Possession in British 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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hypnojoo
Posts: 30
Joined: 23 Feb 2018, 09:45

Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by hypnojoo »

I'm doing some writing about possession (supernatural, hypnosis) in British girls' comics at the moment - it's going to focus mostly on Spellbound and Misty (where you will be not-at-all-surprised to hear it appears an awful, awful lot!) but would really like to contextualise this within a longer history. Does anyone know of any particularly memorable story examples from the 50s or 60s (earlier the better) please? Things like the Balloon of Doom (Bunty) but earlier... I'm not able to do British Library trips at the moment and don't have loads of digital copies of the older titles. Very grateful for any help!

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Goof »

This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but possession/hypnosis was a fairly regular theme in ballet stories – evil Svengalis who hypnotise dancers for their own ends, shoes which won’t let the wearer stop dancing and so on. I’m struggling to come up with a really distinctive early example, but I know that Judy’s Sandra Wilson ballet series used this idea once or twice. There was a hypnosis story in the Judy 1967 Annual “Sandra and the Vengeance Ballet” about a man who hypnotises a team of dancers into performing better than they really can, in order to win an audition. A later example in the 1974 Annual involved a plot to hypnotise Sandra into killing another dancer during a Macbeth ballet, using a black cat as the trigger. I’ll have a hunt around, but hopefully others can come up with some better examples.

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Tammyfan »

I can't really help with the 1950s-1960s mark. You might find something if you navigate Girls Comics of Yesterday with keywords "evil object" and "evil influence".

There was a story actually called "Possessed" from Judy. More info here http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2014/12/possessed/

In Bunty's "Witch!" we get hints that Ellie Ross, persecuted by superstitious villagers who think she is descended from the village witch Black Bess, is actually being taken over by the spirit of Black Bess http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2016/ ... itch-1991/.

There have been loads of stories where vengeful/obsessive/evil spirits possess girls through objects or take over after the girl fools with them in some way. "The Power over Patti" (Debbie, http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2019/ ... atti-1978/), "Head of Hate!" (Mandy), "Portrait of Doreen Gray" (Tammy), "The Secret Piano" (Nikki), "The Revenge of Roxanne" (Suzy) and "The Hateful Hands of Heather Smith" (Tracy, Judy) http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2020/ ... mith-1979/ are a few that spring to mind.
Last edited by Tammyfan on 06 Mar 2021, 05:44, edited 3 times in total.

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Tammyfan »

Goof wrote:
05 Mar 2021, 21:05
This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but possession/hypnosis was a fairly regular theme in ballet stories – evil Svengalis who hypnotise dancers for their own ends, shoes which won’t let the wearer stop dancing and so on. I’m struggling to come up with a really distinctive early example, but I know that Judy’s Sandra Wilson ballet series used this idea once or twice. There was a hypnosis story in the Judy 1967 Annual “Sandra and the Vengeance Ballet” about a man who hypnotises a team of dancers into performing better than they really can, in order to win an audition. A later example in the 1974 Annual involved a plot to hypnotise Sandra into killing another dancer during a Macbeth ballet, using a black cat as the trigger. I’ll have a hunt around, but hopefully others can come up with some better examples.
Don't forget "Slave of the Clock" from Tammy. https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2016/0 ... lock-1982/. Princess (second series) also had "The Ghostly Ballerina", where the ghost of a frustrated dancer can make mediocre dancers brilliant - but at a terrible price https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2020/0 ... na-1983-4/

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Tammyfan »

Misty had a sort of possessed story, "Hush, Hush, Sweet Rachel", where Lisa Harvey is overtaken by her previous existence as Rachel Prendergast, a four-year-old who died in mysterious circumstances https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2017/ ... l-1978-79/

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Tammyfan »

Robert Le Mal, the ghost in Tammy's "Nightmare at Grimm Fen", has amazing powers of possession: he can control birds, animals, people and even power lines. I might do an entry on this one when my comics are out of storage. It would be cool for Halloween time.
Last edited by Tammyfan on 06 Mar 2021, 07:39, edited 1 time in total.

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Tammyfan »

One good possession story in Tammy was "Secret of the Skulls", where Prudence Sylvester is up against a woman who has been possessed by the spirit of a witch - not to mention a lot of creepy skulls that have the power to burn things!

Another sort of possession story from Tammy is "The Cat's Eye on Katy", where Katy is under the evil influence of a cat, which in turn is under the evil influence of a vengeful witch doctor.

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Goof »

Another one which may be worth mentioning is "The Strange Ones", about three alien girls who take over a ballet school and its local town. You probably know this, Hypnojoo, from its appearance in Spellbound, but I see that it was originally published in Diana in 1964, which must make it one of the earliest stories of its kind in girls' comics. Article on the story here:

http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2017/ ... ge-ones-2/

Here's another one from 1969 which may be a possibility, but I haven't read it, and don't know whether or not this is really a possession story. Does anybody else know how this story develops?

http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2015/ ... -balloons/

Also, I don't know whether you are intending to include comedy stories in the survey, but if so you may want to mention Mimi the Mesmerist (June and School Friend series December 1965 onwards).

