Tammy 31 March 1979

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Nurse Grudge (artist Tony Coleman)

The Outcast of Oakbridge (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

Thursday’s Child (artist Juan Solé, writer Pat Mills) – final episode

Nina’s Nightmare World (artist Mario Capaldi)

Edie the Ed’s Niece (artist Joe Collins)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Molly Mills and the Portrait Painter (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – final episode

Musical Message (artist John Johnston) – Strange Story

Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)

A Girl Called Steve (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

On the cover, the Cover Girls face a school test, but there is a question. If the Cover Girl with pigtails is the younger of the two, why is she taking the same test as her older sister? 

This week, we are informed that “Thursday’s Child” is coming to “a dramatic end”, and it certainly delivers on that – the evil flag tries to drown Thursday in the canal before Julie comes to the rescue. Following this, Thursday regains the use of her legs, the flag washes up just where she wants it – the council dump, where it is swiftly destroyed – and Julie vanishes, but to exactly where or when in the future in the wake of her time-meddling remains to be seen. Next week, we see the return of Bella, and there is another new story, “Katrina and Khan”, drawn by Jordi Franch.

It’s part 2 of “Nina’s Nightmare World”, an evil object story where Nina West falls under the power of an evil locket she inherited from her late great cousin Eva. This week, she gets Eva’s diary as well, which is giving her information on what’s going on – but only in stages, as each nightmare event unfolds. 

Nurse Grudge continues her revenge on the hospital staff for her father’s dismissal, but by the end of the episode, her secret is in danger of being discovered.

“The Outcast of Oakbridge” features netball. Ella Hickey doesn’t think she’s good enough at the sport, but the school thinks she’s just putting it on, and the snobs at the posh school where her mum works are making things worse.

Bessie is annoyed that a hockey match has come between her and some fruit she pilfered, which leads to trouble on the pitch. Wee Sue thinks Miss Bigger is going to quit her job. Molly’s story ends with Pickering coming to her rescue when she’s wrongly accused of vandalising Lady Stanton’s portrait. Of course, it turns out he was only doing it for himself, and things are soon back to normal at Stanton Hall. 

“A Girl Called Steve” is back home after her adventures in Clambourne, where she was up against greedy schemers, a legendary monster hoax, terrifying caverns and superstitious locals. But she soon finds it’s not the end of her adventures. Now she’s embroiled in the mystery of the haunted tram. 

In the Strange Story, Sandra Williams enrols at a music school, but when she arrives, she finds that her enrolment at the school doesn’t even exist and the school is in danger of closing down. What’s going on? Added to that, a mysterious white kitten keeps appearing and disappearing – like a ghost. 

Tammy 24 March 1979

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Nurse Grudge (artist Tony Coleman)

The Outcast of Oakbridge (artist Giorgio Giorgetti) 

Thursday’s Child (artist Juan Solé, writer Pat Mills) 

Nina’s Nightmare World (artist Mario Capaldi) – first episode

Edie the Ed’s Niece (artist Joe Collins)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Molly Mills and the Portrait Painter (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) 

Happy’s Haunted House (artist Juliana Buch) – Strange Story

Wee Sue (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)

A Girl Called Steve (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

Tuck-in with Tammy – feature 

A common gag in the Tammy Cover Girls run was an in-cover showing a follow-up gag to the one that appears on the cover. This is one such cover. 

The Outcast of Oakbridge has a talent for netball, but training up to beat the snooty Oakbridge girls could be awkward because of her mother’s job at the school. This week, she gets help in secret training, but now she’s in danger of being caught.

Nurse Grudge has a narrow escape, but the escapade has alerted the hospital that one of the nurses is making trouble, which is making things too risky. Despite this, Nurse Grudge decides to continue her vendetta, but will acting more cautiously be enough to keep her from being caught? 

We have a new story, “Nina’s Nightmare World”. Nina West inherits a locket from her cousin Eva, who had a disturbing change of personality. It soon becomes clear what caused it, as from the moment Nina touches the locket, she finds herself heading in the same direction.

