#malcolm shaw

Art for first published “Judge Dredd” story in upcoming auction

Mike McMahon’s first published “Judge Dredd” strip for 2000 AD, published in Prog 2 in 1977. The first panel is a stat of art by Carlos Ezquerra, who designed the character, co-created with John Wagner

The complete art for the first printed “Judge Dredd” strip from 2000 AD Prog 2, largely drawn by Mick McMahon – five pages in total – is one of the lots in the upcoming Heritage Auctions Comics,…

Clearly inspired by the same 70s/80s Britain as 2000AD, collections like this do  a good job of proving that girls comics were not just for girls. As the likes of Pat Mills have said in interviews, some of these titles had stories just as good, if not better, than any of their boys comics equivalents, proving that any preconceptions we might have about the nature of girls comics is questionable at best.

It’s not unreasonable to suppose that they channeled stereotypes of the era, so that where a comic aimed at boys was all about sport, action and varying degrees of violence, channeling the testosterone loaded thrills that defined masculinity, a girls comic must therefore be fluffy and sedate, probably romantic and designed to reinforce the notions of domesticity and subservience being the feminine ideal that were still trying to dominate the culture of the time. But, as the ‘Punks Rule OK?’ graffiti in the above opening page reminds us, things were changing. Like the tower blocks dwarfing the dilapidated looking houses in front of them, the old was slowly being replaced by the new- let’s ignore the fact that most tower blocks ended up being a fucking disaster in terms of urban planning though, eh? At one point, they were a very positive change for people.

The Sentinels, with this opening text caption, sounds like a horror story, with the tower blocks a pair of twins, one comforting and homely, the other vacant and evil, for reasons as yet unknown. Misty certainly had horror elements to it, but it transpires this is more of a sci-fi tale, involving a parallel universe where the Nazis won the war, and now rule Britain (and presumably much of the earth, as in The Man In The High Castle). What appear to be menacing doppelgangers, conjured up by the tower to terrorise and endanger its inhabitants, are actually people from this other Britain, and the plot involves resolving this crossover of realities to get everyone back to their rightful place (more or less) and stop the Nazis spreading their dominion over another reality.

Were it not for the female protagonist, this could easily have featured in some of the more adventurous boys comics- I struggle to think of many female leads in that context at this time, so assume the general assumption was boys will only read about boys, meaning this series presumably wasn’t directly intended for them, although I am sure there was more crossover in terms of readerships than was assumed by parents and publishers- and you can see that there must have been some sort of common goal for the likes of Misty and 2000AD in terms of what they wanted to do to reinvigorate comics, bringing something fresh to the industry instead of the same old traditional values that the old guard represented. This is no real surprise when you consider that the likes of Mills and Malcolm Shaw (who also edited Misty for a time) worked on both books, along with other less long-lived titles, such as Starlord and Action. It seems fair to conclude that they were all, to some extent, ‘punk’, trying to offer something new to the next generation of readers, and give them a voice rather than just replicating those of previous generations.

The second volume of Misty is set to come out in November! The previous volume included Pat Mills and John Armstrong’s Moonchild, a gloomy and gothic take on Carrie and Malcolm Shaw and Brian Delaney’s The Four Faces of Eve. This volume will include The Sentinels and End of the Line. 

Of the two stories in Volume 1, Moonchild was my favourite, not least because of Norma, the glorious villain. Norma is at once sympathetic (she is working class, tough as nails and makes up preposterous lies of her own grandiosity to cover her broken home and lack of success in school) and psychotic. It is heavily implied that she turns to villainy (in this case, ruining the life of Rosemary Black) out of sheer boredom. She also wears a bomber jacket with her own name on it. Genius on the part of artist John Armstrong, who also was a fill in artist for Sally superheroine story The Justice of Justine. I have a great deal of time for his instantly recognisable style which consists of a lot of very severe, short bangs on his female characters! 

Four Faces of Eve is evil enough to earn Pat Mill’s enthusiastic championing of it (I have heard him talk very passionately about girls comics, and this was one of his key examples) but the art style is a little too 1970s whimsical for the story content, which is fiendish. A more gothic take might have suited it better. Still a great read though, especially for people who continue to propagate that British girls’ comics ain’t naught but hockey sticks, ponies and romance.

One final note is that Misty volume 1 is an absolutely gorgeous book; it is produced in the same format as a normal 2000 AD trade paperback, and is well worth the price, even if it is a slim collection. Julia Round provides a great introduction to Misty cover artist Shirley Bellwood (in the great debate of Spellbound vs. Misty I will own that Misty has far superior covers) and Pat Mills’ introduction is very informative. There are also two reprints of Misty features (how to make a devil head and a witch’s hat) which are both so cute! 

Anyway, well done to Rebellion for putting out another volume of their girls’ comics I.P. (it would be great to see them spread out into some Sally, Tammy and Jinty reprints) and come on DC Thomson and get publishing your back catalogue! We’re waiting...

Previews for Misty vol 2 below... be aware of potential spoilers in the story write ups! 

Misty – Book 2 Originally published: 1978-1980 Release date: November Trade Paperback We follow 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. 

Jinty from Rebellion's Treasury of British Comics reprinting 2 superb tales from the Girls' weekly comic here in the UK during the late 1970's.

MISTY TP VOL 03

Written by Malcolm Shaw Art by Peter Capaldi and John Richardson

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 at Lobo Comics & Toys this coming Wednesday, 10/24/2018