Misty (comics)

Misty
Publication information
Publisher	Fleetway
Schedule	Weekly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Horror
Publication date	February 4 1978 – January 19 1980
Number of issues	101
Main character(s)	Miss T
Creative team
Writer(s)	Pat Mills, Malcolm Shaw, Barry Clements
Artist(s)	John Armstrong, Joe Collins, Brian Delaney, John Richardson, Badia, Jesus Redondo, Ken Houghton, Peter Wilkes, Eduardo Feito, Bob Harvey, Honiera Romeu, Barrera Gesali, Mario Capaldi

Misty was a British comic for girls published by Fleetway in London from 4th Feb 1978 until 1984, after merging with Tammy on 19 January 1980. It consisted of a collection of many small strips, with the stories themselves normally being three or four pages long. As well as the weekly comic, Christmas annuals were also published.

While there were similarities with its Fleetway stablemates Tammy and Jinty, each comic had its own focus, with Misty concentrating on supernatural and horror stories. These consisted of complete stories, text stories, and serials. Complete stories focused on come-uppances, monsters and other menaces, tales of sorrow or lightheartedness, and some made their point without supernatural elements, such as Mr Walenski's Secret and Sticks and Stones. Text stories were initially fictional, but later shifted to retellings of true British ghost stories, some of which were submitted by readers.

Misty had no regular characters except for the cartoon witch, Miss T. This cartoon attracted debate among readers as to whether its comic relief weakened or complemented the dark tones of Misty. After the merger, Miss T joined the Edie strip in Tammy, which eventually became The Crayzees when Snoopa joined in the Tammy and Jinty merger on 28 November 1981, and continued until the Tammy and Princess merger on 7 April 1984. "The Cult of the Cat" and "The Black Widow" were the only Misty stories to have sequels, although the sequel for the latter was published in the merger.

Creators featured in Misty

Artists

Artists featured in the pages of Misty included John Armstrong, artist on Moonchild (though best known for drawing Bella in Tammy), Joe Collins, artist on Miss T, Brian Delaney, John Richardson, Badia, Jesus Redondo, Ken Houghton, Peter Wilkes, Eduardo Feito, Bob Harvey, Honiera Romeu, Barrera Gesali, and Mario Capaldi.

Writers

Writers featured included Pat Mills, Malcolm Shaw, and (possibly) Barry Clements. Mills is credited with Moonchild and Hush, Hush, Sweet Rachel, and Shaw with The Sentinels.

List of strips and stories

• Moonchild - Rosemary Black possesses the power of telekinesis, like her grandmother before her, as shown by a crescent moon on her forehead. Her harsh mother is jealous of the power and forbids Rosemary to use it - but temptation is getting stronger against the bully who picks on Rosemary...(From the Misty annual 1983)
• Raggsy Doll - A girl is to inherit a fortune. When her aunt hears of this, she sends her niece a cursed doll... (From the Misty annual 1983)
• Miss T - A comic strip about a witch.
• School of the Lost - a boarding school that demands a special tribute for the ongoing success of parents who send their daughters to it.
• Whistle and I'll Come - a ghost dog companion.
• The Cats of Carey Street - a feline fightback against council development.
• End of the Line - an evil Victorian who holds his workers captive in a subterranean world.
• The Black Widow- Mrs Webb sets out to avenge her husband's death. Spider-Woman in the Tammy & Misty merger was a sequel.
• The Four Faces of Eve - Eve Marshall is trying to unravel her true identity, but she seems to be the bits and pieces of four dead women.
• Hush, Hush, Sweet Rachel - Lisa finds she is the reincarnation of a four year-old called Rachel who died in a fire.
• Journey into Fear - Kevin and Janice Frazer become pawns in an evil car's game to relive its past as a gangster's car.
• Moodring - A moody teenage girl receives a magic mood ring.
• Hangman’s Alley - maidservant Melinda Walpole was wrongly executed for stealing a necklace from her mistress. Now Melinda has returned as a bitter, malicious ghost, who wants to take her revenge out on Jacey’s hapless sister Mel for no other reason that Mel looks exactly like Melinda. Jacey offers to clear Melinda Walpole if the ghost will leave her sister alone, but the investigation proves a slow process and the ghost is losing patience.
• The Cult of the Cat - Nicola Scott is destined to become a member of a cult who worship the Egyptian cat goddess Bast. This was the only Misty story to have a sequel, The Nine Lives of Nicola.
• The Sentinels - Two empty tower blocks connect our world with a parallel world where Hitler conquered Britain in 1940.
• The Body Snatchers - the insane Dr. Bracken plans to conquer Britain by replacing real people with plant clones (see also Invasion of the Body Snatchers).
• Screaming Point! - the public hangman is also a resurrectionist who believes he can bring the dead back to life.
• Paint it Black - Maggie Laker discovers a very special box of paints that have a tale to tell.
• Winner Loses All - Sandy sells her soul to the Devil to save her alcoholic father.
• Sticks and Stones - how effective is this maxim against a poison pen columnist?
• Mr. Walenski's Secret - what is in the box Mr. Walenski keeps so preciously?

External links

• BBC archived article BBC Cult article on the fascination of girls' comics, including Misty
• BBC Comics Britannia on girls and boys comics Paul Gravett writing on the second episode of BBC Four's documentary season Comics Britannnia
• Official fansite for Misty, approved by current copyright holders Egmont