Preview: MISTY Presents THE JORDI BADIA ROMERO COLLECTION

Coming next month is a new Misty collection from Rebellion, but unlike the previous three, this one will focus on one artist. The other big difference is that it'll be hardback and in a larger format. Misty presents The Jordi Badia Romero Collection is a fine selection of 1970s supernatural treasures by a superb artist and is not to be missed! Mostly in black and white, with colour reproduction of any pages that were originally in colour. There's an introduction by David Roach and at the back a cover gallery of Romero's Misty covers. 

• CREATIVE TEAM: Various (w) Jordie Badia Romero (a)
• RELEASE DATE: 17th October 2019
• HARDCOVER, 78 pages
• PRICE: £19.99 (UK) $24.99
• DIAMOND: AUG192166
• ISBN: 9781781086896

Deluxe over-sized art-book celebrating the art of a lost master of horror illustration! Celebrating the incredible art of Jordi Bad a Romero from supernatural girls comic Misty, this sumptuous hardcover art book collects stories from the 1970s that showcase this remarkable, and criminally-overlooked, artist who died in 1984. This is a must for collectors of artist-focused biographies and visual history guides.

Available in print from: book stores, Amazon, and UK comic book stores via Diamond

Available in digital from: Treasury of British Comics webshop & apps for iPad, Android and Windows 10

The popularity of girls' comics

Admittedly I haven't posted about girls' comics very often here. Not because of any irrational dislike of them but because I haven't read that many. As a boy growing up in the 1960s it just didn't occur to me to read comics for girls, and as I didn't have a sister we never had such comics in the house. Later on, I guess I assumed the stories were just based around romance and ballet and wouldn't have any appeal. 

It was Pat Mills who piqued my curiosity as he's often championed girls' comics (and of course he created Misty for IPC 41 years ago). Going on Pat's recommendation I bought the first two years of Tammy and the second year of Misty from eBay sellers, along with a few copies of various other titles such as Diana and Bunty. Pat was right. The stories in girls' comics often have more of an emotional punch, whereas boys' comics tended to be more about punch-ups. Subsequently the stories in comics such as Tammy and Misty engage the reader more with the character, rather than the conflict. The differences aren't always that simple of course but that's it in a nutshell. 

Obviously Pat and his fellow editors of those classic girls' comics knew what they were doing as sales were often higher than the boys' weeklies. It's tragic that the market has been lost, but Rebellion hope to try and reignite it this summer with a new Tammy and Jinty Special on 27th June!

I still haven't read many of the girls' comics I bought but I'll get around to it. (I have loads of other unread comics and books to get through.) 

Anyway, my main reason for this post is to let you know that Pat Mills is currently writing about girls' comics on his blog, and as he knows his stuff it's worth a look:
https://www.millsverse.com/girlscomics1/

Pat's blog is worth visiting any day of course. With over 40 years experience in comics his insights into his craft, and the industry, are essential reading. Don't forget to buy his books too! Read 'Em and Weep, a fictional story closely satirising the UK comics industry is brilliant. Two books at present, and unmissable!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goodnight-John-boy-Read-Em-Weep/dp/099566126X

To find out more about girls' comics, Jenni Scott's blog is definitely a place to go:

https://jintycomic.wordpress.com

Misty and Scream Special - webshop exclusive cover

As previously reported, following last year's successful Scream and Misty Halloween Special, Rebellion will be publishing another all-new edition for this Halloween. 

The standard cover will be by Kyle Hotz (below) and sold in newsagents and comic shops from October 17th, but there's also a variant Misty cover edition by Lenka Šimečková that you can only obtain by ordering it directly from the publisher at this link:
https://shop.2000ad.com/catalogue/RCS1853


With more treats than tricks, this issue features Black Max by Kek-W and Simon Coleby, 13th Floor by Guy Adams, John Stokes and Frazer Irving, Black Beth by Alec Worley and DaNi, Best Friends Forever by Lizzie Boyle and Yishan Li, and Decomposition Jones by Richard McAuliffe and Steve Mannion.

There'll be more details about this hotly anticipated special next month!

