Unhappy Families

[peace355]

Here's example from Mandy #1040 (pretty sure it was reprinted in Bunty or M&J at some stage too)

[Tammyfan]

Peacecom: thanks for that. I wonder how it ended?

[Marionette]

That's great. It's weird on several different levels at the same time. I'd love to see more of it.

I wonder if it was intended as a dig at Tammy? The story within the story certainly seems to be a Tammy archetype. I mean I know the Cinderella type wasn't exclusive to Tammy, but it was what the comic was best known for. When did Sad Sarah appear?

[felneymike]

"Daaad, do you think next time you could draw a character who is a billionaire and always giving out her money freely? Just an idea..."

[Marionette]

Hmm. A quick check puts that at 1986, well after Tammy had gone to the great comic shop in the sky. Its not impossible that it was the inspiration for the story, but it would have been considerably more pointed if it had appeared ten years earlier.

[Tammyfan]

That's great. It's weird on several different levels at the same time. I'd love to see more of it.

I wonder if it was intended as a dig at Tammy? The story within the story certainly seems to be a Tammy archetype. I mean I know the Cinderella type wasn't exclusive to Tammy, but it was what the comic was best known for. When did Sad Sarah appear?

It was probably a dig at the whole concept itself. Cinderella and slave stories abounded in the DCT titles.

[Tammyfan]

"Daaad, do you think next time you could draw a character who is a billionaire and always giving out her money freely? Just an idea..."

Tammy did run a story that was a bit like that: "A Million Pounds to Give Away".

Mandy could poke fun at herself and comic books. In Picture-Book Polly, Polly is a fan of the comic book Candy (no prizes for spotting what that rhymes with) and tries to improve herself by copying the strip characters in Candy. Naturally, all she does is get herself into scrapes.

[Phoenix]

For the record, The Double Life Of Sad Sarah ran in Mandy 1033 (Nov. 1 1986) - 1047 (Feb. 7 1987).

[Tammyfan]

For the record, The Double Life Of Sad Sarah ran in Mandy 1033 (Nov. 1 1986) - 1047 (Feb. 7 1987).

Phoenix: thanks for that! Are you able to give us an idea of how it ended, please? I presume it ended when the cartoonist ended "Sad Sarah" (it had to happen sometime). But Mandy probably had him start off on another strip that causes another cartoon counterpart to materialise in his house....

[Phoenix]

Phoenix: thanks for that! Are you able to give us an idea of how it ended, please?

Unfortunately, not at this time. I'm currently very busy completing a project, which may overall take the best part of a couple of months. I also have a couple of visits to London scheduled. I doubt whether I will be posting much on any topic on comicsuk during that time. In any case, as you will recall, my girls' story papers are just not accessible enough. If you are in a great hurry to find out, 30th Century Comics in Putney have most of the issues in the run. According to their newsletter that I received this morning, they have just put up for sale a load of issues of Mandy between 1986 and 1989. I've already bought fourteen from 1989, which just leaves me a dozen to obtain. I'm only looking for thirteen between the beginning of 1986 and the end of 1988, so I'm not bothering with those years at the moment.

[Tammyfan]

Sometimes girls put up with ill-treatment from their guardians because they have been tricked into it with lies and/or false promises, as this example from Tracy shows. But eventually the truth will out, and in this episode it is starting to do so. Art by Geoff Jones.

Hmm, you'd think some heckler in the audience would shout, "Bet it's somebody dressed in a suit!"

[Tammyfan]

Some guardians are so nasty they are capable of causing nasty accidents, such as Aunt Edit here from Lisa the Lonely Ballerina (Debbie). Art by Geoff Jones. It turns out that Lisa's father is still alive, but he cannot claim her from Aunt Edith because he is on the run from the law. That doesn't stop him helping Lisa in whatever way he can.

[Tammyfan]

Here is another wicked stepmother, from Tracy. But it's unusual in that the stepmother is caught in the first episode. When welfare services remove Sally from her stepmother and put her in a children's home, Sally discovers her birth mother, but is not sure about approaching her.

[peace355]

There was also some psychological abuse where relatives tried to drive the heroine crazy so they could inherit all her money. Like in Judy's "Malicious Molly" and Mandy's "The Jealousy of Jemma".

As for "The Double Life Of Sad Sarah" I remember reading it years ago but I currently only own two issues of the story and I don't remember how it ended, I think it may have had something to do with the father ending Sarah's comic strip.

[Tammyfan]

There was also some psychological abuse where relatives tried to drive the heroine crazy so they could inherit all her money. Like in Judy's "Malicious Molly" and Mandy's "The Jealousy of Jemma".

As for "The Double Life Of Sad Sarah" I remember reading it years ago but I currently only own two issues of the story and I don't remember how it ended, I think it may have had something to do with the father ending Sarah's comic strip.

I already guessed that it must have had something to do with Dad ending Sad Sarah. I just hope fans didn't demand she return for a sequel, a la Bella Barlow!