View source for Judy (girls' magazine)

{{Short description|British girls' magazine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{italictitle}}
{{Distinguish |Judy (satirical magazine)|Aunt Judy's Magazine}}
{{Infobox comic book title <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| image               = Judy01-January-16-1960.jpg
| imagesize           = <!-- default 250 -->
| caption             = The cover of ''Judy'' #1 (16 January 1960).
| schedule            = Weekly
| format              = Newsprint magazine
| ongoing             = y
| genre               = School, Romance, Drama, Humour
| School = y
| Romance = y
| Humor = y
| Adventure = y
| multigenre = y
| publisher           = [[DC Thomson]]
| startmo             = 16 January
| startyr             = 1960
| endmo               = 11 May
| endyr               = 1991
| issues              = 1,635
| main_char_team      = Bobby Dazzler<br />Judy<br />Emma (from 1979)<br />Tracy (from 1985)
| writers             = Marion Turner<ref>lorrsadmin. [http://girlscomicsofyesterday.com/2019/10/marion-turner-dct-writer/ "Marion Turner – DCT writer,"] ''Girls Comics of Yesterday'' (25 October 2019).</ref>
| artists             = 
| pencillers          = 
| inkers              = 
| letterers           = 
| colorists           = 
| editors             = 
| creative_team_month = 
| creative_team_year  = 
| creators            = 
| TPB                 = 
| ISBN                = 
| subcat              = DC Thomson Comics
| altcat              = 
| sort                = Judy
| nonUS               = y
}}
'''''Judy''''' was a British pre-teen and [[Teen magazine|teen girl's magazine]], primarily in [[comic book]] form. ''Judy'' was extant from 1960 to 1991.<ref name=Newson6/> From 1991 to 1997 it was combined with another title in ''[[Mandy (comics)|Mandy]] and Judy'' magazine.<ref name=Gibson/> ''Judy'' was published by [[DC Thomson]]. 

== Publication history ==
=== Background ===
[[DC Thomson]] 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 of over one million.<ref name=PPA/> DC Thomson went on to publish other similar titles: ''Diana'' (published 1965–1976), ''[[Mandy (comics)|Mandy]]'' (published 1967–1991), ''Debbie'' (published 1973–1983), and ''Suzy'' (published 1982–1987).<ref name=PPA/> 

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.<ref name=Chapman/> Whether in imitation or not, British girls' magazines of this era typically bore a single female given name as title; besides the DC Thomson titles, other magazines were ''Tracy'', ''[[Nikki (comics)|Nikki]]'', ''[[Sandie (comics)|Sandie]]'', ''Diana'', ''Sally'', ''[[June (comics)|June]]'', ''[[Tammy (comics)|Tammy]]'', ''Lindy'', and ''Penny''.<ref name=Rayner/>

=== 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 cancelled 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. ''Judy'' was emblematic of this practice. It absorbed ''Emma'' in 1979 and ''Tracy'' in 1985; as a consequence, the title was known as ''Judy and Emma'' from issue #1027 (15 September 1979) to issue #1049 (16 February 1980), and ''Judy and Tracy'' from issue #1306 (19 January 1985) to some time before issue #1443.

Even though ''Judy'' had debuted earlier than ''[[Mandy (comics)|Mandy]]'', when the two titles merged in 1991, ''Mandy'' was listed first in the new merged publication. ''Mandy & Judy'', also known as ''M&J'', merged with ''[[Bunty]]'' in 1997.

== Content ==
''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.<ref name=Freeman/> The insouciant Bobby Dazzler was a recurring character.<ref name=Rayner/>

Among the fare offered by ''Judy'' was stories of girls confronting adversity and overcoming it — for instance, ''Nobody Loves Dixie'' (1964) tells of a shunned girl who wins a trophy and rises from her wheelchair to collect it{{sfn |Newson |2014|pp=19-20}} — or succumbing to it — for instance, in the harrowing ''Nothing Ever Goes Right'' (1981), the heroine, beset with poverty, orphanhood, and health problems, dies<ref name=Rayner2>Rayner, Jac. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/comics/features/girls_comics.shtml "Paper Worlds: Why girls' comics were wonderful,"] BBC (18 June 2014).</ref> of heart failure while rescuing children from an abandoned house.{{sfn |Newson |2014|pp=23-24}}

