Based on the story from Greek mythology, Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, has promised to help Theseus, Prince of Athens, kill the monster (a Minotaur) kept imprisoned in the maze below the palace.
Amanda Wilton and her brother Pete, two spoiled wealthy children, are bored with their quiet Highland holiday – until they find themselves aboard the ketch “Black Albatross” having an amazing voyage through time! Through their voyage they learn a lot, not just about history but about themselves too.
In Victorian times, Vicky Martin is sent from an orphanage to stay with a distant relative Madame Venner who runs a doll shop and waxworks museum. It seems everyone she meets on the way is nervous of Madame Venner and her shop. She does at least make the acquaintance of Paul Cook a delivery boy who works nearby. She arrives at the shop and finds it quite creepy. A man suddenly grabs her telling her to go. Then Madame Venner appears, she tells Vicky not to take any notice of Franz, telling her he is a foreigner who lacks intelligence. Madame Venner looks as creepy as her shop, Vicky noting her waxy like appearance. Madame Venner says she will do her duty and Vicky can stay and work for her and she thinks her pretty face will be useful. That first night Vicky has bad dreams and is awoken by noises. She goes to investigate and in the shop she is surprised to see the dolls walking about, as she falls in the doorway, the dolls seem to move to attack. Luckily they stop suddenly and Madame Venner tells her, she has an over active imagination the dolls are just clockwork. She asks Franz to show Vicky back to her room and he once again warns her to leave.
The next morning things seem brighter and Vicky thinks she was being silly to be scared the night before, even Madame Veneer acts friendlier to her and she asks Vicky to deliver a package, with one of the clockwork dolls, a soldier, to a Colonel Maltby. The package is left in his study and when all alone the soldier doll breaks out. When the Colonel arrives home he is surprised to see the doll in his old regiment uniform, then suddenly it attacks! After its attack the doll quickly escapes and heads back to the shop. Vicky is shocked when she spots the doll covered in blood returning to the shop, although she doesn’t see Madame Venner greeting its return. Vicky wonders if she imagined it, but when she finds out from Paul that the Colonel has mysteriously died she fears that it was the doll responsible.
Vicky arranges to meet Paul that night so she can tell him her suspicions but Madame Venner catches her sneaking out. She makes up an excuse but Madame Venner is now distrustful of her and will be keeping a closer eye on her. That night she gives Vicky some food and locks her in her room. Vicky suspects food might be drugged and doesn’t eat it, instead she sneaks out window to spy on the doll shop workshop, there she sees Madame Venner and Franz working with some strange machinery. Madame Venner declares with the wax from a pharaoh’s tomb and Franz’s genius she can take her vengeance as they bring a shepherdess doll to life. Then Vicky slips and hearing a noise outside the two go to investigate. Paul happens to see Vicky in trouble and startles a cat to distract Madame Venner and Franz. Madame Venner not entirely convinced it was just the cat making noise, goes to check on Vicky just in case. Luckily Vicky has managed to get back to her room just in time.
The next day Madame Venner has another delivery for Vicky to make, this time to Lia Morgan, an actress. She is still suspicious of Vicky so she hypnotises her to make sure she does what she is told, but on the way Paul snaps her out of it. Vicky tells him about the dolls and what she saw but it sounds too fantastical that he doesn’t believe her, then they see Madame Venner is following them, and they have to go their separate ways. Vicky has no choice but to look like she has delivered the package, she instead hides it in a bush outside the house. She wants to go back to retrieve the doll but she isn’t able to escape Venner’s watchful eye until later, by which point the Shepherdess doll has woken and is on its mission finding a way into the house and slipping poison into Lia’s drink. Paul meets Vicky and witnessing the doll leaving Lia’s house he now believes her story. Vicky tries to catch the doll, but she leads her in front of a horse and carriage. Luckily it swerves and Vicky is unharmed and the doll is crushed.
Vicky takes an opportunity to switch around wires in the machine in the workshop, in the hopes of stopping Madame Venner’s plans. That night while trying to bring an archer doll to life the mixed up wires cause a fire. Although they get the fire under control quickly, Madame Venner, is very angry as she says flames almost destroyed her once and she goes to confront Vicky. Franz tries to persuade her that Vicky wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Vicky is saved from interrogation as Paul has brought a police constable after seeing the flames. She quickly gets rid of them and Madame Venner fixes the archer doll. Then she has one more job for Vicky and a plan to make sure Vicky won’t cause her anymore trouble! Madame Venner goes with Vicky to deliver the package to Sir John Bradley. Vicky escapes and later goes back to try and warn Sir Bradley only to find Madame Venner with him waiting for her. She has convinced him that Vicky is delusional, although things don’t go entirely to plan, when Sir Bradley insists Vicky stays the night to show her, her fears are unfounded and he will have the doctor see her in the morning.
