Posted on January 8, 2022February 15, 2022The Prisoner of Zerss (continued . . .) This installment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 521 on 8 January 1972.
Posted on September 18, 2021July 2, 2024The Duplication Machine (continued . . .) Reaching the Trigan coast well ahead of the Caton air fleet, the duplicate Janno dropped flares and fired his guns. That should wake up the defences ! A cease-fire was in operation, but the Trigan coastal gunners quickly roused themselves. It’s a Caton craft !—Sound the alarm ! Action stations ! The evil triumvirate who ruled Cato were also in the craft. One of them struck wildly at the duplicate Janno. Fool—Get away from here ! Do you want to get us all killed ? With no hands on the controls, the craft swerved towards the coast. Open fire ! Meanwhile, the alarm had reached Trigan City—and the fighting craft of the air fleet were screeching up into the dawn sky. All-unsuspecting, the Caton fleet flew into a trap. Silhouetted against Elekton’s rising suns, they were mauled to tatters by the Trigans ! The war was over ! Later that day, a Trigan naval patrol craft found an unconscious figure lying on the shore of a lonely islet. By the stars !— It’s Lord Janno, the Emperor’s nephew ! In due course, Robi was brought from Cato and questioned by Peric. He confessed his secret to the great scientist. I think his Imperial Majesty will agree with me when I say that your execution or imprisonment will only deprive Elekton of a brain it cannot afford to lose. But the infernal duplicating device will be destroyed— and you will speak of it to no one ! Never, master !— I promise you ! One thing puzzles me—is the Janno who was found on that lonely beach the original Janno, or the duplicate Janno ? That we shall never know for sure, Imperial Majesty ! And neither will he ! As to the circumstances leading up to his crash, his mind is a blank ! A statue was erected in the great square of Trigan City to the Lord Janno who saved the Empire at the cost of his own life. Janno often pondered on the great question mark of his life. Am I the original me— or my own duplicate ? This installment was originally published in Look and Learn issue no. 505 on 18 September 1971.
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.
