Jinty's CONCRETE SURFER to be collected next summer

Glancing at the books section of Amazon earlier I noticed that June 2020 will see the publication of Concrete Surfer by Pat Mills and Christine Ellingham. This story first appeared in Jinty in 1978.

The description on Amazon reads:
Sent home to Britain after her parents fail to establish a new life in Australia, Jean Everidge is forced to rely on family charity, moving in with her Aunt, Uncle and cousin Carol, successful gymnast, beloved of teachers and pupils alike, and all round charming “top girl”. Jean has one solace left to her – skateboarding, surfing the concrete pavement, while forgetting all her troubles, and feel free.

But Jean’s freestyling talent soon attracts attention, and if there’s one thing Carol can’t stand, it’s being out of the spotlight. With the new skatepark freestyle contest coming up, just how far will Carol go to stay number one?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Concrete-Surfer-Pat-Mills/dp/1781087636

Jenni Scott's excellent blog A Resource on Jinty, featured a post on the strip a while ago and you can read it at the following link, although it does contain spoilers so I didn't read the whole entry. The blog itself is well worth following though!
https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/concrete-surfer-1978/

It's good to know that Rebellion will be bringing us more classics from the girls' comics. Christine Ellingham is an artist who is new to me so it's good to discover her art 40 years on! These well-told tales and superb artwork deserve to be seen by a new generation, and the emotional punch of their storylines makes a nice balance to the action-orientated stories from the boys' comics of yesteryear. 

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Cover reveal: TAMMY AND JINTY SPECIAL

Rebellion have today revealed the cover to their upcoming Tammy and Jinty Summer Special which will be published on Wednesday 26th June, with 52 pages for £4.99. 

As you can see, the new cover by Lisa Henke replaces the previously advertised one by Mike Collins. The decision was made to focus on the new character, Rocky of the Rovers, who debuts in her own strip inside. (Mike's art will still appear, albeit as a pin-up.)

The all-new special has a great line-up of talent and some revamps of classic characters along with new ones. Some solid material here, so let's hope it's a success. I'll be previewing the strips here in a couple of weeks but for now here's the list of stories and creatives involved...

• UK, NORTH AMERICA and DIGITAL: 26th June 2019 £4.99/$7.99
• DIAMOND: APR191915
• COVER: LISA HENKE (front) KIT BUSS (back)

In this issue:
JUSTINE, MESSENGER OF JUSTICE: SOME "MINO" TROUBLES by Emma Beeby (w) PJ Holden (a) Dearbhla Kelly (c) Jim Campbell (l)
ROCKY OF THE ROVERS by Rob Williams (w) Lisa Henke (a) john Charles (c) Jim Campbell (l)
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION by Andy W. Clift (w+a) Mike Stock (l)
IN THE COLD DARK by Matt Gibbs (w) VV Glass (a) Mike Stock (l)
MAISIE'S MAGIC EYE by Kate Ashwin (w) Kel McDonald (a) Mike Stock (l)
SPEED DEMONS by Sarah Millman (w+a) Jim Campbell (l)
DUCKFACE by Rachael Smith (w) Yishan Li (a) Jim Campbell (l)
THE ENIGMA VARIATION by Grainne McEntee (w) Dani (a) Jim Campbell (l)
BELLA AT THE BAR by Rachel Ball (w) Vanessa Cardinali (a) Jim Campbell (l)

Available in print from: newsagents and comic book stores via Diamond Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop and apps for iPad, Android, Windows 10

TAMMY AND JINTY SPECIAL cover revealed

Copyright ©Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd.

Well done Rebellion in bringing back another classic title with a modern-day makeover. Diamond distributor's Previews website has revealed the cover and solicitation details of the new Tammy and Jinty Special that will be in newsagents and comic shops on 26th June!

The superb artwork is by Mike Collins, a long-experienced professional who has worked in comics for 35 years and these days is the storyboard artist on Doctor Who. 

Now, bear in mind that it's likely that this might not be the final cover. The illustration is final, but the logo placement might not be, and for all we know there could be added captions... or not. (There'll certainly be a barcode and Rebellion's company logo added later.) I'll post the finished cover when Rebellion send me the PR in the summer. I'm only posting this because it's already being shared on social media so I thought readers of this blog might want to see it too. 

Anyway, following on from The Cor!! Buster Humour Special (on sale 17th April), the Tammy and Jinty Special will be in WH Smith and comic shops on 26th June, with an impressive line-up of creators. Here's the solicitation info...

