Princess II, #11, 3 December 1983

• Atchoo! (artist Bob Harvey)
• Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit (photo story)
• Farthings’ Flight (artist Hugo D’Adderio) – final episode
• True Friends for Tansy (artist unknown)
• Alice Spring is Missing! (photo story)
• Cinders on Ice (artist unknown)
• Sadie in Waiting (artist Joe Collins)
• Princess Diana Pinup

In our cover story, Jenny discovers the power of the formula has worn off. She can no longer change into Hannah Hyde when she sneezes, and there is no more of that formula. But the school needs Hannah Hyde at the netball match, so Jenny hits on a crazy, desperate idea – disguise herself as Hannah Hyde! She has the looks all right, but can she bring off the same confidence and prowess? We find out in the final episode next week.

Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit finally has the spell book to change him back into a man, but reversing the rabbit spell proves more complicated than anticipated. Something goes wrong and he grows to giant rabbit proportions!

The Farthings’s story ends this week. Allgold’s exploitation of Grandfather comes to an end. Allgold reckons he’s wrung all he can out of the deteriorating old man who’s losing his power, so he’s only too happy to let Lizzie’s kindly rich lady buy Grandfather out. Allgold has no idea the power is about to pass to another – guess who?

The Murder on the Orient Express – sorry, kidnapping on the train to Scotland – continues in “Alice Spring is Missing”. The people in Alice’s compartment are still holding her prisoner, and she can’t convince anyone of what’s going on except one girl named Carrie, who actually sees what’s going on. The trouble is, Carrie can’t convince anyone else either and soon she’s being held prisoner too.

Princess Bee wants Sadie and Grovel to learn judo, and Grovel gets the flip. However, the judo instructor meets her match in Cook, who clonks her with a chop – a meat chop, that is.

Tansy grows fed up with living the lie and wants to come clean with her friends that her father’s a famous pop star, but Dad won’t allow it. So Tansy is still stuck with the deception she hates, which is causing more complications. And how much longer can she keep it up anyway?

Cinders on Ice manages to skate for help for the injured lady, Miss Thorburn. This has the unexpected but welcome reward of Miss Thorburn giving her free admission to the new skating rink – she’s the new owner – and proper coaching in skating. The trouble is, the two nasty girls Cinders is trying to keep the secret from are about to try out the rink.

Princess II, #10, 26 November 1983

• Farthings’ Flight (artist Hugo D’Adderio)
• Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit (photo story)
• Atchoo! (artist Bob Harvey)
• True Friends for Tansy (artist unknown)
• Alice Spring is Missing! (photo story)
• Cinders on Ice (artist unknown)
• Sadie in Waiting (artist Joe Collins)
• Princess Diana pinup

I do not have Princess #9 (maybe one of these days), so I continue with #10.

Allgold finally succeeds in getting the Farthings into his power and milking Grandfather’s ability to talk to animals for all its worth. It’s taking its toll on Grandfather; he’s in such a state of collapse and giving up that he isn’t even trying to escape, though Lizzie sees a chance to do so. Then a trip to the soup kitchen gives Lizzie hope for an ally who could rescue them.

Mr Evans’ health is also taking a dangerous downturn. He was badly injured from a trap and now he’s developed a heart condition that he can only get treatment for if he is changed back into a man; as a rabbit the only treatment for him is euthanasia. Now they need the book of spells more than ever, so they are advertising for it, but where the *$!^%*!# is it? Jenny gets her answer when Dad gives it to her for a birthday present. So it was right under their noses the whole time. It would be!

Jenny’s power, which depends on sneezing, really makes things complicated for her this week, including getting into trouble in a supermarket. It’s either sneezing at the wrong moment or waiting ages for one. And that’s the problem Jenny is left with by the end of the episode. She is stuck outside the house as Hannah Hyde and has to wait for a sneeze to turn her back into Jenny. By the time that happens, Dad will probably have Scotland Yard out looking for her and ready to read out the riot act.

Concealing that her father’s a pop star is still causing problems for Tansy. Among them are friends who think she is open and honest with them, which makes her feel ashamed.

