2024 Comic Summer Specials

 The good thing about being a little sissy gurl is you get to enjoy little life all over again as you really were

What's that Temptations song?

It's Summer.

As sure as eggs are eggs Summer comes around after things like year Exams and things like GCSE's (or O levels in my day) and your A's we work through before the six weeks or more before the start of the next term.

Unless your folks are the sort that pulled you out school for a week before, which happened then, and sure enough does today but soon what started of as "Yay freedom" soon turns to "I'm bored" and then if you were away the day you wanted to go to the beach, it was raining over Bill's mothers too so that was off.*

You needed something that didn't just occupy the time, you needed a good laff to bring a smile back on your face after that disappointment and for many of us it was the special Comic Specials.

Specials that had exclusive new stories were it and back then their were loads such as Tammy, Jinty and The Dandy which you might of taken with you or bought as soon as you got to that resort or camp site.

We lost the Dandy way back at the end of 2012 as weekly comic but an experimental Summer issue in 2013 proved successful and today we get one a year and an annual.

Thing is, us old-young at heart readers are slowly reducing so it's not enough to just cater for the retro adult market, you need to reach out to actual modern children so you can't just keep old cartoon strip series in, you need to add new ones that exist more in the modern world and so we continue with last years Dandytown Scouts, modern but easy for us older readers to relate to as much as todays youngsters.

Then D C Thompson have reimagined Dina Mite  as Dinah Mo as a ecological activist caring about the environment (and we should) and had Lew Stringer draw her with both new strips with a more diverse range of children from we had in 1977 or even 88 reflecting how society has changed.

This is being cross promoted by another long standing comic - The Beano.

Unlike the Dandy despite both having a trouble identity crisis driven period around 2007 to 2010, this still continues and is last man standing of the old school weekly comics although the revived monthly Monster Fun can join it.

There's no denying it has changed, somethings such as more inclusion, more ethically diverse characters more welcome for reflecting the world and addressing poor representation of girls, disabled children (something that irritated me back then) and so on.

Being a weekly the setting needs more to reflect the world as it is now with internet and smartphones in it even if grown ups rightly are debating how much of children's time should be spent with such things.

Because Rodger, Minnie, Dennis and the Class of 2B are still ten they're still around but in that world and they go on super summer adventure that has a common theme - pranks and pranking - and they guest in each others comic strip series in the summer edition with a common story.

They are joined by newer strips that have none of the baggage older comic strips have some of which tend to work a bit better than others so it's a little less of a retro experience but if you enter the headspace  of a ten your old  today it makes lots of sense and is quite funny.

It just isn't 1974 but this isn't typewritten then but posted online in 2024!

Out now at major newsagents, Amazon and thank god this year D C Thomson's own website.

Guiding this week

 

I have written a bit around scouting and being a an eternal Brownie as a sissy gurl on here before but just what do I do?

Well, weather this weekend was really quite good so exploring was very much on the agenda here as I followed the canal towpaths taking my time to take in the countryside tucked beyond the built up area.

Sections have rough and ready pathways affording the ability to get close to trees providing much needed shade this week and identify their species before making ones way towards the next lock moving along.

 Inspiration can come from many places and sometimes where you may not expect such as comics where a few did try to do for them what the popular "Why Don't You..." television series on the BBC did and use their medium to encourage children to put down what they were doing and do something like go outside instead.

The girls comic Tammy did a fair bit about being fit and going out exploring the countryside  not just in the regular comics but also in their annuals.

Here from an page in the 1970's they are looking at the things you need on and with you and the things you might do along the way like identify trees, flowers, birds and so on which isn't a million miles removed from what you'd do in Scouts and Girl Guiding but with the advantage anyone anywhere can just do it where there can be waiting lists and in a few places the lack of age appropriate unit for you.

Now Yearbook 1974

 

After an excursion into the 90's, we return with this fantastic series of year based compilations right back in the decade I enjoyed as a young child and to where music formed a backdrop to much of that life which we played and discussed.

1974 remains a strong memory with me for the sheer chaos of the adult world as things spired out of control with terrorist bombings, often bitter industrial strife as the economy moved towards tanking.

That played out in shortages and comics going up in price.

