"Nightmare" Author Unknown Artist Unknown V Annual 1986 (World International Publishing Ltd.)

Donovan seems to have lost his mind.

Story Summary

As the story opens, a skyfighter shoots out of the hangar bay of the L.A. mothership. Another gives chase. The first does a flip in midair, coming up behind the pursuing craft and blowing it to bits.

On the ground, Tyler and Julie are involved in a guerilla raid when a skyfighter suddenly dives toward them. Tyler seriously damages it with a small bazooka, but the pilot manages to land it safely. A figure staggers out of the craft who turns out to be Donovan. But he's hallucinating and thinks Julie and Tyler are Visitors, threatening them before he passes out mysteriously.

Back at the base, Donovan is treated by a medic, but he awakens and attacks Julie. Kyle steps in and slugs him, knocking him unconscious. Willie volunteers that he has seen similar cases before, with a mind-stealing drug used by Diana. He says Professor Vane, a captive on the mothership, might be able to treat Donovan.

Three resistance fighters take a skyfighter up to the mothership in trooper disguises. They walk right into Diana's interrogation room and blast the guards, freeing Professor Vane. Racing back to the hangar bay, they steal a different skyfighter and head back home where Professor Vane neutralizes the mind control drug in Donovan's system.

THE END

Didja Know?

This story appeared in the British V Annual 1986, a book of short stories, articles and games all about V, geared towards kids. "Nightmare" is the only story in the volume presented in comics format.

Didja Notice? 

How did Donovan get captured by the Visitors in the first place? We're never told.

What were Tyler and Julie accomplishing with their guerilla raid? We're not told what the raid was for.

The woman in the background on page 30, panel 4 and page 31, panel 2 looks rather like Harmony. She even appears to have her hand resting affectionately on Willie's shoulder in the second instance. Additionally, Willie is shown wearing a Visitor uniform on page 31, indicating this story may originally have been intended to take place shortly after his capture by the resistance in "Unmasked". And Diana's hairstyle, when she appears later, seems to be the one she wore throughout The Final Battle mini-series. But there's not really any way to fit this story it into the timeline there; it seems as if the editor may have recognized this and retroactively added Kyle's name to the story to place it in the timeframe of the weekly series.

On page 31, the three resistance fighters in disguise board the mothership and proclaim they have a special priority prisoner of Diana's. Who? They don't appear to have a prisoner with them!

How did the resistance infiltrators know where to find Professor Vane? They walk right into Diana's interrogation session of him.

Is Professor Vane a human captive of Diana's or another Visitor? It's not made clear, although Diana does chastise him that there is no place for squeamishness aboard her ship, implying he is a crewmember.

What happened to Diana when the resistance fighters took out the guards in the interrogation room? She's there in one panel and gone the next. Did they shoot her? That seems unlikely since a blast from a Visitor gun usually results in death.

Who were the three resistance fighters who freed Professor Vane? They wear Visitor uniforms and helmets during the entire rescue, so we never see their faces. Presumably, one of them is Tyler since he is the first to jump up to the idea of freeing the professor upon hearing Willie's information. All three seem to be males from the look of them, so I'd guess they were Tyler, Kyle, and Willie.