John Armstrong

News has been announced this evening by Rebellion Publishing that the artist John Armstrong has passed away. 

Known mainly for his work illustrating the long-running Bella serial for Tammy in the 1970s and early '80s, John had also worked on Girls' Crystal in the early 1960s where he drew a serial called Cherry and the Children. 

Another memorable strip was the supernatural thriller Moonchild, which John illustrated for Misty in 1978. He later drew a Grange Hill strip for Beeb magazine. 

John Armstrong's delicate brush strokes, combined with a realistic style for expressions and figure work, made him a perfect artist for girls' comics, where characterisation was paramount for readers to relate to the stories. 

Only a few months ago, Rebellion released Bella at the Bar Volume 1, collecting the earliest Bella strips that John had illustrated. The book was warmly welcomed by fans of the character and, hopefully, by a new generation of readers.  

My condolences to Mr.Armstrong's family and friends for their loss. 

Third MISTY volume on its way

The success of The Treasury of British Comics continues with publisher Rebellion releasing Misty Volume 3 next month. This one features the collected Wolf Girl serial as the main story, with a few short mystery stories as back up. 

Here's the info from the publisher...

• CREATIVE TEAM: Eduardo Feito, Jordi Badia Romero (a)
• RELEASE DATE: 20th September (UK) 10th October (US)
• PAPERBACK, 98 pages
• PRICE: £13.99 (UK) $16.99 (US)
• ISBN: 978178186513
• DIAMOND: JUL182102
•

The third collection in the popular reprints of stories from Misty, the supernatural horror comic for girls! A baby girl is rescued by a wolf, after her parents are killed in a car crash. Having only recently lost a cub herself, the wolf adopts the girl as one of her own. Two years later, soldiers on a military exercise find the child and bring her back to civilisation. Now in her early teens, the girl (called Lona) discovers her wild origin from her adopted parents. As Lona's bestial nature starts to resurface, she finds herself increasingly alone and at odds with the world around her!

Available in print from: book stores, Amazon, and comic book stores via Diamond.

Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop, 2000 AD iPad app, 2000 AD Android app, 2000 AD Windows 10 app

The SCREAM AND MISTY special returns for Halloween

Following the success of last year's revival, Rebellion are once again publishing a Scream and Misty Halloween Special this October. It will feature all new material from today's creators. 

It's great to see the title return, and it would be even better if it became more frequent (even as a quarterly, if not a monthly). I still have hopes that a humour title might be revived as a one-off special one of these years too, although there doesn't appear to be anything on the horizon yet. Admittedly, humour is a harder sell for the market that Rebellion has nurtured, and therefore a bigger risk, but maybe one day...

Anyway, back to the Scream and Misty special, and here's the solicitation from the Previews website. Order your copy now from your local comic shop to ensure you don't miss out! 

Following the success of last year's fright-filled outing, the Scream and Misty Special returns for 2018! Two of Britain's best loved comics have reunited offering an anthology of brand new tales, guaranteed to terrify and entertain you this Halloween! Featuring more treats than tricks, including the further misdemeanours of Max the computer in The 13th Floor, ghoulish goings on with the undead WW1 pilot the Black Max, zombie and vampire DNA combine to create a brand new horror sensation called Decomposition Jones plus a tomb full of other tales from the realms of the Mist.

In Shops: Oct 31, 2018

Treasury of British Comics covers revealed

The covers have been revealed on Amazon of five upcoming books in The Treasury of British Comics line. The list of books was released back in January but this is the first time the covers of these five have been shown. Bear in mind that the covers may be tweaked before publication, as sometimes dummy covers are released to the book trade for pre-order purposes, - but all of these look pretty tidy to me so I'm presuming they will be the published versions. 

The exciting thing about the Black Max book is that it features a new cover illustrated by Alfonso Font, the artist who drew the majority of the series for Thunder way back in 1970! (You can see his website here: 
http://www.alfonsofont.com/en/) 

I think Black Max is the book I'm looking forward to the most out of this selection, although Ken Reid's Creepy Creations will be a must-buy as well. I can thoroughly recommend El Mestizo too. An unusual strip for Battle Picture Weekly as it was set in the American Civil War with a touch of a Spaghetti Western tone about it. Alan Hebden and Carlos Ezquerra did a fine job on this 1977 series. Definitely worth reading!

