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"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.
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