Posted on March 27, 2021December 21, 2023The Giant Plant (continued . . .) In the great square of Trigan City, the cavalry of the Imperial Guard formed up behind their Emperor for what promised to be their last battle. Tax Toru, the disgraced guard commander, came forward. Imperial Majesty ! I claim the honour of dying with you ! Granted ! When the leaders of the rebel force saw the thin line of cavalry barring their way into the city, some of their confidence left them. Trigo ! Your city is being devastated by the giant rallus and your empire is crumbling about your ears —we call upon you to surrender ! Trigo replied coolly to the blustering demand. You are misinformed ! The rallus have been destroyed. There will be no surrender—we will fight to the end, and a new empire will arise from the ashes of the old ! Uneasy murmurings broke out in the rebel ranks. You hear that ? Trigo's beaten the rallus ! What a man ! There's no one like him on Elekton ! Are we going to replace him with the likes of them ? I'm not, for one ! It was like a miracle. Before the defenders' astonished eyes, the rebel army faded away into the dust of the plain. They've given up ! It is all over !—the Empire stands ! Within days, the population streamed back into the city, and the work of rebuilding commenced. The great scientist Peric made a full enquiry of the phenomenon of the ibis plants which had caused the disaster. He is now the only living subject who ate the ibis seeds. He is a normal adult with a child's mind. Happily, he will become mentally adult in the normal span of time. All he has lost is his childhood. The effect on the rallus was much more sinister ! Peric, it must never happen again ! Nor will it, Imperial Majesty ! The giant ibises will be destroyed, and the formula of the compound will remain locked in my mind ! As for Tax Toru—there was a happy outcome to his personal tragedy. You are a proud man who never deigned to answer the charges made against you. We now have a confession from another officer who was the real traitor. Your name is cleared, Tax Toru ! And so, at the parade in celebration of the saving of the Empire, Tax Toru took his place at the head of the Imperial Guard. This installment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 480 on 27 March 1971.
Posted on February 13, 2021January 19, 2022The Giant Plant The Trigan Imperial Guard was on parade, marching with the impeccable precision for which the crack regiment was famous throughout Elekton. Leading the guardsmen was their commanding officer, Tax Toru—a haughty Trigan aristocrat. But after the parade . . . Colonel ! You are under arrest ! Aaaah ! Because of his high rank, the accused man was tried by the emperor himself. The evidence against him was brief—but damning. Letters have been found showing that he has been selling military secrets to the Empire's enemies. Trigo passed sentence. Tax Toru ! You have betrayed the Empire and shamed your family name. You will be stripped of your rank and condemned to labour in the mines for the rest of your natural life ! Tax Toru was publicly disgraced. Then, chained, he became a slave in the dreaded mines. Curse Trigo ! Curse him ! If I ever escape from this living death, I'll bring his wretched Empire down about his ears ! Meanwhile, the great scientist Peric was at work in his laboratory, watched by his young friend Janno. You see, the seeds of the ibis plant are a staple diet of our poorer people. I am trying to increase the size of the plant to provide more food for them —not with any success, for this compound is my last hope. Later that day, Peric returned to the plant—and— By all the stars ! I have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams ! The ibis has doubled its size ! He raced out to spread the news. It was then that the plant's swollen seed pods burst —and scattered their contents to the winds. Most of the seeds fell on infertile ground, but a few landed in the small garden of a poor peasant. Within a few days, the peasant couple were staring in delighted amazement at the towering plants. I never saw such ibises ! The seeds of these fine plants will make nourishing soup for the little one. Before the end of the lunar month, the once-sickly child was a sturdy stripling ! It is like a miracle ! We never thought we'd rear him —and now he's bigger and stronger than lads twice his age ! This installment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 474 on 13 February 1971.
Posted on December 26, 2020February 20, 2024The Thing from the Sea (continued . . .) One evening, the now-familiar menace rose from the river near the great tower in the city of Yannis. Aaaaaagh ! It is the thing from the sea ! One slash of the strange antenna —and the tower was riven ! At almost the same moment, on the distant Isle of Zooth, the lighthouse met the same fate ! News of the two disasters reached the Emperor Trigo. You realise what this means, Peric ? There must be two of these infernal machines —perhaps more ! The possibility had already entered my calculations, Imperial Majesty. Then what are you doing about it ? Before I can devise a means of combating the menace, I need to know the length of the trunk attached to the head of the device. Peric took the Emperor to another part of his laboratory. This high-speed underwater engine should enable a diver to pursue the menace and bring back the information I need. I will need a team of brave volunteers. There will be no shortage of them, Peric. Make as many of your engines as you can ! Janno and his comrades Keren and Roffa were among the first to volunteer. Janno tested the engine. It works, Peric ! Yes. And remember that he is only travelling at half speed ! Not everyone was so keen to meet the monster. In the barracks of the Imperial Guards . . . “Special hazardous duty connected with the undersea menace.” What do you make of that ? Not for me ! Nor me ! But . . . You, Zatti ? Tired of living, Zatti ? I think I shall survive ! Within a few days, teams of four volunteers were ready to leave for selected parts of the coast. And in Janno's party . . . Zatti of the Imperial Guard, sir ! Glad to have you with us, Zatti. The following dawn, the four were at their appointed hiding place. See anything, Janno ? Yes ! One of the things is coming straight at us ! This installment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 467 on 26 December 1970.
