Misty (comics)
Misty was a weekly British comic magazine for girls published by Fleetway in the late 1970s. Focusing on horror stories, it was one of the few British girls' comics that was also popular with boys. Although "Misty" lasted less than two years it's remembered and admired to this day. Publication history. "Misty" was published from 4 February 1978 until 12 January 1980. The following week, it merged with its stablemate "Tammy" (which used the title "Tammy and Misty" from then until September 1981). Summer and Christmas specials were published between 1978 and 1980, as well as eight  annuals from 1979 until 1986, long after the weekly magazine had ceased to exist. Content. "Misty" was a collection of serial and single stories. Both types—complete stories and story instalments—were usually four pages long. While "Misty" shared similarities with its Fleetway stablemates "Tammy" and "Jinty", each magazine had its own focus. Consultant editor Pat Mills' vision for "Misty" imagined it as a "female "2000 AD"," and had "Carrie" and "Audrey Rose" as models (which would then be "modified for a younger audience"). "Misty" concentrated on supernatural and horror stories, featuring plots such as "pacts with the devil, schoolgirl  sacrifice, the ghosts of hanged girls, sinister cults, evil scientists experimenting on the innocent and terrifying parallel worlds where the Nazis won the second world war." One-off stories often had troublemaking protagonists being punished in fantastic fashion. The magazine had no regular characters except for its host Misty (who appeared on the editorial page, and, occasionally, on the cover), and 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 with "Tammy", Miss T joined the "Tammy"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s "Edie" strip , which eventually became "The Crayzees" when Snoopa joined in the "Tammy" and "Jinty" merger on 28 November 1981. The strip continued until the "Tammy" and "Princess" merger on 7 April 1984. "Misty", following the tradition of British girls' comics, also published short text stories. Such stories were not present in every issue. "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 "Tammy". Creators featured in "Misty". Artists. Artists featured in the pages of "Misty" included John Armstrong (best known for drawing "Bella at  the Bar" for "Tammy"), María Barrera, Brian Delaney, John Richardson, Jordi Badía Romero, Jesus Redondo, Ken Houghton, Peter Wilkes, Eduardo Feito, Bob Harvey, Honiera Romeu, and Mario Capaldi. Illustrator Shirley Bellwood did many covers for the weekly magazine as well as a number of "Misty" annuals and specials. Joe Collins drew the "Miss T" strips. The moon and bat cover logo was devised by Jack Cunningham. Writers. Writers featured included Pat Mills, Malcolm Shaw, Wilf Prigmore, and (possibly) Barry Clements. Mills is credited with "Moonchild" and "Hush, Hush, Sweet Rachel", and Shaw with "The Sentinels." Unlike the comics, text stories  seem to have mostly been written by women, with Kitty Punchard and Anita Davies among them. Reprints and new specials. The "Misty" back catalogue is now owned by Rebellion Developments, which has reprinted "Misty" stories in the following volumes: SInce 2017 Rebellion has also published all-new "Misty" and "Scream! & Misty" specials.