“Cinders on Ice” returns to the Cinderella story, which had been prevalent in IPC titles during the 1970s but had faded by the 1980s. In this case it is not relatives or stepparents who make a Cinderella out of our heroine but a nasty employer and her two daughters. Ella’s reaction to their cruelty is secretly teaching herself to skate and calling herself “Cinderella on Ice”. She has only just got the hang of skating when her first big test comes – skating to get help for a woman who has been in a car crash.

Alice Spring suspects the people she is travelling with on the train are up to no good. Yes, it’s a kidnapping plot, and they don’t do anything much to do it except blackmail Alice into going with them. No chloroform, gag or bonds in sight. She tries to slip a message for help, but the recipient does not believe it. First hope dashed.

Sadie in Waiting wonders why Grovel is not feeling the cold when the heating is busted, which is something he is normally the first to grumble about. The answer is soon revealed, and it backfires on him in the end, of course.

Princess II, #8, 12 November 1983

• Atchoo! (artist Bob Harvey)
• Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit (photo story)
• Ring of Feathers (artist Santiago Hernandez) – final episode
• True Friends for Tansy (artist unknown) – first episode
• Stairway to the Stars (photo story) – final episode
• Farthings’ Flight (artist Hugo D’Adderio)
• Sadie in Waiting (artist Joe Collins)

 

This issue farewells two stories from Princess’s first lineup: “Ring of Feathers” and “Stairway to the Stars”. The pupils’ stage performance of course keeps the school open, but the euphoria fades a bit when the pupils learn the school exams are about to begin. Oh well, that’s part of any school. In “Ring of Feathers”, Cheryl manages to save the woods with the help of the ring and is also freed from her evil uncle, who is now in well-deserved trouble with the police.

New story “True Friends for Tansy” starts. Tansy Jones starts at a new school with a secret: she must not let anyone know her father is a famous pop star, otherwise she won’t know who her friends are. The trouble is, keeping the secret is interfering with friendships too and affecting Tansy’s popularity. I am having trouble identifying the artist. It looks a bit like John Johnston, but I am not sure. If anyone can help, it would be most appreciated.

Jenny now realises she has grabbed the wrong rabbit, which messes up a ventriloquist performance she attempts to do. Meanwhile, Mr Evans breaks out of his cage and is now hiding in a hole, which could make it difficult for Jenny to find him again.

Grovel’s personality changes for the better after a bump on the head and he starts treating Sadie kindly. But of course it is too good to last. Sure enough, he returns to normal when Cook clonks him over the head with a frying pan.

Grandfather Farthing’s gift for communicating with animals exposes a groom who was mistreating horses and he is dismissed. But once the groom finds out Allgold is after them, he seizes his chance for revenge. Will this enable Allgold to capture the Farthings next week?

Jenny’s new double life as Hannah Hyde is bringing her the friends, popularity and confidence she had never known before. The trouble is, only sneezing can bring Hannah on, and you can’t just sneeze whenever you feel like it. Moreover, an unexpected sneeze can take Hannah away again, which can be at the worst possible moment. So this double life is proving very awkward for Jenny while her classmates are puzzled by the odd comings and goings of Hannah Hyde.

Princess II, #7, 5 November 1983

• Farthings’ Flight (artist Hugo D’Adderio)
• Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit (photo story)
• Ring of Feathers (artist Santiago Hernandez)
• Miranda’s Magic Dragon (artist Carlos Freixas) – final episode
• Stairway to the Stars (photo story)
• Atchoo! (artist Bob Harvey) – first episode
• The Princess Diana Story
• Sadie in Waiting (artist Joe Collins)
• Princess Diana Pinup

It’s the Guy Fawkes issue, and it’s Sadie in Waiting who does the honours. Poor Grovel is still in the doghouse after the Halloween fiasco he unwittingly caused last issue. Princess Bee won’t let him attend her fireworks display, but she would have been better off doing so. Grovel decides to have his own fireworks display – which messes up Princess Bee’s!

It’s the last episode of “Miranda’s Magic Dragon”. Miranda puts all the mixed-up magic right after she finally figures out how the magic pendant works – it only works as it should when the intention is good; otherwise things go wrong for the person using it. Pity nobody told Mordac that; he finds out the hard way when Miranda deliberately lets him have it, knowing full well that his intentions will be anything but good. It’s his downfall, of course.