=== Strips ===
* ''Bess’s Secret Brother'', written by Marion Turner (1984); reprinted as ''Her Brother’s Keeper'' (1990)
* ''Bobby Dazzler''
* ''Bobtail the Beach Rescue''
* ''Boomerang, the Horse that Always Comes Back''
* ''Cold As Charity'', written by Marion Turner (1986–1987); reprinted in ''Mandy & Judy'' (1994)
* ''Cybela'', written by Marion Turner (1979–1980)
* ''The Honourable SJ''
* ''Judy & Co.'' (1985–1991) — starring Judy, the "host" of the comic, and her schoolfriends Emma and Tracy, both of whom joined after ''Judy'' absorbed their respective titles.
* ''Marina and the Monster''
* ''Nobody Loves Dixie'' (1964)
* ''The Nobody of the School'', written by Marion Turner (1982); reprinted as ''The Veiled Lady'' (1988); reprinted as ''The Nobody of the School'' in ''M&J'' (1994)
* ''Nothing Ever Goes Right'' (1981)
* ''Patience in the Saddle''
* ''Part-Time Supergirl'', written by Marion Turner (1983)
* ''Petra the Party Maker''
* ''The Princess Who Never Was'', written by Marion Turner (1986)
* ''The Rivals''
* ''Sally of Studio Seven''
* ''Sandra of the Secret Ballet''
* ''Supergirl'' — Jenny Brown (not related to [[DC Comics]]' [[Supergirl]])
* ''Topsy and the Scientist's Secret''
* ''The Unwanted Ones'', written by Marion Turner (1980–1981)
* ''Where Is Melanie Forbes?'', written by Marion Turner (1982); reprinted (1989)

== See also ==
* [[British girls' comics]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Newson6>{{cite book |last=Newson |first=Kezia |title=How Has The Pre–teen Girls' Magazine Influenced Girls From The 1950s To Present Day?  |url=https://issuu.com/excessmagazine/docs/how_has_the_pre-teen_girls__magazin |access-date=2 March 2016 |year=2014 |page=6}}</ref>

<ref name=Freeman>{{cite web |url=http://www.mistycomic.co.uk/Lets_Here_It_For_The_Girls.html |title=Let's Here It For The Girls |author=John Freeman |work=Misty |access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

<ref name=Gibson>{{cite book |last=Gibson |first=Mel |title=Remembered Reading: Memory, Comics and Post-War Constructions of British Girlhood |series=Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dBILCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 |access-date=3 March 2016 |year=2015 |publisher=Leuven University Press |isbn=978-9462700307 |page=203}}</ref>

<ref name=Rayner>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/18/jinty-misty-girls-comics-dandy |title=Jinty, Tammy, Misty and the golden age of girls' comics |author=Jacqueline Rayner |date=17 August 2012 |work=The Guardian |access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

<ref name=PPA>{{cite web |url=http://www.ppa.co.uk/about/activities/scotland/magazineexhibition/1950/ |title=Bunty: 1958 – 2001 |work=100 Years of Scottish Magazine Publishing |publisher=PPA (Professional Publishers Association) |access-date=3 March 2016 |archive-date=8 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408151159/http://www.ppa.co.uk/about/activities/scotland/magazineexhibition/1950/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=Chapman>{{cite book |last=Chapman |first=James |title=British Comics: A Cultural History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aMxOPSGZPcwC&pg=PT185 |access-date=3 March 2016 |year=2011 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1861898555 |page=185}}</ref>
}}

== Sources ==
* {{gcdb series|id= 63197 |title=''Judy''}}
* {{gcdb series|id= 77230 |title=''Mandy & Judy''}}

==External links==
* [https://20th-century-vintage.weebly.com/home/judy-1982-annual Scan of 1982 Annual]

{{D. C. Thomson Comics}}

[[Category:1960 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1991 comics endings]]
[[Category:British girls' comics]]
[[Category:Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:DC Thomson Comics titles]]
[[Category:Defunct British comics]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1960]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 1991]]