Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

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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matrix
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Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by matrix »

I know some of these have been discussed before, but I thought it would be interesting to see how many there are under one heading.

"The Girl Who Knew Everything" strip, ran in "Princess" for about four months in the mid sixties, I love the way the artist has included the spaceships in the top two captions very simple but effective!

It reminds me of one of my favourite programmes "The Invaders" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOLGrXOtuwQ

In contrast the the very colourful "Alice in Spaceland" ran in "Princess" a couple of years later, with "Super Girl Sandra" in "Princess Tina" from 1969 to the end of 1970, the strip was also mentioned in the "Princess Tina" post by Phil.

I know they could never compete with a lot of the boys sci-fi comic strips of the time but at least they offered up something which I think worked quite well.

Would anyone like to comment further on this, or add any more samples?
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felneymike
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by felneymike »

Schoolgirl's Picture Library had a series of stories about a girl who went off adventuring in space. I can't remember if she was from the 1960's and had been taken off by aliens, or if it was just set in the future. I'll have a better look when I get home.

Jinty had many sci-fi stories. One was called "The Human Zoo", and was about aliens collecting "samples" of all the creatures from earth, including humans, and keeping them in a zoo for entertainment. The actions of the desperate humans (for instance, smashing up robots which stopped them from eating 'too much') were always interpreted as barbaric by the aliens.

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peace355
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by peace355 »

Well there were plenty of stories with aliens coming to earth. Such as Ten against the Tryptons; where aliens arrive and imprison a school. But if you’re looking more for stories set in space there is:

(Bunty) The Flights of Flopear drawn by Robert Robertson MacGillivray, where a girl, Tessa, travelled around planets in a sentient bunny shaped spaceship, it had a bit of a doctor who vibe going on.

(Judy) Lost on the Planet of Fear, set in the future two siblings are trapped on a planet that had been colonised by earth and are looking for the parents who have been taken prisoner.
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Tammyfan
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by Tammyfan »

Tammy
'ET Estate', 1983. This was written by Jake Adams and illustrated by Guy Peeters. Keats Estate is renamed ET Estate after it is hit by a meteor shower. Jenny Holmes finds out this meteor shower is in fact an alien invasion, but nobody believes her.
'The Clock and Cluny Jones', 1973, written by Bill Harrington and drawn by John Armstrong. A grandfather clock transports bully Cluny Jones into a parallel world where she becomes the bullied.
'C.L.A.R.A.,' 1977 -where a computer wreaks havoc on a school.
'The Loneliest Girl in the World,' 1980 - 'The Loneliest Girl in the World' where Karen Chalmers is the only survivor of a world holocaust. I believe that last one was originally written for Misty but carried on in the merger.
'I'm Her - She's Me!', 1984 - Nice Paula Holmes and nasty Natalie Peters swap bodies. This story was left unfinished by Tammy's abrupt disappearance.
'Lights out for Lucinda', 1976 - Lucinda is prisoner in a strange town where people have been brainwashed into thinking it is still WWII.

Jinty was the flagship for SF in girls' comics. Her classic SF stories included:

The Human Zoo (already mentioned)
Land of No Tears - Lame Cassy Shaw is transported to a future world where girls with things wrong with them are treated like criminals.
The Robot Who Cried - KT5 is a robot built in human form. The trouble is, she has human emotions as well.
Fran of the Floods - warmer than usual temperatures cause worldwide flooding.
The Forbidden Garden - Laika grows a flower for her dying sister in a world where plants don't grow because mankind has polluted the earth.
Worlds Apart - six girls are knocked out by a strange gas and find themselves in their dream worlds that are by turn ruled by: greed, sportsmania, vanity, crime, intellectualism and fear.
Girl in a Bubble - the insane Miss Vaal keeps Helen locked in a plastic bubble prison.
Battle of the Wills - a reluctant ballerina orders a scientist to clone her so she can pursue gymnastics while the clone does the ballet.
Children of Stepford - a perfection-obsessed headmistress drugs her school into perfection.

And Misty, being a spooky comic, naturally had plenty of SF serials and short stories. Among them:

The Sentinels - twin tower blocks connect our world to a parallel world where the Nazis conquered Britain in 1940.
The Body Snatchers - Dr Bracken plans to take over the world by replacing people with plant clones.
The Four Faces of Eve - a surgeon creates a modern-day Frankenstein's monster out of a young girl.
The Black Widow - Mrs Webb unleashes killer spiders on Britain. She returns in a sequel, 'Spider Woman' in the Tammy & Misty merger.
I could list the short stories as well, but that would take time.
Last edited by Tammyfan on 31 Oct 2012, 03:13, edited 2 times in total.

