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Post by pulphack on Nov 27, 2007 15:56:43 GMT
well, it's nice to be able to contribute something after a while tied up with real life...
just recently, i've bought a clutch of 60's and 70's annuals, as some have turned up locally in charity shops. and amongst them was the above named book. it's partly this forum, but also reading about pat mills and john wagner's early career. i find it fascinating that the men behind Action and 2000AD spent much of their earlier careers writing girls stories. in amongst the batch were also three Jinty annuals - for 75, 76 and 77. these almost certainly include the aforementioned chaps, and more on them later as they have some 'spooky' themes.
but this is probably before their time (as far as i can work out, they were still at DC Thompson in '71, when this originated). however, it is well worth discussion.
there are two text stories, two non-fiction articles, and mostly strips that are 3pp and to a formula. but it's great fun. the two text stories wildly differ: The Swing Of The Pendulum is about a young girl on holiday with her parents, scared of the sea, who falls into a fever, has a dream about a young girl saving her brother from the customs and excise men in 1747, then awakes to find that the cottage once belonged to her family. it's well-written, with a lot of atmosphere. the other story - Doomsday For St Denny's - is a really odd one: hot shot school paper reporter sees professor talking to sentioent alien cloud which foretells disaster at the school, gets into trouble, professor can't help as he hits head and loses memory, then disaster is at last averted. odd mix of trad school story, sci-fi that fits with brit 60's style (think Night of The Big Heat for schoolgirls) and also has screwball comedy...
the features are odd events and anomalies. short bites but nicely done.
all the strips bar the opener are hosted by 'the storyteller', an avuncular chap in a smoking jacket and a pipe, with greying temples, who tops and tails the strips with a 'is this possible? what do you think?' schtick. truth to tell, he's like rob newman's jervis (anyone remember that?), and is a little creepy.
but the strips are succinct tales of spirits, fairies, premonitions of disaster, and haunted looms (no, really). very tightly told, great art from the usual stable of fleetway spaniards and south americans, and probably guys like tom tully scripting (anyone know where i can find out more?).
a year or so back i would have passed these kinds of annuals by - but i picked up a Warlord from DCT at the same time, and to tell the truth, the girl's comics had better structured and told stories, with better art some of the time.
of course, mrs PH took a lot of persuading to be seen with me when i bought them...
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Post by franklinmarsh on Nov 27, 2007 17:15:46 GMT
I remember Jervis (although I thought he was Jarvis). Sounds like this narrator would fit in well with Alfred Hitchcock, Dennis Wheatley, Dr Terrible and Edgar Bloodlusten.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 27, 2007 18:12:23 GMT
He sounds rather more fun than Misty. Don't get me wrong, I love her and all that, but she does come over a bit frightfully correct young gentlewoman. She might look like Vampirella but somehow you can't imagine her ever wobbling about in a skimpy red costume, not even for good cause like Red Nose Day or something equally tragic.
Great post, pulpy. I missed out on June but I'm delighted to have another title to look out for. I agree that the girls comics of the day often compare favourably with the boys equivalents. I would imagine that whoever took the editorial decisions decided that war, monsters, violence and minor gore were boy interest so Misty, Bunty, June & co went with the more civilised ghosts and some cautionary witchcraft tales and they seem more story orientated as a result. Works for me, anyway.
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Post by pulphack on Nov 27, 2007 19:10:00 GMT
franklin - it was Jarvis - i even dug out a video to check. and yes - it's still funny...
reckon you're spot on about the difference between boys and girls comics, dem. even looking back at earlier girls stuff (things schoolfriend and girls crystal are other hidden ph secrets), there's more emphasis on character and plotting than boys stuff, which tends to action. which is why The Steel Claw stands out, as Bulmer and then Tully treated the structure of the series as though it was a girls comic.
Misty in a skimpy red number? THAT'S why our other halves get suspicious of us reading girl's comics, y'know...