“Atchoo!” starts today. You have to decide whether this one is a completely bonkers story or just plain silly. A weedy girl, Jenny Jeckyll, finds herself turning into a completely different and confident person – Hannah Hyde – after accidentally receiving a dose of her father’s new compound that can turn weeds into roses. The change occurs when Jenny sneezes, and another sneeze changes her back.

Mr Evans has gotten mixed up with a bunch of rabbits that look just like him. As a result, Jenny now has the wrong rabbit!

It’s now official in “Stairway to the Stars” – the council is closing the school down, in one fortnight. The pupils decide they might as well put on their end-of-term show on now then. A surprise turn of events has this turning it into their one chance to keep the school open – by performing it in front of the council. The trouble is, they have only one fortnight to get ready for a performance that was meant to take three months to prepare.

Allgold’s manages to catch up to the Farthings despite the distance they put between him and them. Then grandfather’s power takes a hand and birds attack Allgold’s flunkies. Bird power is also taking a hand in “Ring of Feathers”. The birds help Cheryl to reassemble the real deed her uncle tore up and prove the one he has is a fake. Now Cheryl is racing against her uncle and pouring rain to get the deed to the expert in the village.

Princess II, #6, 29 October 1983

• Their Darling Daughter… (artist Bert Hill) – final episode
• Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit (photo story)
• Ring of Feathers (artist Santiago Hernandez)
• Miranda’s Magic Dragon (Carlos Freixas)
• Stairway to the Stars (photo story)
• Farthings’ Flight (artist Hugo D’Adderio) – first episode
• The Princess Diana story part 6
• Mini Princess Diana Pinus
• Sadie in Waiting (artist Joe Collins)
• Fun Fair (puzzles)

Ever since #1, Princess had used selections of letters from her sister comic Girl for her letters page. From this issue she stops saying she is using Girl letters, so she must have been receiving enough letters to start printing her own.

It’s the Halloween issue, but only Sadie in Waiting honours it. Princess Bee is hosting a fancy dress party for Halloween. Grovel is grumbling because he hates Halloween. He hates it even more after he mistakenly attacks Princess Bee (dressed as a gorilla) as SuperGrovel and does mountains of washing up as a punishment.

“Their Darling Daughter” is the cover story, probably because this is the final episode, making it the second to be ejected from Princess’s first lineup. For some reason the title has ellipsis points, which it did not have in the other episodes. Perhaps it’s because of how everything resolves. Up until this point the impression was Mrs Crooks was plotting against Sylvie out of loyalty to the late Rachel. But then Sylvie finds out the real reason: Rachel was really Mrs Crooks’ daughter and Sylvie is really the Townes’ daughter. Mrs Crooks had switched them at birth so Rachel would lead an aristocratic life. Once discovered, Mrs Crooks goes fully insane and sets out to burn the whole house down while taking herself and the bound and gagged Sylvie in it!

In “Mr Evans the Talking Rabbit” Dad’s too overcome with grief over his wife to do a show. Jenny calls upon Mr Evans to help out, but he refuses to do so after the bad experience he had with the other children who captured him after he became a rabbit.

Nasty Uncle John has stolen Cheryl’s ring of feathers, but a bird friend helps her to get it back. She has also discovered Uncle John’s whole plan to destroy the woodlands, and only the ring of feathers can help her stop it. Meanwhile, Mum is hospitalised because Uncle John worked her too hard.

“Farthings’ Flight” starts, and it is Princess’s first period story, set in Victorian times. We meet Lizzie Farthing, whose grandfather has a power over animals and birds. Silas Allgold discovers grandfather’s power, and tries to force them into joining his freak show. Allgold is even going as far as to threaten violence against anyone who employs or shelters the Farthings, so they will have no choice but to crawl to him. Lizzie won’t give in to such blackmail, hence the flight of the Farthings, but how far will they get from Allgold? He looks extremely determined to get them, and he has the money and heavies to back him up.

In “Miranda’s Magic Dragon”, Liz is thrilled to meet King Arthur in person, but then the evil Mordac captures her. Meanwhile, a hint is dropped before Miranda that Paula has stolen her magic pendant, but will Miranda catch on?

In “Stairway to the Stars”, poor Terry is expelled after getting in a fight with bullies who call him “cissy”. But after intervention from Sandy, Terry’s father, who had disapproved of Terry attending stage school, changes his mind about it so much that he persuades the school to reinstate Terry.