Bunty was a British comic for girls published by D. C. Thomson & Co. from 1958 to 2001. It consisted of a collection of many small strips, the stories typically being three to five pages long. In contrast to earlier and contemporary comics, it was aimed primarily at working-class readers under the age of 14, and contained mostly fictional stories. Well-known regular strips from Bunty include The Four Marys , Bunty — A Girl Like You, Moira Kent, Lorna Drake, Luv, Lisa, The Comp , and Penny's Place. Publication history Bunty debuted with the 18 January 1958 issue. Over the course of its history, Bunty absorbed three other DC Thomson girls' comics: Suzy (1987), Nikki for Girls (May 1989), and Mandy & Judy [M & J] (1997). With the issue of March 28, 1992 (issue #1785), Bunty covers switched from illustrated comics-style imagery to a photograph of a teen model, becoming more evocative of a fashion magazine than a comic book. Bunty went monthly in 2001 before ceasing publication after a further 5 months; altogether the magazine published 2,249 issues. As well as the weekly comic, Christmas and summer annuals were published. Layout and features The average issue of Bunty contained several short comic-strip stories, broken up by letters pages, competitions, featured readers, puzzle pages, promotions, next-week previews or advertisements. The back page initially featured a cut-out doll and paper clothes, which eventually gave way to a wall poster. Regular stories The Four Marys The Four Marys was the longest story the comic ran—drawn by artist Barrie Mitchell, it appeared from its creation in 1958 to its end in 2001. When the strip started, public boarding schools like St. Elmo's, the girls' boarding school, were common, but as time went on, they became less accessible to Bunty general audience. It centred on four young teenagers who lived in a girls-only boarding school in Elmbury, and often had problems with studying, being bored, or helping (and being hindered by) the other girls or teachers within the school. Of the four main characters, two were middle class, one was the aristocratic daughter of an Earl, and one was a working-class girl, attending the school on a scholarship. This representation of the working class was a reflection of changing class experiences in the 1950s. Bunty — A Girl Like You A one-page feature included a short comic strip about the comic's namesake, a