Penny #1

28 Apr 1979. Cover price 10p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W contents.
IPC Magazines Ltd.

Cover photograph (uncredited).

Free Mouse in Cheese Fun Pendant.

Contents:

 2 Hi, There! (half page) introduction (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited). / Free Next Week! (quarter page) / Snoopa UNTITLED [A Tasty Chunk of Cheese] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Joe Collins (uncredited).

 3 Tales of Katy-Jane UNTITLED [Charlotte's Birthday Gift] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Ugolino Cossu (uncredited).

 7 Blunder Girl! UNTITLED [Skateboard] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Jack Edward Oliver (uncredited).

 8 Enid Blyton's Secret Seven Look Out Secret Seven, part one, w: UNKNOWN, from a story by Enid Blyton; a: John Armstrong (uncredited).

11 Ginny and Shep UNTITLED [The Road Accident] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

15 Tansy of Jubilee Street UNTITLED [Missing Diary] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Ken Houghton (uncredited).

16 Penny - Arcade Things to Make... That Are Fun to Have [Decorated Mirror; Paper Flowers; Decorated Tissue Box; "Stained Glass" Picture; Door Nameplate; Felt Wall Tidy] illustrated feature (uncredited).

20 The Village Clock UNTITLED [A New Home in Little Havenne] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Peter Wilkes (uncredited).

24 Little Women, part one, text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited), adapted from the novel by Louisa M. Alcott; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

26 Sad Sal and Smiley Sue UNTITLED [Sunshine on a Saturday Morning] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

28 Waifs of the Waterfall UNTITLED [The Arrival of Fingal] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

31 Penny Tells You How... Care for Your Cat text feature (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN.

32 Penny's Pet File Cats pin-up; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Photo covers aren't the best way to encourage potential readers to pick up a new title, especially one which isn't tied to a pre-existing franchise. The Cheese Pendant is quirky and offbeat enough to catch the eye, which goes some way to making up for an incredibly formulaic feel to the cover layout. There's something about the logo which is off-putting, with a jauntily slanted P which cries out to be fixed with scissors and tape. I am, of course, well outside the target audience, and so can't speak to the effectiveness of such an odd choice.

As always I'm glad there's a proper introduction to the title, which adds a personal touch (albeit an artificial one) to a new comic, signed by the titular character. Penny is somewhat the enigma - not as deliberately mysterious as Misty, nor as mercurial and knowledgeable as Tharg the Mighty. She's the owner of Snoopa, the mouse which features in the comic strip at the bottom of the page, which cleverly ties in to the free gift.

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, an old man sat with his wife, both working hard to finish a very important task...

Mr. and Mrs. Simpkin put the finishing touches to a present, which they have spent months preparing, for Charlotte (their employer's daughter)'s seventh birthday - a doll which Henry has put so much love and care into, that Katy-Jane was capable of feelings. The footman's daughter, Alice, takes a fancy to the doll, though Charlotte isn't as impressed with the gift, deeming her current dolls much finer and larger than Katy-Jane. With no reason to waste the gift, Alice becomes the proud owner of the doll.

On the passing of Henry, Alice takes a walk with Katy-Jane, encountering Charlotte in the gardens - seeing that a servant's daughter has what was to be her gift, Charlotte throws the doll over a wall. Alice searches for Katy-Jane until night falls, but decides to go home and search afresh the next day - which is complicated by her father's news that they are to journey to Lord Bramley's estate at first light, for him to become the household's butler. Leaving behind Katy-Jane, Alice travels with her father to their new home...

An intriguing plot, well-realised characters, and some beautiful artwork... for a rather familiar class difference tale, spiced up with the inclusion of a sentient doll which is, however, unable to talk or move. Moving so many of the characters off-stage by the conclusion of the initial installment is a brave move, with a lingering sadness at the heart of the tale, this isn't a standard build-up for a serial. There is the hint of this going in the direction of classic television movie The Gun, broadcast a few years before this title was launched, which might be interesting.

And does this count as the first comic about a character with locked-in syndrome?

Although schoolgirl Diana Squints looks ordinary, she has a mysterious secret power! Meet her now as she enters Selfreezers Department Store---

After saving her money for six months, Diana finally has enough money for a new skateboard, though the price has increased in the interim. Seeing that the cashier is being held up by a robber, Diana changes into Blunder Girl and zips to the rescue.

A sumptuous single-page gag-strip from the masterful pen of Jack Edward Oliver, though without his usual visual signatures. While the character may be a parody of Wonder Woman (which had been running on BBC1 from 1978), there is enough of the style and humour associated with JEO's later strips present to maintain Blunder Girl!'s interest. This may be of interest to readers fascinated by political elements, specifically criticism of inflation rates of the time, seeping into comics.