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Tammyfan »

Stories in Tammy that used the subject of possession/evil influence

The Cat's Eye on Katy
Slave of the Clock
Portrait of Doreen Gray
Secret of the Skulls
Back Stab Ballerina
Sit It Out, Sheri
Nightmare at Grimm Fen
What's Wrong with Rhona?
Nina's Nightmare World
Thursday's Child
A Girl Called Midnight (the influence is not evil but makes Midnight act strangely)
Spell of Fog

Stories in Jinty that used the subject of possession/evil influence

The Haunting of Form 2B
Slave of the Mirror
The Slave of Form 3B
Slave of the Bell
Creepy Crawley
Gail's Indian Necklace
Sceptre of the Toltecs
The Mystery of Martine
Spell of the Spinning Wheel
Come into My Parlour
Shadow on the Fen
The Birds (well, possessed birds anyway)
The Venetian Looking Glass

hypnojoo
Posts: 30
Joined: 23 Feb 2018, 09:45

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by hypnojoo »

Tammyfan wrote:
05 Mar 2021, 23:08
Goof wrote:
05 Mar 2021, 21:05
This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but possession/hypnosis was a fairly regular theme in ballet stories – evil Svengalis who hypnotise dancers for their own ends, shoes which won’t let the wearer stop dancing and so on. I’m struggling to come up with a really distinctive early example, but I know that Judy’s Sandra Wilson ballet series used this idea once or twice. There was a hypnosis story in the Judy 1967 Annual “Sandra and the Vengeance Ballet” about a man who hypnotises a team of dancers into performing better than they really can, in order to win an audition. A later example in the 1974 Annual involved a plot to hypnotise Sandra into killing another dancer during a Macbeth ballet, using a black cat as the trigger. I’ll have a hunt around, but hopefully others can come up with some better examples.
Don't forget "Slave of the Clock" from Tammy. https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2016/0 ... lock-1982/. Princess (second series) also had "The Ghostly Ballerina", where the ghost of a frustrated dancer can make mediocre dancers brilliant - but at a terrible price https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2020/0 ... na-1983-4/
Great examples thanks both - I'll def dig into Sandra Wilson. Interesting it's so often linked to dancing - Misty def picks up on this eg The Monkey (#80) although that's not exactly ballet! - and sometimes adds a fairytale vibe, e.g. Danse Macabre (#52) which is basically 'The Red Shoes'...

hypnojoo
Posts: 30
Joined: 23 Feb 2018, 09:45

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by hypnojoo »

Goof wrote:
06 Mar 2021, 15:53
Another one which may be worth mentioning is "The Strange Ones", about three alien girls who take over a ballet school and its local town. You probably know this, Hypnojoo, from its appearance in Spellbound, but I see that it was originally published in Diana in 1964, which must make it one of the earliest stories of its kind in girls' comics. Article on the story here:

http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2017/ ... ge-ones-2/

Here's another one from 1969 which may be a possibility, but I haven't read it, and don't know whether or not this is really a possession story. Does anybody else know how this story develops?

http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2015/ ... -balloons/

Also, I don't know whether you are intending to include comedy stories in the survey, but if so you may want to mention Mimi the Mesmerist (June and School Friend series December 1965 onwards).
Thank you for the dates on Mimi! It's worth mentioning but it's def a different tone and focus.
I don't know the Red Balloon story - will look into that...

hypnojoo
Posts: 30
Joined: 23 Feb 2018, 09:45

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by hypnojoo »

Tammyfan wrote:
08 Mar 2021, 08:15
Stories in Tammy that used the subject of possession/evil influence

The Cat's Eye on Katy
Slave of the Clock
Portrait of Doreen Gray
Secret of the Skulls
Back Stab Ballerina
Sit It Out, Sheri
Nightmare at Grimm Fen
What's Wrong with Rhona?
Nina's Nightmare World
Thursday's Child
A Girl Called Midnight (the influence is not evil but makes Midnight act strangely)
Spell of Fog

Stories in Jinty that used the subject of possession/evil influence

The Haunting of Form 2B
Slave of the Mirror
The Slave of Form 3B
Slave of the Bell
Creepy Crawley
Gail's Indian Necklace
Sceptre of the Toltecs
The Mystery of Martine
Spell of the Spinning Wheel
Come into My Parlour
Shadow on the Fen
The Birds (well, possessed birds anyway)
The Venetian Looking Glass
These lists are all brilliant thank you Tammyfan!

hypnojoo
Posts: 30
Joined: 23 Feb 2018, 09:45

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by hypnojoo »

Thank you all for the suggestions (and sorry for delayed reply, I didn't get any email alerts for some reason).

Been chatting about this on Facebook as well and seems this theme has no real presence in 50s or early 60s; but then seems to take off around mid-1960s, mostly in Diana. But (Interestingly) early instances are more alien/sf in nature at that point. Stories like 'Singing for the Green Stranger' (Diana 1965), where a choir is hypnotised by alien; 'The School Under the Rocket' (Diana 1966), where Sharon is hypnotized by a female alien robot in order to sabotage a space flight; 'The Mysterious Medallion' (Bunty 1967)... 'The Doll of Terror' Diana 1968 has been suggested as first to show a demonic possession.

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Tammyfan »

Another Jinty story to use evil influence was Children of Stepford. Mind you, drugs are used, not hypnotism or possession.

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

Re: Possession in British Girls' Comics

Post by Tammyfan »

Jinty’s Village of Fame featured a hypnotist, I’ve just remembered. Bad guy Mr Grand brings him in when he realises things are not going all his way.

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