Tag Archives: Sci-Fi

Danger Doll

Plot

One evening when Jemma Johnson was babysitting Caroline a young girl, they got an unexpected visitor, a doll! Later there was a mysterious fire and Caroline and the doll disappeared. At first Jemma was blamed but when other children went missing, Jemma was asked to help solve the mystery.

danger doll

 

Notes:

  • Artist: John Woods
  • Not to be confused with the 1980 Judy story Danger Doll!

Appeared

  • Danger Doll – Bunty: #766 (16 September 1972) – #781 (30 September 1972)
  • Reprinted – Bunty: #1201 (17 January 1981) – #1216 (2 May 1981)

 

Nola Girl From Nowhere

Plot:

Nola Black an alien with mind controlling powers arrives at Bickston High School, on some secret mission. Only Sandra Walsh is immune to Nola’s powers.

nola from nowhere

Notes:

  • Writer: Marion Turner (under pen-name: Fiona Turner)
  • Artist: Rodney Sutton
  • Script submitted had the title Marsali – Girl of Mystery but was changed to Nola Girl From Nowhere for publication.

Appeared:

  • Nola Girl From Nowhere –  Emma:  #30 (16 September 1978) – #43 (16 December 1978)

 

Kay Rules…Ok?

Plot

Vicky Clark’s father is an inventor and builds Vicky a robot friend, Kay.

ok

Notes

  • Art: Matías Alonso

Appeared

  • Kay Rules…Ok? –  Emma: #02 (04 March 1978) – #09 (22 April 1978)
  • Kay Rules…Ok? –  Emma: #24 (05 August 1978)
  • Kay Rules…Ok? –  Emma: #27 (26 August 1978)
  • Kay Rules…Ok? –  Emma: #29 (09 September 1978) – #31 (23 September 1978)

 

Wish Upon a Star

  • Wish Upon a Star  –  Bunty:  #1770 (14 Dec. 1991)  – #1777 (01 Feb. 1992)
  • Artist: Andy Tew

Plot/Thoughts

So what do you do if your best friend is potentially an alien? This is the problem Dawn faces when she becomes friends with her new neighbour, Stella Starr. Previous to becoming friends with Stella, Dawn is the only girl in her class that doesn’t have a best friend. She is friends with the other girls in the class but when it comes to partnering up for assignments she is left out on her own.  So she is feeling quite lonely and at night she sees a shooting star and she wishes she had a best friend. Conveniently the next day a family move in with a girl Dawn’s age.  Dawn is pleased to make friends at first though she notices  Stella has a weird sense of humour and things don’t seem to add up right with her family.

Stella doesn’t know about pop groups or soaps, when she says things that make Dawn suspicious, Stella pretends she is joking.  Mrs. Starr plants some flowers that grow overnight and are like nothing Dawn has been before. When Dawn and Stella are babysitting and the baby is sick, Dawn’s mother appears after “sensing” something was wrong. In class Stella makes up chemistry solutions that have never been heard of.

So Dawn keeps noticing these strange things about Stella and her family.  When she finds a piece of paper with Junsta written on it and Stella says that is where they lived before, she decides to research it. She discovers Junsta is the name of a planet so the Starrs must be aliens. Why would aliens need to keep a scrap of paper with their home planet name written on it, were thay afraid they’d forget?

So Dawn doesn’t freak out at this revelation, like its scary that alien exists they could be invading, or wow this is interesting aliens exist and cool I have super powered best friend. Instead her biggest worry seems to be she doesn’t want to be friends with an alien because she’s weird.

Seems ungrateful to me. She was upset about not having a best friend, then she gets one and just because she’s  possibly an alien she is going to drop her. Stella has been really nice to her and Dawn doesn’t seem to be afraid of Stella’s alien powers, more worried that other people will think she’s weird too. So she begins to avoid Stella. Stella finally confronts Dawn she explains all the strange instances and tells her Junsta was the name of their old house not town so Dawn is relieved to hear this.

So yes the big reveal Dawn was right all along! So the story is pretty lighthearted.  The art is simple, a bit cartoony at times and matches the tone of the story well. There isn’t any fear or tension that there might be aliens and they have hidden agendas to take over the world by blending in first. Instead its more of a girl suspecting her friend is an alien because she’s odd. I think it would have been more of a twist if it turned out she was just an odd girl. It’s not the most adventurous storyline, and it doesn’t live up to older more bizzare alien stories. I wouldn’t consider it to  be a top classic strip or very memorable,  but  it is still nice to see that aliens still pop up in issues from the 90s.

I also wonder if the alien, Stella Starr,  is a variation on the older Mandy character of the same name. It may be just a nod of recognition or maybe its the common name for aliens, the Starr being obvious reference to being from the stars.

Toni and the Time Trigger

Plot

Toni Stacy and her father had inherited the large house in which Toni’s great  Uncle Joshua had lived as a recluse and, to afford its upkeep, they were running it as a museum. Max Smiter, a crooked businessman, wanted to build a gambling club on the site and was determined to get rid of the Stacys and the museum. But Toni was helped by a strange gadget, the amazing Time Trigger, which had been given to her by a visitor from space named Zargot.

Notes

Appeared

  • Toni and the Time Trigger – Mandy:  #538 (7 May 1977) – #543 (11 June 1977)

Who is Mystine?

Plot

Lorna Lennox had discovered that the girl she had named Mystine came from another world called Planet X. Mystine claimed that Lorna’s childhood teddy bear, Grumble, was some sort of talisman, and that it had saved Lorna from being captured by men from Planet X.

who-is-mystine

Notes

  • Reprinted  in Dutch as “Mystine”, in Debbie #3.

Appeared

  • Who is Mystine? – Debbie: #109 (15 March 1975) – #118 (17 May 1975)