Madame Venner rushes home to get her things, she thinks Vicky and Sir Bradley will be destroyed by the archer doll, while her and Franz are on the train out of town. Indeed the archer has begun his attack and with flaming arrow sets drapes on fire. Luckily with Vicky watching she is able to warn Sir Bradley and they stop the fire from spreading and destroy the doll. They then rush to Madame Venner’s place where they meet Paul who has been keeping eye on the place, but the museum is on fire, destroying all the evidence. They rush to catch Venner and Franz but they have already escaped on the train. Then the train crashes and they think fate has intervened to serve justice, Sir Bradley muses about a Miss Ventriss who was badly burned in a hunt ball, but now thinking they are safe Sir Bradley moves onto happier topics, offering both Vicky and Paul jobs in is household. Unknown to them Franz and Venner escaped the train wreckage and we see Madame Venner cover her scarred face with new mask.No one aware that Madame Venner still plans to have her revenge!
A perfect story for Halloween. This is a story that when it finishes still has readers asking questions, such as how did Franz come to work for Madame Venner and what exactly happened at the Hunt Ball where she was scarred? Even though we don’t get answers to our questions, the story never feels incomplete, or badly plotted, just an intriguing mystery. It is one of the more darker stories in Spellbound as we see Madame Venner is quite successful with her revenge to start with, we see bodies in the aftermath of the dolls actions, and an ending where the villain, unknown to protagonists, is still at large.
From the start the setting in a waxworks museum and dolls toy shop creates a very creepy atmosphere, with a feeling of eyes watching all the time. Along with Madame Venner’s waxy appearance (which we only later find out is actually a mask covering her scarred face) she fits right in with her surroundings. The mysterious Franz who looks tall and intimidating, shows a compassionate side, trying to warn Vicky away and dissuading Madame Venner that she has been spying. Because of his foreign accent, Madame Venner can pass him off as simpleminded, which again contrasts to appearances, he is actually very intelligent having built the machinery that brings the dolls to life. Then there are the dolls that carry out Venner’s plan, the use of innocent looking toy dolls that carry out deadly actions is very effective. It is disturbing for Vicky (and the reader) when she sees the blood stained toy soldier return. When the Shepherdess doll is sent on her mission, we wonder how that victim will meet their end, to have poison hidden in her crook is quite inventive. The final archer doll using a flaming arrow, is fitting as Venner says it was fire that destroyed her life. Having the different types of dolls keeps the story more interesting.
Vicky proves herself to be a resourceful protagonist, trying to stop the dolls being delivered, spying on Venner and messing with the equipment, all the while trying to not rouse Madame Venner’s suspicions. Although Paul doesn’t believe her at first he does become a good ally and it is good to have for her to have a confidant. Despite her efforts Madame Venner does become more suspicious of Vicky and we know the situation is becoming more dangerous for her. While she seems to be safe for now, with a good job and allies, the reader must have finished the story with some unease, knowing Madame Venner and Franz are still out there and Vicky must now be on the list of people that Venner wants vengeance against.
Three years there was great excitement when spooky storyteller, Damian Darke appeared on Twitter hinting at a Spellbound revival –
“For four long decades nothing has stirred in these shadows except memories, but now a sigh, a shiver, a whisper as of dark wings beating, or perhaps of pages fluttering in some vast and echoing library…and as Halloween approaches, something awakens…”
Then it was revealed that a digital volume of Spellbound, reprinting “I Don’t Want to Be a Witch” and Damian Darke stories would be released. Suddenly just at it was due to be released the twitter account was deleted, and all traces of it disappeared… a Halloween mystery at the time! I checked on Comixology at the time, despite promotional material no longer available and was pleased to see that it was there to purchase, but then soon after it was taken off that platform as well! It seems they was some some background reshuffling in the DCT Heritage Comics department. There were rumours of plans for it to be released again, but as the years passed it seemed it was lost in the mist of times, until suddenly for this Halloween it has been released and even more exciting, a launch of new range of digital releases of their archives (also including Commando and Warlord) that will release at the end of each month. More information on Downthetubes website. These books now available to purchase on Amazon.
For Spellbound Volume 1 there is plenty to enjoy. Including reprinting 13 tales from Damian Darke, and in some cases the 1/2 page Special Spellbound text feature, that would come after a shorter story. Some of my favourite stories make an appearance including Mystery at Howlen Hall, Swamp of Evil and The Cavalier’s Cloak. Other reprints included are a Nightmare text story and several Spellbound covers. Then we get the full length serial “I Don’t Want to Be a Witch” which appeared in the first fifteen issues of Spellbound, drawn by Norman Lee and a new 6 page sequel to the story with Celia’s daughter, Sophia taking the lead with an ending caption box promising we’ll find out more soon. Another new story starts the book, a chilling Damian Darke tale where two girls Mackenzie and Gwen break into an old house and Mackenzie finds some old spooky comics… a definite fun addition to the Damian Darke collection.
Evidently it’s a very full book and the digital quality is good, with cleaned up and sharp art (especially in comparison to the tattered yellowing versions of these comics, I’m used to reading!). The stories are as engaging as ever and it it is also a thrill to see newer takes on old stories. I am glad that other people will get to enjoy this book now, and I will look forward to what the next edition brings.
