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Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Publication history  



1.1  Mergers  







2 Content  



2.1  M&J  







3 List of strips  





4 References  





5 Sources  





6 External links  














Mandy (comics)







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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


Mandy
First issue of Mandy, 21 January 1967
Publication information
PublisherDC Thomson
ScheduleWeekly
FormatNewsprint magazine
GenreDrama, School, Romance, Humour
Publication date21 January 1967 – 11 May 1991
No. of issues1,269
Main character(s)Mandy and Patch
Creative team
Written byW. G. Ede, Alison Fitt, Marion Turner
Artist(s)Terry Aspin, Carmen Barbara, Claude Berridge, Leslie Branton, Pamela Chapeau, Carlos Freixas, Bert Hill, Tom Hurst, B. Jackson, George Martin, Wilf Street, Veronica Weir, Andrew Wilson

Mandy was a British comic book for girls, published weekly by DC Thomson from 21 January 1967 to 11 May 1991. The majority of the stories were serialized, typically into two or three pages per issue, over eight to twelve issues.

Publication history[edit]

Mandy was published from 21 January 1967 (#1) to 11 May 1991 (#1,269),[1] at which point it merged with Judy to become Mandy & Judy (also known as M&J). Mandy & Judy was published from 18 May 1991 (#1) until 24 May 1997 (#315), when it merged with Bunty (Bunty ceased publication completely in 2001).

Mandy annuals appeared from 1972 until 2007.[2]

Mergers[edit]

As was common in British comics of the period, it was standard practice to merge a comic into another one when it declined in sales. Typically, three stories or strips from the canceled comic would continue for a while in the surviving comic, and both titles would appear on the cover (one in a smaller font than the other) until the title of the cancelled comic was eventually dropped. Mandy was emblematic of this practice. In early 1983, Mandy absorbed Debbie (which itself had previously absorbed Spellbound).[3] By the time Mandy merged with Judy in 1991, that title had previously absorbed Emma in 1979 and Tracy in 1985.[4]

Content[edit]

The comic's namesake Mandy stayed on the cover of the comic for its whole run with just a few changes along the way. Mandy was instantly recognisable with her bobbed dark hair; her clothes changed, but were always colourful and kept up with 1970s fashions. Accompanying her was her red-and-white dog Patch.

Each issue had a theme usually involving a play on words. The main picture set up the theme for the story. As well as the large picture there was one small panel in the corner; often this would be a contrast to the calmer/ happier main picture.

Some recurring theme elements of Mandy stories were:

Stories were generally moralistic in tone, with long-suffering heroines finally achieving happiness, while villainous relatives or girls who were liars, cheats, and bullies received their comeuppance.

Two of the longest-running and most popular picture stories, which also featured in almost every annual, were Angel and Valda. Angel centered on Angela Hamilton, a young, wealthy Victorian girl who discovers she has only a year to live and decides to devote her remaining time to caring for orphaned and unwanted children in the slums of the East End of London. Valda stories are set in many different times and places and follow the adventures of a girl with extraordinary abilities and apparently indefinite lifespan. Valda, who draws her physical strength from energy or light passing through a mysterious "Crystal of Life" that she carries, travels the world coming to the aid of the oppressed and those threatened by dark or supernatural forces.

Mandy also ran text stories, usually serialized in the same manner as the picture-stories, of which the most popular was The Guardian Tree. This followed the trials and tribulations of the Shaw family, when the five children are orphaned in Victorian times. The children, under the leadership of the eldest sister, Rose, escape the dreaded poorhouse by living on the moors in a cave beneath the roots of a vast tree they christen the "Guardian Tree," which appears to have mysterious and benevolent powers. The most popular text stories were often reworked and published as picture stories, including The Guardian Tree and The Sad Star.

M&J[edit]

M&J's most popular strip was Penny's Place (which was taken up by Bunty when M&J ended). The story centered on Penny, whose parents owned a cafe called Penny's Place, and her three best friends, who all lived in the same town and attended the same school. Penny's best friend Donna was from a lower-class family and had several brothers and sisters, and these siblings were often involved in storylines. The story came to an end in the late 1990s, but due to popular demand Bunty began to publish the story again from the beginning. During this time, both Bunty and Mandy published Penny's Place in their Christmas annuals.

List of strips[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mandy Archived 11 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine (26pigs.com)
  • ^ Mandy (BritishComics.com)
  • ^ Debbie entry, Grand Comics Database. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  • ^ Judy entry, Grand Comics Database. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  • Sources[edit]

    External links[edit]


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mandy_(comics)&oldid=1138106337"

    Categories: 
    DC Thomson Comics titles
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    This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 01:50 (UTC).

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