(W) Rob Williams, Emma Beeby, Grainne Mcentree (A) Rachael Stott, Various (CA) Mike Collins

Tammy and Jinty were two of Britain's best-loved girls' comics in the 1970s and '80s - ground-breaking female-led comics that covered everything from science fiction and fantasy to romance and domestic drama. This June, these classic titles return in the 48-page Tammy and Jinty Special, retooled for the 21st Century! 

A host of the finest modern creators pay tribute to this legacy of trail-blazing comics while introducing a new audience to the medium! None other than Rob Williams (Roy of the Rovers), Rachel Stott (Doctor Who), Rachael Smith, V V Glass (Assassin's Creed), Emma Beeby (Mata Hari) and many more present daring girl-led tales of roller derby, archaeology, codebreaking, ballet, space adventure and more!  

In Shops: Jun 26, 2019 

If you buy your comics from your local comic shop, now is the time to tell them to reserve you a copy as they'll be putting their orders in for June-released comics soon! Order ref: APR191915

The Tammy and Jinty Special is also part of the discounted pack of 2019 Rebellion Specials you can pre-order here:
https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue//B0011

Review: FRAN OF THE FLOODS

Rebellion's expanding Treasury of British Comics line of classic reprints continues to bring us some fantastic stories, and this latest volume is no exception. Fran of the Floods originally appeared in Jinty from 17th January to 11th September 1976 and the story is still strong and relevant over 40 years later.

Written by Alan Davidson and drawn by Phil Gascoine, Fran of the Floods is a compelling tale of Britain experiencing unrelenting torrential rainfall that results in devastating floods across the nation. Our heroine, Fran, becomes separated from her family and friends and the story reveals her harrowing ordeals as she tries to survive in an increasingly harsh environment. 

Like most comic stories of the era, Alan Davidson's scripts are tightly written with great clarity of storytelling. There's none of the glib banter and confusing narrative that sometimes burdens comic scripts today. These stories were written as three page chapters and every panel had to count, and every episode had to deliver the goods. As you'd expect from girls' comics of the time, it's emotionally charged stuff that engages the readers. Phil Gascoine's artwork is basic, no-frills stuff, but it's very skilled stuff and actually shows what a master of figure work and facial expressions he was. 

Reproduction of the strips is excellent, - remarkable when you consider they're scanned from 40 year old comics. To round off the book, there's a gallery of Jinty covers that spotlighted the strip, in full colour.

I hope this book sells well enough for Rebellion to continue with more reprints from Jinty, - and remember there's a brand new Tammy and Jinty Special coming out on 27th June!

Fran of the Floods is published on 21st March. Here's the PR and a preview of chapter one...

• CREATIVE TEAM: Alan Davidson (w) Phil Gasgoine (a)
• RELEASE DATE: 21st March 2019 (UK)
• PAPERBACK, 113 pages
• PRICE: £12.99 (UK)
• ISBN: 9781781086728
• DIAMOND: JAN192057
This book couldn't be more relevant if it tried - it comes from the pages of the legendary Jinty and is ideal for youngsters and nostalgists alike. Due to increased climate change the sun melts the ice caps, causing an onslaught of never ending rain. As Fran Scott's town begins to disappear underwater and, after losing her parents in the chaos, she decides to seek out her sister June in Scotland. But as society begins to crumble around her, Fran must overcome a vast array of dangers, including disease, wild animals, marauding gangs of vicious thugs and most bizarre of all, the self-proclaimed King of Glasgow!

Available in print from: 2000 AD webshop, book stores, Amazon, and comic book stores via Diamond Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop & apps for iPad, Android and Windows 10

New Treasury books for 2019

Cover art by Phil Gascoine.

A browse through Amazon this evening caused me to notice a few new books that I'm sure will be of interest to Blimey! readers. Scheduled for their Treasury of British Comics line for next year are three more collections of classic strips. These will include...

Fran of the Floods, by Alan Davidson and Phil Gascoine, from the popular Jinty weekly. 
www.amazon.co.uk/Jinty-Fran-Floods-Gascoine-Phil/dp/1781086729/

Wildcat Book 1: Turbo Jones by Barrie Tomlinson and Ian Kennedy, reprinting the story from the short-lived Wildcat comic.
www.amazon.co.uk/Wildcat-Turbo-Jones-Barrie-Tomlinson/dp/1781086656/

Cover art by Ian Kennedy.

...and one I know lots of people have been hoping to see...

Billy's Boots, Book One written by Fred Baker and drawn by John Gillatt (although John didn't take over the strip until later, so that'll be corrected as these early episodes were by Mike Western, Tom Kerr, and others). The story reprinted from Scorcher from 1970. 
www.amazon.co.uk/Billys-Boots-1-Fred-Baker/dp/1781086710

Cover art by Tom Kerr and Mike Western.