The Secret Seven strip is a throwback to an older time, utterly at odds with the rest of the comic so far, with text boxes propelling the narrative alongside images in a mockery of the form. Gaudily coloured in its first two pages and far too tedious to recap. If you are at all interested in the characters (or Enid Blyton works in general) there are far more entertaining adaptations, and enough resources about the stories online, that you shouldn't subject yourself to this footnote in comics history unless you are truly masochistic.

Mercifully the following strip, Ginny and Shep, is a far sight better. A girl (Ginny) and her dog (Shep) have grown up together, and now, at ten years of age, Ginny's faithful Alsatian are inseparable. This is a set-up crying out for the fates to step in and shake up poor Ginny's world, and we aren't about to be disappointed.

Then, in one swift awful moment everything changed. It happened on one of their evening walks...

While crossing the road after Ginny, Shep is hit by a car. After getting hep home, the vet is called to check on him, with the conclusion that there are no broken bones, though Shep is severely shocked. The next morning Shep appears to improve, but over the course of the next few weeks he doesn't seem to have gotten over the accident. Ginny overhears her parents talking about having her dog put down, and - after considering the options - decides to take him to the vet herself. When she gets to the vet, Ginny lies and says Shep isn't being put down after all.

One of the problems I had with Supernatural's The Secret of Silver Star is addressed and rectified in this story, with the fact that Shep is to be killed made clear until the very last panel. It is a far more effective use of the (already very old) plot point, and allows for more drama to be wrenched from proceedings. Script and art unite to create a memorable strip, which never descends to melodrama, and feels more assured that many similar narratives - at four pages, although not providing much in the way of background specifics, there's real substance here.

Opening in media res, Tansy of Jubilee Street finds the titular protagonist searching for her diary while breaking the fourth wall. Call me old fashioned, but I am always immediately distrustful of a drama strip which acknowledges its artificiality with asides to the reader - it is a slippery slope from commentary to leaping across panels, or mentioning speech balloons, and is difficult to reign in once the more outré elements have crept in.

Having lost her secret diary, Tansy is terrified that her brother will find it before she tracks it down, the possibility of him reading extracts to his friends drives her to upturn her room - which she is soon reprimanded for by her grandmother. Using the excuse that she has lost her homework book, Tansy is told to clean up the mess. Remembering that she changed her grandmother's library books the day before, she rushes to ensure her diary wasn't accidentally mixed up with them.

Rushing out of her room, Tansy nearly falls over her mother's suitcase - packed for her trip to the hospital due to the imminent arrival of a baby in the household. She learns that the diary hasn't been found by the librarian, and checks in with her friend June, to whom she loaned some records.

This is something which has only occurred to me - the girls' comics never capitalised on their female hosts' social lives, nor intertwined the titles to any degree. The naming of the friend as June immediately suggested possible crossover potential, turning the titles into an ongoing soap opera, with mention of what is happening in the lives of characters in other titles being a way to increase sales of titles which were seen as declining. Even making mention once a month would have bolstered sales somewhat.

After increasingly desperate attempts to locate the diary, Tansy discovers a note from her brother Simon, telling her that the baby is coming, and everyone has departed to the hospital. When Tansy arrives he finds out that she has a new baby brother, and that her diary had been accidentally packed with her mother's belongings in the suitcase all along. Tansy once more addresses the reader: "This doesn't leave my sight from now on. Boys just don't understand us girls, do they?"

Well, no - not when you are addressing me directly. Stay. In. Character. When there is some malleability to the fourth wall, with a reader inset acting to tease out information from the main character, there is less of a flexibility to the rationale of comic narratives, but with such blatant discussion with an unseen audience there is nothing stopping Tansy skipping uncomfortable scenes by "leaping" to the next chapter, or changing her appearance by asking the artist to depict her with a better hairstyle.

After so much discussion of her diary, there is no indication that this will lead anywhere - certainly not a secret contained within said diary which will play into future storylines. If it had been arranged for a free diary to be given as a gift, the decision to concentrate so much on the subject wouldn't have felt so random. There's wonderfully light artwork, which certainly helps make the characters likable, but the plotting irregularities get in the way of this being an entirely satisfying introduction.

The biggest mis-step is that we don't get to see the baby. Girls love babies, and having a cute little baby closing out this strip could have generated a lot of feedback from readers who have baby siblings. It would also have given reason for a series of articles outlining the care of babies and small children to follow the strip.

