Comics

PIPPIN in Playland comic / PIPPIN Holiday Special Copyright 1980, Polystyle Publications Ltd. 67 listed; ~114 missing. Rate the stories! 1 - 5 Rubies
#	Date	Rating	Story Synopsis
462	Week ending 26th July, 1975		No Rubovia story.
24			Which Pippin issue has the first Rubovia story?
486	Week ending 10th January, 1976		Another Rubovia story.
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514	Week ending 24th July, 1976		Excited by reading about flying carpets in The Arabian Nights, King Rufus engages the help of Albert Weatherspoon to cast a magic spell. The carpet flies unexpectedly well, causing Albert to drop the spell book that they need to get down again. When Queen Caroline retrieves the spell book and finds a spell to get them down again, she reads it much too quickly, dropping the King and Albert in the lake.
515	Week ending 31st July, 1976		This is the story of how when King Rufus and Queen Caroline of Rubovia were visiting King Boris at his Borsovian seaside castle, and while Rufus and Boris were playing 'Ludo', that Albert Weatherspoon rescues a very wet and distressed Queen who had not noticed the incoming tide, earning him the medal of the Borsovian Order of Bravery, First Class.
517	Week ending 14th August, 1976		King Rufus had arranged a day's hike with King Boris of Borsovia in the mountainous frontier between Rubovia and Borsovia. However, Boris who had agreed to come along for the exercise, has trouble keeping up with Rufus who would rather picnic. Whereas Boris was weighed down by everything he needs to survive in the mountains, Rufus carries nothing extra, leaving it to the Lord Chamberlain and Albert Weatherspoon to carry all of his equipment, which consists mainly of a huge whicker hamper full of picnic supplies.
520	Week ending 4th September, 1976		Determined not to lose the annual conker contest challenge against King Boris of Borsovia, King Rufus appeals to Albert Weatherspoon to use a magic spell to make his conker invincible. Finding nothing helpful in his spell books, Albert talks to Farmer Bottle who suggests baking the conker to make it rock hard. (continued next week)
--	Holiday Special 1976		At least one Rubovia story.
523	Week ending 25th September, 1976		All efforts to improve the Queen’s awful singing fail to produce results, but Mr. Weatherspoon’s idea of playing a gramophone, while the Queen pretends to sing, was not what she wanted to hear. "Let me get my hands on you!" she shrieked at the King.
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525	Week ending 9th October, 1976		King Rufus takes advantage of Albert Weatherspoon’s wish to be King of Rubovia. Weatherspoon soon discovers the affairs of state are no picnic, but picnicking is exactly what the King has in mind (for himself).
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528	Week ending 30th October, 1976		Albert Weatherspoon's holiday trip to Borsovia is hijacked by Queen Caroline, who asks him to deliver a few parcels to King Boris. Turns out there were more than a few parcels, and when Albert uses a magic spell to make his donkey cart bigger, the donkey disappears.
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534	Week ending 11th December, 1976		When King Rufus accompanies Albert Weatherspoon and Farmer Bottle to the woods to find a big Yule log for Queen Caroline's palace Christmas festivities, he selects a tree, quite the biggest tree Albert had ever seen, and then rides off, leaving Albert chipping away at it with his axe. Many hours later, an exhausted Albert arrives back at the palace and tells the King that it will take two weeks to cut!
535	Week ending 18th December, 1976		The Lord Chamberlain's plans for a Christmas surprise for King Rufus and Queen Caroline don't go well. Set upon by Farmer Bottle's farm dogs while practicing their carols, the Chamberlain, and his accomplice Albert Weatherspoon, end up singing while clinging to a palace lamp-post, much to the astonishment of the Queen.
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547	Week Ending 12th March, 1977		While strolling around the palace gardens with Rubina one mild early Spring morning, Albert Weatherspoon sees Pongo fly off from a high window on one of the palace towers, with the shrill voice of Queen Caroline calling out after him, "Pongo, come back at once!" The Queen asks Albert Weatherspoon to find Pongo, and bring him back before he starts a bonfire. Thinking he has Pongo cornered in a far stretch of the garden, Albert heads towards some rising smoke...only to find MacGregor sending Indian smoke signals.
