Looking for story?

[peace355]

Hi, someone posted this question on my site:

"Can anyone help me to find out the publication, may have been Judy, from the 1950′s or early 60′s, had an illustrated story in black and white over several issues about a boy on a dolphin , or golden statue of a boy on a dolphin, took place in Italy or maybe Greece."

Anyone have any ideas what it could be as I'm not familiar with it?
Thanks.

[philcom55]

Could it have been 'Danny on a Dolphin' which appeared in Beano during the early 1960s?



(Though, come to think of it, there was a series about a Golden Dolphin in later issues of Diana as well!)

- Phil Rushton

[Phoenix]

Does this ring any bells? I've just come across it in Judy in 1976. Unfortunately, I've only got two episodes.

[peace355]

I've passed on the suggestions, it wasn't the Beano story but maybe "Dolf" is a possibility, thanks.

[peace355]

Thanks for the suggestions apparently its neither of them he says:

"I do know it was in a girls comic, because it was in one of my sisters and I use to enjoy reading all of hers once Id read mine.I just remember it for sure being about a sunken statue of a dolphin, may have been a boy on a dolphin, and was set in Italy or Greece"

[Phoenix]

In the light of your most recent post, peace, you must realise that your opening post was at least partly misleading, as we all started looking for stories about boys or girls riding on dolphins. It would now be helpful if you could ask your reader to clarify for us whether the sunken statue was under water or earth, and whether the story was set in a historical or modern period. He obviously doesn't remember whether it was in a DC Thomson girls' paper or one from the Amalgamated Press/Fleetway group, but can you ask him to try and get a bit closer for us to the actual dating of the issues involved, perhaps by determining roughly the link between the years his sister will have been reading the paper in question, and the years he could possibly have read them too. This information could save forum members from going on a number of wild goose chases on his behalf.

[Tammyfan]

Yes, we need more specifics. The description sounds rather confused and vague.

For a start, was it a boy or a girl on a dolphin? If it was a boy, was he the main character or a supporting character helping the heroine? What was his or her role in the story?

What's the villain's role? What's the problem in the story that has to be resolved?

Where does the statue fit in?

What type of story was it? Lightweight humour? Thriller? Supernatural? Action and adventure? Mystery?

[philcom55]

If the Greek location is right then the statue could be a representation of the myth of Arion and the dolphin. That certainly sounds like a DC Thomson story since they regularly plundered classical mythology for ideas.

- Phil R.

[peace355]

Yes sorry! I realise the post was vague, I just directly quoted him. I appreciate the effort involved in searching for the strip. I did direct him to this forum as well, and let him know who was providing the suggestions. I've asked him if he can think of any more details like year etc. Thanks for taking the time to search and reply to the post.

[Phoenix]

Hi, someone posted this question on my site:

"Can anyone help me to find out the publication, may have been Judy, from the 1950′s or early 60′s, had an illustrated story in black and white over several issues about a boy on a dolphin , or golden statue of a boy on a dolphin, took place in Italy or maybe Greece."

Anyone have any ideas what it could be as I'm not familiar with it?
Thanks.

I'm bumping up this two-year-old query from peace355 because I think I've found the answer. At the time we were convinced that the story was a serial in one of the story paper titles, Judy was suggested, because of the following description, from the 1950s or early 6o's, had an illustrated story in black and white over several issues about a boy on a dolphin, or golden statue of a boy on a dolphin. If the questioner can accept that the story is a complete, illustrated in colour, over several pages, about a girl on a dolphin, and a silver statue of a girl on a dolphin, then The Secret Of Sylva in Judy For Girls 1974 is the story that was being sought.

Sylvia Ross, the daughter of Professor Ross, a famous archaeologist heading a team excavating an ancient temple on one of the Greek islands, is spending her summer holidays with her father. Theo, one of the professor's Greek assistants, finds part of the temple floor, which is soon revealed to be a coloured marble mosaic of a girl on a dolphin. Theo recounts the legend of a girl called Sylva who had the gift of training dolphins. The island's fishermen believed that dolphins brought them luck and prosperity so they encouraged Sylva to bring the dolphins to swim round the island. Every year the dolphins drove shoals of fish into the fishermen's empty nets, bringing prosperity to all.

A silver statue of Sylva on her dolphin was erected at the entrance to the harbour, but one night some jealous fishermen from the mainland pushed it into the sea. Sylva was drowned shortly afterwards in a terrible storm, and the dolphins never returned. It is said that if the silver statue is found, prosperity will return to what is now a very poor island.

Professor Ross and Sylvia go skindiving the following day but the Professor's foot gets caught in some rocks. Sylvia summons help and he is rescued in the nick of time, but during the rescue attempt, when several rocks are displaced, Sylvia sees what appears to be the statue of the girl on the dolphin, looking exactly like the picture in the mosaic. Theo agrees to dive down to check. His report is positive, so the statue is brought to the surface. By some strange coincidence, a few days later the dolphins return, as do the shoals of fish. When the statue of Sylva and its plinth are repositioned, all the islanders take part in a great celebration. Prosperity has returned at last.

[peace355]

Thanks for that. Yes the description was a bit off, as memories can be unreliable! I know personally, I spent my time trying to track down a "Judy" story for a while and then discovered it was actually in Mandy even though I'd been convinced it appeared in the former!

[Tammyfan]

Thanks for that. Yes the description was a bit off, as memories can be unreliable! I know personally, I spent my time trying to track down a "Judy" story for a while and then discovered it was actually in Mandy even though I'd been convinced it appeared in the former!

I have had similar experiences. For example, I thought "I'll Take Care of Tina!" was in Debbie until I found the final episode (yay, I wanted to read that!) and realised it was Mandy.