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Schoolgirls’ Picture Library #76

Loyal to Her Disgraced Mother

Hmmm... a valuable item disappears, an innocent person is assumed guilty, and the item is hidden somewhere at the place it disappeared from... is it just me or is this like every third or fourth plot in these types of books?

Had a funny thought while reading this. Betty as Julie and Miss Grundy as the evil teacher. 

A secret panel that can only be opened with a pottery vase??? Suddenly the trap at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark is seeming more and more plausible. Would have made the ending more exciting as Julie and Miss Mosley race down the school hallway as poison darts shoot from the walls and a giant boulder comes after them. 

Really nice art and while I thought the story was a little contrived, it, more or less, did its job.

Robb and Paw, thank you both for explaining 'getting a wigging' and 'she's a bit of a tartar'. I've never heard those phrases here in the colonies, and don't recall having heard it in any old British TV shows or movies, though it may have just gone over my head. And the bit about wigging possibly coming from judge's wigs sounds plausible. Not sure if I'll be adding these to my vocabulary, but always good to learn something new 

Cheers

QQ

What Robb wrote.
A Tartar. A stickler. Someone who rules with a rod of iron. Harsh. Unbending.  No leeway.
Well, that's what I think a tartar is.
I've had a good wigging on occasions, at school.  You're right Robb, I doubt many people would use those terms now, and I'm old.
So pleased to find Goof pushing these lovely pocket libraries and particularly Lesley Shane. 
Edith Hardy wrote an article in a fanzine about 5 Fantastic? (not sure) Females, which included Ms. Shane.  Let me know if you fancy a look, if I can find it, that is.?
It's  good to find another knowledgeable fan challenging the idea that Passingham is simply a Raymond clone. 

School Girl's Picture Library #76 - Loyal to Her Disgraced Mother


pp. 14-15 - I haven't heard the expression 'getting a wigging' before (p. 14) or the expression that Miss Molsey is 'a bit of a tartar' (p. 15). I can guess from the context, but if Paw Broon is reading, maybe he can fill us in.

Quirky Quokka

Getting a wigging was a harsh chastising or rebuking from someone of authority (or who wanted to feign or flaunt authority) over a person accused of doing wrong.  No doubt it came from the well-known idea of a judge chastising and rebuking an accused person (defendant) in a courtroom, as judges wear wigs and rebuke defendants who are found guilty. This could apply to one's parents, teacher, schoolmaster (headmaster), a policeman, etc.

A Tartar in slang would be a wild and uncouth person, could also apply to a troublemaker.

I'd guess that both these terms are only used by very old people nowadays.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE:  The Survivors
The San Francisco Earthquake of 1967   (8 of 10)

2 American scientists (and their wives) are kidnapped by a team of foreign spies, who want to get their hands on the formula to create a super weapon, and need the 3rd scientist of the team to complete it. Jim's mission, is to prevent this from happening, and get the scientists and their wives out safely. This is complicated by the certainty that they will all be murdered if any rescue attempt is made, to ensure that if they can't get the weapon, NOBODY will.

Cinammon poses as the wife of the 3rd scientist (who's in hiding), and she and Rollin are kidnapped while leaving a much-publicised funeral. But the baddie is infuriated when he finds out that she left her husband, and the man they kidnapped is her boyfriend. At first, she claims the break-up was so acrimonious, her husband won't care what happens to her, but then she surprises the villain by proposing a deal, in which she will convince her husband to come out in the open, ONLY if she and her boyfriend are paid $25,000. The villain calls her "an interesting woman". COLD-BLOODED in the extreme is more like it! All this, of course, is really a way for Rollin to map out the basement rooms they're being kept prisoner in. When Jim poses as the scientist-husband, Cinammon & Rollin are paid off, let go... and then followed, to be murdered. At least, until Barney & Willy intercept the assassin!

And THEN it gets crazy, when Barney manages to FAKE an EARTHQUAKE, trapping spies and kidnap victims in the basement, while a fake radio report reveals all of San Francisco is in absolute chaos-- so a rescue attempt ISN'T coming!

Albert Paulsen (THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE) is "Eric Stavak", his 2nd of 5 different roles on the show, and boy is he one nasty character. He seems genuinely shocked & impressed when Cinammon offers to betray her estranged husband, but then orders her killed after paying her off. When Jim manages a seemingly-impossible (heh) escape, Stavak decides to leave his victims behind to die from a gas leak.