“Thursday’s Child” is on its penultimate episode. Thursday discovers the truth about the evil flag (it was cursed by a Voodoo chief in revenge for being killed by Thursday’s great-grandfather), but when she gets home, its evil escalates. It forces a man to almost saw his own hand off – gross! – and then the Voodoo chief starts haunting Thursday’s dreams. These incidents have Thursday’s time-travelling daughter, Julie, realise that she must help to destroy the flag although there could be a cost to herself. Destroying the flag will return Julie to her own time, but it may cast her into a future of unknowns that may range from her becoming paralysed again to never existing at all. 

“A Girl Called Steve” climaxes, but it’s not the end of the story. The adventures in Clambourne conclude, but we are told that more adventures will be waiting upon Steve’s return home. 

The Molly Mills story also reaches its climax. Fed up with how her portrait has gotten her into so much trouble with Lady Stanton, Molly slips into the art gallery to destroy it – only to find out someone else had the same idea about doing the same to Lady Stanton’s. And Molly is getting the blame for the vandalism. 

Bessie Bunter plays detective, but she soon finds she should have stuck to detecting make-believe crime instead of detecting ways to pilfer food from the kitchen. 

Wee Sue sends for the chimney sweep, but his wife gets the message wrong. The sweep cleans Miss Bigger’s chimney by mistake. Sue is facing awesome trouble over this mix-up that was not even her fault – unless something can save her, and quick! 

In this week’s Strange Story, two girls go into a haunted house at a funfair. It sure lives up to its money’s worth – in more ways than one. 

Tammy 17 March 1979

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Nurse Grudge (artist Tony Coleman)

The Outcast of Oakbridge (artist Giorgio Giorgetti) – first episode

The Goodbye Picture Show (artist Bob Harvey) – Strange Story

A Girl Called Steve (artist Diane Gabbot(t))

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Molly Mills and the Portrait Painter (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) 

My Terrible Twin (Juliana Buch) – final episode

Edie the Ed’s Niece (artist Joe Collins)

Wee Sue (artist Hugh Thornton-Jones)

Thursday’s Child (artist Juan Solé, writer Pat Mills) 

Edie’s Hobbyhorse: Get Snap Happy!

Nurse Grudge has taken over the lead spot in Tammy, and this week, the story goes up a notch on excitement and risk factor. Greta breaks into a ward to get more revenge on one of the staff who got her father dismissed, but she’s in danger of being caught by the night duty nurse.

We have a new story, “The Outcast of Oakbridge”, featuring classism, snobbery, bullying and netball.

“My Terrible Twin” comes to one of the most impressive conclusions ever seen in girls’ comics. Lindy makes the ultimate redemption – she sacrifices herself by taking the blame for something she did not do to save a friend who got wrongly accused, at the cost of arrest and losing her parole. The ending leaves us dangling on whether Lindy will be sent back to the remand home. Next week, we see the start of one of Tammy’s best-remembered but regrettably short-lived ‘evil object’ stories, “Nina’s Nightmare World”.

In “Thursday’s Child”, Julie finally explains why she hates Thursday but won’t reveal the secret of the evil flag. But she made one mistake: she told Thursday the title of the library book where she found the information about the flag. Now Thursday knows where to look, she sneaks off to the library and finds the book herself. Upon reading it, everything becomes crystal clear to her. Next week, we find out what she’s discovered.

“A Girl Called Steve” reaches its climax as well. A former enemy, Tony Cragman, feels all the scheming against Steve (Stephanie) and her father is getting too much for him and decides to confess all and help her. But Steve soon discovers Tony is taking her to those dreaded caves where the schemers have discovered something that they don’t want Steve’s archaeological father to find. Has he tricked her, or is he genuinely trying to help? Whatever it is, Steve sure doesn’t want to go to those caves.

