Best World War Stories in Girls Comics

[Tammyfan]

I am intrigued by what would be considered the best World War-themed stories in girls' comics. By this I mean both World War I and II, though we see a lot more of the latter than the former in girls' comics. So far, I am thinking of, in no particular order:

The Kids of Camp Courage (Suzy)
The Sentinels (Misty)
Slaves of War Orphan Farm (Tammy)
Catch the Cat! (Bunty)
Detestable Della (Bunty)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Jinty)
Song of the Fir Tree (Jinty)
Wendy at War (Debbie)
The White Mouse (Emma)
Come Home, Kathleen (Bunty)

What other stories do you think deserve to be on this list?

[Goof]

I don’t know about WW1, but there were a heck of a lot of WW2 stories. A few at random:

I think you would have to include Mam’selle X of June and School Friend. I don’t know the dates of the weekly series, but it clocked up a kind of mini-Commando of 14 Picture Libraries. I liked Judy’s “Vicky the Evacuee”, which was a little unusual for the genre in being a comedy. Sandie’s “Dancing to Danger” managed to combine anti-Nazi resistance with ballet. You might also want to include (if only for its sheer persistence) June’s shaggy dog saga of two orphans in Blitzed London “My Name is Nobody”, which ran for 44 episodes. There was also Sally’s “The Silent Shadows”, a wartime Silent Three set in occupied France.

[Tammyfan]

Thanks, Goof.

Yeah, I forgot about Mamselle X. The shaggy dog saga ran for 44 episodes? Wow, it should be included here!

Can anyone think of some from Mandy and more from Judy? So far I am blank.

[Tammyfan]

New List

The Kids of Camp Courage (Suzy)
The Sentinels (Misty)
Slaves of War Orphan Farm (Tammy)
Catch the Cat! (Bunty)
Detestable Della (Bunty)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Jinty)
Song of the Fir Tree (Jinty)
Wendy at War (Debbie)
The White Mouse (Emma)
Come Home, Kathleen (Bunty)
Mam'selle X (June and School Friend)
My Name is Nobody (June)
Dancing to Danger (Sandie)
Vicky the Evacuee (Judy)
The Silent Shadows (Sally)

[Tammyfan]

Another one I recall was "Mark of the Cat" from June. Having not read all of it, I don't know if it is "best" enough to include here, but I'll bring it up. As with Catch the Cat, it has a French Resister in cat costume. However, the Cat is not the main protagonist - that belongs to a French schoolgirl who is also a secret resister - and there is a mystery as to who the Cat is. That's pretty odd, since unlike her Bunty counterpart her costume does not conceal her face in any way. Anyway, my money's on the girl's teacher.

There was also "Petra's Protectors" from Bunty http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2014/ ... rotectors/. Think it would be "best" enough for the list? Anyway, one of its best moments when Petra and the resisters force a bunch of German soldiers to remove their belts, braces and boots, and leave them to walk all the way home in bare feet and holding their trousers up!

[Goof]

Here’s another one that I was trying to remember yesterday.

Between June and October 1960, Princess ran a story called “Nikola the Polish Refugee”. The heroine is a Polish girl, who loses her home and her parents when Germany invades in 1939 - all she has left is her doll. She meets an orphaned boy who is also homeless, and they become involved in fighting their way through the German occupation of Poland to reach the head of the Polish resistance with a message about a wounded pilot, hidden in her doll.

A story of this kind, about the Eastern European experience of the war, is not only unique in the early Princesses, but must be pretty ground-breaking for any girls’ comics story at this time. Classy and sensitive artwork also, I think by Guido Buzzelli. It deserves to be better known.

[Tammyfan]

Thank you, Goof. It sounds an intriguing story.

The premise of carrying a hidden message away under the noses of Nazi soldiers has been used elsewhere too. I hear it was used in a story about a pogo stick, with the girl pogo-sticking the hidden message away!

[Tammyfan]

Here’s another one that I was trying to remember yesterday.

Between June and October 1960, Princess ran a story called “Nikola the Polish Refugee”. The heroine is a Polish girl, who loses her home and her parents when Germany invades in 1939 - all she has left is her doll. She meets an orphaned boy who is also homeless, and they become involved in fighting their way through the German occupation of Poland to reach the head of the Polish resistance with a message about a wounded pilot, hidden in her doll.

A story of this kind, about the Eastern European experience of the war, is not only unique in the early Princesses, but must be pretty ground-breaking for any girls’ comics story at this time. Classy and sensitive artwork also, I think by Guido Buzzelli. It deserves to be better known.

I found some links to some artwork of this story. Here is one http://bdzoom.com/51940/patrimoine/guid ... r-15-1960/ The artwork looks very nice.