14 August 1976: Jackie
They don’t make ice creams like that any more. And neither do they make girls’ magazines (containing beautiful comics) like Jackie. Its average weekly sale in 1976 was 605,947 copies.
Was Jackie a magazine or a comic? Unapologetically both. In this week’s issue, among plenty of articles and reader letters on health, beauty, dating, pop idols and numerology, there are two stunning comic strips, including Lara’s Search for Love - some scans from which I have pasted below (I think the artist may be Norman Lee).
Lara was a forest spirit trapped in human form until she could learn truth about love. This week she attends a séance in which a young woman seeks to contact a boyfriend who died in a car crash. ‘Perhaps that’s the real secret of love,’ muses Lara. ‘If it’s strong enough and deep enough it can reach across any obstacle … even death.’
I love the style of these illustrations, so evocative, mysterious and dreamy. It’s a great fit for the thoughtful script, which seems to be written almost as a stream of Lara’s consciousness.
The second strip, The Way We Were (can anyone identify this artist, please?), is similarly reflective: a young woman wondering why life – and love – can’t be like it’s shown in the old movies. A mysterious stranger appears, acting out scenes from her imaginings.