The portrait painter has really caused problems for Molly after choosing to paint her portrait as well as Lady Stanton’s. It’s put Lady Stanton’s nose badly out of joint, and things get even worse when Molly’s portrait steals the show at an exhibition. 

Bessie Bunter tries to be helpful, but that’s when she’s at her worst – especially when she tries to pilfer food at the same time. Meanwhile, Sue helps Miss Bigger with a birthday present for the Head’s niece.

There’s been a big run of Bob Harvey artwork in the Strange Stories over the past few months, and this one, about a disused cinema where a man returns from the grave to give his final show, is no exception. 

Tammy 13 February 1982 – Valentine’s Day issue

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Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)

Danger Dog (artist Julio Bosch)

Pam of Pond Hill (artist Bob Harvey, writer Jay Over)

The Shadow of Sherry Brown (artist Maria Barrera) – final episode

Little Sisters (artist Mario Capaldi)

Message in a Bottle (artist Hugo D’Adderio) – Strange Story

Nanny Young (artist Phil Gascoine)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin) – Old Friends

Stones of Light (artist Manuel Benet) – Monster Tales

Sandy – A Fresh Start (artist Juliana Buch)

For Valentine’s Day, we bring you the Valentine’s Day issue from the Tammy and Jinty merger. To commemorate, Bella makes reference to Valentine’s Day on the cover, Old Friends brings us a Valentine-themed Bessie Bunter story, there’s a Valentine story from The Crazyees, Valentine hearts incorporated into a back cover ad for sweaters and the Gypsy Rose story (below) is a story about eternal love at a long-abandoned mill house. After reading the story, we can guess why the mill house was abandoned. There’s so much in the story to love as well, what with Cinderella, period piece, Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, Romeo and Juliet, tragedy, ghosts and beautiful Hugo D’Adderio artwork all in the mix.

At another mill, “Nanny Young” has hardly settled into her first job as a nanny and bonded with the children after a bad start when a new complication arises – strict Aunt Mildred. The kids can’t stand the old battleaxe, and now they’ve run away.

Running away is what Sam thinks her elder sister Carol is going to do because she lost her boyfriend. She doesn’t realise Carol was just rehearsing her lines for a school play. Oh dear, can this misunderstanding be sorted out before it leads to more complications in “Little Sisters”?

“The Shadow of Sherry Brown” ends this week. Katy Brown finally learns how Sherry died and from there, discovers how to lay the possessive, jealous ghost that’s been hanging over her like a shadow ever since Sherry’s parents adopted her.

Monster Tales uses a recycled Strange Story, “Stones of Light”. Dad runs an airfield, but there are big problems with two monster stones on the runway. And it’s not just their location that is causing problems – there is something decidedly weird about them as well. 

There’s little love lost between Pam’s class and St Dorrit’s, the posh snob school they are staying at while Pond Hill is closed for repairs. The snobs have made their stay miserable from day one, they’ve snootily rebuffed all offers of friendship, and there’s no end to the rotten tricks they play on them. The snooty Dorrits staff treat them badly too, from the headmistress to the caretaker. This week, it reaches the point where the Pond Hill class have had enough and form a protest action group called “Utter Dislike for Dorrits” (U.D.D.), but it’s not really effective against their treatment or in getting revenge. Revenge is still in the future (found here). For Pam, there are new problems from Leonie Mather, Pond Hill’s arch-enemy from the Dorrits crowd. Leonie’s father’s business has crashed, and her mum, who rediscovered Pam’s mum as an old friend, has turned to them for shelter. So now Pam’s stuck with lousy Leonie, a selfish, spoiled snob of the worst kind, at home as well as school.

In “Danger Dog”, Beth Harris is on the run with her dog Sammy because of fears that he is contaminated after being taken to a research station with a dubious reputation. Weird things beyond imagining have been happening to Beth since she rescued Sammy, and now she thinks she’s the one who must be contaminated. But now there’s another peril for Beth – the lady she is staying with could be about to find her out.

