Can you name this story?

[Marionette]

I had this request on my blog. I have no clue so I thought someone here might be able to help.

Have you come across a story in which a teenage girl has been living since birth in isolation with a scientist and a computer called M.U.M. which was intended to replace a parent and teach her everything she needs to know without the emotional attachments of family. I remember that much about the story, but not which comic it was in or when, or the title

[helsbels]

That story sounds very familiar and I know I've read it - in fact, I've probably got it somewhere! Unfortunately, I can't remember offhand the title of the story or which comic it was in. I will have to have a look - does the person know which comic it was in, or at least if it was IPC or D C Thomson? Hopefully someone else here will come up with a title.

[helsbels]

I have an inkling it may have been in Girl (series 2) or Dreamer?

[helsbels]

Got it! No Mother For Marty in Girl comic - I will post an episode later!

[helsbels]

This is the first episode I have (I don't have the complete story) from Girl no 32 dated 19th September 1981:

[Marionette]

Thank you! I'll let the person know.

Knowing the title, I was able to find out that it was another by the prolific Purita Campos, and ran from issues 31 - 42, so that would be the second episode.

[helsbels]

It doesn't look like one of Purita Campos' stories, but I do believe it is drawn by another Spanish artist - Ruth, would you know the name of this artist?

[Marionette]

My mistake. I thought the page I was looking at was purely a listing for Purita, but it also has a bit about the correct artist, Santiago Hernandez.

[RuthB]

Correct, it is Santiago Hernandez. Sorry, I did not see this thread before!

[Tammyfan]

I just came into some episodes of No Mother for Marty, including the first episode. That scientist who raised Marty that way certainly had a heart of gold - I don't think. Once she decided her experiment had been a failure she was only to happy to dump Marty and tell the authorities they were free to take her away.

But I'm not sure the authorities handled Marty the right way in just yanking her away from the place she'd been confined to all her life. It would have been better to go slow and easy with a girl who had been raised in isolation and maybe keep the computer around for a while longer to ease the transition.The approach they take eventually has Marty running off with MUM - a dangerous thing for her as she is so ignorant of the outside world she barely knows what school and electricity are.

[Tammyfan]

Here is the first episode. It would be interesting to know how it ended because it certainly is an unusual concept.

[Muffy]

So what happened to Marty and M.U.M. – did they stay together at the end / final part?

I'm surprised Dr Blake didn't develop any emotional attachment to the girl after 13 years.

[Tammyfan]

So what happened to Marty and M.U.M. – did they stay together at the end / final part?

I'm surprised Dr Blake didn't develop any emotional attachment to the girl after 13 years.

I don't know how it ended. It would be interesting to know, because this is an unusual story. And Dr Blake developed no emotional attachment to Marty because that in her view would have compromised her experiment and she comes across as a cold fish anyway.

[Phoenix]

I have to admit that I find this concept quite disturbing, as it is so reminiscent of the assorted medical experiments carried out by the Nazis on prisoners of war, and the highly unethical and often frankly inhumane ones performed by the Americans on the poor and people from racial minorities. The perpetrators must have been just as emotionless as Doctor Blake.

There is nevertheless a precedent for this curious approach to childrearing in the thirteen-episode cricket serial The Wonder Man, which appeared in The Rover 1132 (Mar. 30 1946) - 1144 (Sep. 14 1946). Professor Graves and Dr. Codrington undertake the upbringing of the identical twins Dennis and H. K. Rodd, and decide to bring them up in completely different ways. They adopt the boys at birth as their legal wards ''for the subject of an experiment and a comparison'', and take them to Scarra, an island in the Outer Hebrides. Dennis is brought up in a perfectly normal way while H. K. is brought up to be a Superman on entirely scientific principles, his diet, exercise and sleep strictly regulated, his brain and his memory frequently challenged. He learns chess to a very high standard in a week, and learns to play cricket from an instruction manual, and is phenomenally successful. The scientists refer to him as our Subject.

[Tammyfan]

I have to admit that I find this concept quite disturbing, as it is so reminiscent of the assorted medical experiments carried out by the Nazis on prisoners of war, and the highly unethical and often frankly inhumane ones performed by the Americans on the poor and people from racial minorities. The perpetrators must have been just as emotionless as Doctor Blake.

There is nevertheless a precedent for this curious approach to childrearing in the thirteen-episode cricket serial The Wonder Man, which appeared in The Rover 1132 (Mar. 30 1946) - 1144 (Sep. 14 1946). Professor Graves and Dr. Codrington undertake the upbringing of the identical twins Dennis and H. K. Rodd, and decide to bring them up in completely different ways. They adopt the boys at birth as their legal wards ''for the subject of an experiment and a comparison'', and take them to Scarra, an island in the Outer Hebrides. Dennis is brought up in a perfectly normal way while H. K. is brought up to be a Superman on entirely scientific principles, his diet, exercise and sleep strictly regulated, his brain and his memory frequently challenged. He learns chess to a very high standard in a week, and learns to play cricket from an instruction manual, and is phenomenally successful. The scientists refer to him as our Subject.

Yes, later on in the story when Marty goes on the run with MUM, the "heartless computer experiment" and the "mad scientist" and her "computer scandal" make huge headlines as the search mounts for Marty. I would not be surprised if the media compared Dr Blake to a Nazi scientist.