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Post by dem bones on Nov 27, 2007 19:49:05 GMT
The nicely dressed Orphanage girls were a bit fit too. Let's see how they're getting on again, shall we? Good, still hard at it I see. No slacking now! I want to see my face in that! |
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Post by redbrain on Nov 28, 2007 18:23:15 GMT
The nicely dressed Orphanage girls were a bit fit too. Let's see how they're getting on again, shall we? They are nicely dressed, aren't they? Obviously a high class orphanage. |
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Post by Dr Terror on Nov 28, 2007 23:15:05 GMT
Blimey!  Oh, you mean the floor.   |
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Post by Calenture on Nov 28, 2007 23:40:13 GMT
Blimey! Oh, you mean the floor. There is always a certain element that attempts to lower the tone... ...if that's possible at Vault of Evil.  |
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Post by pulphack on Nov 29, 2007 11:36:20 GMT
orphan girls who you want to see your face in, scrubbing floors? it's a jess franco film for pubescent girls, surely? very dodgy territory, but that's nothing new for senor jess, or his fans...
leafed through the jinty books, though haven't had time to sitr down with one - and i have to say, the idea of the hard-done-by girl having to escape exploitation is a common theme. what does this tell us about
A. the girls who read these tales repeatedly and demanded more?
B. the blokes who wrote and drew them?
quick, someone call a sociologist!
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Post by redbrain on Nov 29, 2007 13:33:13 GMT
Have I missed something? I'm wondering from which book the nicely dressed orphanage girls come. Do they belong in The June Book Of Strange Stories 1972?  Somehow, I suspect not.  |
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Post by dem bones on Nov 29, 2007 15:01:23 GMT
Tsk! The nicely dressed Orphanage girls are from MISTY! Honestly, redbrain! I thought simply EVERYONE knew that!
It's great! In the next panel, that severe looking frump of a woman (a spinster, I'll wager) who's telling them to "get a move on!" deliberately knocks a bucket over so they have to super-scrub the bit they've cleaned all over again!
Then, the young floozie we're all supposed to sympathise with (imagine!) gets a bit brave and points out "you did that on purpose!" so the old dragon locks her in a cell for her pains!
It's like something out of Skin 2!
Still, best not go on about it. You know how some of them are always trying to turn this into a bawdy board.
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Post by sean on Nov 29, 2007 18:09:34 GMT
Blimey! Oh, you mean the floor. ...and I was so proud of myself for not saying that... |
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Post by redbrain on Nov 29, 2007 18:34:07 GMT
Tsk! The nicely dressed Orphanage girls are from MISTY! Honestly, redbrain! I thought simply EVERYONE knew that! My ignorance is profound. Perhaps the severe looking frump of a woman would have the remedy for that. (Although, from what you say later, perhaps she is too soft to deal with me.) The style of the drawing is not quite right for any of them - but otherwise I could imagine the panel being from John Willie's Bizarre - or the work of Eric Stanton or Guido Crepax. It's great! In the next panel, that severe looking frump of a woman (a spinster, I'll wager) who's telling them to "get a move on!" deliberately knocks a bucket over so they have to super-scrub the bit they've cleaned all over again! I'll second your wager that's she's a spinster. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she was a lesbian. Then, the young floozie we're all supposed to sympathise with (imagine!) gets a bit brave and points out "you did that on purpose!" so the old dragon locks her in a cell for her pains! Just locks the bad floozie in a cell? The frump is too soft-hearted by half! I bet that, before the story is over, she has cause to regret being so lenient. It's like something out of Skin 2! Still, best not go on about it. You know how some of them are always trying to turn this into a bawdy board. Heaven forfend! You should not make the frump's mistake. The some of them to whom you refer should be properly punished! |
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Post by redbrain on Jan 29, 2008 12:16:32 GMT
I managed to locate a copy of June Book Of Strange Stories 1972 at a reasonable price - and it arrived this morning. At a first glance, I'm very impressed. The opening picture - with the story teller and three little girls - seems a bit sinister in a way that probably wasn't intended. It also seems to say this book is for girls - and I doubt whether the volume ever had many male readers. After that, there perhaps ought to be more women on this board than there are.
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Post by carolinec on Jan 29, 2008 12:20:49 GMT
After that, there perhaps ought to be more women on this board than there are. After reading this thread following your post, I'm not at all surprised there aren't! |
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Somehow, I suspect not. 