548	Week Ending 19th March, 1977		The King gets cross when Mr. Weatherspoon beats him at chess and so holds an archery contest so he can win something. King Boris of Borsovia wins and King Rufus is furious. [find comic]
549	Week Ending 26th March, 1977		The Queen gets bored after supper every day when King Rufus falls asleep. She dances with the King, gets tired, and falls asleep herself. [find comic]
550	Week Ending 2nd April, 1977		The King can’t sleep and so tries to count sheep. This doesn’t help so he demands to have real sheep. All night is spent trying to get the sheep out of his bedroom.
551	Week Ending 9th April, 1977		The King tries, and fails, to learn a musical instrument. [find comic]
552	Week Ending 16th April, 1977		The King uses Mr. Weatherspoon’s wand to make an Easter Egg bigger, but it becomes huge and fills up the courtyard. [find comic]
--	Holiday Special 1977 The cover artwork shows Albert Weatherspoon waiting on the Rubovian Royals, Queen Caroline & King Rufus, as they exit from a gypsy caravan. Click on them to see a close-up detail of Neville Main's artwork.		Rubovia characters appear on the front cover and in a two-page Rubovia story. Front cover: A full-colour illustration by Fred Robinson showing many of the Pippin comic characters including King Rufus, Queen Caroline, and Albert Weatherspoon of Rubovia. Page 20: A two-page Rubovia story, told in captioned pictures (six black-and-white illustrations by N. Main). Point of interest: The pictures are somewhat out of order with the text. Click here to see Neville Main’s artwork up-close, with a revised panel order as probably intended by the script writer (310K). Note: The up-close artwork may take a while to download. Best with 800x600 or more resolution.
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561	Week Ending 18th June, 1977		Queen Caroline's pet dragon Pongo is missing. "I've lost my little darling dragon, Pongo," she cries to the Lord Chamberlain. "Find him for me at once, I miss him!" Enlisting the help of MacGregor, the search is fruitless until MacGregor speaks to Albert Weatherspoon who has the idea of directing a jet of water at various parts of the garden until they see a cloud of steam rising from the Queen's red-hot little pet.
562	Week Ending 25th June, 1977		Queen Caroline wants to have a picnic without flies, and asks Albert Weatherspoon to invent something to keep them away. Albert Weatherspoon concocts a smelly mixture, and gives King Rufus instructions to spray it over the picnic area. The flies disappear, as does the Queen, who rushes back to the castle and tells him, "You wretch, Weatherspoon! Do you know, you've ruined my picnic!"
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570	Week Ending 20th August, 1977		Queen Caroline's pet parrot, Ponsonby, has escaped. King Rufus asks Albert Weatherspoon and MacGregor for assistance. However Rufus and Albert are quite unprepared for the Red Indian bird costume and wing-flapping dance that MacGregor uses to try and entice the parrot back into its cage. They flee, while the parrot watches from a tree branch, laughing.
571	Week Ending 27th August, 1977		King Rufus follows Queen Caroline's advice to cure his boredom by taking up a hobby. He decides on a zoo, starting with a wild boar. The best efforts of Albert Weatherspoon and MacGregor to capture one and put it in the prepared enclosure instead result in them being in the enclosure, guarded by the wild boar on the outside. King Rufus said to them, "You really do muddle things up, Albert."
572	Week Ending 3rd September, 1977		Upon hearing that one of his horses is one of the fastest ever, King Boris of Borsovia issues a challenge to King Rufus of Rubovia to beat any horse that Rufus might have, the winner gaining a hundred gold coins. Alas there was to be no race; King Boris' horse took one look at the giant super nag that King Rufus had borrowed from Farmer Bottle, and bolted, in fear, all the way back to Borsovia.
573	Week Ending 10th September, 1977		King Boris of Borsovia's idle boast about the speed of his new carriage makes King Rufus turn to Albert Weatherspoon for some magical help in the transportation department, the result of which is completely lost on all concerned!
574	Week Ending 17th September, 1977		The need for more taxes to pay for the repair of Rubovian roads has King Rufus doing a dare-devil tight-rope stunt in front of a cheering crowd! "How! How did it go" MacGregor asks later. "It was a great success," says Albert, "especially when the King fell off the rope!"
575	Week Ending 24th September, 1977		King Rufus turns to Albert Weatherspoon for help when Queen Caroline's elegant pair of brand-new high-heeled Florentine shoes make it appear that he has shrunk. A quick spell later, he produces some shoes that had very thick soles. "These will make you taller than the Queen now," he said with a chuckle.