School economy drives in girls’ comics have a very bad habit of coming at the expense of the pupils, especially the protagonist in the story. In “Sandy – A Fresh Start”, that’s just how Sandy’s start at her new school has gotten off to. It’s all because of her difficult father, who cuts after-school activities as part of an economic drive when he is appointed Education Officer. As a result, poor Sandy’s an outcast at school. The pupils have seized the opening of the new science lab as their chance to present a petition against the cuts – and Sandy seizes her chance to win friends by grabbing the petition and presenting it at the ceremony. She didn’t bargain on her own father being the one to present it to, though! The results are a well-deserved humiliation for meanie Dad in front of the council and press, and friends at last for Sandy. What will happen about the cuts remains to be seen. But as always with Sandy, fresh trouble can’t be far away. For one thing, there’s the trouble waiting at home from her angry father, on top of what she got in the Head’s office: “I expected a rocket … but it was more like an atom bomb.”

Tammy 11 February 1978

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Goldie Alone (artist Eduardo Feito)

Sweet and Sour Charity (artist Manuel Benet)

Gail at Windyridge (artist Mario Capaldi)

Babe at St. Wood’s (artist John Johnston)

Pancake Tuck-In with Tammy – feature

Edie Shows You How to Make Fruit Pancakes – feature 

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Molly Mills on the Run (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

Marsh on the Moor (artist Tony Coleman) – Strange Story

Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)

Now You See Her… (artist Mario Capaldi)

Edie Comes Clean (artist Joe Collins)

Pancake Tuesday isn’t far off, so we bring you this special Pancake Tuesday Tammy from 1978. The Cover Girls lead it off. Inside, we have a special “Pancake Tuck-In with Tammy”, which includes a history of Pancake Tuesday and a recipe for fruit pancakes, and there’s a Pancake Tuesday story from Wee Sue, which appears below as it’s a fun story. This looks like one of Robert MacGillivray’s early Wee Sue stories, as Miss Bigger does not have the bulbous nose MacGillivray gives her later on.

Currently, there is no Bella Barlow. In her spot is one of Tammy’s most popular stories, “Goldie Alone”. This story was still attracting comment in Tammy years later, including Tammy’s 10th birthday issue. Goldie Gibbs, a promising ice skater, is taken in by the Stringers when her mum is hospitalised. But as their daughter Emma is going for the same ice-skating championship that she is, they sabotage her. Goldie’s had enough and runs home, but she’s got no skates because the sneaky Stringers have sold them. She has taken a job to get them back and is now happily hugging them again, little knowing she has beaten the Stringers to them. Next week, we learn what the Stringers do when they find out – after the satisfaction of seeing the looks on their faces.

Babe at St. Wood’s, the gangster girl with 101 tricks (from pick pocketing to forgery) for saving the day, which she learned from Dad’s mobster gang, remains equally as popular. She’s on a return round.

Mario Capaldi is on double duty with two stories, “Gail at Windyridge” and “Now You See Her…”. The former is about a promising jockey, Gail Peters, who has to pursue her dream against her father’s disgrace after he is wrongly accused of doping a racehorse. And now the ex-employer who sacked him for it has shown up. Will he spot them and spill the beans? The latter has an unusual heroine, Faye Fadden, who always grabs our attention with the tricks she has up her sleeve. And she always has them because she is a conjurer. She is pursuing a missing girl, Soria Warniche, who has been teleported away to save her from a gang of criminals. The only clues to her whereabouts are on Faye’s charm bracelet, and deciphering their meaning is not straightforward. Now she’s used up all the charms and still no Soria. Let’s see what rabbit Faye can pull out of her hat to find Soria in the final episode next week.

Bessie Bunter tries to be helpful this week, but all her efforts prove disastrous, and she is eventually told to shove off. In a similar position is “Sweet and Sour Charity”, whose every effort to be helpful goes wrong and leaves her on a sour note with everyone. Bully Viv Walker, who picks on her about it, always makes it worse. Fed up with this, Charity decides to stop being helpful altogether. Surprisingly, now that she has done so, things seem to be going right for her, and Viv is so sour about it, but we have yet to see where it will all end up.

