Don't get all Misty eyed
Misty 2024 Special review
I wouldn’t have been seen dead reading a ‘girls’ comic in the late 70s and 80s. Warlord, Action, 2000AD and Commando were ‘boys’ comics and that was that! Mandy, Judy, Bunty and indeed Misty were firmly for the girls.
How times change, and today I’ll happily read a Bunty annual for its strong storylines, characterisation and stories resolved without the need for violence.
However, when it comes to the Misty 2024 Special, there will be no misty-eyed nostalgia here. While previous specials have reflected the original comic in terms of storytelling and characters, this new special is something different. First of all, three of the fours stories are written by American writer Gail Simone, perhaps better known for her stories for DC and Marvel (Birds of Prey, Deadpool, etc).
Eleven Lonely Deaths
Script: Gail Simone Art: Carola Borelli Colours: Ellie Wright Letters: Jonathan Stevenson
The first story, introduces titular narrator, Misty, as she strolls by a lake which was the scene of a series of gruesome murders years earlier. Encountering a creepy photographer, we soon find he’s a pervert, encouraging Misty to pose for photographs in a way that will reveal some thigh flesh or a flash of cleavage. Of course, this is a supernatural/horror comic, and Misty won’t let that kind of behaviour go unpunished…
The Pub at the End of the Road
Script: Gail Simone Art: Aly Fell Letters: Jonathan Stevenson
The Bloody Toad is a typical rural pub in England, but the landlord is a misogynist who hires female staff for their looks to pander to the tastes of his equally lecherous and misogynistic clientele.
Beautifully illustrated by Aly Fell, the story looks like it’s set in the 60s or 70s, and certainly the story and the attitudes of the characters are firmly entrenched in that era. The story is littered with insults and actions you’d never see in a kids’ comic of the 70s and continues the trend of this special as a comic that has matured along with its original readership.
Misty, narrating as usual, turns up as one of the barmaids, but it is the landlord’s daughter, Willow, who is the lead character of the story. Pawed by the pub’s customers, Willow finds love with ‘good lad’, Ian, but this is Misty, and such characters are never going to find eternal happiness.
Lets just say that the horrific male characters in this story all receive their just desserts.
Happy Birthday, Mrs Parker
Script: Gail Simone Art: Marianna Ignazzi Letters: Jonathan Stevenson
This time Misty appears as a nurse in a small country hospital, caring for the elderly patients. However, the hospital has an unusually high mortality rate.
Set during the birthday of one of the nurses, Carina, we find that she is well liked by the patients and is known as ‘angel’. However, some of the other nurses are jealous of her likability and are wary of her motives.
Who is responsible for the deaths of the patients, and what fate lies in store for the perpetrator? Let’s just say that the nurses at this establishment aren’t quite what they appear to be and bad people will always get what they deserve.
The Cracked Glass
Script & Art: Letty Wilson
This final story is a departure from the rest, and actually the reason I bought this comic. Letty Wilson is a comic creator I’ve known for many years as part of the comic scene in Scotland. She has a flair for the spooky and supernatural, and her work absolutely fits with the vibe of a modern Misty. I was mightily pleased for Letty when I heard her work was going to appear in this 2024 special.
In this story, young Sam notices that her neighbours appear to have gone. A light left on, washing left on the drying line for days, and their car immobile in the driveway. Deciding to investigate, she encounters something very unexpected and ends up in some kind of other dimension haunted by what appears to be a reflection of her neighbours.
The story is suitably creepy and frantic as Sam attempts to flee the ‘other’ world.
The artwork here is typical of Letty’s cartoony style and it lends itself well to drawing the reader into the story. The ‘other’ world is drawn in a different style from the real world in this story, and it really enhances the creepiness of the dimension in which Sam finds herself.
Conclusion
To sum up, this is not the Misty comic you’re used to. This is a grown up, modern version of Misty that evokes a lot of the nostalgia for the original, but reinvents it for modern sensibilities. It shocked me initially, but that’s what I love about it.
You can find the Misty 2024 Special in WH Smith and buy it online from the 2000AD shop.
It's a great read and wonderful to see Aly Fell's artwork in a major publication.