Sally Doolin

Sally Doolin, aka Little Sally, is an open source character created by maverick cartoonist Simon Kirby in 2005. A leading character in the Glory Bee universe, she is the youngest member of the Doolin family, having lived next door to the Bentons since her fifth birthday. Conceived as a foil for her cantankerous older brother, she is Glory Bees's closest friend and accomplice in her endless schemes and misadventures.

Biography
According to a number of flashback scenes, Sally Doolin moved to Everdale with her family in January 1941. Once settled into her new home, she soon made the acquaintance of Beatrice Gloria Benton, her next door neighbor. The two girls immediately hit it off, getting up to all kinds of mischief and establishing the precedent for most subsequent storylines.

While sweet and kind-hearted by nature, Sally was easily misled by the more precocious Glory, whose zany antics often landed them both in trouble. Rather unfairly, her brother Harry was usually blamed for their misconduct, resulting in his being "clobbered" by his aunt, teachers, or even the local constabulary. Very occasionally, Sally's role in the latest disaster was uncovered, leading to a lengthy scolding from Aunt Sheila.

Reaching the fourth grade at Everdale District Elementary, Sally became good friends with Kitty Hemstridge and Horace Eldington, although Glory remained her closest confidant throughout grade school. All four lived in mortal fear of their homeroom teacher, Mrs Axehandle, a tyrannical martinet whose glare had been know to reduce grown men to quivering orthodontists. Fortunately, she was soon replaced by Mr Donald Benson, a good-looking, no nonsense educator who eventually became Sally's first crush.

Some years later, the "Everdale Gang" graduated to Junior High School, where Sally found herself in Carrie Madison's home economics class. Hilarity ensued as Glory - now fourteen - repeatedly clashed with her former nemesis. Sally wisely chose to sit the feud out, knowing that Carrie would win every confrontation by virtue of rank.

Pretty and vivacious as always, Sally was one of the most popular girls at Furshlugginer's Soda Fountain, attracting a great deal of attention from local boys and college freshmen alike. Sally's unexpected popularity led to considerable friction between herself and Glory; their ten year friendship started to wind down as the girls drifted inevitably apart. At the end of their senior year, Sally opted to enroll at Empire State, while Gloria moved on to Chamberlain U. They made their farewells at the graduation ceremony, and their shared childhood finally came to a close.

It was the end of an era for all concerned: by 1961, Aunt Sheila had sold her business, Harry had accepted a coaching job in Chicago and Sally had quietly vanished over the horizon. Where she abides today, nobody truly knows; shuffling off the last vestiges youth, Sally Doolin had left nothing behind but her memories.

Faux Publishing History
Sally Doolin debuted in the back pages of ''Holy Dooley! Comics'' issue two (Jan-Feb 1941), introduced as Flash Harry's younger sister. Initially known as Suzie, her name was inexplicably changed to Sally in issue five, when she was paired with next door neighbor Beatrice Gloria Benton. As the strip gained popularity, Sally became a legitimate co-star, appearing in several stories per issue until 1954. Guest appearances soon followed in Kooky Girls' Comics, usually accompanied by Glory Bee and Kitty Hemstridge.

Holy Dooley! went into hiatus for several months during the Comics Code controversy, then resumed in 1956. Retitled Glory Bee Adventures, the strip combined children's humor with teen romance in an attempt to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Sally returned with the rest of the cast, now aged around fourteen, as a junior at Everdale District High. Around this time, Sally gradually faded into the background as stories began to focus more on the Glory-Kitty-Carrie triumvirate.

When Landmark relaunched its superhero line in 1961, Glory Bee was revived as supporting characters, but Sally had already slipped into comic book limbo. By the time Carrie Madison folded in 1973, the entire Doolin Family was little more than a footnote in comics history.