Molly Mills, on the run from the law after Pickering frames her, turns to a sweatshop to help her family, who are in dire straits without her wages. A dirty trick forces her to flee from the sweat shop and onto a ferry, but as she looks back, she discovers the sweat shop’s in trouble. What can she do? 

This week’s Strange Story is a period piece set in Dartmoor. It’s a ghost story about a man who discovered how dangerous the gases of the Dartmoor swamps can be, and the place where he stayed at has consequently acquired a sinister reputation.

Tammy 3 February 1979

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Mouse (artist Maria Dembilio) 

Thursday’s Child (artist Juan Solé, writer Pat Mills)

My Terrible Twin (artist Juliana Buch)

Edie the Ed’s Niece (artist Joe Collins)

Shadow on the Stage (artist Tony Coleman) – first episode

The Moon Stallion (artist Mario Capaldi) – adaptation 

A Girl Called Steve (artist Diane Gabbot(t)) – first episode

Mine of Mystery (artist Bob Harvey) – Strange Story

Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)

Molly Mills and the Haunted Hall (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

Edie’s Hobbyhorse – Play the Game Indoors

Politics is not something we see much in girls’ comics, but it’s nice to see it featured on the cover this week. 

“Mouse” is the serial that’s currently leading off Tammy. Normally, this is Bella’s spot, but she won’t be here until the second quarter. Mouse has been abducted by her estranged Sicilian father because her tyrannical grandmother, “La Mamma”, wants her for an arranged marriage that will help her to secure a vineyard. This week, we learn more about Mouse’s entrapment under La Mamma, and Mouse finds a new friend– a field mouse. Can the field mouse help Mouse against La Mamma?

In “Thursday’s Child”, Julie, who has been making Thursday’s life hell ever since she appeared mysteriously in her bed, now claims she is a time traveller and none other than Thursday’s own daughter! Right, a daughter who’s been causing trouble for her own mother ever since she showed up? What’s behind this? Julie’s not telling, but at least there are a few clues. 

In “My Terrible Twin”, Moira is trying so hard to be patient with her paroled sister Lindy and help her to turn over a new leaf. At least Lindy has now desisted from crime, but she’s still thoughtless and irresponsible, and it lands Moira in deep trouble this week – twice!

Two new stories start this week. The first is “Shadow on the Stage”, where an old theatre is converted into a stage school named after an actress who died in mysterious circumstances. But when new pupil Jan Gregg signs up, she finds herself harassed by a shadowy figure in the old theatre. Is it a ghost? Is it someone jealous? Whoever or whatever it is, it’s not merely out to get rid of Jan – it’s out to kill her. It’s tried twice already, and this is only the first episode. The second is “A Girl Called Steve”, where Stephanie “Steve” tells her own story of joining her father at an archaeological dig, but even as she sets off, someone is trying to drive her away. We hate to think what will be in store for her when she arrives.

There is nothing haunted about Stanton Hall, but ghost rumours have been triggered by Molly hiding her kid brother at the hall. Now he’s dressing up to go “boo” at Molly – but he’s targeted bully butler Pickering by mistake. Ooops! Meanwhile, in this week’s Strange Story, real ghosts, from an old mining disaster, get stirred up.

What a sadist! Miss Bigger sends the whole class on a cross-country run in knee-deep snow. It’s too much for poor Wee Sue, trying to run in snow that’s almost as tall as she is, but when she decides to cut it short, she’s in for laughs when she stumbles across Miss Bigger’s little secret – her rendezvous with her secret ice dancing partner.

