Help Me, Anne, Help Me!

Help Me, Anne, Help Me! was a serial from the girls comic magazine Pink, published by IPC in 1976. Anne freeman worshipped Paul Ackland but he was right out of her reach-until, after a sailing accident, he became paralysed and the doctors said he might never walk again. When the girl he adored, Vivien, deserted him for his friend Jack Coles, Anne stood by him (which some might have seen as somewhat insensitive, since he couldn't stand by himself). Paul was determined to get on his feet and win the Brightmouth Trophy Race in the boat he'd designed, and Anne was determined to help him do it. She was suddenly happier than she'd been for a long, long time...

The above plot summary is from the strip itself, and it does highlight certain issues the writers may not have intended to be there: Vivien the adored is clearly not worthy of such adoration, since she's left poor old Paul just when he needed her support (or, indeed, anyone's support), and Paul's friend Jack is equally clearly not much of a friend (not content with nicking his girlfriend, Jack, determined to win the race himself, points out to the committee that Paul'#s a cripple in order to have him disqualified) but to be honest, Anne's barely disguised glee at Paul's misfortune having left him dependent on her, and her constant preoccupation with the idea that if he gets back on his feet he'll go back to Vivien, do tend to make her seem just a bit of a bunny boiler. Naturally, it all turns out alright in the end...