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Sapphire & Steel
"The Mask"
Look-In (1980) #45-49
Written by: Angus Allan
Art by: Arthur Ransom |
A man is taken back in time to darkest Africa, where he is to
retrace the steps of one of his ancestors.
Read the story summary at Animus Web
Didja Know?
Comic strips in
Look-In magazine were generally not credited to
author and artist. According to the
Animus Web site, the
Sapphire & Steel strips were written by Angus
Allan and drawn by
Arthur Ransom.
All of the strips feature Sapphire and Steel dressed in the
clothes they wore in the first television storyline,
"Escape Through a Crack in Time".
The artist must have had only photo references from those early
episodes.
This story appeared in five issues of Look-In, a UK
magazine geared towards kids. The story is told in comic strip
form and appeared in two-page chapters of each issue.
The story itself is untitled. I borrowed the title
"The Mask" and short description from the
Sapphire & Steel Chronology on the
Look-In wiki.
In this story, once again, a boy is taken into the past by the
force of time. In the TV series, it was vestiges of the past
that would come to the modern age through the forces of time.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode
Lionel Archibald Twain (in 1890)
M'Ganga (in 1890)
Nicholas Twain
Mr. Twain (Nick's father)
Sapphire
Steel
Nabele (in 1890)
Didja Notice?
The tale opens with the story of the darkest Africa
adventures of legendary British explorer Lionel Archibald
Twain at the turn of the 20th Century. Twain is a fictitious
persona.
The large cat that attacks Twain in panel 3 of page 1 of the
story appears to be a cheetah based on the spot pattern on
its pelt, without visible rosettes. Later, on page 4,
Sapphire and Steel are attacked by what appears to be a
jaguar, judging from the presense of a rosette pattern.
On page 2 of the story, Nick Twain and his father visit the
Sparkstone Museum in the English midlands. This appears to
be a fictitious museum.
Nick compares his great-great grandfather Lionel to Dr.
Livingstone on page 2 of the story. Dr. David Livingstone
(1813-1873) was a Scottish physician, missionary, and
explorer of Africa who was widely celebrated in Great
Britain. The phrase Nick uses, "Dr. Livingstone I presume,"
became famous as the alleged greeting used by fellow
explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904)
when he found the missing Livingstone, alive but ill, living
in the small town of Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika.
Page 3 of the story states that Nick has been taken 90 years
into the past, which would make it about 1890 (confirmed
later in the narration).
On page 3 of the story, the force of time talks to Nick
through a tree with a face on it!
Also on page 3 of the story, the native guides refer to Nick
as Bwana Twain. Bwana is a Swahili word
which more-or-less means master or lord.
Sapphire uses her powers to transport herself and Steel to
the same time and place young Nick has found himself, 1890
Africa. Again, this is not a power Sapphire has in the TV
series. As well, the pair find themselves already dressed in
pith helmet and safari clothes when they appear in the jungle!
Once again, Sapphire and Steel seem to
believe in the power of magic, as Steel remarks that the
witch doctor M'Ganga's black magic could affect the entire
history of the world.
Later, Steel has a sober moment in the
jungle, saying to Sapphire, "Have you stopped to think?
Everything that happened when Europeans took over this
African continent wasn't good..." and Sapphire retorts,
"Of course it wasn't! But we know M'Ganga is influenced
by the Devil! He has to be crushed!"
In addition, the narration of the story
repeatedly
refers to M'Ganga's "Satanic" powers.
On page 6 of the story, a hostile African native captures
Twain and says, "Ashanga! Makeefa!" and Twain
responds, "Put down your weapons at once, do you hear
me? I represent the great white queen! Your leader...your--af'bwana
n'danga!" I've been unable to confirm if the
African words here are real, other than the aforementioned
bwana. The "great white queen" Twain mentions must
be England's Queen Victoria (1819-1901).
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On pages 7 and 9 of the story, the voice of
time emanates from the jungle and the light and shadow on
the trees appears to form a demonic skull-like face! |
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As he challenges the witch doctor, Lionel Twain boasts that
he boxed for Oxford. He is probably referring to being a
member of the
Oxford
University Amateur Boxing Club, founded in 1881.
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