Tammy 27 January 1979

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Mouse (artist Maria Dembilio) 

One Girl and Her Dog… (artist Mario Capaldi) – final episode

My Terrible Twin (artist Juliana Buch)

Thursday’s Child (artist Juan Solé, writer Pat Mills)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Molly Mills and the Haunted Hall (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon)

The Baton (artist Bob Harvey) – Strange Story

The Moon Stallion (artist Mario Capaldi) – adaptation 

Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)

The Upper Crust (artist Giorgio Giorgetti) – final episode

Tuck-in with Tammy – feature 

“One Girl and Her Dog” and “The Upper Crust” end this week. We are informed that “A Girl Called Steve” and “Shadow on the Stage” will be their replacements. “The Moon Stallion”, adapted from the TV series, still has a way to go.

Mouse, who is learning the hard way about international child abduction after her estranged father abducts her and takes her to Sicily, is about to learn the hard way about arranged marriage. Upon arrival, she meets La Mamma, the grandmother whose tyranny caused the split between her parents. Mouse was brought to Sicily on La Mamma’s orders, but was the love for a child behind the kidnapping? Nope. All La Mamma says when she sees Mouse is, “Now, at last, the arrangements for the betrothal can be made!” 

It’s part 2 of one of Tammy’s classics, “Thursday’s Child”. Thursday Brown is astonished to find a strange girl named Julie in her bed the night she started using the family flag as a bedspread, despite her mother’s misgivings that the flag has a history. Come morning, she soon finds out that this mysterious Julie is out to make her life a misery for some reason. Thursday must be wondering if she should have listened to her mother.

“My Terrible Twin” hasn’t changed much since leaving the remand home, and her past keeps catching up as well. This week, it takes the form of the bad crowd who led her astray. They’re back, and they get her into more trouble. To make things worse for herself, she still has hard lessons to learn about responsibility, and her poor sister Moira has landed herself in trouble trying to help her.

Bessie Bunter is ordered to deliver a food parcel to the local doctor. You would think that should be simple to accomplish, but Bessie soon finds it isn’t. In the end, she has to be admitted to the doctor’s surgery on a stretcher to deliver it. In Wee Sue, classmates play truant in the winter snow, but when they pick on her, she uses the winter weather to get even with them.

In the Strange Story, thieves steal from the Beethoven Museum. Perhaps they didn’t remember that Beethoven went deaf, but when they wave his baton, they are sharply reminded of it when they get a deafening revenge from beyond the grave.

Molly has to hide her brother Billy at Stanton Hall for longer than she thought, but it’s risking her job and causing all sorts of problems. She hopes hiding Billy in the West Wing will keep him safe, but Pickering orders it to be cleaned out, and it looks like he’s about to catch Billy good and proper.

Tammy 13 January 1979

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Mouse (artist Maria Dembilio) – first episode

One Girl and Her Dog (artist Mario Capaldi) – return

My Terrible Twin (artist Juliana Buch) – first episode

The Moon Stallion (artist Mario Capaldi) – adaptation

The Upper Crust (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

Bessie Bunter (artist Arthur Martin)

Molly Mills and the Haunted Hall (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – first episode

The Silent Swimmer – Strange Story

Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)

TEAM in Action (artist Carmona) – final episode

Tammy’s New Year’s issue, like her Christmas issue, came out a week later than scheduled because she lost an issue on 30 December 1978, presumably because of the 1978 strike. But it’s kudos to Tammy that she put out her Christmas and New Year issues all the same. Perhaps readers didn’t mind too much that things were a little late.

Molly, Wee Sue and Bessie Bunter honour the New Year, but as usual for Molly, the New Year isn’t all that promising. She’s lumbered with her kid brother Billy, who she has to mind for a bit, and there’s nowhere to hide him but Stanton Hall. She manages to smuggle him in during a New Year’s party, but she’ll get the sack if she’s found out. Billy’s high spirits and boyish mischief aren’t making it easy to hide him, and it’s already put bully butler Pickering on the alert that something’s fishy. “The Upper Crust” also has a New Year theme when Clarinda gatecrashes arch-enemy Mavis’ New Year’s party, but she made one mistake – she left her glove behind. When Mavis finds it, she’s all set to expose Clarinda’s gatecrashing, but her father has a better idea, for he knows Clarinda’s dad slipped into the party too and has a pretty good idea why. Is he right? Clearly, the approaching climax and resolution of the story will tell.

