BANANAMAN IN DR JACKAL AND MR HIDE

A Quarterly Dandy Special No.8 features Bananaman's fourth story in the series - and what an adventure it is!

​Based on the 1886 gothic horror novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Bananaman in Dr Jackal and Mr Hide sees the Man of Peel face a fiendish foe!

Note: At this point, the series changed from being a monthly publication to a quarterly one, hence "quarterly" now added to the title.

Front cover of Bananaman in Dr Jackal and Mr Hide

The story begins with Police Chief O'Reilly believing his office is haunted.  Calling upon Bananaman for help, it's soon revealed the ghostly goings-on are actually down to supervillain Mr Hide, who is capable of becoming invisible and passing through solid matter at will.

Mr Hide demonstrates his superpowers

A flashback sequence reveals ever-so-nice inventor Dr Jackal was testing a new formula for a vindaloo curry powder when disaster struck!  The formula changed him into the hideous Mr Hide, who aspires to be the world's greatest criminal!

Supervillain Mr Hide in his hideout

Mr Hide leaves Bananaman and Chief O'Reilly to begin his bank robbing crime spree but it's not long before Bananaman's on his tail.  However, thanks to his slippery superpowers, Mr Hide evades capture once again so Bananaman tries several ways of working out where he could be, including receiving tips from the computer in his secret hideout, wearing heat-spotting specs, donning his thinking cap, laying elaborate traps and even taking advice from the reader.

Bananaman dons his thinking cap

None of these work so he decides to simply look up the address for Mr Hide's hideout in the "Villain's Directory", which is not unlike a phone book (you might want to ask an adult to explain what a phone book is, young 'uns - Ad).

Catching Mr Hide red-handed, Bananaman is set upon by the repurposed robot inventions of Dr Jackal.  I won't reveal how but after a good pummelling Bananaman eventually figures out a way to beat the contraptions and change Mr Hide back into his innocent alter-ego.

Bad robots beat down on Bananaman

A very grateful Dr Jackal takes advice from Bananaman on how to make amends, do some good and make money in the process.  However, as one might expect, such well-intentioned advice ultimately makes things a whole lot worse...

Published by DC Thomson & Co. in 1991, Bananaman in Dr Jackal and Mr Hide is once again a first-rate comic adventure suitable for all ages.  The story by Steve Bright flows nicely with no dull dips and the late John Geering's art is always a delight to look at, packed with energy and excitement and littered with lots of little visual gags.  It's a recommended read if you can get your hands on a copy.

Nutty editor David Donaldson gets a subtle namecheck

Next time I'll be summarising Bananaman's final adventure in the A Quarterly Dandy Special series.  Bananaman in Double Trouble coming soon!