Spellbound #1

25 Sep 1976. Cover price 7p.
32 pages. B&W and red.
D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.

Cover by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Free Mystic Sun Pendant.

Contents:

 2 The Fantastic Crew of the Spaceship Lynx Welcome You to Spellbound introduction; illustrated by Enrique Badía Romero (uncredited). / Next Week in Spellbound.

 3 When the Mummy Walks UNTITLED [Arrival at Granville Museum] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Norman Lee (uncredited).

 7 A Chilling Tale of Mystery from Damian Darke Spectre from the Flame w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

10 The Secret of Silver Star UNTITLED [The Car Saboteur] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Edmond Ripoll (uncredited).

14 Nightmare text story by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

15 Write to Spellbound / Be a Supercat in-house advertisement; illustrated by Enrique Badía Romero (uncredited). / Star Superstitions Marie Osmond / Les Gray / David Essex feature; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

16 Supercats Meet the Sun God w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Enrique Badía Romero (uncredited).

21 The Haunting of Laura Lee UNTITLED [Wanda de Salis' Ring] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

24 "I Don't Want to be a Witch" UNTITLED [Arrival at St. Ann's School] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Norman Lee (uncredited).

28 Lonely Lucy UNTITLED [Encounter with Gentleman John] w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Jordi Franch (uncredited).

32 Free in Spellbound No2 in-house advertisement.

Jenny Hunt's dreams were coming true. Accompanied by her mother, she was on her way to a new job in London. But, as Victorian England flashed past the windows of the express, Jenny little realised that she was travelling towards a nightmare!

Jenny is heading to her first job, at the Granville Museum, where she is to train as an assistant curator, meeting Bob Clark, the museum's odd-job boy on arrival. Miss Brisson, under whom Jenny is to study, is less than happy about having to deal with the young woman, but the governors have over-ruled her objections to training up an assistant.

Told she will be given simple tasks until Miss Brisson can assess her abilities, Jenny is also warned not to interfere with Ancient Egyptian artifacts. While walking through the Egyptian gallery to get to Miss Brisson's office, Jenny sees an open sarcophagus - something Bob states has never seen before - but, when Miss Brisson discovers them looking at a mummy they are scolded for opening the casket. Miss Brisson tells Jenny the mummy is the Golden Priestess of Manaton, Egyptian Goddess of the underworld.

That night, through her bedroom window, Jenny sees a light in the Egyptology section. When she looks closer, Jenny sees that the Golden Priestess has vanished from her case. When the light goes out, Jenny is caught in the garden between the lodge and the museum, fumbling through the shrubs. When her eyes grow accustomed to the dark, a terrifying figure looms out of the night - the Priestess of Manaton.

There's a fairly decent collection of Egyptology standards in this opening installment of When the Mummy Walks, which is an achievement in itself: a notable mummy (which turns out to be alive), a museum wing dedicated to Egyptian artifacts, an Egyptian ring gifted by a relative, a steam train journey, a stagecoach journey... This isn't, however, merely a gender-flipped re-telling of Lot No. 249, feeling much less claustrophobic in its expansive setting. While there are issues with pacing - Jenny moving from her bedroom to the window of the museum in a couple of panels - this is a solid start.

The first page's illustration of the mummy's face-mask is somewhat odd, portraying it with hair (or some decorative element evoking hair) rather than being a solid mask. While it works to create a more individual look for the Priestess of Manaton, it is - in isolation - an odd way to kick off the story. And why, of all the readily-available, and appropriate, names, is she named after a village in Devon? I'm hoping it's a reference to George Gliddon rather than a name plucked out of a hat.

There was something very strange about the old silver candlestick in the antique shop where Jane Armitage worked as a part-time assistant. Jane sensed it straight away...

Jane queries Mr. James about the candlestick, and he tells her that it was purchased at an auction the day before, and is most likely from the seventeenth century. That night, returning to the shop, Jane finds the building in darkness. Using the candlestick to find her way, she is accosted by a burglar, who has already tied up her employer. The thief stops in his tracks when a ghostly vision appears, then collapses when the spectre touches him. Jane unties Mr. James, and contacts the police.