576	Week Ending 1st October, 1977		A walking and camping trip over the mountains to Borsovia is cut short due to King Rufus' desire to bring along too much kit, all of which Albert Weatherspoon has to carry.
577	Week Ending 8th October, 1977		Unusually strong wind gusts in Rubovia are traced to court magician Mr. Albert Weatherspoon, who is trying out a new spell, oblivious to the chaos he is creating around him.
578	Week Ending 15th October, 1977		King Rufus tries to avoid his responsibilities by hiding in his old tree hut in the castle grounds wilderness, where he used to play as a young prince. His ruse is discovered when the rotten floorboards give way, dropping him to the ground in front of the Queen.
579	Week Ending 22nd October, 1977		Taking the Lord Chamberlain's advice as to how to please King Rufus, Mr. Weatherspoon conjures up a balloon in which he and the King take a ride. Gentle breezes blow them to Borsovia, in time for lunch with King Boris.
580	Week Ending 29th October, 1977		After making Queen Caroline furious by burning the carpet with his fiery breath, Pongo flies off in a hot temper. "Find him at once!" the Queen commands Albert Weatherspoon. After lots of chasing, Albert brings Pongo to earth with one mighty swipe of his butterfly net. A big shower of sparks, lots of smoke rings, and a butterfly net-burning tongue of flame later, Pongo escapes. The Queen tells Albert crossly that he should have used a bucket of water instead of a butterfly net.
581	Week Ending 5th November, 1977		Worried about putting on weight, King Rufus follows Albert Weatherspoon's advice to get more exercise, but quite exhausted after an early morning hundred meters jog, followed after breakfast by a few swimming strokes in the lake, the King ends up so tired he has to take a hot bath and go back to bed to sleep it off.
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595	Week Ending 11th February, 1978		King Boris of Borsovia is coming for the weekend. As the snow has melted, King Rufus agrees to Albert Weatherspoon's suggestion of an outdoor archery contest, although he cautions that they'd all have to wrap up because, "One can get cold waiting one's turn." Queen Caroline contributes by making Rufus a warm, albeit unusual outfit. However, Boris' comment that the garment is "bang on target" is nearer the truth than they realize. MacGregor, seeing a target, shoots an arrow and scores a bull's eye, but it isn't a target. It is the King's new cloak, fortunately now hanging over a tree rather then being worn. "It's ruined," he yells to MacGregor. "You're disqualified!"
596	Week Ending 18th February, 1978		King Boris of Bor
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600	Week Ending 18th March, 1978		Queen Caroline had asked Albert Weatherspoon to make her a new spring hat. "Something unusual and amusing," she said. However, when King Rufus sees the hat he bursts out laughing, which is not quite the reaction she had expected!
601	Week Ending 25th March, 1978		The King's new springtime hobby is bird watching, but with Albert Weatherspoon's "help", things get off to a scary start, at least as far as the birds are concerned!
602	Week Ending 1st April, 1978		Pongo's efforts at scorching the palace calendar leads to an unnecessarily strong dose of Mr. Weatherspoon's magic, and a most unsuitable Easter present for Queen Caroline.
603	Week Ending 8th April, 1978		Farmer Bottle delivers an invitation from MacGregor to Albert Weatherspoon, inviting him to spend the weekend in MacGregor's spare wigwam. The ground is hard and he doesn't sleep a wink. Back home again, the Queen says he looks tired and sends him straight to bed.
604	Week Ending 15th April, 1978		King Boris' fear that there are spies about upsets plans for holding a Borsovia/Rubovia spring Summit Conference in Rubovia Castle. MacGregor's suggestion that Summit Conferences should be held on a summit does not work out either, as halfway in the steep climb up to the conference tent, King Rufus announces that he can't stand heights.
605	Week Ending 22nd April, 1978		A royal argument over where Albert Weatherspoon's pot plant should go leads to an arrow being shot into the air, magic plant food, and a call for MacGregor to bring his tomahawk!
606	Week Ending 28th April, 1978		Warm spring weather leads King Rufus to consult MacGregor on how to live a simple life outdoors.