These three books are currently scheduled for the early part of 2019 and I'm sure more will follow. No doubt Rebellion will reveal more info officially over the coming weeks! 

These are exciting times for fans of classic British comics and I hope you'll give the books your full support! 

Preview: the first JINTY collection

These are good times for comics enthusiasts. Not only are there a diverse range of new comics available, classic strips are being reprinted too. The latest collection from Rebellion's Treasury of British Comics will be a softback compiling two serials from Jinty, The Land of No Tears and The Human Zoo which originally appeared in the weekly in the late 1970s.

Here's the PR from the publishers, plus a few sample pages...

• CREATIVE TEAM: Pat Mills, Malcolm Shaw (w) Guy Peeters (a) 
• REGIONS: UK, worldwide digital
• RELEASE DATE: 28th June 2018
• PAPERBACK, 144 pages
• PRICE: £10.99 (UK)
• ISBN: 9781781086247
• DIAMOND: APR181720

Two spooky sci-fi classics from the best-selling girls' comic of the 1970s and '80s! LAND OF NO TEARS: Whilst undergoing surgery on her lame leg, Cassy Shaw is transported into a dystopian future in which people with genetic defects are regarded as second class citizens. Unable to accept such objectionable discrimination, Cassy attempts to rally her peers (the Gamma girls) into beating the Alpha girls in several sporting events. Can she win the Golden Girl award and prove herself an equal?

THE HUMAN ZOO: Twin sisters Shona and Jenny are kidnapped along with their classmates by a superior race of telepathic aliens. Brought back to the aliens’ home planet, Shona and some other human captives are kept in cages where they are treated and displayed like animals, while Jenny is sold to another owner. Will the twins ever be able to reunite and escape to Earth?

Available in print from: book stores, Amazon, and comic book stores via Diamond Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop, 2000 AD iPad app, 2000 AD Android app, 2000 AD Windows 10 app Direct link:  https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue/RCA-G0004

Jinty Vol.1 cover revealed?

Amazon and other online stores are showing a cover for Jinty Volume 1, the upcoming collection to be published by Rebellion in June. I don't know at this point if this will be the finished cover or just a mock up for the trade, but no doubt the publishers will reveal more in a few months. 

This particular cover is a composite of two cover images from Jinty weekly, showcasing the two serials that are collected within its pages. To find out more and pre-order your copy of the book, visit Amazon. Alternatively, you could wait until it's available to buy directly from the publisher here:
https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com

Speaking of Jinty, on Jenni Scott's blog she has just uploaded an interview with Christine Ellingham who was an artist on the comic. Follow this link to read it:
https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/christine-ellingham-interview/

UPDATE: Incidentally, although Pat Mills wrote Land of No Tears he wasn't the writer of The Human Zoo, and the book cover doesn't make that clear. My thanks to Jenni Scott for the info. 

Rebellion to publish strips from TAMMY and JINTY

Following the two volumes of stories from Misty that Rebellion have published recently, the company is set to launch two books in their Treasury of British Comics line that feature material from other 1970s girls comics with strips from the archives of Tammy and Jinty comics. 

Scheduled for 28th June (according to Amazon), is Jinty Vol.1: The Human Zoo and The Land of No Tears.

"A luxury treasury collection featuring stories from the bestselling British girl comics phenomenon – restored and remastered for the first time!
Whilst undergoing surgery on her lame leg, Cassy Shaw is transported into a dystopian future in which people with genetic defects are regarded as second class citizens.  Unable to accept such objectionable discrimination, Cassy attempts to rally her peers (the Gamma girls) into beating the Alpha girls in several sporting events. Can she win the Golden Girl award and prove herself an equal?
Twin sisters Shona and Jenny are kidnapped along with their classmates  by a superior race of telepathic aliens. Brought back to the aliens’ home planet, Shona and some other human captives are kept in cages where they are treated and displayed like animals, while Jenny is sold to another owner. Will the twins ever be able to reunite and escape by to Earth?

* Lost science-fiction tales of alternate realities, of the strange and uncanny! All starring the female lead characters of British 70s comics.
* Written by comic legend Pat Mills (Marshall Law) and illustrated by Misty artist Guy Peeters!"

Pre-order from Amazon by clicking here.

Then a few weeks later on 12th July, there's Bella at the Bar Vol.1, beginning the long-running series from Tammy by Jenny McDade and John Armstrong.

"Orphan Bella Barlow is a young girl with a great natural talent for gymnastics. Unfortunately her dreams and aspirations to be a world-class gymnast are being hindered by her legal guardians - uncle Jed and aunt Gertrude, who force and bully Bella to their own advantage. Can Bella escape a life of abuse and servitude? Will she finally realise her dreams of gymnastic stardom? The epic serial begins here!

