Judy - A Comic With Punch!

Judy was one of the comics which I used to receive from the Blades family (6/6 Oxgangs Avenue) upstairs. I used to get them in small batches so on a wet school summer holiday day I could follow a whole story.

Judy was a sister comic to Bunty and although not quite as good it was always a solid read. Indeed it must have been because the comic ran for over thirty years from 1961 to 1992.

I recall 'Wee Slavey'; 'Sandra Wilson' stories; and there was always a girl from a deprived background trying to achieve her dream despite having to face tough obstacles in life.

Indeed the themes in both boys and girls' comics were common and probably had a powerful socialisation effect on the millions of boys and girls who grew up in Edinburgh and the rest of the United Kingdom during the 1960s with their themes of courage; resilience and fortitude; friendship; selflessness; kindness; a sense of fair play and so forth.

Because the comics were very much a British thing reflecting our culture I wonder just how they moulded our mores and values and made us different to people from other countries across the globe. And with their demise in recent decades and the growing influence of computer games which are played by young people throughout the world whether this has resulted in greater homogenisation?

When I was writing this I came across this interesting little snippet:

'I don't know where you are located, but I thought I might be the only girl who read 'Judy' who lived in the U.S. I lived in the farm region of Illinois, south of Chicago, and I got my Judy magazines from an English pen friend. She used to bundle up several months of her issues and wrap them in brown paper and string and send them by boat. They took weeks to arrive and when they came to my small country post office it was indeed a red letter day for me. I loved them and would sort them into the right order and read and read and read. I loved all the stories and there was just nothing like them in the states.' Sharon Williams