serial on its head by making everyone BUT the protagonist appear sympathetic. Instead of a saintly heroine beset by evil adversaries we have a tale in which the lead character turns herself into the villain of her own story! While it's undoubtably flawed I must admit that there's something about Stefa's Heart Of Stone that fascinates me as a study of the destructive nature of obsessive self-denial. If Freud had read it I can't help thinking he'd have named a syndrome after Stefa!

Tammyfan
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Tammyfan »

philcom55 wrote:Yes. In some ways it turns the traditional girls' serial on its head by making everyone BUT the protagonist appear sympathetic. Instead of a saintly heroine beset by evil adversaries we have a tale in which the lead character turns herself into the villain of her own story! While it's undoubtably flawed I must admit that there's something about Stefa's Heart Of Stone that fascinates me as a study of the destructive nature of obsessive self-denial. If Freud had read it I can't help thinking he'd have named a syndrome after Stefa!
The way in which it is resolved is brilliant too: first, Stefa gets just what she wants, only to find she doesn't like it one bit; second, showing her that stone is not as impervious as she thinks.

Tammyfan
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Tammyfan »

https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/?s=Heart+of+stone

The link to the Jinty blog entry on Stefa's Heart of Stone.

Phoenix
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Phoenix »

I've had a busy, and fairly fruitful, afternoon browsing the stock in every secondhand bookshop in Liverpool. The reason I'm mentioning this on this thread is that one of the five books I bought along the way is Alwyn and Brinley Rees's Celtic Heritage : Ancient Tradition In Ireland and Wales, published by Thames and Hudson. Regrettably there is no reference in the index to either Hengist or Vortigern, the individuals that Kashgar flagged up recently. Not to worry, tomorrow I might unearth the book I've already got. I also got Scottish Traditional Tales, a doorstop of a volume, The Broadside Ballad by Leslie Shepard, a Thornton Burgess story Mother West Wind ''How'' Stories, and Josephine Elder's Cherry Tree Perch, the second novel in her Annis Best trilogy. I have the other two. Oh, and I also paid Lois's ballet fees for the Summer Term. It all made a refreshing change from the serials listing for Diana (I've reached November 1965) and Adventure (I've reached April 1941) that I was compiling this morning. For the record I bought three of them from Michael at Henry Bohn Books in London Road, the other two from Brian and Alwyn at Kernaghan Books in the Bluecoat Chambers. I don't think Gerard at Reid's Of Liverpool would even buy in novels for girls. He certainly didn't have any, and didn't seem to care either way.

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philcom55
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by philcom55 »

Tammyfan wrote:https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/?s=Heart+of+stone

The link to the Jinty blog entry on Stefa's Heart of Stone.
That's an excellent account of the serial Tammyfan (in fact the whole site is a remarkable resource: I wish there was something similar for every British comic. Comixminx and Mistyfan really deserve to be congratulated for all the hard work they've put into it). I can certainly understand why Stefa's story struck a chord with so many readers. It actually reminds me of Hans Andersen's 'Snow Queen' which had a similar effect on me at an early age. Maybe young people are particularly sensitive to the way in which Stefa/Kay develop hearts of stone or ice as it reminds them of how pride and selfishness periodically cause most children to rebuff those who love them most - often leading to a spiral of unhappiness which gets deeper the longer it lasts. Fortunately such sulking fits rarely last more than an hour or so in the very young, but it is a common human trait that some people never outgrow.
Last edited by philcom55 on 07 May 2017, 12:03, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Phoenix »

Unless I'm sadly mistaken, I think Tammyfan, Mistyfan and Briony are one and the same, or perhaps that should be three and the same. :)
Last edited by Phoenix on 06 May 2017, 08:10, edited 1 time in total.

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philcom55
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by philcom55 »

Thanks Phoenix. I knew Briony was Tammyfan but I didn't realize she was Mistyfan as well! :shock:

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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by comixminx »

philcom55 wrote:Thanks Phoenix. I knew Briony was Tammyfan but I didn't realize she was Mistyfan as well! :shock:
That is proof that your glowing praise was sincere Phil! :D Not that it wouldn't be of course.
jintycomic.wordpress.com/ Excellent and weird stories from the past - with amazing art to boot.

Tammyfan
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Tammyfan »

Perhaps Princess is best remembered for "Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit", a photo story that still sticks with people and is remembered fondly. This is quite unusual for a photo story; usually they aren't well remembered and get little discussion in comicdom.

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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Phoenix »

Tammyfan wrote:Perhaps Princess is best remembered for "Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit", a photo story that still sticks with people and is remembered fondly.
It wasn't very good though, was it? I do think, however, that it could have been more acceptable had it been drawn.

Tammyfan
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Tammyfan »

Phoenix wrote:
Tammyfan wrote:Perhaps Princess is best remembered for "Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit", a photo story that still sticks with people and is remembered fondly.
It wasn't very good though, was it? I do think, however, that it could have been more acceptable had it been drawn.
To me, photo stories always look exactly what they are - posed.

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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Phoenix »

Tammyfan wrote:To me, photo stories always look exactly what they are - posed.
Offhand I can't remember exactly when DCT succumbed, but I think the first ones were trialled in Debbie.

Tammyfan
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Tammyfan »

Phoenix wrote:
Tammyfan wrote:To me, photo stories always look exactly what they are - posed.
Offhand I can't remember exactly when DCT succumbed, but I think the first ones were trialled in Debbie.
Yes, I think they were trialled in Debbie. Suzy also used photo stories, such as "The Strange Story of the Demon's Cradle". They really took off in Bunty during the 1990s, especially "Luv, Lisa".

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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Phoenix »

Oddly enough, for all that it was a photo story, Luv, Lisa was one of my favourites in Bunty.

Tammyfan
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Re: Reprinted stories in Princess Mk.2

Post by Tammyfan »

Phoenix wrote:Oddly enough, for all that it was a photo story, Luv, Lisa was one of my favourites in Bunty.
Yes, some photo stories are fondly remembered.

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