607	Week Ending 5th May, 1978		Mr. Weatherspoon's cat, Rubina, goes missing one night, only to be found next morning at McGregor's camp, where she has spent the night eagerly awaiting a tasty breakfast of grilled kippers!
608	Week Ending 12h May, 1978		The peace and quiet of a seaside holiday at the Rubovian royals' Summer Palace is shattered by on escaped bull belonging to Farmer Bottle.
609	Week Ending 19th May, 1978		A story about magic vegetable food and how it was used with great success to grow a giant marrow, and how MacGregor stole the marrow to make himself a canoe.
610	Week Ending 26th May, 1978		To mark the annual Sports Day, King Boris challenges King Rufus to a fight in old-fashioned armour with maces. However, after being injured by MacGregor during practice, King Rufus assigns MacGregor to fight King Boris in his stead.
611	Week Ending 2nd June, 1978		The Royal weight is up, and Albert Weatherspoon is commanded to help King Rufus get more exercise to help reduce it. Fencing is tried and rejected due to a small scratch on a finger. Boxing is tried next, but when Queen Caroline points out that it is treason to strike the King, that doesn't work either. That leaves him with the Queen's suggestion of losing weight by eating less.
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616	Week Ending 7th July, 1978		While Queen Caroline is away visiting her sister, King Rufus becomes bored, to the point of not wanting to see King Boris of Borsovia showing off his new horse. Mr. Weatherspoon devises a solution to the problem, but it doesn't work as planned.
617	Week Ending 14th July, 1978		Desiring to walk on the palace ceiling like a fly, King Rufus engages the Magician services of Mr. Weatherspoon. The King achieves his objective, but as the magic wears off, Mr. Weatherspoon and Lord Chamberlain arrive with mattresses to break his fall.
618	Week Ending 21st July, 1978		King Rufus' plans to join King Boris of Borsovia on a week-long walking holiday get no further than a trial walk around the castle grounds, due to very sore feet caused by his ill-fitting brand-new walking boots.
4
623	Week Ending 25th August, 1978		Ebay, coming
624	Week Ending 1st September, 1978		Ebay, coming
625	Week Ending 8th September, 1978		Ebay, coming
626	Week Ending 15th September, 1978		Ebay, coming
627	Week Ending 22nd September, 1978		Ebay, coming
628	Week Ending 29th September, 1978		Ebay, coming
629	Week Ending 6th October, 1978		King
630	Week Ending 13th October, 1978		King Rufus is dreading the arrival of the energetic King Boris, whom he knows will challenge him to partake in an outdoor pursuit. Boris arrives and suggests a river canoe race. King Rufus tells Albert Weatherspoon, "I hate cold water, so make sure MY canoe can't turn over." Albert set to work, and aided by MacGregor the King's specially modified canoe is ready by the next morning. King Boris laughed, "With that silly canoe you can go first!" King Rufus' canoe soon gets swept down between two big rocks where it gets stuck. "Ha! Ha!" laughed Boris, "You'll be stuck there all day."
631	Week Ending 20th October, 1978		Albert Weatherspoon's pleasant mellow autumn afternoon is spoiled by the Lord Chamberlain arriving with order's for Albert to go and see the Queen at once. "Where's that lazy cat Rubina?" she asks angrily. "The whole castle is being over-run by mice!" "If we aren't rid of the mice by the end of the week there will be trouble," she yells, "so you'd better get that cat moving!" The rest of the story tells how Albert tries to motivate Rubina, fails, and then dressing himself in a cat pantomime suit, goes about the castle scaring mice, and unintentionally, also the King,
632	Week Ending 27th October, 1978		All of Rubovia lies shivering under a thick layer of fog that fills the houses and the royal castle. When Albert Weatherspoon can't find a magic spell to move the fog, he remembers that Red Indians are very good at rain-making. So he puts away his books, and goes to ask MacGregor for help, finding him shivering under a blanket, in his teepee in the castle garden. Albert asks him for a rain-making ceremony to clear the fog. By the time Albert arrives back at the castle, it is already pouring, prompting the Queen to say, "Get rid of this rain. I'd rather have the fog!"
