MARKLEY’S FEVERED BRAIN: I’M SOOO GIRLY

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Wayne Markley

by Wayne Markley

As some as you may know, as I have talked about numerous times in the past, there is a rich history of British comics which is largely forgotten by most comics fans, if they even understood it existed in the very first place. In recent years, the publisher Rebellion has been slowly buying the rights as well as material of publishers of years past (such as IPC as well as Fleetway) as well as adding them to their already diverse line of titles, led by 2000AD as well as judge Dredd. We, the readers, are lucky as Rebellion is taking all of this traditional material that has largely been forgotten except for comic historians as well as true fans of British comics as well as collecting them into nice trade paperbacks in a range of page counts as well as formats.

Charley’s War

Part of the beauty of the history of British comics is the wide diversity they have had over the years. They have long histories of science fiction (Dan Dare), westerns (El Mestizo), war (Charley’s War), women comics (Misty, Jinty, Fran of the Floods), as well as great deals more. Rebellion publishes this traditional material under the imprint called Treasury of British Comics, all of which should be offered at any type of comic shop or with Westfield Comics. This blog I am going to look at just the “girl’s comics”. In England they did comics for specific markets; science fiction, sports, action/adventure for boys, etc. For women they did the traditional romance comics, however they likewise did a number of horror comics for girls. These were not the traditional horror as in a serial killer or a monster, however more that some event triggers the horror or something within the household triggers it. In other words, the horror was far more truth based as well as plausible. I cannot believe of anything similar in American comics, at least not as an continuous series. (Perhaps a few of the Charlton comics where there focused on gothic ghost stories or DCs short flirtation with gothic horror in the early ‘70s.)

The two finest understood books from England for this woman focused horror stories are Misty as well as Jinty. So far there have been five collections of stories from these two comics that ran regular for a number of years. Misty ran for a 101 problems from 1978-1980. Jinty ran 393 problems from 1974-1981. Each of these titles were anthologies with long running stories that ran problem to problem as well as ultimately would reach its final thought as well as a new story would start. Also, there were a wide range of creators, a few of who would be well understood to American audiences, such as Pat Mills (creator of Marshall legislation as well as numerous other characters). Needless to say, there are a great deal of stories that might be collected by Rebellion, as well as so far they have just scratched the surface. I checked out all of these collections as well as I must state they are truly good. The art as well as story do tend to vary a bit depending upon the creators, however all of them are extremely great stories that truly are page turners. just like almost all British comics, they are serialized in little increments, 3-5 pages per story per issue. This type of storytelling forces the writers as well as artists to tell extremely tight stories that move at a lightning speed compared to traditional American comics. I likewise like exactly how they summarize the story in one or two lines as well as you are totally as much as date before you introduce into the next chapter. now on to the books.

Misty Vol. 1

There are three volumes reprinting stories from Misty magazine. Misty tended to do stories that were 4-5 pages long, a bit of a modification from Jinty. The very first volume reprints two stories; Moonchild as well as The four Faces of Eve. Moonchild written by Pat Mills as well as art by John Armstrong is a story of a young teen woman with psychic powers. It is quickly to compare this story to Stephen King’s Carrie, as there are similarities, however in the end it is different sufficient not to be a rip off, as well as personally I enjoyed this story more. The second story is called The four Faces of Eve written by Malcolm Shaw as well as art by Brian Delaney. This story is about a woman named Eve Marshall, who is suffering from amnesia, who has memories as well as dreams of the death of three other young girls. It is a taught story with a final thought I did not see coming. just like all of the stories, since each chapter is so short, it makes for a excellent page turner as you want to see what is next!

Misty Vol. 2

Misty volume 2 reprints what by many is thought about the very best Misty story, called The Sentinels. when once again it is written by Malcolm Shaw as well as tell the tale of two towers (giant apartment building which are typical in England). One tower is full of people as well as the other is run down as well as empty. teen Jan Richards as well as her household as well as up homeless as well as move into the empty tower for shelter only to discover it is a portal to one more dimension where the Nazi’s won WW2. The story focuses on the household drama over the science-fiction elements of the story to excellent effect. Plus, Mario Capaldi’s art is perfect for this type of story. The second story in this volume is likewise written by Malcom Shaw as well as is called end of the Line… with art by John Richardson. The story right here revolves around a woman named Ann whose father was killed in an mishap in the tubes (subways) however Ann is sure he is still to life as well as goes off searching for him having as well as finds all kind of horrific surprises. This story is full of all kind of twists as well as turns.

Misty Vol. 3

Misty Vol. 3 (the newest one so far) the very first story is Wolf woman about a woman who is increased by wolfs only later to be found by humans as well as then the difficulty arises as she has readjust to the human world. Of program along the method there is a great deal of household drama as well as unforeseen twists. The art is by Eduardo Feito as well as as far as I might find, they do not credit history a writer. likewise this volume is notable since it includes the color pages from the original comics. British comics, like Manga, will sometimes have a page to three in color as well as the rest of the story reverting to black as well as white. The rest of the volume is full of short stories associated to wolves, including a number of werewolf stories. Each of these volumes likewise reprint the appropriate covers of Misty that are essential to the stories included.

Jinty Vol. 1

Although Jinty ran for far longer than Misty, there is only one collection so far (sort of). In Jinty Vol. 1 there are two stories reprinted. The very first story is when once again written by Pat Mills as well as is called The Land of No Tears. This s a story about Cassy Shaw who wakes as much as discovers herself in a future where perfection is valued above all else, as well as Cassy who has a defect (one leg is shorter than the other). She is shunned as well as put with the rejects in her institution where she decides to prove her as well as her fellow “rejects” are just as deserving as the others. This story is a bit on the preachy side as in her own time Cassy utilizes her disability for sympathy as well as in the future she utilizes it as a badge of honor. A great story nonetheless with art by guy Peters. The second story is called The Human Zoo, which is a traditional sci-fi story where a pair of teen age woman twins are kidnapped by aliens as well as are taken to a far off world where they land up in a zoo. These is a extremely great story where the story constantly shifts in terms of places as well as adventures ending in a totally unforeseen way. This story is when once again written by Malcolm Shaw as well as drawn is likewise drawn by guy Peters.

Fran of the Floods

The final volume is called Fran of the Floods as well as is likewise from the pages of Jinty, even though it is not identified as a Jinty volume. since I composed about this book extensively a while back I will not rehash it however I will state writer Alan Davison as well as artist Phil Gascoine tell an outstanding tale of a flooded Britain (due to worldwide warming) long before its time. A extremely great drama that goes from the South of England to Scotland. As I did before, I suggest this volume as I truly enjoyed this story.

Now I understand all of these stories were designed for teen girls, however as a middle-aged guy I truly enjoyed all of these books. They are a fresh as well as pleasant modification from the traditional superhero fare that most comics are. This is one more under represented genre that it extremely great as well as largely unknown. I would believe most of these books would charm to most of the manga audience as well as all have extremely strong female leads, as well as all of the leads are teen girls. I recognize these books will charm to few of the visitors of this blog, however I do motivate you to try them.

Have you checked out any type of of the books? What did you think? Did not enjoy them or dislike them? I would like to know. I can be reached on Facebook at Wayne Markley or at MFBWAY@AOL.COM. all of these opinions are mine as well as do not show the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics or their staff. comments are welcome! As always…

Thank you.