DC Thomson comic from 1980s predicts pandemic in 2020

A girls’ annual from the late 1980s illustrating a coronavirus-like “terrible plague” in 2020 has been unveiled.

The 1987 Bunty annual, p roduced by DC Thomson, featured a sci-fi cartoon strip called The Lost World, where two teenage girls survive on a planet decimated by a “virus deadly to humans”.

Jane and Jean live beneath a force field that protects them from the virus and has “cut everyone off from the world outside”. There is also a ban on travelling between cities and countries.

In one image, their history teacher tells them about the “terrible plague”, adding: “Millions of people died.

“We must be eternally grateful to the wonderful force field that has saved our lives.”

The comic details life in the new world beneath the force field, with the charac ters pondering what goes on above but fearing “certain death” if they escape.

The teacher also warns about the uncertainties about the plague, adding: “The experts say that it could be hundreds of years before the plague has burnt itself out”.

One character laments what Christmas dinners were like before the deadly virus ended life as they knew it and another section shows a mother struggling to find a Christmas tree as the shops are all closed.