633	Week Ending 3rd November, 1978		King Boris of Borsovia is staying for the weekend, but bad weather has King Rufus wondering how he was going to entertain his guest. King Boris' horse stories by firelight are almost putting Rufus asleep, when the Lord Chamberlain mentions to Boris that Albert Weatherspoon has an eastern Ruler staying with him, whose horse was unrideable. Encouraged by Boris' claim that there's no horse he cannot not ride, Rufus arranges with the Ruler for a try-out at the Royal Riding School. The Ruler says Boris may have the horse if he can ride it. Not one to turn down such an opportunity, Boris lands on the horse with one giant leap from the Royal Box. However, upon a little whistle from the Ruler, the horse throws a furious Boris right back into his seat in the box, much to Rufus' delight!
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646	Week Ending 2nd February, 1979		When Queen Caroline resigns from the one domestic job she enjoys, Mr. Weatherspoon is appointed Royal Cook in her place. He accidentally chooses a cooking recipe from a magic spells book, Recipes for Spells, with unfortunate results.
647	Week Ending 9th February, 1979		Mr. Weatherspoon asks King Rufus to teach him a few simple conjuring tricks. This leads to the puzzlement of Farmer Bottle, and the amazement of the Queen.
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651	Week Ending 9th March, 1979		When an unknown failure with the heating in the Royal greenhouses threatens to spoil Queen Caroline's plans for a Spring flower filled castle, she asks Albert Weatherspoon to do a spell to keep the greenhouses warm. Failing to find one, he conscripts Pongo, the Queen's pet dragon, to help. Unfortunately Pongo breathes so much fire that the greenhouses are wrecked.
652	Week Ending 16th March, 1979		A beautiful Spring day inspires Albert Weatherspoon to write a poem, and MacGregor suggests writing it to Queen Caroline. But after King Rufus overhears Albert practicing it in the garden, he asks him for it. Unfortunately, when King Rufus misreads it as, "The new Spring grass is sweet and green, but so green as my dear Queen!" she gets extremely mad at him. He should have read "...SWEET as my dear Queen!"
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658	Week Ending 27th April, 1979		King Rufus thinks he has discovered a new star in the night sky, only to find that it is a flying saucer traveling to Earth, apparently intent on taking a closer look at Rubovia Castle. The next morning Albert found a strange note on the terrace garden: "Just a quick visit from outer space to take a look at you. Back in a thousand years. U.F.O. Alpha Beta."
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662	Week Ending 25th May, 1979		King Rufus’ idea for a new way to take swimming lessons from Albert Weatherspoon soon sends him to the bottom of the lake, and in need of rescue by the Lord Chamberlain.
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666	Week Ending 22nd June, 1979		A holiday at the seaside in Borsovia leads to sailboat trouble for King Rufus and King Boris, and a double royal rescue by Mr. Weatherspoon. For his rescue, Boris made Albert a Grand Admiral of the Borsovian Lifeboat Fleet. Rufus vowed never to sail again!
667	Week Ending 29th June, 1979		During a bathing mishap at the Borsovian seaside, Mr. Weatherspoon does his best to swim to the Queen’s aid, but ends up being rescued by her instead.
--	Holiday Special 1979 Albert Weatherspoon is rowing a boat on the lake in front of the railway bridge. Click on Weatherspoon to see a close-up detail of Neville Main's artwork (47K). “A Picture to Colour”, probably drawn by Neville Main. Click image for a full-sized printable version (130K) (The picture is scaled to comfortably fit an 8.5" x 11" page).		Rubovia characters appear on the front cover, on the contents page (not shown), in a colouring picture, and in two one-page stories. 1st Story: King Rufus decides that the only way to win the Great International Vegetable Marrow Contest is to employ some of Mr. Weatherspoon’s magic. Unfortunately the magic works too well, and the marrow is too big to move. 2nd Story: During a visit to the kingdom of Borsovia, King Rufus is somewhat overshadowed by King Boris’s self-proclaimed list of physical accomplishments. Wondering what can he do that Boris can’t do better, he asks Weatherspoon who teaches him how to pull white rabbits from a hat. Rufus demonstrates this to Boris, but can’t stop the rabbits coming.