Instead of a Misty Halloween offering this year, the Treasury of British Comics have dived into Jinty’s archive, to reprint 2 stories – A Spell of Trouble and Creepy Crawley, the latter getting the cover name. This also gives the opportunity to highlight the wonderful work of Trini Tinturé, with a special hardback cover with original art by Tinturé also offered on the Treasury of British Comics shop website.
Although both stories are about even in length, each taking up half the book, it is strangely only A Spell of Trouble that is highlighted both on the cover and the description on the back, whereas Creepy Crawley gets just a one sentence mention at the bottom of the description. Both stories start with a popular and accomplished girl at school, but after that they diverge completely. In the comedic A Spell of Trouble, Carrie Black has used her witchy powers to stay top of the class, then a distant cousin, Angela White, comes to live with the Blacks and Carrie’s easy life turns into a mess! Angela is full of good intentions but is also clumsy and has no interest in becoming a witch. This becomes a bigger problem when their Witch’s Coven say if she doesn’t become a witch then they will take the Blacks’ powers away. While Carrie and her family have never had to work hard to earn anything, and they do some questionable things to try and get rid of Angela, they are not evil witches, and we can sympathise with their frustrations when Angela keeps messing things up. It’s a very fun story, a highlight for me is the hijinks caused by a bodyswitching plan, throughout the story there’s lots of laughs to be have, and Tinturé does great job displaying the witciness and comedic elements, so it’s easy to see why this is the highlighted story for the collection.
In Creepy Crawley, Jean Crawley becomes jealous of new girl Mandy who outdoes her at everything. When she gets an old scarab brooch from a shop closing down, she finds she can use to get rid of her rival. The brooch has a particular power over insects, but when Carrie wants to stop her vendetta, the brooch can’t be gotten rid of and its influence turns her more cruel. Only a timid girl Sheila begins to suspect the truth in time and tries to stop her. A step further than other evil influence stories, the scarab has a bigger agenda in hand – a complete insect takeover of the world. Again the art and some of the more complex story beats puts this story above other similar stories.
The book itself is only 80 pages, there is no additional features just the two stories back to back. It would have been a nice opportunity to talk more about Trini Tinturé (like some of the artists in the Misty collection have got), but she gets a short paragraph in the back. While Rebellion do always try to deliver high quality books, it is clear sometimes they are hampered by not always having the original artwork. This means some pages aren’t as clean and crisp as they should be. For the most part this doesn’t take from the story, but there is particular page from Creepy Crawley, that it is more noticeable than others. These are minor complaints though as the book is still of good quality and the stories and art are of a high standard, an excellent read.
It is also reasonably priced, The Treasury of British Comics website offers a few different options for purchase, starting at only £9.99 for digital edition, the paperback is £14.99 and the special edition hard back is £24.99 https://shop.treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue/RCA-G0016
There is also currently a sale on until December so a perfect opportunity to pick up some older releases if you haven’t already, you could pick up other Jinty books like Concrete Surfer for just £4.99 or Fran of the Floods for £7.79 or just look through their growing collection to see what catches your interest.
Pearl had been taken in by Nicola Milton and her family. They believed she had been lost overboard during a voyage and the shock had caused her to lose her memory. But in fact Pearl was really on outcast from the Fishfolk and longed to be like Landpeople. She had gone ashore, despite the pain she had to suffer as part of her punishment, for abandoning her people. But, each time Pearl experienced a human emotion, her pain lessened.
Sherry Lander’s parents disapproved of her friendship with Mike Packer, a former ice-hockey player who had injured an eye in an accident. To help him regain his nerve, Sherry persuaded him to partner her in ice-dancing and they won a contest in the pairs section. But Sherry’s mother used an underhand trick to separate them, and, thinking Sherry had found new skating partner and fresh interest, Mike began motorbike scrambling. They resolved that conflict after a talk, but some rival skaters the Redfords were also scheming against them.
In 1942, after their Japanese prison guards marched off to join the fighting, a number British ladies were abandoned in the Malayan jungle. A corporal’s daughter, Rosie O’Grady, was trying to and them to the coast and the chance of freedom, but, by disregarding — her suggestions, the ladies found themselves in one tight spot after another.
Twins Gail and Sarah Harcourt had run away from their boarding school to search for their pony, Petronella. The pony had been mistakenly sold to a slaughterer, pooling their savings and selling their possessions, the girls had raised £100 reward for anyone who had seen Petronella, and were on their way to see someone who had replied to the advertisement. But, on the journey, their money had been stolen.
When Megan Evans’ Uncle Morgan entered a painting he thought was Megan’s for the county schools art competition, he did not know that it had really been painted by Margaret Owens, a girl who had died 63 years ago. Megan had found the paintings, with a guitar and Margaret’s diary, in an attic cupboard when the family moved house, and she dreamed that Margaret offered her the guitar on condition that she made the paintings, and Margaret, famous. The painting won, and Uncle Morgan was to proud and happy that Megan could not bear to tell him the truth. Hate spiteful classmate, Sally, heard Megan talking in her sleep, and began to suspect the truth.
