Tammy was a weekly British comic for girls published by Fleetway in London from 1971 to 1984. Tammy was closely linked editorially with the fellow Fleetway titles Misty and Jinty (eventually absorbing both of them). At its height, Tammy sold 250,000 copies per week, more than popular IPC Magazines titles like 2000 AD.

Tammy's first editor was Gerry Finley-Day,McDade, Jenny. "Creating Tammy: A True Story," Down The Tubes (12 October 2008). followed by Wilf Prigmore.

Publication history Tammy published 689 issues from 6 February 1971 to 23 June 1984, at which point it merged with Girl volume 2. Other titles which had merged with Tammy before then include Sally, June, Sandie, Jinty, Misty,Comics UK Family Tree for Tammy and Princess (vol. 2).

As well as the weekly comic, Christmas annuals were also published.

Content Every Tammy issue was a collection of stories, usually serial instalments, that lasted three or four pages. While there were similarities with its Fleetway stablemates Jinty and Misty, each comic magazine had its own focus, with Tammy being known for its bleak variations of Cinderella. Commenting on serial Slaves of Orphan War Farm, Julia Round says that the story is emblematic of Tammy's themes: "a working class heroine, constantly thwarted hope, and overt violence against girls, usually from an older authority figure." Tammy sub-editor Pat Mills saw that weekly as being different from "nice", "middle-class" British girl's comics, like Diana and Princess Tina, that had come before. Many stories were full of cruelty and adversity, based on the understanding that girls wanted stories that made them cry.Paul Gravett, Comics Britannia Part 2 - Girls and Boys, paulgravett.com, 2 December 2007. One serial that stood out to a number of reviewers was The Loneliest Girl in the World,Rayner, Jac. "Paper Worlds: Why girls' comics were wonderful," BBC (18 June 2014).Smith, James Cooray. "The dark, forgotten world of British girls' comics is about to be resurrected: The UK's most surreal and innovative comic strips have long been gathering dust. As a publisher acquires the archives, they could be heading for a renaissance," The New Statesman (27 September 2016). with artwork by Jaume Rumeu."Tammy & Misty 11 October 1980," A Resource on Jinty: Artists, Writers, Stories (20/04/2018).

Tammy's respective merges with Misty brought darker, horror tones, and the merge with Jinty brought more science-fiction. Despite these, changes in editorship brought Tammy to a more traditional mold in storytelling during the 1980s. The dark, cruel streaks that made Tammy so revolutionary in the 1970s had disappeared, except for Bella Barlow.

Tammy had more long-running regulars than most girls' comics due to the comic's respective merges. The Tammy and Sandie merger brought Wee Sue and Jeannie and her Uncle "Meanie" in 1973. The Tammy and June merger brought Bessie Bunter, Mam'selle X, and the Storyteller with The Strangest Stories Ever Told in 1974. The Tammy and Misty merger brought Miss T and Misty herself to join the Storyteller, in 1980. The Tammy and Jinty merger brought Pam of Pond Hill in 1981.

Creators

Attribution In a move unusual for girls' comics, artists and writers were credited in the pages of Tammy (although only its last few years). (2000 AD, in contrast, had included credits from issue #36, 29 October 1977.)

Artists Artists featured in the pages of Tammy included John Armstrong, who drew the long-running character Bella Barlow. Others included Mario Capaldi, Jose Casanovas, Tony Coleman, Diane Gabbott, Douglas Perry, Eduardo Feito, Giorgio Giorgetti (Belinda Bookworm; The Cat Girl; Jump, Jump, Julia; Sister in the Shadows; Star Struck Sister; Witch Hazel),Freeman, John. "In Praise Of... Comic Artist Giorgio Giorgetti, creator of 'Cat Girl'," Down the Tubes (16 Sept. 2017).Stringer, Lew. "Before Leopardboy there was... Cat Girl! (1969)," Blimey! The Blog British Comics! (15 September 2017). Juliana Buch, and Miguel Quesada.

Writers Writers featured included Jenny McDade, who wrote Star Struck Sister, the first Bella Barlow story and Come Back, Bindi; Benita Brown, who wrote the science fiction story Tomorrow Town; Gerry Finley-Day, who wrote The Camp on Candy Island; Maureen Spurgeon, who wrote the Molly Mills stories; Pat Mills, who wrote Granny's Town, Thursday's Child and Glenda's Glossy Pages; Malcolm Shaw, who wrote E.T. Estate; Ian Mennell, who wrote Namby Pamby and Cuckoo in the Nest; Alison Christie, who specialised in heart-tugging stories such as A Gran for the Gregorys and Cassie's Coach; Jay Over, who wrote Slave of the Clock and Pam of Pond Hill from the Jinty merger; Primrose Cumming, who wrote the later Bella Barlow stories; and Anne Digby, who wrote Olympia Jones; Terence Magee, who wrote The Four Friends at Spartan School, The Witch of Widecombe Wold and Sally in a Shell.

