Sources
 | This comic strip–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| School Belle | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Keith Reynolds, Tom Paterson |
| Current status/schedule | Terminated. |
| Launch date | 15 October 1983 |
| End date | 4 January 2000. |
| Genre(s) | Gag-a-day, Humor comics, School-themed comics |
School Belle was a British comics series, originally published in the first issue of the British comics magazine School Fun on 15 October 1983 until the magazine merged with Buster on 2 June 1984. The strip continued to run in "Buster" until the magazine ceased publication in 2000. The series was written by Keith Reynolds and drawn by Tom Paterson. [1]
The series centered on a pretty and popular girl named "School Belle", a pun on the terms 'school bell' and belle of the ball, and the attempts of various boys to become her latest boyfriend. A recurring theme was Belle's feud with the unattractive and jealous Grotty Glenda, who would often plot to cause trouble for Belle. Glenda usually enlisted her steady boyfriend, the physically imposing but henpacked Beefy Bernie, to help her; however, he secretly found Belle attractive, and she was often able to distract him from Glenda's schemes by flirting. In 1988 Belle was given a regular boyfriend, public schoolboy Sebastian.
Another theme of the strip was the attempt of various 'nurks' - nerdy and unattractive boys - to gain Belle's attention. The nurks became such a popular feature of the strip that, in 1987, it began featuring a 'Know Your Nurks' breakout box, in which a different comically named nurk (e.g. Cyril Stinkinbottom) would appear in detail alongside an amusing fact about him.
Sometimes the strip would have Belle be on the "losing end", particularly when she got too taken with her personal appearance. One example being where a movie was shooting in Belle's hometown and she found work as an extra. When the leading man is a handsome movie star, Belle (like most other girls) is beside herself. When she arrives on set, she learns the film is actually a horror movie, and she is cast as a vampire, whilst the hunky leading man is a vampire hunter!
In 1990, following comments from readers that Belle was not actually that pretty, she was redrawn in a very different style, with a more modern hairstyle and casual clothing replacing her old-fashioned school uniform. The change was explained in a strip which showed Grotty Glenda dressing up as Belle to pose for the strip's artist, making Belle look bad in the process. Belle's boyfriend Sebastian was also replaced by a more modern counterpart. However, when Buster went fortnightly in the mid-nineties and switched to reprints, the original Belle reappeared.
| | This comic strip–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 American comedy vampire film directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui and starring Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry, Hilary Swank, and David Arquette. It follows a Valley Girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. It was a moderate success at the box office, but received mixed reception from critics. The film took a different direction from that which its writer, Joss Whedon, intended. Five years later, he created the darker, and critically acclaimed, television series of the same name.
Patrick Eamon Mills is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfather of British comics".
Buffy Anne Summers is the title character of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in The WB/UPN 1997–2003 television series and subsequent 1998–2018 Dark Horse and 2019–present Boom! Studios comic series of the same name. The character has also appeared in the spin-off series Angel, as well as numerous expanded universe materials such as novels and video games. Buffy was portrayed by Kristy Swanson in the film and by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the television series. Giselle Loren has lent her voice to the character in both the Buffy video games and an unproduced animated series, while Kelly Albanese lent her voice to the character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight motion comics.
Cheryl Marjorie Blossom is a fictional character of the Archie Comics universe. She is a wealthy teenage girl, the privileged daughter of a businessman. She is portrayed by Madelaine Petsch in Riverdale and Diya Gupta in The Archies.
Tank Girl is a British comic book character created by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, and first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine Deadline. After a period of intense popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tank Girl inspired a 1995 feature film. After a long hiatus, the character returned to comics in 2007 and has appeared regularly in the years since.
Buster was a British comic which began publication in 1960, originally published by IPC Magazines Ltd under the company's comics division Fleetway, then by Egmont UK Ltd under the same imprint until its closure in 2000. Despite missing issues due to industrial action during its run, the comic published 1,902 issues in total. The comic carried a mixture of humour and adventure strips, featuring the title character Buster and a host of other characters.
