Last week I received an “annual award” at work… a copy of the 1981 Bunty annual — brilliant!! I remember owning a copy of this when I was a girl.
Some of the stories and artwork are great, I can see why I received the comic for years. I haven’t read it all yet, and it is dated in some aspects, but the stories are still exciting. Here’s a couple of examples from the inside pages…
(I am yet to find a copy of the doll/burglary story, if anyone knows where I can get hold of a copy please let me know – I’d love to see it again!)
On a more serious note. Having spoken to many parents and comic people over the past couple of months there has been unanimous agreement that there is a gap in the market, a lack of comics available for girls today, and much support for something new on the newsagents shelves. I think this is reflected in the latest media coverage on the debate about the sexualisation of children. Key Stage 2 girls (7-11 year olds) should be allowed to be proud to be what they are, not yearning to be older. Many of the branded magazines available to them seem to be massive marketing machines with not much substance and barely any stories. The young girls that I know are more interested in reading and playing and just being girls rather than the latest fashions. Niamh and her friends have recently read Monkey Nuts and Mo-Bot High. They loved both stories and have since been playing Mo-Bot High in the school playground. Their latest obsession is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series of books — the format of these would work really well as a comic strip! Lets give them something fun, original and packed full of stories, and let them enjoy their childhoods before they really do have to grow up.
Covers and images are copyright of DC Thomson, all images are being used for review purposes only.
Bring Back Bunty 