• Electra of the Evil Eye –  Bunty: #1157 (15 March 1980) – #1169 (07 June 1980)

Plot/Thoughts

Gina Soames lives with her mother; her father is nowhere to be found and is never mentioned. Mrs Soames is a foster mother and her newest charge is an unusual girl named Electra. Gina is suspicious of Electra from day one.  I’m more suspicious of their living
arrangements. Despite Mrs Soames having fostered many children before, at the moment Electra is the only foster child in the house but she and Gina have to share a room as they apparently don’t have a spare room. You’d think with foster children coming and going regularly they’d have more than 2 bedrooms!

Electra has a common character trait of many Bunty characters. She acts all sweet and innocent and everyone is taken in by her. Only Gina is suspicious of her and of course Electra gets her in trouble while everyone thinks Electra is the nice girl.

The “evil eye” part of the title is soon revealed when Electra has to release energy and sets fire to a pavilion.

Gina starts becoming suspicious about fires popping up everywhere since Electra’s arrival. Electra continues to get Gina in trouble, which is bad for Gina as this is a time when corporal punishment is still in practice.

Electra decides Gina’s getting too nosy. So Electra locks her in a room with a fire, and then inexplicitly saves her.  She seems to think that being in a fire would have made Gina forget about what she has done.

Although she keeps threatening to remove Gina permanently, she never follows through. Which will have bad consequences for her later.

Gina convinces her mom to search Electra’s room. Mrs Soames finds an unusual torch. But Electra appears in the torch she is not happy with Mrs Soames snooping. Mrs Soames ends up in a paralysed state. This seems like a random new power for Electra to display, it is not fire related but  apparently whatever powers are needed to advance the story, she has them.  These stories often had “a wizard did it” attitude to some events.

Gina sees Electra talking to a fire apparition her master. Electra sets another fire and this time people get hurt. She sets up Gina to take the blame. Gina runs away from the cops to her mum another fire is set at the hospital. Gina helps get patients out. She is then arrested and she figures she’ll be safer behind bars.

Electra contacts her master who tells her to proceed with the Plan X. So in Bond villain style Electra breaks Gina out of jail and reveals the whole plan to her.  She tells her of her home planet Mercunopus that is about to explode. To her people flames are life so they setting fires on earth to warm up the atmosphere. Hmm yeah I don’t think that’s how these things work!  So while Electra’s people wait for the signal to invade Gina figures out that water stops fire. What is it with aliens that are vulnerable to water trying to take over a planet that is two thirds water? They really should know better. Gina drenches Electra and she does her wicked witch of the west impression.

The aliens get the message, that this isn’t the best planet to invade.