The Spellbinder

Real Name: Sylvester Turville

Identity/Class: Human magic user

Occupation: Alchemist

Affiliations: Tom Turville

Enemies: Count Grimm

Known Relatives: Tom Turville (descendant)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Turville Hall, Suffolk

First Appearance: Lion (I.P.C., 3 May 69 - 18 May 74)

Powers/Abilities: Alchemist. Sylvester Turville was able to cast a wide variety of spells using his magic, including shrinking himself and his ancestor to the size of marionettes, reversing or halting aging, entering the worlds within a painting, animating shoes to walk without their wearers or create a time clock capable of sending someone back into the past.

History: Young Tom Turville inherited his family's ancestral home, Turville Hall, out in a remote part of the Suffolk countryside. Upon investigating his new property he discovered that his ancestor, Sylvester Turville, was still in residence. Sylvester was an alchemist who had stayed alive for four centuries through the magic powers of the Turville Touchstone, a mystic gem capable of healing injuries and detecting evil. For several years thereafter the two would battle villainy and injustice.

Comments: The strip was originally called Turville's Touchstone, before changing to The Spellbinder after a little while.

One of the more dangerous foes the two Turville's faced was Count Grimm, a vampiric looking sorceror. They also had an extensive adventure when Sylvester's Time Clock accidentally sent one Quantin Goddard into the past, where he stumbled through history accidentally altering history as he went - for instance he caused Columbus to turn back before discovering the New World, so that by the 1970's the Aztec Empire had crossed the ocean eastwards instead and was busy conquering Europe. Then he disturbed Leonardo Da Vinci during the painting of the Mona Lisa. With his masterpiece ruined, Leonardo gave up that line of work and instead went back to his science experiments, discovering flight 400 years early, so that by the modern era man had interstellar flight. An excellent and inventive strip.

Geoff Campion was the artist responsible for Spellbinder. Thanks to Jim Croasdale for this additional information.

CLARIFICATIONS: None.

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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