If you want to get almost any British girl of a certain age all nostalgic, just say one word to them: Misty.
What early 2000AD was to boys, Misty was to girls ( and boys in the know, obviously ). Even girls who never read comics read this comic, and individual issues go for ludicrous amounts on ebay.
Misty was a mystery anthology weekly, with serials and one-off stories, and like all UK weeklies, had it's own host, the winsome earth spirit / willowy white witch / groovy goth girl title star.
Misty herself never said very much, and was much given to wafting around her Cavern Of Dreams and writing us missives on the intro page, welcoming us to that week's scares.
Although it wasn't as scary as it might've been, with original mastermind Pat Mills' plan to create a 2000AD for girls being downgraded to 'spooky but safe', Misty still had some absolutely great stuff in it, like The Sentinels ( spooky tower block is actually a gateway to a parallel world where the Nazi's won WW2 ), Paint It Black ( schoolgirl possessed by Victorian ghost artist ) and Moonchild ( Mills rips off Carrie, but does it really, really well ). And if any boy had the brass nerve to walk into their local newsagents and buy a girl's comic, they'd find themselves immediately hooked. And yes, I got my ( female ) cousin to buy it.
Also, as was the norm for UK weeklies, the art duties were divided between homegrown talent and spanish artists, giving Misty almost the look, if you squinted, of a Warren mag for teens.
So lots of Misty stuff on the way, but as a teaser, it's worth checking out the lass herself as she appeared in some gorgeous covers and posters. The only name I can find for these is a British artist named Shirley Bellwood, who's now a high class portrait painter. Not sure if Shirley did all these, but whoever's responsible, they're stunning.