The candlestick had been the property of Chief Justice Jeffries, notorious as "The Hanging Judge" in the reign of King James II. Jane never again wanted to see the candlestick - or its original owner for that matter!

The first rule of using historical individuals in fiction is to get their name correct. This probably needed five pages to truly do justice to the idea, as it feels unfinished, especially as neither Jane nor Mr. James get a satisfactory answer to the apparition's appearance. By tacking on a coda for readers' benefit, there is an awkwardness to Spectre from the Flame. Beginning a series of complete stories with this tale wasn't a great move, though the depiction of Jeffreys isn't bad, and Jane's face - upon witnessing the dead judge - is worth reading for.

Racehorse trainer Dick Thorpe needed a big win to keep his "Moorlands" stables going, and he had great hopes of his thoroughbred hurdler, Silver Star. Debbie Thorpe, his young daughter, had no doubts.

Silver Star is set to race at Chepstone, where the prize for first place is a thousand pounds, and John Rowlands, head stable lad, takes Debbie's sister to the cinema in town to relax before the big day. Later that night, while checking the car over, John finds - and fixes - loose wheel bolts, yet on the journey to the race a wheel comes loose. When Silver Star is seen by the vet it is discovered he has torn tendons and an injured knee joint, ruling him out of contention for the remainder of the year.

Enraged, Mr. Thorpe fires John, and - two weeks after the accident - Silver Star's prognosis hasn't improved. When Mr. Thorpe decides that the horse will have to be put down, Ginger, an apprentice groom, offers to undertake the grim task. However, he has no intention of killing Silver Star, and Debbie leads the animal to a cave in the woods where she intends to get him back to race fitness.

Opening with jumpy, staccato storytelling, The Secret of Silver Star is a horse melodrama which is entirely bereft of horror elements, sitting uneasily alongside themed material. If it was intended as an emotionally-wringing counterpoint to traditional horrors it might have been a more suitable fit, but the manner in which this story is told - presented so flatly and matter-of-fact - that it loses much of the punch it could have provided. By having Ginger ready to steal the animal away, rather than being convinced to let it live by Debbie, there is no tension surrounding the animal's fate.

Nightmare retells a very, very old story, with the addition of shock-induced mutism to add a meagre spice of originality, working quite effectively. With only a single page for this text story there really wasn't any chance that a great, pivotal horror story would be included, and a real-life experience would have been preferable to this.

From Moonbase 4, spaceship "LYNX" of Cat Patrol had been launched on a special mission - to investigate mysterious reports of an ancient civilisation in outer space.

Known as Supercats, the crew members are Helen Millar, captain of the ship, Hercula, a girl of remarkable strength, Electra, who is capable of generating electricity and Fauna, the fourth crew member, who can astonishingly alter her body colour like a chameleon.

The Lynx is caught in a ball of light, which forces the craft to land on a nearby planet... Which happens to resemble Ancient Egypt, replete with pyramids and a Sphinx. Exiting their ship, the Supercats are surrounded by women garbed in Egyptian apparel, with Helen separated from the others. Informed that their captain is to become the bride of the Sun God, leader of the civilisation, they must wait to learn the consequences of their arrival. The next day reveals that the ceremony requires Helen's death, and Hercula begins to mount a rescue attempt - when a giant stone statue comes to life. Fauna uses her ability to glow brightly, and Electra zaps the priestess with a bolt of lightning. As the planet's women bow to them, in the belief that they are goddesses, the quartet get back to their ship and leave.

Gorgeous artwork can't disguise the fact the narrative is entirely two-dimensional. The origins of the colony is unexplored, with no indication that any follow-up investigation is going to be mounted, nor is the mechanism by which a statue can come to life pondered. With such a hokey, seventies SF premise of four women zipping around in a spaceship, this ought to be much better than it actually is. That it appears to be settling into a "planet of the week" format so quickly is discouraging.

