Index
» Introduction
» #1
» #2
» #3
» #4
» #5
» #6
» #7
» #8
» #9
» #10
» #11
» #12
» #13
» #14
» #15
» #16
» #17
» #18
» #19
» #20
» #21
» #22
» #23
» #24
» #25
» #26
» #27
» #28
» #29
» #30
» #31
» #32
» #33
» #34
» #35
» #36
» #37
» #38
» #39
» #40
» #41
» #42
» #43
» #44
» #45
» #46
» #47
» #48
» #49
» #50
» #51
» #52
GOODIES COR!! COMICS SYNOPSIS #43
(by Linda Kay)
(from C&G 119 – October 2005)
Issue 178
27th October, 1973 No. 66
In a series like The Goodies in which you have a mad scientist character inventing all kinds of strange things the idea that time travel would eventually come up seems a given. Amazingly the Goodies *never* did any time travelling via a time machine. Some episodes took place in the past or in the future but in those cases the story would just start in that time period. Perhaps the fact the Goodies never did any actual time travelling in their series is the reason the Cor!! comics creators explored the subject not one but *twice* ... this entry being the second of the two.
COVER ARTWORK: The Goodies are featured in a tall panel next to an abbreviated Gus the Gorilla comic. They are sitting in a time machine which is teetering on the head of a dinosaur rising from a swamp. Graeme is pulling on a ship's style lever, Tim is hanging on for dear life and Bill is eyeing his reflection in a rear view mirror through a telescope. The words "Going Up" are above them in mod-70's lettering while a banner below says "See This Week's Goodies Tale!"
Header: THIS STORY OF A TIME MACHINE WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY, PALS!
The Goodies are in their office and Tim opens the door to an aged Professor who enters carrying what looks like a folding table and some rolled drawings.
PROFESSOR: I'm Professor Crankhandle ... I've invented the world's first TIME MACHINE and I want you chaps to *test* it for me!
GRAEME: AHA! This is the mission I've been *waiting* for!
The Professor unfolds what he has carried in, revealing a flat time machine on springy legs with three seats and several controls and gadgets on it. Graeme inspects the machine with a magnifying glass, looking pleased. Bill and Tim stand to one side looking confused.
GRAEME: A beautiful machine, Professor! I see you have an *inter-connecting grommiter throttle flange!*
PROFESSOR: Yes, indeed! Also *twin thrust* brackets with overhead spinning dynamos ... and ... a *leapfrog suspender unit!*
THE GOODIES CLIMBED ABOARD ...
The machine jerks up and down on its springs as it starts. The Professor (and several well wishers) wave the Goodies goodbye.
GRAEME: Right! Let's get started!
PROFESSOR: Goodbye and good luck!
The machine splashes down in a prehistoric swamp with dinosaurs all around and a volcano in the background.
TIM: *Agh!* We've gone back to *prehistoric times!*
BILL: I might've guessed we'd get *wet!*
A dinosaur rises from the water, lifting the time machine and the Goodies high up into the air to balance precariously on top of its head.
TIM: *Eek!* A *prehistoric monster!* Let's get OUT of here!
BILL: I'll set it to *forward* time.
DINOSAUR: GRAAAH!
The Goodies disappear from the monster's head in a PING!
DINOSAUR: Der ... where did they go?
The trio reappear on flat ground with caves, a saber toothed tiger and Stonehenge around them.
GRAEME: Cor!! I wonder where we are!
TIM: We know *where* we are ... I just wonder *when* we are!
They start to walk around. Unfortunately they don't see a caveman peeking from behind a nearby rock.
BILL: Well, it looks a bit *drier!* Let's have a *look round!*
The caveman climbs on top of the rock and clubs Bill over the head with a primitive stone hammer. Graeme and Tim walk on, not seeing what happened.
GRAEME: H'mmm ... from the landscape I would say this is the latter half of the *mezzanine period!*
BILL: GNNN!
Tim and Graeme finally notice what's happening to Bill when they turn and see the caveman dragging his limp body away by the hair.
