The Bubble Ballerinas

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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Goof
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Joined: 15 May 2018, 19:43

Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by Goof »

Tammyfan wrote:Ana's ballet stories included "Cindy of Swan Lake" (Tammy), which was very popular with readers, and "Blind Ballerina" (Jinty).
She also did a couple of ballet-related picture libraries (published in the same month, oddly): Judy 271 "Unfair to Favourites" and Bunty 271 "The Dances of Donna Dean".

The Bunty story involves a kind of Bella of the ballet - a talented child with brutally abusive guardians - who is rescued by a ballet student who has failed as a performer herself. The ex-student, lacking any purpose in life after her failure, drifts into teaching ballet to a small group of children including Donna, and in helping her to success finds a new vocation for herself as a teacher. It's a good story, and brilliantly drawn.

Tammyfan
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Joined: 23 Aug 2012, 10:41

Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by Tammyfan »

Ana also took over from Rodney Sutton as the Lisa the Lonely Ballerina artist.

Tammyfan
Posts: 1981
Joined: 23 Aug 2012, 10:41

Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by Tammyfan »

Ana also drew a Bunty PSL called "The Bravest of Them All", which was about a Dutch family posing as Nazi collaborators in order to conduct secret resistance work against them. Unfortunately this turns the whole town against them and when the Liberation comes they are thrown against the wall to be shot as traitors. Luckily the Allies put the townsfolk straight in the nick of time.

Goof
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Joined: 15 May 2018, 19:43

Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by Goof »

I didn’t know the stories she did covered such a wide range. Most of her PSLs that I’ve seen are dance or sport related. One in a very different vein is the rather clunkily-titled “Jane at St A’s” (Debbie 143), a story of a cruel stepfather who controls his wife and child by psychological bullying rather overt violence. It’s a story that tests the artist’s ability to convey a wide range of feelings and reactions through facial expression rather than gesture or movement. Not all girls' comic artists do this well – some can’t do it at all. Ana Rodriguez does it very well in this story.

Tammyfan
Posts: 1981
Joined: 23 Aug 2012, 10:41

Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by Tammyfan »

Goof wrote:I didn’t know the stories she did covered such a wide range. Most of her PSLs that I’ve seen are dance or sport related. One in a very different vein is the rather clunkily-titled “Jane at St A’s” (Debbie 143), a story of a cruel stepfather who controls his wife and child by psychological bullying rather overt violence. It’s a story that tests the artist’s ability to convey a wide range of feelings and reactions through facial expression rather than gesture or movement. Not all girls' comic artists do this well – some can’t do it at all. Ana Rodriguez does it very well in this story.
Ana also drew Jinty's Make-Believe Mandy, Tricia's Tragedy (both of which deal with psychological bullying), The Big Cat, Jackie's Two Lives and For Peter's Sake! And Blind Ballerina.
https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... gedy-1975/
https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... andy-1974/
https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2014/1 ... s-1974-75/
https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2014/0 ... sake-1976/
Last edited by Tammyfan on 11 Aug 2018, 11:52, edited 1 time in total.

Goof
Posts: 208
Joined: 15 May 2018, 19:43

Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by Goof »

Thank you for the links, Tammyfan! I was particularly struck by the artwork for the escape scene in Make-Believe Mandy. Hopefully Rebellion will manage to reprint at least one of these stories. She's an underrated artist.

comixminx
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Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by comixminx »

Tammyfan wrote:
peace355 wrote:Thanks for that Tammyfan. Interesting story though it unfortunately seems to have one of those narratives of the fat person being ugly and mean and all the heroes are "pretty" girls
The fat person is the villain though. By the way, the artist looks like Ron Smith.
I don't think the fact that the fat person is the villain makes it better! I agree with Peace, it is an unfortunate and rather prejudiced way of doing a story.
jintycomic.wordpress.com/ Excellent and weird stories from the past - with amazing art to boot.

tonyf33
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Joined: 18 Apr 2018, 18:00

Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by tonyf33 »

If you are a fan of girls comics there are several features in Issue 1 of ComicScene UK on the subject. Not many copies left of this issue though so best order it at www.comicscene.tictail.com if you want a copy!

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colcool007
Mr Valeera
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Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by colcool007 »

And there are quite a few girls annuals on sale at the Mart this weekend going back to the 1950s.
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

Phoenix
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Re: The Bubble Ballerinas

Post by Phoenix »

The Bubble Ballerinas ended in BUNTY 839 (February 9 1974).

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