--	Holiday Special 1980 Albert Weatherspoon is doing a spot of fishing at the seaside, from a dinghy rowed by Mary, of Mary, Mungo and Midge fame. Click on Weatherspoon to see a close-up detail of Neville Main's artwork (30K).		Mr. Albert Weatherspoon appears on the front cover. He appears together with other Rubovia characters in two one-page stories. 1st Story: When King Rufus doesn't return from an after-supper evening stroll by ten o'clock, Queen Caroline sounds the alarm, and sends for Albert Weatherspoon. Weatherspoon engages the assistance of Lord Chamberlain, and hearing a strange noise from the other side of the garden wall, they none too figuratively flush out the King, who is fast asleep on a bench outside the wall. The strange noise had been his snoring! 2nd Story: Farmer Bottle's newly purchased fine, fat, spotted pig unexpectedly takes Albert Weatherspoon and King Rufus on a wild ride on its back. The King enjoys the ride so much, he has Lord Chamberlain stamp the pig with the royal seal. This makes Farmer Bottle very proud of his pig!

PIPPIN Annuals Copyright 1980, Polystyle Publications Ltd.
Year	Cover	*Publication details & story synopsis*
1977		Page 52: A two-page story, told in captioned pictures (eight full-colour illustrations by Neville Main). Mr. Weatherspoon buys a tractor from MacGregor (the Red Indian with a Chinese accent) to clear snow from the palace’s royal pathway. The problem is that the tractor belongs to Farmer Bottle, and MacGregor had no right to sell it! Click on the above pages to see close-up detail of Neville Main’s artwork.
1978		Page 18: A two-page illustrated text story (seven 2-colour illustrations by Neville Main). Queen Caroline urges the overweight King Rufus to eat less and take lots of exercise. The King does indeed manage to slim down, but not before a spell cast by Mr. Weatherspoon leads everyone on a merry chase. Page 54: A two-page story, told in captioned pictures (six full-colour illustrations by Neville Main). Faced with the prospect of sweeping up autumn leaves in the palace gardens, Mr. Weatherspoon uses a magic sweeping spell which works well until the brooms try to sweep Queen Caroline away along with the dead leaves!
1979	The rear cover has a full-colour head and shoulders portrait of Albert Weatherspoon, captioned “Rubovia”.	Page 32: A two-page story, told in captioned pictures (eight 2-colour illustrations by Neville Main). A disagreement between Queen Caroline and Farmer Bottle over the colour of egg yolks results in too many omelets and the king losing his temper. Page 54: A two-page, mainly text story (six full-colour illustrations by Neville Main). A gift from King Boris of Borsovia results in a dunk in the lake for Albert Weatherspoon, as well as a new title to add to his name.
1980		Page 29: An illustrated text story (three 2-colour illustrations by Neville Main). King Rufus is bored and then paints a portrait of Queen Caroline, which she smashes over his head
1981		Page 25: A one-page story, told in captioned pictures (eight 2-colour illustrations by N. Main). Albert Weatherspoon decides to use Farmer Bottle’s pigs to eat up the leaves and weeds in the palace gardens, but the cakes on the Queen’s tea table look much more inviting. The Queen faints at the sight of her uninvited table guests and needs to be revived with smelling salts. Page 37: A one-page story, told in captioned pictures (seven 2-colour illustrations by N. Main). King Rufus slips into the garden for a quiet read only to find that his book has burst into flames, set on fire by Pongo’s fiery breath. Page 45: A one-page story, told in captioned pictures (seven 2-colour illustrations by N. Main). King Rufus organizes a tournament, and gets ready to participate, but cancels it after tripping over the Queen’s pet dragon, Pongo.
1982		Page 19: A one-page story, told in captioned pictures (six 2-colour illustrations by N. Main). Queen Caroline enlists Albert Weatherspoon's help to brighten up King Rufus. Using some hints from a famous book, "Hints on Amusing Monarchs" by Yorick late of ye Danish Court, Albert tries his best. Nothing amuses the King until Albert accidentally trips over the cat and spills ink all over. Page 30: A one-page story, told in captioned pictures (six 2-colour illustrations by N. Main). Queen Caroline decides that it's high time that King Rufus should learn to swim. Rufus enlists the help of Albert Weatherspoon, but finding the water in the swimming pool uncomfortable, adjourns indoors to continue the swimming lessons in a bath full of hot water. Page 44: A one-page story, told in captioned pictures (six 2-colour illustrations by N. Main). Albert Weatherspoon uses a book, "Ye Art & Ye Craft of Coarse Fishing", to help the King achieve more success at fishing. However, Queen Caroline does not approve, saying that "Kings are never coarse!"