List of strips and stories

All Eyes on 3E (illustrated by Mario Capaldi) — Muriel Monitor is making a film about Form 3E. High comedy ensues as Muriel tries to expose 3E for the bunch of cheats and skivers they are. Amanda Must Not Be Expelled (illustrated by Jesus Redondo) - Amanda Blay has deliberately got herself expelled from every boarding school she has attended. When her parents send her to Haybury Boarding School, Jane and Marty realise they won't win the inter-school gymnastics trophy without her. It isn't long before Amanda is up to her tricks to get herself expelled from Haybury. But Jane and Marty don't want her expelled, so they do everything they can to foil her. Aunt Aggie (written by Pat Mills, drawn by J Badesa) - Aunt Aggie is the star of a famous down to earth chat show and famous for her kind, generous personality and helping people. However, her adopted daughter Helen Gray knows all too well that off-screen, Aunt Aggie is a hard-hearted, selfish, scheming woman, who only gets involved in charity events in order to turn the event to her own advantage. However, Helen always manages to thwart those schemes and give Aggie's would-be-victims the last laugh without them even realising it. Babe of St Woods (illustrated by Jose Casanovas) - "Babe," daughter of a gangster, is sent to St Woods to learn social graces. Instead, Babe is turning her gangster background to fixing bullies, helping her friends out of trouble and even catching criminals. Backhand Play (written by Ian Mennell, drawn by Phil Gascoine) - Teri Knightly joins a tennis club and finds a special talent for backhand. But her roguish uncle keeps interfering, with his own brand of "backhand." Back-Stab Ballerina (drawn by Miguel Quesada) — Rita Radley secretly makes trouble for her old friend June Day when they go to ballet school. Ballerina in Blue Jeans (drawn by Juan Escandell Torres) The Ballet in the Back Streets (drawn by Miguel Quesada) Beatie Beats ‘em All (illustrated by John Armstrong) - Cockney orphan Beattie lives alone with many stray cats, while competing in various sporting events to make a living. Becky Never Saw the Ball (by Joe Collins) — aspiring tennis star Becky Bates is making a comeback after going blind. Belinda Black-Sheep (illustrated by Mario Capaldi) - Belinda McRea and her father become outcasts in their fishing village after Dad commits a seeming act of cowardice that led the deaths of his fellow fishermen in a storm. But did he really? Or did he lose his mind in some way and was not responsible for his actions? Belinda Bookworm (illustrated by Giorgio Giorgetti) - Belinda Binder is tired of being a bookworm and wants to become a sports champion. Bella Barlow (initially written by Jenny McDade, later by Primrose Cumming; illustrated by John Armstrong) - Bella Barlow slaves away cleaning windows for her uncle's business and doing all the housework on poor feeding and occasional beatings. However it won't stop Bella's passion for gymnastics and she snatches every moment she can to practise. Bessie Bunter (by Ron Clark and Arthur Martin) — about a pupil of Cliff House School, a fictional girls' school near Greyfriars School. Bessie is essentially a female counterpart to her brother Billy, sharing many characteristics with her brother, including her large size and large appetite. As unappealing as her brother, Bessie is conceited, untruthful, gluttonous and obese, but is rather more domineering than him and usually imposes her will by nagging, or, in the case of her brothers, by administering hefty slaps to the head.Cadogan, Mary (1988), Frank Richards – The Chap Behind The Chums, Middlesex: Viking, p. 20. Continued from June (from 1974) Betta to Lose (illustrated by Tony Coleman) - Betta James is the school sports star but finds no joy in it. Her win-crazy headmistress has her whole life revolving around sport and Betta has no life of her own. So Betta starts throwing sports events to escape sports slavery. The Black-and-White-World of Shirley Grey (drawn by Diane Gabbot) - Shirley blames herself for her friend Trisha's accident because she lied about Trisha's whereabouts — although she did this at Trisha's request. Shirley vows never to lie again, but takes it to the extremes of refusing to tell even a white lie, and this getting her into terrible trouble. The Breaking of Faith (illustrated by Giorgio Giorgetti) - Faith Adams values her new friend Claire Ellerman as she doesn't make friends easily. However, her classmates keep telling her Claire is no good. Is Faith's new friend what she appears to be? A Bus in the Family (illustrated by Giorgio Giorgetti) - Mr Banks buys a bus, but criminals want it for unknown reasons. They end up pursuing it across the Continent when it goes on a school trip. The Button Box (created by Alison Christie, written by Ian Mennell and Linda Stephenson) - The button box is a Jackson family heirloom, and every single button in the box has a tale to tell. When Beverley "Bev" Jackson becomes unable to walk after a road accident, Gran gives her the box so Bev can use the stories to occupy her mind and cheer herself up whenever she is feeling down. Bev knows all the stories by heart and every week she dips into the box for a story to tell. C.L.A.R.A. (illustrated by Giorgio Giorgetti) - Professor Crichenor offers the services of his computer C.L.A.R.A. (Crichenor's Learning And Reasoning Aid) to raise the falling academic and sporting performance of Glumthorpe Comprehensive. Although the PTA's response is to throw Crichenor out – literally – he intends to prove himself by making Frances Cummins more organised. The Camp on Candy Island (written by Gerry Finley-Day, illustrated by Douglas Perry) — The holiday camp of Candy Island progressively turns into a prison camp — complete with striped uniforms, numbers, watchtowers, fences and chain gangs. Carol in Camelot Street (illustrated by Douglas Perry) - Carol Clancy finds King Arthur is being taken a bit far at her new school in Camelot Street. Her school carries on the Round Table and the Camelot tradition, complete with quests and defending the weak and poor against fairytale threats of dragons, ogres, robber barons and such. Cassie's Coach (written by Alison Christie) - Cassie Lord and her siblings are thrown out of their home when their mother is wrongly imprisoned in Victorian times. They find a new home — an old coach. Castaways on Voodoo island (illustrated by Ken Houghton) - A group of twelve schoolgirls from Oak Street secondary school win a TV quiz show, and their prize is a holiday in the Caribbean. When the teacher who was to accompany them falls ill, they are allowed to take the trip with no adult supervision. When a violent storm blows up, the plane then crashes near a desert island. Now the girls must try to survive, and avoid the strange voodoo tribe which haunts the island.