Judy (girls' magazine)


Judy was a British pre-teen and teen girl's magazine, primarily in comic-book form. Judy was extant from 1960 to 1991. From 1991 to 1997 it was combined with another title in Judy and Mandy magazine.
Judy was published by DC Thomson. Thompson had published its first girls' magazine, Bunty, in 1958. The success of this title led DC Thomson to publish Judy, which was also successful: between them, Bunty and Judy achieved a circulation over one million. DC Thompson went on to publish other similar titles, Diana, Mandy, Debbie, and Suzy.
By 1974, DC Thomson's girls' imprints had fallen off somewhat but remained the market leader. Whether in imitation or not, British girls' magazines of this era typically bore a single female given name as title; besides the DC Thompson imprints, other magazines were Tracy, Nikki, Sandi, Diana, Sally, June, Tammy, Lindy, and Penny.
Judy offered a mix of romance, pathos, school, and girl-next-door stories, thriving well into the era when consumer, fashion, and teen idol fare became popular in girls' magazines.
Among the fare offered by Judy was stories of girls confronting adversity and overcoming it or succumbing to it.
The insouciant Bobby Dazzler was a recurring character.