The Strange Story doesn’t have a New Year theme this time. It’s about a swimmer who gets overconfident and swims in a dangerous current. She nearly drowns and loses her nerve, just as she’s needed for a vital swimming event. But then help comes…from a mermaid?

As always with her New Year issues, Tammy was clearing out old serials and starting new ones for New Year. The serial being cleared out for New Year is “TEAM in Action”, and it’s a finale that delivers as much on the action as its title suggests. “One Girl and Her Dog” returns after being on hiatus, but the ending can’t be far away. Mario Capaldi is doing double duty on this serial and “The Moon Stallion” adaptation.

For the New Year lineup, we have “Mouse”, a serial ahead of its time for highlighting the issues of custody disputes, being sold into forced marriages and international parental kidnapping, and “My Terrible Twin”, about fraternal twin sisters as different in looks as they are in personality. Moira is hardly a beauty, but she is the responsible one, and Lindy is the red-hot looker but a delinquent who’s just been paroled from a remand home. But her time inside hasn’t changed her much. Moira gets Lindy a job at the department store where she works, and Lindy’s already into shoplifting. This serial was so popular that it spawned a sequel later in 1979 and a reprint by popular demand in 1984.

Tammy 6 January 1979 – Christmas issue

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Cover artist: John Richardson

Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming) – final episode

Bessie Bunter (artist Cecil Orr)

Dancer Entranced (artist Angeles Felices) – final episode

The Upper Crust (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)

Bella – Winning Letters

Edie (artist Joe Collins)

Giftorama – final part

Molly Mills and the TV Pioneer (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon) – final episode

The Christmas Fairy (artist Bob Harvey) – Strange Story

Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)

TEAM in Action (artist Carmona)

Greetings to All of Our Readers (artist Robert MacGillivray) – Christmas feature

Comparing Tammy to Jinty during the IPC strike in December 1978, it’s really weird to see how the titles were affected. This is Tammy’s full-on Christmas issue, but it’s dated 6 January 1979, and her previous issue was dated 23 December. What happened to the 30 December 1978 issue? We can only assume Tammy lost it because of the strike. Yet Jinty had her 30 December issue, with a cover caption celebrating the end of the strike. “Yippee! Your favourite paper is back!” But during the three previous weeks, there were no Jintys while the Tammys continued, although not in full size (not that you’d notice as the essentials were there). A note from the editor in this issue says Tammy is back to full size after three weeks of thinner Tammys. 

Christmas does not normally feature in Bella as her stories usually finish before the festive season starts. But this time, she goes right up to the Christmas issue and finishes her story with a Christmas feast in Australia. She sure is surprised to have Christmas in the heat of summer. Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere, Bella.  

Bella also gets a spread of letters on “We all love Bella because…” It’s reproduced here for insights on why Bella was so popular. No mention of what really sold Bella for me, though – how John Armstrong made those gymnastics moves so realistically anatomical it was mouthwatering. To this day, it remains unmatched. 

Molly Mills incorporates Christmas into the final episode of her story by having the TV pioneer help her make a special Christmas film for her family. In the days before home movies and Skype this must have been incredible for them.

Bessie and Mary Moldsworth go carol singing and fall foul of forgers, but they escape – thanks to Bessie’s hefty weight – and raise the alarm. The capture of the criminals is a relief for the police, as they were dreading having to sacrifice their Christmas hunting them. Bessie and Mary get a Christmas reward and Bessie gets the best present she could possibly have – food. 

Wee Sue also falls foul of criminals in her Christmas story. It’s a racket where crooks set themselves up as Store Santas to rob stores by hiding the loot in their Santa sacks. But the worst of it is how they give Santa a bad name by bullying the kids and giving them broken toys. 