* Running for over a decade - one of the most popular and longest running Tammy strips – finally reprinted!"

Pre-oder it by clicking here.

It's good to hear that these long out-of-print stories will be collected for a new audience to appreciate. More news as it develops!

Thanks to David McDonald for the heads up on this info!

More Jim Baikie artwork

Tributes have appeared on numerous places online since the sad passing of artist Jim Baikie recently. I've found a couple of examples from my collection that I thought you might like to see of his work for the girls' comic Jinty that he contributed to in the late 1970s / early 1980s.

The episode of Village of Fame is from Jinty dated 29th September 1979

The episode of White Water is from Jinty dated 19th April 1980.

A marvellous artist. You can read tributes to Mr.Baikie at the following links:

https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2017/12/30/jim-baikie-rip-sad-news/

http://downthetubes.net/?p=42074 

https://bearalley.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/jim-baikie-194-2017.html

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/12/30/jim-baikie-skizz-electric-warrior-first-american-dies-77/


To discover more about Jinty comic and its creators, visit the wonderful Jinty blog:
https://jintycomic.wordpress.com

Check out the Jinty blog

For a blog about British comics I'm afraid my Blimey! blog has been quite remiss in covering comics published for girls. This is mainly because I don't know a great deal about them, having never read them when growing up, and having never contributed to those comics as an adult. It just wasn't the done thing for boys to read girls comics, and as a result I never gave them a second thought. (Although I appreciate now that many boys did read them, often those of their sisters.) Subsequently I missed out on a lot of great artwork and stories. I have bought some in recent years and will make an effort to feature them more often here. 

However, one blog that is devoted to the subject is Jenni Scott's excellent A Resource on Jinty, which has just celebrated its 300th post. Superbly written and researched, the blog covers the artists, writers, and stories related to IPC's Jinty weekly and its related titles. It's essential reading for anyone interested in the subject so check it out at this link:
https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/

(Cover scans from Jenni's blog.)

Classic Comics on the cards

Egmont have just released two smartly produced box sets of postcards from their Classic Comics imprint. 70s Girls' Comics: 100 Postcards and Battle: 100 Postcards are exactly what they say on the tin.... or rather sturdy cardboard box. Each set features 100 quality postcards depicting covers or images from some of the top comics of the 70s and 80s. 

As the title suggests the Battle set focuses solely on Battle Picture Weekly (and its later incarnation Battle-Action). There are some superbly dynamic covers here and the reproduction is excellent. Classic characters such as Major Eazy and D-Day Dawson are shown in all their glory. Some cards feature images from the strips so we get crisp reproductions of artwork by Joe Colquhoun and Eric Bradbury amongst others.

Art by Geoff Campion.

Art by Carlos Ezquerra.

Speaking of the artists brings me to the only minus point of these postcards. There are no artist credits on any of them (apart from the images that were signed or feature the original credits). I appreciate that these sets are not aimed solely at comic fans (I imagine most will be bought as nostalgic Christmas presents for parents) but it would have been a nice extra just to let the buyers know the names behind their favourite comics of childhood. 

Art by Carlos Ezquerra.

Art by Mike Western.

The 70s Girls' Comics set features covers and art from several titles: Tammy; Misty; Penny; Jinty and Sally. The Misty covers provide the most striking images with their dark and moody themes and they're contrasted nicely by the lighthearted artwork of John Richardson for Tammy. The Jinty covers are perhaps the weakest in composition but no doubt readers of that comic will be pleased to see their inclusion here.

All in all both of these postcard sets are very nicely produced. The boxes themselves have a great 'distressed' design (war-torn 'metal' on Battle and 'yellowed' paper on the Girls' set) and are strongly constructed. 

Both sets are reminders of what a strong comics industry we used to have in the UK before most publishers veered towards magazines with editorial or activity content instead of strips. And these were only a few of the comic titles. Hopefully these postcard sets will sell well enough to ensure more of them. 

There are certainly more than enough powerful Battle covers to easily form a second box set but I'd also like to see a humour comics set (Cor!!; Whizzer & Chips; Whoopee!; Wow!; Buster etc) and an adventure set (Action; Tornado; Jet; Speed; Eagle; Scorcher etc). Time will tell.

Art by John Richardson.

Battle: 100 Postcards 
Published by Egmont. Out now.
ISBN 978-1-4052-6837-0
Price £14.99

70s Girls' Comics: 100 Postcards
Published by Egmont. Out now.
ISBN 978-1-4052-6838-7
Price £14.99