A third Misty volume is welcome to see, as it presumably means the first two books did well. Great to see these 1970s stories reprinted for modern readers. Same goes for The Thirteenth Floor, reprinting material from Scream! Tales of spooky retribution that are well worth buying.

You can pre-order the books from Amazon right now to ensure your copies:

Misty Vol.3:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Misty-Vol-Wolf-Other-Stories/dp/1781086516/ref=sr_1_6


Black Max Vol.1:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Max-Vol-Frank-Pepper/dp/1781086559/ref=sr_1


El Mestizo:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/El-Mestizo-Alan-Hebden/dp/1781086575/ref=pd_sbs_14_1


The Thirteenth Floor:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/13th-Floor-John-Wagner/dp/1781086532/ref=pd_sbs_14


Creepy Creations:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creepy-Creations-Ken-Reid/dp/1781086605/ref=sr_1

The books will also be available directly from the publisher's website at a later date:
https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com


The books in this line are shaping up nicely and Rebellion are doing a great job. Another welcome publication, coming on 15th August, will be The Vigilant, an all-new one-shot 48 page comic written by Simon Furman with art by Simon Coleby and others. As Furman revealed on Twitter "The Leopard From Lime Street, Adam Eterno, The Steel Commando, Dr. Sin, Pete's Pocket Army and Blake Edmonds (Deathwish) team up to face Von Hoffman and Dr. Mesmer. The Rebellion-verse begins here!"

Preview: MISTY Volume 2

The Scream and Misty Halloween Special comes out today featuring all new material, and in four weeks' time Rebellion will publish Misty Volume 2, featuring classic material from the 1970s. Interesting to see them revert to the original logo, as Volume 1 had a new logo designed for it. (See here.) I suppose it has brand recognition of sorts but I never thought it evoked a supernatural vibe befitting the comic. Still, it's the logo people remember so it's appropriate that it's back.

Misty Volume 2 will feature two complete serials, collected from the Misty weekly comic. Here's some info and preview images...

• CREATIVE TEAM:  Malcolm Shaw (w) Mario Capaldi, John Richardson (a)
• REGIONS: UK, North America, worldwide digital
• RELEASE DATE: 16 November 2017
• PAPERBACK, 114
• PRICE: £13.99 (UK) $21.99 (US)
• ISBN: 9781781086001
• DIAMOND: SEP171851

Following up our hit first volume of the ‘horror comic for girls’ with another collection of two stories: The Sentinels and End of The Line. Misty was a revolutionary concept by 2000 AD’s creator Pat Mills in 1978 and left its mark on a whole generation of young women. The two identical tower blocks, known as ‘The Sentinels’ to the locals, stand tall over the town of Birdwood – but only one is occupied while the other remains mysteriously empty. When Jan Richards’ family lose their home they decide to hide out in the abandoned block so they can stay together, only to be sent into a parallel world where the Nazis conquered Britain in 1940… 

In End of the Line, Ann’s father was one of a group of engineers believed to have been killed whilst working on an extension to the London Underground but when she and her mother are invited to the opening of the new train tunnel, Ann discovers a mysterious time portal through which several workers are being kept as slaves by an evil Victorian called Lord Vicary.

Available in print from: book stores, Amazon, and comic book stores via Diamond

Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop, 2000 AD iPad app, 2000 AD Android app, 2000 AD Windows 10 app

Preview: SCREAM! AND MISTY HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

Maximum Chill-Power! My thanks to Rebellion for a PDF preview of the special that will arrive in newsagents and comic shops this Wednesday, 18th October. Newsagents will have the Scream dominant cover, whilst comic shops will have the Misty variant. The interiors of both versions are identical. 

It's a very slickly produced 52 page comic, with some great artwork from veterans such as the amazing John Stokes to fantastic newcomers such as DaNi. There's a few very unexpected surprises too! I really hope it sells well so there'll be more next year.

Without further ado, here's a few preview pages to whet your appetites...