In “The Upper Crust”, giving the kids at the orphanage broken toys thrown out of their homes is how the super-snobs of High Hills “do their best to brighten up the festive time for others”. Seeing this, Clarinda shows up with better presents for the kids. All of a sudden, the snobs are off to buy equally nice presents – they’re not going to be upstaged by her. 

The Storyteller brings us “The Christmas Fairy”, a fairy ornament of gypsy origin said to bring good luck and happiness each festive season. It must be said the family have had fantastic Christmases since they got the fairy, but this year the fairy is really put to the test when sister Kathy is in hospital in a coma just days before Christmas. Come Christmas Eve, her condition remains unchanged. Someone – or something – really needs to wave a magic wand, or the family will have an Unmerry Christmas.

Finally, on the back cover we have the Tammy gang all together for a Christmas feature (below), brought to us by the ever-popular Robert MacGillivray. 

It’s the final episode of “Dancer Entranced”, where Mesmeri’s metronome gives Trina Carr, a hopeless ballerina, the power to dance brilliantly via hypnotism, but being dependent on the metronome to dance has caused problems. She has to lose that dependency, something the final episode must resolve. Mesmeri himself provides the answer, and it’s one that takes Trina by surprise.

It looks like “TEAM in Action” is approaching its final episode as well. The girls finally have the school paper ready for binding and publication, but disaster strikes – cleaners sprucing up the school for inspection have chucked all their work in the trash!

Characters: Wee Sue, older Cover Girl (Tammy), Miss Bigger, younger Cover Girl (June), Edie, Bessie, Bella, Mary Moldsworth, Court House pupil.

Tammy 23 December 1978

1978, Issues, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bella (artist John Armstrong, writer Primrose Cumming)
The Upper Crust (artist Giorgio Giorgetti)
Dancer Entranced (artist Angeles Felices)
Molly Mills and the TV Pioneer (artist Douglas Perry, writer Maureen Spurgeon)
Giftorama – part 3
Bessie Bunter (Arthur Martin)
Power of the Stones (artist Tony Coleman) – Strange Story
Wee Sue (artist Robert MacGillivray)
TEAM in Action (Carmona)
Tuck-in with Tammy

Tammy’s countdown to Christmas is really kicking in now with the covers. The Tammy annual made for a frequent Christmas gag during the Cover Girls run, which must have added to its advertising. Don’t be too worried that the Cover Girls don’t have enough money left for the annual – previous covers have suggested they get more Tammy annuals than they can shake a stick at on Christmas morning.

Christmas themes are now appearing in the regular strips. Wee Sue is getting ready for a Christmas party at the youth club, but Miss Bigger causes problems. An unexpected turn of events has everything work out happily, and Miss Bigger even plays Santa at the party with presents for everybody. This week’s Bessie Bunter story adds to the Christmas ambience with a panto flavour where Bessie gets knocked out and dreams she’s Cinderella. The Bessie regulars have such hilarious alternate roles in this one that the episode is included below.

Another feature over the Christmas/New Year period was clearing out old stories to make way for new ones in the New Year. One is “Dancer Entranced”, which reaches its penultimate episode this week. Bella sounds like she is also on her penultimate episode, with the final one set to be a banger with medals or nothing at a gymnastics event to beat a dirty business rival. Next year we will find out if she’s still stuck in Australia or has made her way back to Britain, but we won’t know until she returns in the second quarter. Molly and the TV Pioneer must be ending pretty soon too. “The Upper Crust” and “TEAM in Action” don’t look like they’ll be ending just yet, so we will see them in the New Year.

Luck comes in all shapes and sizes, as three girls discover in this week’s Strange Story. They uncover three stones that seem to have powers that cause bad luck. They hastily get rid of them, only to discover the stones had the power to bring good luck and the strokes of bad luck were blessings in disguise.