Peter Graves' team leader "Jim Phelps" proves to be on multiple levels perhaps the most BRILLIANT character on TV in the late 60s. It's not just his complex plans, but the knowledge on so many things he exhibits while in the field posing as various other people. Simply put, he makes "Dan Briggs" look like an AMATEUR by comparison. And as for Stavak, that guy had NO IDEA who he was dealing with!!

Until the end, at least. Myself, I prefer when the bad guys NEVER find out who they were up against. Having the team confront the villains wordlessly at the end, so as to say, "Yeah-- WE did this to you!" was something Jim and his team did in the revival, but I figure there, it was a case of Jim getting meaner and nastier in his old age.

School Girl's Picture Library #76 - Loyal to Her Disgraced Mother


This book was published in 1960, so seems a little old-fashioned now. But they were certainly popular at the 
time. The letter at the end says there were over 100 000 readers, with some as far away as Australia. Well I'm reading it in Australia 64 years later, so I bet that's something the writer and artist wouldn't have dreamed of back then.

First, some comments on the story. It's a spin on the usual boarding school story, only instead of the daughter being sent off to boarding school initially, the mother goes off to boarding school during the term to teach and leaves the daughter at home with Hannah, the old housekeeper. There is no father on the scene, but also no explanation of what happened to him.

p. 5 - It seemed strange that the mother was so keen to send Julie to the same boarding school where she had been treated so badly. It might have made more sense if Julie had begged to go. But in any case, we needed to get Julie there or there would be no story.

p. 8 - A bit too much of a coincidence that Julie just happens to be sitting in the train compartment next to the compartment that holds the two baddies. But if she hadn't overheard that conversation, she wouldn't have had her first clue.

pp. 14-15 - I haven't heard the expression 'getting a wigging' before (p. 14) or the expression that Miss Molsey is 'a bit of a tartar' (p. 15). I can guess from the context, but if Paw Broon is reading, maybe he can fill us in.

p. 28 - The blue and white vase at the centre of the mystery was made by the former headmistress, who was a master at her art. So it seems pretty unbelievable that Muriel, with Julie's help, could whip up something almost identical, including firing and glazing, in so short a time (p. 40).

p. 61 - Unless I've missed something, it's not really explained who the accomplice is and how the letter fell into his hands.

But in spite of a few problems, it's a good story overall. It's probably the sort of thing I'd read if I was a schoolgirl back then. The story itself is quite well written. I imagine a lot of girls would prefer to read a story in this form rather than a book, so it would have gotten girls reading. The themes of loyalty, bullying and rumour-mongering are just as relevant today. Julie's loyalty to her mother is admirable, as is Muriel's loyalty to Julie. It shows the difference between a true friend and those who'll leave you in the ditch when there's a hint of trouble. I would have liked to know Miss Molsey's fate. Did they lock her up and throw away the key? Perhaps hard labour making bricks in the prison kiln would have been a suitable punishment. Or they could try throwing a bucket of water over her and wait to see if she melted like the Wicked Witch of the West. 

The art is also good. The facial expressions are well-drawn and there's some good movement in some of the panels. Also lots of interesting uses of shading.

Overall, an interesting book. Probably not my cup of tea now, but would certainly have fit the bill for schoolgirls at the time.

Thanks Goof

Quirky Quokka

Thanks Goof, for choosing these great-looking old GA stories.  The artwork looks terrific!  Super linework on the inks, great staging, and use of light and dark for mood. Flipping through the pages, I can tell that the storytelling has just as high a standard as the artwork.  I'm sure I'll get a lot of entertainment from reading these stories.

In many parts of the country, Columbus Day has been re-named Indigenous People's Day.  I've studied extensively on the treatment of the Taino people by Columbus and his men, as they all but wiped out the Taino race.  I must admit that many indigenous people in America died of diseases caused by people and animals coming from Europe--that couldn't be foreseen or understood at the time.  Working people to death, being forced to mine for gold for the Empire, however, was inhumane and not an act that can be forgiven. 

The documentation of this slaughter is plentiful, and beyond dispute.  This is not a political opinion, or a personal agenda.  Historical fact. 

An amusing and informative chat as Mark delves back to when Glasgow and aka was a centre of burgeoning interest in comics.
I was a big part in it all as a partner in aka and played a small part in encouraging certain young creators back then.
Marvellous times, great fun, so many memories.

https://youtu.be/NDxJoQtCps4?si=TGM0pHSsJZh9C3Dz

Good luck!