Laura Lee's father had taken a job, as caretaker at a temporarily closed stately home, and he and his family moved into the lodge. Laura's hobby was playing the old family's upright piano.

Laura explores the big house, owned for two hundred years by the de Salis family, discovering a grand piano besides which is a portrait of a young girl. Sitting at it to play a few notes, Laura notices a ring with the letter "W" upon it, and tries it on - it fits her finger perfectly, and she notices that the girl in the picture is no longer wearing her ring. Attempting to remove the jewelry, she finds it will not come off her finger. Laura discovers another picture of the girl, learning her name: Wanda de Salis. Back at the lodge, Laura learns her Uncle Albert has arrived for a visit, and when she plays her piano for him she delivers a concert-worthy performance, though is exhausted by the effort. Deciding it is the ring's influence, Laura is determined to get it off her finger.

Before anyone suggests it, the likelihood of her removing her finger with a hacksaw is very unlikely. While the set-up is very familiar, the manner in which events plays out is interesting enough to rise above any familiarity. Being crammed in to three pages limits how much we get to see of the mansion, although the story never feels rushed. It may not be brilliantly original, but there's an interesting central character, a nice mystery, and some wonderful art to look at.

Celia Winters was thirteen years old. She had short, auburn hair and blue eyes. She lived with her Aunt Armida and she had one or two freckles. She liked pop records. In fact, there was only one odd thing about Celia - her aunt was a WITCH.

Determined to get away from her aunt Armida's influence, and go to St. Ann's boarding school, Celia waits on Mr. Benton arriving for her, but Armida has arranged other things. Learning that the man must be lost on Marston Moor, Celia ventures out to save him. Casting a spell to lower a branch for the teacher to free himself, Celia leads him back to her home. Armida admits to helping Celia's spell, and tells the girl that she has great potential as a witch.

Departing for boarding school, Armida casts her spells to prevent Celia arriving in a timely manner for her classes. When Celia finally arrives at the school, a day late, it is thanks to a lift in a chimney-sweep's side-car. After cleaning up and resting, she meets with the headmistress, which Armida ensures does not end well. When her aunt visits in spectral form that night, Celia throws a shoe at her - which passes straight through her aunt and smashes a window.

There's a great sense of fun in "I Don't Want to be a Witch", which has some of the family dynamics of Bewitched at its heart, though travels in a different direction with the central conflict. Armida is a great character, and the strip really livens up the issue. The art is, while rather stereotypical in places, perfectly suited to the tone. I'm not sure the opening text box is right for the strip, feeling as if it belongs to a story aimed at a younger audience.

IN THE DAYS OF THE HIGHWAYMEN

It was a time of tragedy for recently orphaned Lucy Pilgrim. Immediately the funeral service for her mother was over, heartless relatives broke the news. Lucy was to be sent to an orphanage...

Lucy is told by her aunt Clara that her mother took her in as an infant, and that her real parents are unknown. She is permitted to keep the bracelet wth strange marks her mother gave her, though before she can be sent away the family is held up by a masked brigand by the name of Gentleman John on the highway. Clara is sent up to sit with the coachman, while Lucy is told to sit in the coach, and to keep her bracelet hidden. At the orphanage, Lucy discovers neither the supervisors nor the other girls are friendly, and she must work for her food. Left outside in the cold after fainting, Lucy runs away from the orphanage, and - discovering a barn, miles from anywhere - walks straight into Gentleman John again.

Interesting elements are thrown together in an unremarkable story, seemingly resurrected from an earlier age, which (once more) has no overt supernatural moments to justify its inclusion. Thankfully straying away from the orphanage quickly, there's a decent set-up for what should be a rousing adventure, even if it feels rather random in a supposed horror comic.

Not the best start, with a cover compromised by poor background colour, unconnected contents, and some stale plot points to overcome, Spellbound isn't a rousing success. It isn't awful, but merely okay, which is arguably worse. It is better to attempt to please or annoy everyone, rather than being so middle-of-the-road. I would call it "easy listening for the eyes" if pressed, while hoping that it tightens up on genre content in future issues.