There's a feature on objects which readers can make at home inserted in the middle of Tansy of Jubilee Street, with a range of items which aren't connected, nor offer any assistance in following through the suggestions. It is an annoying and unnecessary oversight which could have added much to the title. By concentrating on one or two suggestions rather than six would have allowed for more depth to this feature - in fact, linking the Decorated Mirror and Stained Glass Picture could have been easily linked by providing Charles Rennie Mackintosh stencils.

And once you have stencils, there ought to be a feature on the artist, which is easily supplemented by a glossy picture as an appropriate free gift for a future issue. Tying things together neatly was never a strong point in British comics, and the lack on linked-up thinking is nowhere more obvious than in this issue. Greater development could have made this an excellent introduction to many subjects, rather than a mixed bag of material of varying quality.

The Village Clock begins with a television reporter filming a VT insert for a news programme:

"The perfect, peaceful country setting, isn't it? The manor house clock looks out across a street of ancient picturesque cottages... a timeless rural scene that must surely last forever...

No... Not forever! Oldcastle Corporation plan to build a new overspill town right here... Only a miracle can save this lovely village from complete destruction!

Miracles do happen, and head office hands down word that the corporation has pulled out of the deal through a lack of funds - more inflation woes? - and Havenne New Town is no longer proceeding. The Seaton family, whose home was demolished in preparation for construction, make their way to Little Havenne and their new home, getting a shock when they discover that the cottage they have been given is isolated, with only one neighbour. As they settle in to Ivy Cottage, Sally wanders around and encounters an elderly woman.

Being told how the village used to appear, it is almost as if the past has come to life for the girl. So real, that Sally is earful that she is late for her lunch, but the village clock - and her watch - suggest that no time at all has passed.

Temporal malarkey always has a place in comics, and the time displacement here has echoes of a few notable stories (mainly Tom's Midnight Garden), reassuringly handled with a fairly realistic background to the enforced move. The first page seems oddly out of place, unless the fate of the new town is to become a recurring sub-plot in future installments, but works to provide a sense of time and place. Charming and attractive linework, with a couple of exceptional panels.

Sally Lumm and Sue Miles lived next door to each other. They were the best of friends - but as different as chalk and cheese...

The name of the strip, Sad Sal and Smiley Sue, recalls Fit Fred and Sick Sid (if something works, try it again), though is drawn in a drama style rather than in a comedic style - which, strangely, works to the benefit of the humerous dialogue. With the sun shining brightly, Sue is overjoyed while Sally is less than pleased. Their parents and pets follow their attitudes to life, as disposition is hereditary in the world of IPC characters.

Sue's dog, Sam, has as much of an outgoing nature as his owner, and does tricks for a busker - earning money for both the violin player and Sue. Not to be outdone, Sal's dog, Desmond, sits outside a butcher's shop until the owner, feeling sorry for him, gives a Desmond a bone. Which is the extent of the story, establishing the girls' personalities and friendship, though providing precious little propulsion for a storyline of any kind.

Without a concrete goal for either of the girls to work towards - a talent show, or a competition of some kind - and lacking any adversity - the loss of something within a defined period - there really isn't enough reason to keep reading. It isn't good enough to simply show how different the girls are, there needs to be a need for readers to invest their time in the lives of these girls. Lacking anything that is plot-relevant in an opening installment is asking too much from readers, and makes the strip feel unfinished.

Scots girl, Fiona Craig, was her school's best sprinter she could run like a deer.

Waifs of the Waterfall manages to put me of immediately, with a lack of proof-reading.

Fiona's teacher tells her she will be a star sprinter when older if she keeps practising, to which she answers that she gets lots of practise running with the deer on Glenlochie Estate, where her mother is cook to the Laird. On her birthday she discovers that Reddy and Falla - the deer she spends time with - have had a fawn. Born in a cave, it refuses to leave due to the noise of a waterfall. Lachlan, the Laird, spies her way with the deer, and when Falla dies he gives Fiona the newborn to raise - which she names Fingal.

A slight tale, with a fairly straightforward plot propelled by coincidence. Sweet enough, though lacking meat - although I'm sure Falla will make a tasty meal for the Laird. Once again the lack of an antagonist (or an essential problem to overcome) means that there is an empty centre to the story which no amount of cute animals can overcome. The opportunity to inform readers of the proper care for these animals makes me optimistic that the educational content in future installments will increase.

Care for your Cat is extremely light on content, but promises to build into a fact-file over following weeks. It isn't up to the standards of The Eagle's half-page animal care features, but is fine enough for the age range, which is (at a guess) eight-to-ten-year-olds. The care of animals is a subect which properly ought to be covered in more detail over several issues rather than completing one pet a week, where details will undoubtedly get lost in the need to cover as much as possible.

A mixed issue, with some highlights and several missed opportunities, which (overall) is slightly less impressive than a first issue ought to be. There's ample room for improvement in the contents.