The Spellbinder was probably my favourite strip in Lion comic. I was not alone, it was regularly voted the reader's top pick, too. The Spellbinder was in fact Sylvester Turville, a four hundred year-old alchemist who had fallen asleep for nearly two hundred years. He was awakened by his ancestor, Thomas Turville, in his debut adventure in the first combined issue of Lion and Eagle dated 3 May 1969. The story was originally entitled 'The Turville Touchstone'. It was changed to The Spellbinder with the second adventure. It referred to the philosopher's stone Sylvester possessed and which granted him
incredible longevity. The stone was also capable of much more. This and Sylvester's other magic potions and tricks formed the background of some beautifully drawn and well written stories. I intend to consider one of these stories. It has been named 'Walter Wiseman', by the writers of the Lion Index, and it ran in Lion comics dated from 20 March 1971 to 29 May 1971. This eleven part tale was collected in The Valiant Book of Mystery and Magic, 1976. It is information from this reprint and from the index that I shall be using to write this piece.
The story was written by Frank S Pepper who had been on the Lion team from the beginning. It was drawn by Geoff Campion who was a brilliant artist and certainly an excellent choice to set the mood for this story.
The beginning of the Walter Wiseman story (20th March 1971)
The tale opens with a moonlit shot of Turville Hall in autumn. It looks cold and bleak and definitely not the place one would wish to stay the night. The writer and artist pull off a marvellous feeling of relief with the second panel, however, as we find Sylvester and Thomas Turville happily sitting snug before a roaring fire. Two visitors, lost in the night ring the door bell. They are greeted by a lamp-wielding Sylvester and beckoned into the house. The strangers introduce themselves as Walter Wiseman and Freddie Stoat. Sylvester asks his guests if they are hungry. Wiseman produces a bag which had contained a snack consumed earlier. It now holds only a few crumbs. To the astonishment of his guests Sylvester takes the crumbs and places them in a candle-heated oven. He then murmurs an
incantation over the oven. At this point Wiseman and Stoat are sure they have entered the home of a madman. Before long, however, Sylvester produces a feast of pies and puddings from the oven. Crafty Wiseman realises that he has stumbled upon something that might be worth a fortune.
Tom becomes concerned as Sylvester brags and blurts out his secrets. He tells his guests that he performs real magic and that he is the greatest magician that ever lived. Wiseman asks Sylvester to tell how he performs his magic. Sylvester, in his element, begins to show off. He gives his guests a tour of the mansion showing them his potions, formulas and books of spells. He then performs his coup de grace by transforming part of Wiseman's tie into gold.
Wiseman, now desperately looking for a way to steal Sylvester's power, sees an opportunity when Grimalkin, the cat, fails to catch a mouse before it reaches its hole. He asks Sylvester why, if he was such a great magician, he could not make himself small enough to go after the mouse. Sylvester's pride blinds him to the danger. He drinks some 'shrinking elixir', and immediately becomes just a few inches tall. He then follows the mouse into the hole. Wiseman then uses the elixir's bottle stopper to trap Sylvester in the hole. The two men then overpower and tie up Tom. They then find a basket which they fill with Sylvester's potions. During these scenes we are treated to views of the creepy interior of Turville Hall. It is well drawn and provides great atmosphere for the story.
Sylvester, using his magic, commands the mouse he had previously wanted to kill, to free Tom from his bonds. Tom places the still shrunken Sylvester into his pocket and goes after Wiseman and Stoat. Unfortunately they have escaped in their car, taking Sylvester's books and potions with them.
Sylvester and Tom find some potions which have been dropped by the thieves. Sylvester remarks that any magic tried by the villains will not turn out the way they expect, without the potions left behind. We next see Wiseman and Stoat in their hideout, trying to perform a magical experiment. They are startled by the appearance of Sylvester's cat. It must have jumped into their escaping car, they reason. Sylvester is able to watch them through the cat's eyes by using his crystal ball back at Turville Hall.
The story continues with Wiseman and Stoat failing to make a potion which will transmute anything into gold. Sylvester scrutinises their progress through his crystal ball. He and Thomas then bring a weather cock to life. This they use for navigating their flying metal bathtub as Thomas rows it through the air with a pair of broomsticks (honestly). Sly and Tom begin to close in on the crooks. The crooks, meanwhile, become annoyed as Grimalkin laps at the results of their failed experiment. Suddenly the cat grows to the size of a single story house.
Wiseman quickly realises the benefits (and none of the pitfalls) of growing to a mammoth size. He asks Stoat to take a sip of the magic formula. Stoat refuses. Wiseman then imbibes the formula himself and immediately grows, bursting through the roof of their house. He then refuses to let the now willing Stoat to drink the potion. He drops the pan containing the remains behind him. Where it lands it causes weeds to grow to the size of trees.
Sylvester and Tom eventually reach the crooks' hideout. Stoat is hiding in an upstairs room. He is sitting on a rug. Sylvester, using the touchstone, commands Stoat to reveal himself. The rug he is sitting on becomes a flying carpet and brings Stoat before Sylvester. Sly and Tom jump onto the carpet with Stoat and head after the gigantic Wiseman. They are slowed by the weight on the carpet and decide to offload Stoat.
The people of the town which the huge Wiseman and giant cat, Grimalkin, roam through are understandably shocked by these events. The local police, at first sceptical, soon take action. Sylvester tries to reason with Wiseman, but he and Tom are swotted from their carpet.
The Spellbinder story was on the cover of the very last Lion And Thunder (It joined Valiant the following week)
Wiseman soon finds out that it is not all fun being a giant. Sleeping, sitting and even finding enough food to eat, present problems. The police attempt to arrest Wiseman but when he stands on two of their patrol cars they realise that they may need help. Soon the army show up to take over the situation. Sylvester uses his powers to prevent them from using their tanks and guns. Realising that it is Sylvester hampering their efforts, they attempt to arrest him. Predictably this too, meets with little success. A policeman then reasons that recruiting Sylvester to their side might be a good idea.
Wiseman, by this time, is becoming very thirsty. He yearns for a cup of tea. He knows that no teacup exists which is large enough to quench his thirst. He tears off the top of a bandstand and fills it from a river. Sylvester, meanwhile, using a telescope has grown to Wiseman's height. He confronts the raging crook. Wiseman tears an oak tree out of the ground and threatens the magician with it. Using an inverted telescope, Sylvester shrinks Wiseman, who is still wielding the tree, back to normal size. Thomas uses the same method to return Sylvester to normal. Wiseman is arrested and our two heroes flee the scene on their flying carpet.
The story ends where it began with the two characters sitting before a roaring fire. Now they are very troubled. The police, the army and the public are all aware of Sylvester and his abilities and his magical acts have even been caught on film. Sylvester's final words of the story are 'I have a dread feeling that from now on, life will never be quite the same again'.
As with most fictional stories a certain amount of disbelief must be suspended while reading. If you are able to do that 'The Spellbinder', really is a good yarn. Some of the manifestations of Sly's magic are ingenious. It is worlds away from say, Dr. Strange, but every bit as original. The story is funny and the artwork a joy. Like most British boys' weeklies there is little room for female roles. Relationships between the sexes are non existent. Reading this tale again for the first time in over twenty five years, I still find it enjoyable. Perhaps I have become more discerning. I am more able to appreciate how good and original the art is than I was first time around.
If you can find 'The Valiant Book of Mystery and Magic', or better still the original Lion comics this story ran in, it has got my highest recommendation. Read it.
