The Christmas TAMMY (1971)

Tammy was launched in early 1971 so this was its first Christmas issue. The comic was the first of a new style of IPC comics that were more streetwise, and more likely to feature working class heroes. Its success led to comics such as Action, Battle, and 2000AD. Although where those three comics usually focused on action and gritty conflict, Tammy was more about the emotional punch, and it certainly delivered, especially in its early days. More about Tammy next week, if I have time.

This Christmas issue didn't feature a lot of festive material, so I'll just focus on the pages that did. The cover was by John Armstrong, featuring his Beattie Brown character from the serial Beattie Beats 'Em All. 

The sole humour strip Lulu had a nice clean style to its artwork. Does anyone know who illustrated it? It looks like Colin Wyatt's work to me...

The serial No Tears For Molly was a very popular series that ran for years. I understand it was written by Maureen Spurgeon and drawn by Tony Thewenetti according to the Jinty blog. You'll see what I mean about the comic playing on the emotions. The stories often featured heroic resilience against cruel, even sadistic, adults. Real gripping stuff...

...and on the back page, here's an outfit you can make for Christmas. Party like it's 1971! 

There'll be another dip into the time stream to pull out another Christmas classic soon!

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