On this day, 13 October 1979: Tammy — GREAT NEWS FOR ALL READERS!

Oct 13

Oct 13 On this day, 13 October 1979: Tammy

On this day, 13 October 1979 … It’s nice to see a comic really glamming itself up to celebrate a milestone issue, and regular cover girls Tammy and June had every right to step out (or trip) in style as Tammy the comic had a strong past behind it and a healthy future ahead. It would continue for another five years and 239 issues.

Inside the comic are the latest episodes of long-running serials Bella, Molly Mills, Bessie Bunter and Wee Sue. I suppose it’s possible that one element of Tammy’s success as the longest-running girls’ comic at this time was that it had a core of ongoing stories such as these four, while Jinty and Misty, and the shorter-lived Penny and Lindy, mainly comprised limited-run serials. In my opinion the depth and quality of stories in Jinty and Misty is greater than those in Tammy (not that I represent the target audience of any of them), but there may seem less reason to stick with a comic that doesn’t have as many lasting characters. As with an ongoing soap opera, once one has engaged with a character, one can feel an interest in what they are getting up to for as long as they are still appearing in its stories.

The Tammy mix includes a good few shorter-run stories, however. This week has the latest instalments of My Terrible Twin – beautiful Juliana Buch artwork on the story of Moira and Lindy, twins mismatched in appearance and temperament – Sarita in Uniform – gipsy girl defies her parents’ wishes by attending the local comprehensive school – Temper, Temper, Tina – talented athlete who is as quick to anger as she is on the track – and Guitar Girl – troubled young girl discovers a talent for playing the guitar. Another Strange Story was a vehicle for one-off tales of mystery and the supernatural, this week featuring ‘The Three Wishes’ – a fairly archetypal story of a girl being granted three magical wishes, but discovering that none of them can bring her the happiness of true friendship.