UK Comic Database 2:Login/Register
Date:September 1st, 1986
Price:65p
Catch Me If You Can...
Jilly takes short cut and meets Vicky who teases her, gets home OK but cannot see her at school so goes back to wood, discovers Vicky is a ghost and ends with Vicky chasing her (‘Sobbing and stumbling, Jilly fled as if her life depended on it… as perhaps it did…’ (final panel of Vicky looming, Jilly crying).
Cry Baby!
Catherine is adopted and constantly teased by her older sister Sarah which makes her cry, her tears drop in a wishing well and she gets one wish, next day she says ‘I wish you knew’ [what it was like to be cry baby] and Sarah is transformed into a crying baby.
Fancy Another Jelly Baby?
Gillian is addicted to eating jelly babies from Mr Black’s local shop and then notices that they look like children who have disappeared, she goes to investigate his shop but is caught and put into sweet making machine – wakes up to find that although that was just a dream ‘Mum says, if I keep eating so many I’ll turn… into one – aaaaargh! Aaaaaargh!’
Malice In Wonderland
Owner in midst of his deserted wonderland carnival, has been haunted by ghost girl, he finally sees her and climbs to top of rollercoaster chasing her, she reveals she died in neglectful accident and same happens to him – story ends with wonderland popular again but he is the ghost that haunts it.
Miss Cassidy's Cat...
Neighbour jilly chases cat, thinks mrs c has made him giant but final panel reveal she has shrunk her instead. Given viewpoint of witch through eye shaped panels p25
Monster Of Green Acres
(2nd person narration addressed to madman stalking the town) – people become increasingly scared and town ends up deserted, revealed it is the scarecrow who ‘just didn’t know when to stop’.
Mummy
Hilary goes to meet her mum at museum where she is cleaner, investigates noise caused by Drs attempt to dissect mummy – it comes alive but then crumbles into dust when it realises its true love has also died, tells mum but she doesn’t believe (arrows used for direction and clumsy ending).
Nobody's Child
Carrie is an orphan and pickpocket on historical London streets (‘All right, so it’s wrong to cheat and steal, but wot other chance did I ‘ave? Wot other way can I live?’) and mongrel dog starts following her and preventing her thefts, takes her to a pauper’s graveyard and Annie Dawkins’ grave, where an old lady tells her about her death due to thieving and that this is her dog, Carrie decides to go straight and final panel selling violets and making money.
Roots (Nightmare)
Jill goes to stay in Evergreen with her granddad for the summer, uncanny realisation townspeople standing out in rain at night and nobody has died for years, discovers they have roots. Final reassuring panel added where she decides to stay.
The Devil's Dummy
Deirdre and Pam go to ventriloquist’s show and he makes a fool of Deirdre. Months later announces his retirement and buries dummy they go to dig it up and it shouts ‘THIEF!’ at them, they escape but Pam goes back and encounters ventriloquist who tells her dummy is possessed with soul of a vampire and story ends with possessed Deirdre calling for her boyfriend as he has bitten her.
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
Criminals go to hide their loot in deserted lighthouse but encounter its keeper Andy who they shoot dead (fourth wall shot of gun firing at us), his daughter then enacts revenge on them and turns out she is a mermaid in final panel (EC style narration: ‘No, Wigg – you won’t manage it! You’ll never manage anything again…’)
The Power Of Young Melissa
Melissa is able to restore those who have died before their time back to life, is caught by mob boss dying of old age, takes life from his men using the death stored inside her.
The Treatment
Londoner Glenda sent to correctional school decides to run away (‘I’ll get out of here without anyone’s help – and if any of you get in my way, you’ll get hurt bad!’ – circular central panel she breaks fourth wall and its boundaries with a clenched fist), cook helps her, revealed it is a trick by owners and Glenda is transformed into a tree and replaced by a perfect replica ‘filled with the gentle calm of the countryside’ – final panel of real Glenda trapped in tree trunk.
The Uglies
Vain Mandy wins another beauty pageant and gloats, when walking out that evening comes across and ugly pageant, they tell her people can be beautiful on inside and she agrees to change her ways and leave, but then they reveal ‘you can’t go’ and that they are ‘even uglier’ on the inside ‘And Mandy screamed again, long and lingering, but no-one heard, no-one at all!’