Looking for Bunty's The Imposter!

[Tammyfan]

This story ran in Jinty from 4 September 1976 to 1 January 1977. Art by Ken Houghton.

[Tammyfan]

It happened at one point in Tammy's Molly Mills as well. A look-alike lady took Molly's place while she was in hospital. As you can see, it gave bully butler Pickering a bit of a surprise. Art by Tony Thewenetti. I have no information as to whether anything similar happened in Judy's Wee Slavey.

[Tammyfan]

A real twist on the stolen identity theme is people switching bodies, and there have been those stories as well. One is Tammy's I'm Her - She's Me!, where nice Paula Holmes and nasty Natalie Peters swap bodies. Worse, Natalie will soon face delinquent centre, and Paula will be going in her place (in Natalie's body) unless she can prove who she is. But how can she do that when she is occupying someone else's body - and it is someone who does not want to switch back with her?

Paula manages to convince one person before Tammy abruptly disappeared. So we never found out how Paula and Natalie got their bodies back.

There was another body-swapping story, Bodyhopping, in Girl. Zoe has always envied rich girl Miranda. So when an accident leaves her in Miranda's body (and, presumably, Miranda in Zoe's body, but that body remains comatose, so we don't know for sure) she is looking forward to living a rich life as Miranda. But then Zoe finds out that a rich life and a happy life can be two different things....

[Tammyfan]

I must admit that the idea of losing one's identity seems to tap into a really primeval sense of fear - something that is reflected in countless folk tales about changelings and doppelgängers.
Phil R.

There have been loads of doppelgänger/changeling stories in girls' comics too. Bunty, Judy and M&J all had doppelgänger stories called (what else?) Double Trouble. Suzy had Sister of Hate, Judy had Image of Iris, and the picture libraries had no shortage of doppelgänger stories. Jinty had The Changeling, where a girl steals another girl's identity to escape her horrible uncle. The changeling theme also cropped up in Looking for Lyn (Bunty), where nasty Jenna Archer runs away from a children's home and pretends to be Lyn Smith, the long-lost granddaughter of a rich couple. She comes unstuck when Matron traces the real Lyn.

[philcom55]

Another notable variation on the theme is the 1983 Bunty series 'The Evil of Emily', where the murderous imposter Emily actually makes Hetty seem like a goody two-shoes, while the unfortunate heroine Kate has to deal with the added frustration of being struck dumb. DC Thomson certainly knew how to pile on the melodrama! (Art by John Woods)







- Phil Rushton

[Tammyfan]

I would not be surprised if the accident brought Kate's voice back.

Is the artist John Woods?

[philcom55]

It sure looks like Woods to me.

Kate does temporarily recover her voice - but she loses it again when crafty Emily manages to poison her!

- Phil R.

[Tammyfan]

Do you know how Kate exposes Emily?

[philcom55]

Believe it or not things actually get much worse before Kate gets her happy ending and Emily is undone by her own scheming. Here's the final episode:







- Phil Rushton

[Tammyfan]

Philcom: Thanks! I notice first episode you put up in April and the final one was in July. It must have been really popular to last that long.

I wonder what other stories had girls swapping with their servants or disguising themselves as servants? I have mentioned Sarah below Stairs already. Suzy also had one. I don't remember the title, but it had a girl becoming a servant in order to find a lost will that will restore her family's rightful inheritance from her horrible uncle (The Secret Servant from Bunty had the same theme). Mandy had The Secret Scholar, where a girl becomes a skivvy at a school in order to secretly cram what education she can get to pass a scholarship.

[gyorgy58]

Hi! I'm new. This Impostor is my favourite. Can You add post another parts of it? Please! I love maid stories. I read lady2maid.blogspot.com site stories. Can you give me ideas on where to read similar stories or watch similar comics? The Impostor give me ideas to write similar stories. I try publish somewhere if ready. Thanks for reading and answering. Sorry for the mistakes, but English is not my native language.

[gyorgy58]

I add a post, but I wrote it to you first Tammyfan. Thanks in advance for answering.

[Tammyfan]

I have three episodes of the story. I am no longer able to post scans here, but I could send them to you privately.

[gyorgy58]

I have three episodes of the story. I am no longer able to post scans here, but I could send them to you privately.

Thank You!

[Tammyfan]

Other "maid" stories include the long-standing Molly Mills from Tammy (10 years plus "Old Friends" appearances in 1982), Wee Slavey from Judy, and Hard Days for Hilda from Lindy. I can provide some scans of Hilda. There is also the cartoon strip "Sadie-in-Waiting" from Princess 2/Tammy.