• UK & DIGITAL: 18th October 2017 £3.99
• NORTH AMERICA: 18th October 2017 $7.99
• DIAMOND CODE: AUG171919
• COVER: HENRY FLINT
        •       VARIANT COVER: GLENN FABRY/ ADAM BROWN

In this issue:
THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR by Guy Adams (w) John Stokes, Frazer Irving (a) Simon Bowland (l)

THE DRACULA FILE by Grainne McEntee (w) Tristan Jones (a) SG (l)

DEATH-MAN: THE GATHERING by Feek (w) Henry Flint (a) SG (l)

BLACK MAX by Kek-W (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Jim Campbell (l)

RETURN OF THE SENTINELS by Hannah Berry (w) Ben Willsher (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)

FATE OF THE FAIRY HUNTER by Alec Worley (w) DaNi (a) Maz Smith (l)

plus: Pin-ups by Warwick Fraser-Coombe and Mike Hoffman 

Available in print from: UK newsagents and all good comic book stores via Diamond 

Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop, 2000 AD iPad app, 2000 AD Android app, 2000 AD Windows 10 app

Video ad for Scream and Misty Special!

Back in the heyday of British comics, every new launch (and many free gift issues) from the mainstream publishers was advertised on TV in short, snappy ads. Now, Rebellion have replicated that to an extent with an online ad for the upcoming Scream and Misty Halloween Special, out on 18th October. 

You can see the ad on You Tube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1x_L6HqlfM

More info on the comic here:
https://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/variant-cover-for-misty-and-scream.html

Variant cover for the Misty and Scream Special

 As you may have already seen on the Forbidden Planet website and other places, the Scream and Misty Halloween Special out next month will now have a variant cover by Glenn Fabry and Adam Brown, which features a title switch to Misty and Scream Halloween Special. 

The variant edition will only be on sale from comics speciality shops, while the standard edition (shown below) will be on sale in newsagents. Collect 'em both!

Cover by Henry Flint.

When originally announced, the cover logos caused some controversy because the Misty logo was so small, despite Misty being the longest running of the two comics. Perhaps this variant cover will balance things a little.

The contents are...

The Thirteenth Floor by Guy Adams, John Stokes and Frazer Irving.
The Dracula File by Grainne McEntee and Tristan Jones.
Death-Man: The Gathering by Henry Flint.
Black Max by Kek-W and Simon Coleby.
Return of the Sentinels by Hannah Berry and Ben Willsher.
Fate of the Fairy Hunter by Alec Worley and DaNi.

The special goes on sale on October 18th for £3.99.

NEW! The Scream and Misty Special is coming this Halloween!

Just like a good spooky story, this was unexpected! Classic supernatural comics Scream! and Misty return this October in one combined Halloween special, featuring all-new stories! (Cover by Henry Flint.) The two comics never merged back in the day (they weren't even around at the same time) but they're a perfect match for this special! 

Cover image taken from Facebook's Hibernia Comics page. Seems it's public knowledge now so I thought readers of this blog would be interested.

Scream! and Misty are just two of the fan-favourite comic titles that Rebellion acquired a while back. Until now, Rebellion have been reprinting classic strips in their Treasury of British Comics books, so it's fantastic news that the Scream and Misty Special will contain brand new stories! 

I understand the special will be on sale in newsagents and has a cover price of £3.99. According to the date on the bar code it'll be on sale from 18th October until 13th December.

Here's the story info. (Thanks to Neil Taylor for sourcing this.)

Two of Britain's best-loved supernatural comics have been resurrected this Halloween and merged into one terrifying tome featuring all-new stories! 

Max the crazy computer makes a welcome return in The Thirteenth Floor by Guy Adams, John Stokes and Frazer Irving; the fangs are out in The Dracula File by Grainne McEntee and Tristan Jones; weirdos, warriors and weasels plucked from the pages of various 70s and 80s British comics congregate in Death-Man: The Gathering by Henry Flint; Kek-W and Simon Coleby collaborate on Black Max, the German World War One fighter pilot that's descended from a race of bat-people; the high-rise horrors of Birdwood are back in Return of the Sentinels by Hannah Berry and Ben Willsher; and fairies can be frightening in Fate of the Fairy Hunter by Alec Worley and DaNi.

