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 Mandy was published from 21 January 1967 (#1) to 11 May 1991 (#1,269),Mandy (26pigs.com) 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.Mandy (BritishComics.com)
Mergers 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).Debbie entry, Grand Comics Database. Retrieved March 4, 2021. By the time Mandy merged with Judy in 1991, that title had previously absorbed Emma in 1979 and Tracy in 1985.Judy entry, Grand Comics Database. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
Content 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: orphans forced to live with cruel or uncaring relatives; girls enduring blackmail, hardship, or unpopularity to protect a secret (often on behalf of their family); girls slaving for cruel employers or criminals; saving animals from cruelty; cruel factories, shops, boarding schools or workhouses; heroines adopting masked identities to secretly help people; spiteful girls causing trouble for an unsuspecting cousin, foster-sister or classmate; girls becoming unpopular because events keep conspiring to make them appear jealous or selfish; blundering girls getting into one scrape after another; girls pretending to be disabled in order to take advantage of people; girls who were put under a curse or came into possession of apparently supernatural objects which adversely affected their lives, but of which they were unable to rid themselves until they worked out how; boyfriend-themed stories (by the 1980s).
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 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
A Boy-Friend for Bonnie — Bonnie Martin always takes an interest in the sports and hobbies of her boyfriends. But this gets her into all sorts of scrapes such as a black eye from squash and dropping weights on her latest boyfriend's foot. A Friend for Fay — When orphaned Fay Ashton is given a home by her rich relations, she finds a life of misery waiting for her at the hands of her spiteful cousin Regina. A Friend Like Freda — Freda has always been jealous of Joyce because she is a kind, popular girl. So when Joyce suddenly moves back to the neighbourhood, Freda pretends to be friends with her while secretly causing trouble for her. Joyce soon realises she has an enemy, but does not suspect Freda. A Girl Called Rowan — Debbie Dawson's new friend Rowan has a strange power over plants because she is a dryad – a tree sprite. When Debbie runs away from the relatives she was staying with, Rowan goes with her. A Girl Called Squirrel — A girl named Squirrel lives in a tree at Greenoak Park. She wants to learn to play table tennis properly and sets out to earn a scholarship to Highgrove Private School because it has a first class table tennis team. A Home for Helen — Helen Grant is staying with her grandmother after her parents are killed. A Horse Called Henry — Henry the horse tells the story of his life. A Horse for Holly – Holly Reed works at Harding's Riding Stables. The Hardings are hard employers, but Holly takes solace in Golden Harvest, her favorite horse. When Golden Harvest is injured in an accident, Holly offers to buy her to save her from being destroyed and then starts training her for a championship. A Slave Called Sandra — Sandra Best lives with her aunt and uncle, who treat her badly and make her do all the work in the house and the laundrette that they own. She believes that her father owed them a debt that she must pay off. One thing she gets enjoyment out of is her talent for sewing and dress making. A Switch in Time – A mysterious girl named Kyra, claiming to be a relative from Australia, arrives at Melanie Clark's house. Kyra seems to know little about modern life and arrived in Victorian clothes, which convinces Melanie that Kyra is from the year 1884. Then Kyra reveals she is really from 2084 and was sent back in time to 1884 for a history project but her timeship crashed, stranding her in 1984. Melanie agrees to help keep her secret. (Reprinted in 1991 with the dates updated.) A Tale of Two Families — Ever since their parents separated, twins Carol and Rona Grant have been plotting to get the family together again, in spite of their own frequent squabbles. A Ticket for Timmy — Carol Burns and her family are going to emigrate to Canada in a few months. Carol is trying to raise the £100 to pay the fare for Timmy, her beloved sheepdog. Alison's Uncles — Alison is living in a Children's Home when she finds out she has four uncles. To decide which one will be her guardian she is trying each uncle out in turn. The first three uncles don't work out, so it all comes down to whether the fourth does. All Change! — Twins Lucy and Lisa Clayton are sad when their parents split up, but comfort themselves with the thought that they have each other. Then, when their gran moves in, she seems to favour Lucy over Lisa and Lisa feels left out. Amy Beckett Says… - After a bulldozer accidentally knocks against the old entrance archway of the school, friends Fay Davis and Karen Green, notice some strange things happening. Some younger school kids start singing an eerie skipping rhyme, then Fay and Karen start seeing things. Does it have anything to do with the mysterious Amy Beckett- and if so, what? Angel — Victorian lady Angela Hamilton has only a year to live. After faking a drowning accident to spare her parents the grief of watching her die slowly, Angela goes to London to dedicate her remaining time to helping the poor waifs of London as the benefactress "Miss Angel." When Angel finally succumbs to her illness, her parents, who have discovered the truth, set up a children's home in her "loving memory." Anna and the Piskies — Anna Graeme goes to Cornwall, where her father leads a team of men prospecting for oil. But this threatens the home of the piskies, so they take Anna prisoner in a bid to stop the "Terror" as they call it. Anna also finds herself caught in a power conflict between Benito and Aggro. April Fool – Talented scholarship pupil April Matthews is being blackmailed into helping nasty Shirley Kingsley be the star of their stage school – at April's expense. To ensure April's compliance, wealthy Mr Kingsley is threatening to withdraw the money he invested in April's father's business, which would cause the family to be unable to afford vital sight-saving operations for April's little sister. Aunt Kate's Household Companion — Prudence and Becky Land are two English orphans working their passage as cooks on a wagon train to San Francisco. Their most treasured possession is a book containing helpful hints which had been left to them by their Aunt Kate. Auntie Annie — Annie Armstrong's elder sister Joy returns home with her daughter Tessa. This puts Annie and Tessa in the curious position of being aunt and niece, but they are the same age. The girls are finding this awkward and to make matters worse, Annie is finding her niece a sneaky little schemer. Aunts at War! – Jill Marsden finds herself in the middle of a battlefield between her feuding great-aunts. Baby Bunting — Barbara Bunting has lived an isolated existence under Lady Tarbett, who lives in a private world that is old-fashioned and hopelessly out of touch with the modern world. When Barbara's governess falls ill, she is thrust into modern life and school. She does not have the tools and experience to deal with them and so is nicknamed "Baby Bunting". Barbara is learning to look after herself, but Lady Tarbett is still living in her private world. Bad Luck Barbara – When Barbara Petty and her parents move to Wavertree, she becomes persecuted by the villagers who believe she is descended from an old witch, Grandmother Petty, and blame her for any bad luck in the village. Barbara is finding it difficult to escape the situation because her parents refuse to listen and the family depends on Mr Petty's job in the village. Baker's Dozen — Louise Baker has to protect her puppies from horrible relatives. Be Nice to Nikki — Yvonne Baxter is under strict instructions from her father to be "nice" to his employer's daughter. However the girl is a vicious bully, so being "nice" to her is a nightmare. But Yvonne's father won't listen.