Jackpot was a British comic book magazine that ran from the issues cover dated 5 May 1979 to issue 141, 30 January 1982, when it merged with Buster.
Peppermint Patty is a fictional character featured in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. Her full name, very rarely used in the strip, is Patricia Reichardt. She is one of a small group in the strip who live across town from Charlie Brown and his school friends. She has freckles and "mousy-blah" hair, and generally displays the characteristics of a tomboy, while also being shown to not be a strict complier. She made her first appearance on August 22, 1966. The following year she made her animated debut in the TV special You're in Love, Charlie Brown and began coaching a baseball team that played against Charlie Brown, and thereafter had other adventures with him. Uniquely, she refers to Charlie Brown and Lucy as "Chuck" and "Lucille", respectively. In most of her appearances, she is attracted to Charlie Brown, based on her reactions. Her birthday is October 4.
Josie and the Pussycats is a teen-humor comic book about a fictional rock band, created by Dan DeCarlo and published by Archie Comics. It was published from 1963 until 1982; since then, one-shot issues have appeared on an irregular basis. A second series, set in the New Riverdale universe, launched in September 2016.
Nemi is a Norwegian comic strip, written and drawn by Lise Myhre. It made its first appearance in 1997 under the title Den svarte siden. At that time, it was a tonally dark cartoon concerning heavy metal subcultures. Over the years, Myhre made the comic generally brighter and more comedic, though still frequently published with strips about serious issues, especially in the larger Saturday panels. The strip was renamed Nemi after its protagonist, a young goth woman.
Scott Pilgrim is a series of graphic novels by Canadian author and comic book artist Bryan Lee O'Malley. The original edition of the series consists of six digest size black-and-white volumes, released between August 2004 and July 2010, by Portland-based independent comic book publisher Oni Press. It was later republished by Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins. Full-colour hardback volumes, coloured by Nathan Fairbairn, were released from August 2012 to April 2014.
Blue Monday is a comic book series created, written and illustrated by Chynna Clugston Flores. The series follows the adventures of Bleu L. Finnegan and her friends as they attend high school during the early 1990s, specifically between the years 1991–93.
Ivor Lott and Tony Broke was a British strip which originally appeared in the comic book Cor!! on 6 June 1970, before moving to Buster when the two comics merged in June 1974. The comic strip lasted until the final issue of Buster on 3 January 2000. The comic was originally drawn by Reg Parlett and later continued by artists such as Jim Crocker and Sid Burgon.
A popular American TV show from the late 1990s through early 2000s, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has had a tremendous influence on popular culture that has attracted serious scholarly attention. Even the language used on the show has affected modern colloquial expressions.
Aggie Mack was a newspaper comic strip about a teenage girl. Created by Hal Rasmusson, it was distributed by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate beginning on September 2, 1946, and concluding on January 9, 1972. It had a 26-year run, with a title change to Aggie during the final six years.
Misty was a weekly British comic magazine targeted at girls and published by Fleetway in the late 1970s. Focusing on horror stories, it was one of the few British girls' comics that was also popular with boys. Although Misty lasted less than two years it is remembered and admired to this day.
Vampire Kisses is a series of books written by Ellen Schreiber. Vampire Kisses is about a 16-year-old girl named Raven Madison who is a goth misfit in her polo-wearing, ordinary, town. When an old abandoned mansion finally gets new residents, the rumors start to spread. Everyone in the small town, which Raven refers to as “Dullsville”, believes that the new neighbors are actually secret bloodthirsty vampires. Even Raven, who has always loved vampires since she was little, believes the rumors. But one day, she encounters the attractive yet mysterious Alexander Sterling that lives in the mansion and feels like he is the only person that actually understands her. The two very quickly fall in love, but still, the question remains; are the Sterlings really vampires?
British girls' comics flourished in the United Kingdom from the 1950s through the 1970s, before beginning to decline in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. Publishers known for their girls' comics included DC Thomson and Fleetway/IPC. Most titles appeared weekly, with the content primarily in picture-story format. The majority of the stories were serialized, with two or three pages per issue, over eight to twelve issues. They were marketed toward young teen girls.