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Bunty was a British comic for girls published by D. C. Thomson & Co. from 1958 to 2001. It consisted of a collection of many small strips, the stories typically being three to five pages long. In contrast to earlier and contemporary comics, it was aimed primarily at working-class readers under the age of 14, and contained mostly fictional stories. Well-known regular strips from Bunty include The Four Marys , Bunty — A Girl Like You, Moira Kent, Lorna Drake, Luv, Lisa, The Comp , and Penny's Place. Publication history Bunty debuted with the 18 January 1958 issue. Over the course of its history, Bunty absorbed three other DC Thomson girls' comics: Suzy (1987), Nikki for Girls (May 1989), and Mandy & Judy [M & J] (1997). With the issue of March 28, 1992 (issue #1785), Bunty's covers switched from illustrated comics-style imagery to a photograph of a teen model, becoming more evocative of a fashion magazine than a comic book. Bunty went monthly in 2000 before ceasing publication after a further 5 months; altogether the magazine published 2,249 issues. As well as the weekly comic, Christmas and summer annuals were published. Layout and features The average issue of Bunty contained several short comic-strip stories, broken up by letters pages, competitions, featured readers, puzzle pages, promotions, next-week previews or advertisements. The back page initially featured a cut-out doll and paper clothes, which eventually gave way to a wall poster. Regular stories The Four Marys The Four Marys was the longest story the comic ran—drawn by artist Barrie Mitchell, it appeared from its creation in 1958 to its end in 2001. When the strip started, public boarding schools like St. Elmo's, the girls' boarding school, were common, but as time went on, they became less accessible to Bunty's general audience. It centred on four young teenagers who lived in a girls-only boarding school in Elmbury, and often had problems with studying, being bored, or helping (and being hindered by) the other girls or teachers within the school. Of the four main characters, two were middle class, one was the aristocratic daughter of an Earl, and one was a working-class girl, attending the school on a scholarship. This representation of the working class was a reflection of changing class experiences in the 1950s. Bunty — A Girl Like You A one-page feature included a short comic strip about the comic's namesake, a blonde girl called Bunty, and her friends Haya and Payal. The strip was so short it usually could not convey more than a quick joke — mostly about normal teenage girl subjects like boys, family, or school. Moira Kent and Lorna Drake The Dancing Life of Moira Kent, the story of an aspiring ballerina, appeared in the first issue of Bunty, and Moira Kent was a regular feature for many years, the character eventually achieving international stardom. When the Moira Kent storyline was discontinued, it was replaced with Lorna Drake, also about a ballet dancer who attended the Thelma Mayne Dancing School (Thelma having been a ballerina herself before an accident prevented her from dancing ever again). This accident was caused by Lorna's father, also a ballet dancer, who was going blind when he let Thelma Mayne fall during a performance, thus crippling her. However, Moira still appeared in the annuals, where she had opened her own ballet school. Luv, Lisa This story was written out as a diary, with pictures to accompany it. The pictures took the form of photographs, being the only regular comic to do so (although regularly "one-time" comics also took the form of being shown in photographs). Regularly her stories would consist of her writing about people, boyfriends, and situations she was in with her friends — although sometimes she would have a story set about her, with an adventure such as finding good Christmas cards. Her friends' names changed from issue to issue, the only regular characters being her brother and her mother. The Comp A comic drawn very much in the same way as The Four Marys, this was set in a mixed-sex comprehensive school. The Comp was originally published in Nikki, and moved to Bunty in 1989 after that comic folded. The Comp finished a short time before Bunty's end, the story being that Redvale Comprehensive closed down and the pupils were sent to different schools. Penny's Place A comic drawn in much the same way as The Comp and The Four Marys, Penny's Place began in the comic M&J (an amalgamation of earlier comics, Mandy and Judy), but was taken up by Bunty in 1997 when M&J ended. The story centered on Penny, whose parents owned a cafe called Penny's Place, and her three best friends, who all lived in the same town and attended the same school. Penny's best friend Donna was from a lower-class family and had several brothers and sisters, and these siblings were often involved in storylines. The story came to an end in the late 1990s, but due to popular demand Bunty began to publish the story again from the beginning. During this time, both Bunty and Mandy published Penny's Place in their Christmas annuals. Other strips A Bed Called Fred: A girl is pushing a four-poster bed named Fred all the way from John O'Groats to Land's End. A Cure For Scaredy-Cat Pat! – Pat Watkins is terrified of all animals and her father has an idea to cure her. He sends her to stay with her Great Aunt Sophie who runs an animal sanctuary. A Date for Donna – Donna Hill is unaware that her best friend, Denise Ripley, is jealous of her and is out to wreck any date that she makes. A Doll Called Dinkydou – The story of a doll with a defect searching for a home, told from the doll's point of view. A New Life for Lilly – In Victorian times, Polly Bond leaves her sister Lilly on a doorstep to be taken in by a wealthy family. Returning to the household as a servant some years later, Polly is horrified to see her sweet sister is now selfish and spoilt. A Pet For Peggy – Peggy North would love to have a dog of her own and her friend enters her into a competition where she wins a puppy, but the new housing manager is strict on the no pets policy. A Pony Called Punch – The adventures of Punch, a sturdy little Welsh mountain pony owned by the kindly Mike Watson. A Racehorse of Her Own: Shirley Wilson raises Hope, a young racehorse abandoned at birth by her wealthy father. She has to pay for all the expenses as her father believes in working hard for money, so she takes a job with a rag-and-bone man. When Dad demands Hope back later on, she refuses. He agrees to let her keep Hope on condition she still pay for expenses, which are even more costly now. A School Of Her Own – Rona Starr has been expelled from many schools, so to make sure she gets an education her father buys Pinehurst School, where Rona will be the only pupil. A Tale From the Toy Museum – Tamsin Treco goes to stay with her grandmother who runs a toy museum in a Cornish fishing village. In each strip, Tamsin hears the s.... Discover the Linzi Basset popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Linzi Basset books.