TIM: Look! A *cave-man!* He's taking Bill for his *wife!*
They follow the caveman to his home where he's tied Bill to a spit and is trying to start a fire beneath him.
TIM: Gosh! On second thoughts, he's taken him for his *lunch!*
GRAEME: He's using a *flint,* perhaps it's the *melamine* rather than the *mezzanine* period!
Graeme picks up a rock and turns to Tim.
GRAEME: This is where modern science will save the day! Tim ... take off your braces!
Graeme uses Tim's suspenders as a slingshot pulled between two long sticks. He fires the rock at the caveman as Tim looks down at his fallen pants angrily.
GRAEME: FIRE ONE!
The rock hits the caveman on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious as Bill comes to and sees what is happening.
Graeme and Tim each take one end of the pole Bill is tied to and run away as more cavemen come out of the caves, hurling rocks at them.
GRAEME: Back to the time machine!
They reach a gorge so Graeme and Tim lay the pole (and Bill) across the gap and run across as the cavemen continue to chase them and throw rocks.
CAVEMAN: Oy! *Grunt!* Come back wid our dinner!
TIM: Quick! We've got no time to lose!
They reach the time machine and take their seats as Graeme starts it up, the cavemen still throwing rocks from the other side of the gorge.
BILL: Back to the twentieth century, driver ... and make it snappy!
The time machine appears back outside the Goodies office.
GRAEME: Ah, we made it! Back to our dear old office!
They have just settled back in their office when the door opens and the Professor walks in with the time machine in hand and the drawings rolled under his arm.
PROFESSOR: I'm Professor Crankhandle ... I've invented the world's first TIME MACHINE and I want you chaps to *test* it for me!
GRAEME: Oh, dear ... we came back *too early!* We're *back* before we *set off!*
BILL: Oh, no ... not all *that* again!
TIM: At least I can maybe collect my braces next time round!
Sign-Off Line: Take Time Out For Laughs With The Goodies Again Next Week!
RATING (using the BLACK PUDDING RATING SYSTEM):
III - Goody goody yum yum.
There aren't a lot of verbal jokes in this comic and only very few time-related puns or phrases, yet the artwork and overall idea for the comic makes up for this. Oddly enough Graeme proclaims a time machine is just the mission he's been waiting for. He seems to have forgotten he invented a time machine himself back in issue 150!
There are once again a good number of subtle jokes in the artwork to discover. Bill and Graeme are playing cards in the first panel and on the desk next to them is an hourglass, an indication of the time theme that will prevail throughout the story. The clock on the wall shows the time is four minutes to twelve.
The time machine itself contains some interesting gadgetry, including a bicycle horn, a pair of extending prongs on the front, a "tested" sign and various levers. Unfortunately the Professor's word balloon covers much of the machine as Graeme is inspecting it and other drawings of the machine are smaller and not as detailed. As the Professor waves goodbye to the Goodies there is another man waving alongside him, a military man giving them the thumbs up, and a school boy and a baby all appearing from nowhere to see them off. As the time machine starts up several screws go flying from it!
The saber-toothed tiger is startled by the extending prongs on the front of the time machine when it lands. There is a small sign outside of one of the cavemen's caves as well, although it is too small to read. There is also a ladder laying down near Stonehenge.
Tim is, of course, wearing polka-dotted shorts when his pants fall down. The caveman's flint comes in a matchbox. When the Goodies are hurrying over the gorge Tim is holding on to his pants to keep them on. We can see fossils embedded in the cliffs on either side which include skeletal remains, shells, and even an automobile. A tentacle is reaching up out of the gorge toward Bill, who is facing downward and sees it coming. This same tentacle is still reaching up out of the gorge as they hurry back onto the time machine.
When they land back in modern times there is a prehistoric mouse in the extending prongs which lurches toward a very scared cat (the same black and white cat which has appeared in previous issues). And when we see the Goodies back in their office it is only one minute earlier than when the Professor entered the last time.
All in all this is a fun comic and was well worth exploring the subject of time travel yet again.
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