Music as a ten year old was something you took a good deal of interest in, listening on Radio One to new chart hits, following stories in the newspapers about your idols, watching them on Crackerjack, Supersonic or Top Of The Pops so this 82 track four cd set with notes on every song is just fantastic for reliving the sounds of that time.

1974 had variety from soul coming from Motown, Philadelphia International and other labels notitably including Sad Sweet Dreamer, the first philly inspired British soul number 1 and the marvellous When Will I See You Again by the Three Degrees.

If like me that was your bag you probably had Motown Chartbusters 9 that year which was a great compilation of soul and funk.

Glam rock was all around is from Slade, Arrows, Suzi Quatro in all her leatherness joined in leatherness by Alvin Stardust, Mud with the great Tiger Feet and heartfelt Lonely This Christmas.

The Rubettes added a Doo Wop twist to it, crossing over with Rock And Roll revival in the form of Showaddywaddy and Queen for period looked as they'd be in too.

Sadly there is no Glitter Band who had three hit singles nor as with 1973 nor any Gary Glitter who was very much a part of 1974 whatever we rightly feel regarding him today.

Pop included to this bloggers delight the Bay City Rollers who, having just crept into the top 30 in November 1973 managed four top ten hits including Shang-A-Lang, Sweet Dreams cover of Honey Honey although there is no Abba, Elton John, Terry Jacks with Seasons in the Sun and Lulu with The Man Who Sold The World plus Pilot with Magic.

Rock included Ace, Wings with two hits from the great Band On The Run album,Cozy Powell's brilliant drum track Dance With The Devil and Sparks.

Country was held up with Charlie Rich which I did like.

Come June the fifth the now legendary Extras volume came in its low rent flip out tri fold card cover and the discs are best lined to avoid scratches.

Still we have Peters and Lee, an often forgotten couple, the unforgettable Remember You're A Womble, a couple more Bay City Rollers hits and a great serving of excellent soul music that I loved at the time.

It was a great year, this is a great compilation, just a pity we've no Osmonds otherwise it would be perfect.

Looking after you

Well this is being typed up this extended May Bank Holiday and so as my appearance does matter I thought I'd type something to do with presenting a great image of yourself to the outside world having just checked over SK.

When it comes to your face there are a number of products you can apply when it comes to doing your make up although I think must of us would benefit from class or two on how to get done down to minutes just like older girls and women do who haven't half an hour or more to spend on it.

A dominate female making you up could just be the ticket , a "mummy dominant", a mistress any would do especially if they're reminding you just what made you the sissy you are while they're doing it.

Whatever your own circumstances might be, using moisturizer is a must for keeping your skin hydrated and baby bottom smooth as winter plays havoc with my skin otherwise soon getting dry and flaky.

Seeing it was a bank holiday I was tidying up where upon I came by an unopened package from March 2022 which I think was the tail end of a period of being very unwell and where it and a few other things had been unceremonious dumped.

It contained four pairs of these panties in baby pink and a few socks.

I thought last year I'd seen the last of the unopened stuff but seemingly there was more of it littering up the place.

Perhaps this sissy needs a good spanking for not getting on top of all this?

The Summer gurl

Not quite a follow up to last weeks post but more along the same lines, the little side of sissy comes from the child-like rooted in your childhood experiences, the things you did and they things you wished you could of but didn't do.

Take comics for instances, they were a staple not just of our own reading but part of our social currency as you talked about them sharing them except of course as assigned as male sissies generally we were never bought the ones we wanted and had to be careful over how we did get to read them such as sisters or "hidden" contacts with girls who twigged we weren't like the boys they knew.

The introduction page bypassing the one where "Presented to" would be inscribed, Just image it with Tammy  there!

Now onto the sort of featured story we'd really like of our girl friends, time spent together and adventures rather than war and gang stuff.

We all knew a Bessie Bunter.

Cos we're gurls of kind Summer means something special to us, like showing, more of our natural beauty off so we buy new clothes for the season.

That's a nice Fruit of the Loom pink jersey polo top that just looks the part.

Then there's a lovely sweatshirt with ribbed cuffs and waist also in dusty pink.

Teamed with a nice pleated skirt like this would be just the thing for the modern sissy gurl with with either knee socks or tights.