BARBIE Foreign Magazines and Current Comics

Though Barbie's publishing history in America is somewhat irregular...

...in Europe there has almost always been some periodical starring the fashion doll who was, in fact, based on a European fashion doll!

The magazines tend to feature materials about the dolls and related products along with teen lifestyle articles and fumetti starring the dolls themselves...

I don't remember American Barbies having spacesuits (or ray guns) like these, so they may have been European market exclusives, or custom-produced for the fumetti!

Note that while these pages are in sequence, they're not consecutive.

BTW, that last word means "end" in Swedish, not what it means in English!

(Get your minds out of the gutter!)

Meanwhile, in America, Barbie's been in a publishing revival since around 2015, with an interesting twist...

The character, as portrayed in current comics, is younger than the 18-25 year old adult previously-shown...

...and her adventures are far more fantastical!
And speaking of "fantastical"...

See Barbie when it opens in theatres this weekend!

Next Week:

The Story of a Rival 1960s Fashion Doll Who Had Her Own Long-Running Comic Book Series!

(and yes, there's a surprise twist to the tale!)

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Barbie and Ruth

The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

BARBIE "Designing Woman"

In 1991, Marvel/Star (the "young readers" line) introduced two titles about Barbie...

Barbie (without Ken in the title as the first comic had done)...

...and Barbie Fashion!
(Both covers by John Romita Sr)

Unlike the 1960s Dell comic, these books didn't use the concept that Barbie was a doll whom little fan club girls told tales about, but portrayed her and her friends and relatives (including Ken, Christie, Midge, and little sister Skipper) as straightforward comic book characters.
Both titles had healthy half-decade runs, but have never been reprinted.
Here's a tale from #10 (1991), which includes some rather pointed insights into haute couture, written by Lisa Trusiani, penciled by James Brock and inked by Roy Richardson...

Next Week:

Another Never-Reprinted Story About Barbie!

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Barbie and Ruth

The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

BARBIE & KEN "Wedding"

For girls of the late 1950s thru early 1970s, Barbie and Ken dolls were fashion icons...

...so it was inevitable that there would be a comic book about their adventures.

 But, as it turns out, Barbie and Ken were secretly married the entire time!

It's true!

Here's the story from Dell Comics' Barbie & Ken #1 (1962)...

Surprised?

To be fair, the never-reprinted tale, illustrated by Norman Nodel, details the little girls in the Barbie Fan Club telling their own alleged experiences with Barbie and Ken...which are no doubt fantasies since they cover Barbie being a nurse, a ballerina, and a stewardess, as well as getting married!
Except...who is the kid going off with Patty?
As you might have guessed, Mattel had play sets (clothing and props) showing Barbie doing all those things!
BTW, note that Nodel deliberately kept both Barbie and Ken "on model", looking very much like the actual dolls...except they could bend their arms and legs (which the dolls couldn't do until the late 1960s)!

Next Week:

Another Never-Reprinted Story About Barbie!

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor...

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Barbie and Ruth

The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

Louisa May Alcott's LITTLE WOMEN Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroines...

...we've seen the Christmastime trials and tribulations of the girls of the March family, as their father goes off to fight in the Civil War.

But now...

Beth LIVES???

That's not exactly what happens in the book, though!

The original story ends, like this comic, with Beth surviving her bout with scarlet fever!

But the novel sold so well that the publisher demanded a sequel, which Alcott produced, unwillingly, under the title Good Wives!

Beth does die in the sequel, set several years in the future, as its' revealed her heart was weakened by her earlier illness!

Since the two tales were relatively-short, current publishers combine the two into a single volume!

And most adaptations modify the timeline so Beth passes away during her initial attack!

The adaptor of Louisa May Alcott's novel is unknown, but the art is co-penciled by Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano and inked by Giordano.

Next Week

We're Not Sure What We'll Present, but we Guarantee

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Louisa May Alcott's LITTLE WOMEN Part 1

It's hard to believe that, until the past couple of years...

...there was only one comics adaptation of the classic book Little Women!

And it was part of an early 1980s book-and-record set marketed towards pre-teens!
(No, there never was a Classics Illustrated version!)

Here's part 1, with part 2 to follow on New Year's Day!

The adaptor of Louisa May Alcott's novel is unknown, but the art is co-penciled by Rich Buckler & Dick Giordano and inked by Giordano.

Next Week

The Conclusion!

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