It sounds like quite a variety, and of course Black Max is a character that used to appear in Thunder (and later Lion and Thunder). It'll be great to see him back! 

I'm sure this comic will be greeted very enthusiastically by fans old and new! Great news, chums!

Fleetway's finest gain Thrill-Power!

If you picked up the 2000AD issue for Free Comic Book Day last Saturday you'd have seen the surprise last page that re-introduced classic IPC/Fleetway characters into the 21st Century. As you know, last year, Rebellion (publishers of 2000AD) gained the rights to the IPC comics from 1970 onwards. They'll soon be reprinting selected classic strips in their Treasury of British Comics series of books, so this new strip by 'K33F' and Henry Flint is a nice fun taster, and shows the characters being integrated into the Rebellion universe.
See how many you can recognise!

Cover by Mike Perkins.

If you missed the 2000AD Free Comic Book Day issue, here's the cover to look out for. Unlike the weekly, it's in the U.S. comic book format. Your local comic shop may still have copies, or if not, you may find copies on eBay at a reasonable price. 

Faceache, Marney, Leopardboy, One-Eyed Jack... coming back!

Marney the Fox © Rebellion A/S. Art by John Stokes.

I've known about this for a while but was sworn to secrecy, but now the news is out there. Rebellion have announced which classic Fleetway strips they're bringing back to print this year, and they're all glorious. The collective name for the books is The Treasury of British Comics...

You already knew about One-Eyed Jack by John Wagner and John Cooper, but today Rebellion have announced that other books will include:

Misty Book 2: The Sentinels and End of the Line. 

The Leopard from Lime Street drawn by Mike Western and Eric Bradbury.

Marney the Fox: the wonderful adventure strip from Buster by Scott Goodall and John Stokes. 

...and... just drink in this great news...

Faceache by Ken Reid, from Jet and Buster. 

Are you excited yet? For more info, check out this link:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/2000-ad-revive-childrens-comics-70s-and-80s-496121


UPDATE 28/2/17: Comics journalist Heidi MacDonald now has expanded details of the books, and more artwork, on her excellent blog The Beat:
http://www.comicsbeat.com/2000ad-launches-the-treasury-of-british-comics-line-with-classic-brit-comics/

This week in 1978: MISTY

I never bought Misty back when it was published. Buying girls comics just wasn't something that most lads did or even thought about, and I was 19 by then anyway and had naturally stopped buying children's comics (until my ambitions to work in comics drew me back to see them from an artistic perspective.) Since then, I'd heard how good this weekly of supernatural comic strips was, so when I saw some copies on eBay recently I bought one. 

Published on Saturday 27th May 1978 (cover dated a week later, as comics were back then) this issue of Misty was No.18. (Published by IPC, the comic ran for 101 issues dated 4th Feb 1978 to 12th Jan 1980 before merging into Tammy.) I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with who illustrated the strips but I'll add credits if I find out. 

The cover (above) is one of the most striking of the early issues, with its skull-faced highwayman charging towards us. The story continued into the centre pages and the back cover which, with the front cover, were the only colour pages in the comic...

Misty was an anthology comic, and its 32 pages contained serials such as Journey Into Fear about a haunted car...

...and School of the Lost...

...and also a few complete stories every week. This was a wise move as it meant that new readers would always have an easy access point. Here's another of the three complete stories from this issue, Queen's Weather, about insect revenge...

Unlike the action-focused boys comics, Misty (and other girls comics) had more of a psychological drive to the dangers its characters faced. The heroines were often introspective, with the readers being privy to their thoughts and anxieties. This style of writing made the stories more intimate, as opposed to the loud brashness and physical escapades of boys comics. I found it took a bit of mental adjustment to get into Misty's style of storytelling but I'm sure the young female readers it was intended for back in 1978 accepted it immediately.

You can find out more about Misty at this fan website which shows every cover and lists all the stories:
http://www.mistycomic.co.uk/Welcome.html 

As I reported last month, Rebellion will be publishing a collection of Misty stories this September. One to look out for!