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philcom55
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by philcom55 »

Of course, there were also The Supercats in Spellbound whose adventures were so popular that they had their own club and club-page in that comic. What's more, they also appeared in full colour in several Diana Annuals throughout the 1970s - albeit rather oddly renamed the 'Fabulous Four'. The artwork by Jorge B. Galvez (possibly helped, on occasion, by his better-known cousin Enrique Romero) was stylish and attractive - though, in my humble opinion, his frequent use of rather sexual poses could seem a little inappropriate in a comic aimed at a mainly female audience.

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- Phil Rushton

Tammyfan
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by Tammyfan »

I see we're going to have a lot of fun with this thread! :lol:

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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by felneymike »

There was a comedy about alien vistors in Bunty in the 90's, where they keep misunderstanding things. For instance they think the train taking them on holiday is the hotel itself - admiring the idea of a moving hotel, so you can see different views, but annoyed at having to share with so many strangers!

There was another one at around the same time (most of my collection is from 93-94) where a girl's mum gets reversed back to her daughter's age. She impresses her teachers with her writing and cookery skills, but is hopeless with computers! Also a nosy neighbour keeps prying and wondering why "her cousin" is being made to do so much house work

Tammyfan
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by Tammyfan »

felneymike wrote:There was a comedy about alien vistors in Bunty in the 90's, where they keep misunderstanding things. For instance they think the train taking them on holiday is the hotel itself - admiring the idea of a moving hotel, so you can see different views, but annoyed at having to share with so many strangers!

There was another one at around the same time (most of my collection is from 93-94) where a girl's mum gets reversed back to her daughter's age. She impresses her teachers with her writing and cookery skills, but is hopeless with computers! Also a nosy neighbour keeps prying and wondering why "her cousin" is being made to do so much house work


That second one is "My School Chum Mum".

Bunty also had "Invisible Isla" who becomes invisible after mistakenly drinking a formula in her dad's lab. Isla was so popular that she drinks the same formula and becomes invisible again - and she does it twice in a Bunty picture book library number as well! Strips with girls who become invisible, shrink, float or have other bizarre things happening to them after drinking or inhaling concoctions in someone's lab were very popular. Creations in someone's lab could also have hilarious results such as Judy's "Superbabe" - a baby with super strength!

Tammyfan
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by Tammyfan »

We mustn't forget June's Vanessa from Venus. Forget about Venus being a hellish world covered in sulphuric acid clouds and runaway greenhouse effects - Vanessa hails from a beautiful planet and can cast spells with a twirl of her finger.

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philcom55
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by philcom55 »

Speaking of girls who found themselves inadvertently reduced in size one shouldn't forget Sally's 'Tiny Tania in Space' who escaped from a brutal foster father only to be shrunk and kidnapped by a strange man in a flying saucer. Talk about going from the frying pan to the fire...! (At least he didn't say 'Owzabout that then!' :shock: )

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In fact, most of the strips in Sally had a Sci-Fi/Fantasy theme. Apart from the various super-heroines like Cat Girl and Justine there was also 'The Girl from Tomorrow' who combined super powers with time travel. Here's her first appearance from Sally no.1 with art by Comos (who also drew Tiny Tania).

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And let's not forget the supposedly comic relief provided by 'Thunk - the funny Thing from Outer Space' (though I must admit to being tempted!). :-/

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(Incidentally the subject of time travel turned up so frequently in British girls' comics - either by scientific or mystical means - that it really deserves a thread all of its own!)

- Phil Rushton

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RuthB
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by RuthB »

Comos also did a comic about a robot girl that start to have feelings of her own and cries... but i don't remember in which magazine was published there...

matrix
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by matrix »

Thankyou for those examples, a nice variety, they were obviously very popular with readers as they were in comics for such a long time. Did Misty have any?

There was another example in "Princess" called, "The Mysterious visitors" I have a copy of one somewhere.

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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by felneymike »

Comos also did a comic about a robot girl that start to have feelings of her own and cries... but i don't remember in which magazine was published there...
I'm sure I've seen something like that in Jinty, though I only have about 12 issues!

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Robbie Moubert
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by Robbie Moubert »

Lady Penelope had a UK version of Gold Key's Space Family Robinson drawn by John M. Burns.

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philcom55
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Re: Sci-Fi strips in girls comics

Post by philcom55 »

Another interesting SF strip was 'The Space Girls' which must have been intended as the star attraction of Fleetway's Tina when that comic was launched in 1967. Printed in full-colour and drawn by 'Dan Dare' artist Keith Watson this tale of three Space Age air-hostesses (clearly nobody expected equal job opportunities for women to make much progress in those days!) seemed to satisfy no-one. According to Watson the editors took an instant dislike to his work, arranging for Geoff Campion to replace him at the earliest possible opportunity. Thereafter the series limped along with an increasing lack of direction until it was finally scrubbed altogether when Tina merged with Princess.

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- Phil Rushton

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