The Ghostly
Galleon was part of the package of three new
features introduced in SHIVER AND SHAKE No. 71 merely a few weeks before the
paper was discontinued. Two boys Philip Drake and his brother Frankie
accidentally found themselves aboard an ancient Spanish galleon buried in the
sand off the Norfolk coast. This is how the story began:
As can be
seen from the first episode, The Ghostly Galleon was yet another adventure
serial that offered the readers a chance to win some cash. The plot was simple and easily predictable. Details
aside,
the Ghostly Galleon was in fact a carbon copy of The Terrible Trail to Taggart'sTreasure that appeared SHIVER AND SHAKE issues 14 – 22.
The boys
soon found out they weren’t alone aboard the ship and that a mysterious
character was determined not to let them escape. The violent masked bloke wasted
no time in assaulting the two brothers with his antique but deadly weapons such
as a halberd, a blunderbuss, a trident, etc. Scared for their lives, the boys rushed
about the ancient ship, finding holes, hidden passages and doors that led them
from one compartment to another, and occasionally fought back by popping champagne
corks...
The bloke appeared to be
well-familiar with the layout of the old galleon and chased the boys all over the
place – from the top to the bottom and then back to the top, smashing though walls and
never falling far behind. In the final episode Philip and Frankie broke out onto
the upper deck, accidentally stumbled across an ancient Spanish treasure chest full
of gold, silver and precious jewels, and mustered up the courage to confront
the villain. Surprise, surprise – it was Professor John Harvey, another greedy mad
scientist (a historian) who was after the treasure and was unwilling to share it with anyone. Here is the last instalment:
Readers
were invited to enter for The Ghostly Galleon competition:
This being
the last issue, the editor had a small logistical problem with competition
results but promised to publish them in the combined WHOOPEE! AND SHIVER &
SHAKE. The results can be found in Whoopee!
and Shiver and Shake cover-dated 30th Nov., 1974:
The Ghostly
Galleon appeared in SHIVER AND SHAKE issues 71 –
79 and was part of SHAKE section; it was a two pager, apart from the opening episode that was two pages long
and had an extra page with the drawings of the galleon so that readers could
follow the two brothers’ dramatic flight through the buried ship. I don’t know
the name of the artist but it looks like he also illustrated Rat
Trap in COR!! There is something about the style that reminds me of girls’
comics.
