Judy (girls' magazine)

Judy was a 20th century British pre-teen and teen girl's magazine, primarily in comic-book form. Judy was extant from 1960 to 1991.[1] From 1991 to 1997 it was combined with another title in Judy and Mandy magazine.[2]

Judy was published by DC Thomson. Thompson had published its first girls' magazine, Bunty, in 1958. The success of this title led DC Thomson to publish Judy, which was also successful: between them, Bunty and Judy achieved a circulation over one million.[3] DC Thompson went on to publish other similar titles, Diana (published 1965–1976), Mandy (published 1967–1997), Debbie (begun 1973), and Suzy (begun 1982).[3]

By 1974, DC Thomson's girls' imprints had fallen off somewhat (Bunty, Judy, Mandy, and Debbie had a combined circulation of 750,000 that year) but remained the market leader.[4] Whether in imitation or not, British girls' magazines of this era typically bore a single female given name as title; besides the DC Thompson imprints, other magazines were Tracy, Nikki, Sandi, Diana, Sally, June, Tammy, Lindy, and Penny.[5]

Judy offered a mix of romance, pathos, school, and girl-next-door stories, thriving well into the era when consumer, fashion, and teen idol fare became popular in girls' magazines.[6]

Among the fare offered by Judy was stories of girls confronting adversity and overcoming it ("Nobody Loves Dixie" (1964) tells of a shunned wheel-chair bound girl who wins a trophy and rises from her wheelchair to collect it)[7] or succumbing to it (in the harrowing "Nothing Ever Goes Right" (1981), the heroine, beset with poverty, orphanhood, and health problems, dies of heart failure while rescuing children from an abandoned house).[8]

On a lighter note, the insouciant Bobby Dazzler was a recurring character.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Newson, Kezia (2014). How Has The Pre–teen Girls' Magazine Influenced Girls From The 1950s To Present Day?. p. 6. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  2. ↑ Gibson, Mel (2015). Remembered Reading: Memory, Comics and Post-War Constructions of British Girlhood. Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels. Leuven University Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-9462700307. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Bunty: 1958 – 2001". 100 Years of Scottish Magazine Publishing. PPA (Professional Publishers Association). Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ Chapman, James (2011). British Comics: A Cultural History. Reaktion Books. p. 185. ISBN 978-1861898555. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Jacqueline Rayner (August 17, 2012). "Jinty, Tammy, Misty and the golden age of girls' comics". The Guardian. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  6. ↑ John Freeman. "Let's Here It For The Girls". Misty. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ Newson 2014, pp. 19-20.
  8. ↑ Newson 2014, pp. 23-24.
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