Comics UK

Of course there were lots of cat-girls and cat-women in American comics over the years, but I can't help being reminded of a short story called 'The Secret of the Egyptian Cat' which appeared in a 1970 issue of The House of Mystery. This featured some of Berni Wrightson's earliest artwork and told the story of an Egyptian priestess who was transformed into a cat by an evil wizard who subjected her to countless torments before she finally turned the tables on her oppressor - changing him into the creature he most resembled.





Nice! - and, in my opinion, a story that would have been completely at home in the pages of Misty!

- Phil Rushton

Apart from the Cat's appearances in Bunty, Bunty Annual and Lucky Charm I thought people might be interested in this edition of the Bunty Picture Library which I just picked up. Does anyone know if the feline freedom fighter starred in any other issues from that series?



- Phil R.

Is this the CAtch the Cat or the other Cat from Giorgio Giorgetti?

Stupid question, I will answer myself: Giorgio's Cat was never involved with Germans!

philcom55 wrote:Apart from the Cat's appearances in Bunty, Bunty Annual and Lucky Charm I thought people might be interested in this edition of the Bunty Picture Library which I just picked up. Does anyone know if the feline freedom fighter starred in any other issues from that series?



- Phil R.

Here is a list of the Bunty Picture Libraries: http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2011/ ... y-library/.

Hmm, it looks like the cover artist forgot The Cat's suction pads.

Hey, how does one post a picture here? I tried but failed and wonder if it was because I was copying the direct link from Photobucket instead of img.

You clicl the Img button on top of the writing window and put up a picture in a place like imageshack or tinypic or similar. Then get the code for forums and introduce it between the [img][img] that you will get when pressing the img picture. Erase de [IMG] that will come with the code you get from imageshack/tinypic and voilá!

I probably made it sound more cmplicated than it is!

I hadn't noticed the missing suction pads - no wonder Ruth was reminded of the other Cat-Girl! Fortunately the interior artist remembered them:



It's interesting to see that there's a later issue of the Bunty Picture Library with the same title; I wonder if that one's a reprint.

- Phil R.

There were definitely some reprints - issue 396, Sam, is a reprint of issue 265, The Sailor Doll. However, the list has this one listed as just The Cat, which is the name of the character rather than the story (for the same reason, The Four Marys and The Comp are listed more than once). 161 should've been listed as The Cat on the Trail of a German Flying Bomb.

Digifiend wrote:There were definitely some reprints - issue 396, Sam, is a reprint of issue 265, The Sailor Doll. However, the list has this one listed as just The Cat, which is the name of the character rather than the story (for the same reason, The Four Marys and The Comp are listed more than once). 161 should've been listed as The Cat on the Trail of a German Flying Bomb.

The later issue 430, is not a reprint of the 161 issue, but is about an Asian girl who has a cat, that helps her when some bad people are out to get her (I can't actually remember the plot exactly, its been a while since I read it.) I don't think, The Cat (Marie) had any other picture story books about her.

A lot of the regular characters had picture story books, sometimes they just used the same title though they were different stories. Such as The Comp having several titles but just being called "The Comp" no subheadings (other times they actually did have different titles; "school on skis", and "girls on film!" are Comp stories as well)

This site: http://library.doeth.net/bunty/ has most of the covers for the series.

Looking through some old copies of June I just came across yet another female 'Cat' character from April 1972. What's more this one seems to bear an astonishing similarity to her DC Thomson namesake. As can be seen in the episode of 'Mark of the Cat' shown below she also wears a tight-fitting black costume and fights Nazis in occupied France during WW2 - the only significant difference being the fact that she appears to be an adult (though the story is seen through the eyes of a young French girl).





Anybody care to speculate on whether this is a case of 'great minds thinking alike'...or downright plagiarism?

- Phil Rushton

That particular Sue Day bus story appears in the 1975 Princess Tina annual, alongside 2 excellent Patty's World.

Is a great story - a TV series based on The Happy Days could be good.

DavidKW wrote:That particular Sue Day bus story appears in the 1975 Princess Tina annual, alongside 2 excellent Patty's World.

Is a great story - a TV series based on The Happy Days could be good.

As long as Fonzie and co don't turn up! However, a lot of the stories from girl's comics would make terrific TV series - Sue Day and Lucky's Living Doll would both be great! I'd watch them.

philcom55 wrote:Looking through some old copies of June I just came across yet another female 'Cat' character from April 1972. What's more this one seems to bear an astonishing similarity to her DC Thomson namesake. As can be seen in the episode of 'Mark of the Cat' shown below she also wears a tight-fitting black costume and fights Nazis in occupied France during WW2 - the only significant difference being the fact that she appears to be an adult (though the story is seen through the eyes of a young French girl).





Anybody care to speculate on whether this is a case of 'great minds thinking alike'...or downright plagiarism?

- Phil Rushton

Yes, I mentioned Mark of the Cat earlier. It may be the same writer; June and Bunty had different publishers, so it is unlikely Bunty was even aware of the existence of this strip. What I find odd is that this Cat - unlike her Bunty counterpart - does not hide her face yet nobody knows her true identity. But who's willing to take bets that the schoolteacher Mamselle Blanche is The Cat? I am!

Sorry Tammyfan, I forgot you'd already mentioned 'Mark of the Cat'. I'm afraid the example I posted is the only episode I own but I'd be very interested to know how the series ended.

- Phil R.

However, a lot of the stories from girl's comics would make terrific TV series

I agree & this alpha male heroine addict will confess, that I've written a few ideas down for TV series based on these strips.

Have jotted a few for "Meet The Days" - new name for The Happy Days to avoid fonz & shark-jumping confusion (always thought that series started to die a slow & painful death when Chachi arrived (aka Scott Baio). The Days show would need to be set in the 1960s suburbia (many were untouched by the "swinging") with Sue acting as on-screen narrator.

As for Lucky's Living Doll - when I first read a strip ideas bagan to ping in my head, I had a brainstrom & 20 episode ideas came out. More have since upon reading more.
I've written it as more like an action-adventure, a bit in the style of the ITC serials or The (uk) Avengers, but set in today's world with some modern influence. In this "Lucky Smith" is a little bit older - car-driving age & working. Tina could easily be computer-generated. I'll explain more on the LLD topic board.

Also think June's "Vanessa From Venus" would make a great Rentaghost meets Bewitched style fantasy comedy (with Candy in support).

"Patty's World" would make a good 70s set drama - in the real not rose-tinted world of Us Deoderant & power cuts.

The concept of "Jane Bond" & "Miss Adventure" are concepts that a lot can be done with.