seacavepuzzle:

Shirley Bellwood: a gallery of her Misty covers

“Misty, our eponymous host, guided readers through the 101 issues of her weekly comic and lived on into the 1980s in various annuals (1979–86) and reprints. She plays a unique role as a combination of fictional editor, host, and cover girl. … Misty herself is the focus for many readers. Their interest in her ranges from the curious to the obsessive, and doubtless she was the subject of many teenage crushes. Gibson’s study of comics readers’ memories draws on several interviews with lesbian participants to demonstrate their resistive readings of heterosexual comics stories, and it includes a mention of Misty from Elsa, who says, ‘I fancied Misty like mad’ (2015, 133). Numerous letter writers compliment Misty on her beauty and speak about their connection with her, such as Carol Robinson’s letter about Misty’s appearance to her in a dream (#45), Tracey Moss’s comment ‘I think you are very pretty but I am not’ (#33), or Lisa Wilder’s letter (#45), which gushes, ‘I think your comic is the most breathtaking, most frightening, most enchanting comic out and every time I go to bed I think of you.’”

Gothic for Girls: Misty and British Comics, Julia Round