The Wish-Fulfiller

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Episode 33 of The Trigan Empire

The Wish-Fulfiller
aka The Wish Fulfiller
The Black Box
De magische doos (Dutch title)
The Magic Box (Dutch title, translated)
Der Geheimnisvolle Kasten (German title)
The Mysterious Box (German title, translated)

Written by Mike Butterworth
Illustrated by Don Lawrence

The Wish-Fulfiller was originally published in 9 instalments in issues 541 (27 May 1972) to 549 (22 July 1972) of Look and Learn magazine.

It is reprinted in Volume 8 of The Trigan Empire—The Collection (the Don Lawrence Collection).

It is reprinted in Volume 3 of The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire (Rebellion).

Plot summary

Things are going badly in Trigan City. Export figures are falling, unemployment is rising, and food supplies are dwindling. The people revolt, looting and killing the leaders.

Trigo and Peric decide to appoint a brilliant economist, Yarri Zemph, to solve the problems. That evening, Yarri Zemph is attacked in his home. The next day, he appears before Trigo completely changed: he’s completely uninterested and dressed in alternative clothing.

That evening, Brag is also attacked. War breaks out between Trigan City and Tharv, a satellite state that wants to break away from Trigan City. Brag is also living in a dream world. The Trigan air force prepares for battle with Tharv. Roffa is also attacked and has electrodes from a mysterious device attached to his brain. Roffa fails to show up for the air battle, and Keren and Janno lead the attack.

Tharv suffers heavy losses. After returning, Keren is also overpowered and has a device placed on his head. The troops of Tharv have advanced as far as Trigan City, and Janno leads the defense. Trigo is drugged by his servant Morri, who also places a device on his head. As a result, Trigo dreams of his greatest desires.

Janno realizes that Trigan City is losing the war and negotiates a ceasefire. He goes to Trigo for this. Trigo is uninterested and signs the surrender. Janno sees the magical box, knocks Trigo out, and takes the box to Peric. For a short time, Peric and Janno try out the box on themselves. They discover that dreaming about your greatest desires is wonderful and realise that no one is paying attention to Trigan City’s real problems anymore. They return to Trigo and convince him to lead the war. Afterward, he may have the box back.

Under Trigo’s leadership, they win the war against Tharv. After that, Trigo gets the magical box back, but he no longer wants it. Then all the other addicts of the box are cured.