In Review: Scream & Misty Special 2018

By John Freeman on October 17, 2018

Scream & Misty Special 2018 – Cover by Kyle Hotz

WRITERS
Alec Worley, Kek-W, Guy Adams, Jordi Badia Romero, Rich McAuliffe, Lizzie Boyle and Smuzz

ARTISTS
Frazer Irving, John Stokes, Leigh Gallagher, Simon Coleby, Dani, Steve Mannion, Jordi Badia Romero,Smuzz and Yishan Li

COLOURISTS
Len O’Grady and Barbara Nosenzo

LETTERERS
Annie Parkhouse, Jim Campbell and Simon Bowland

COVER ARTISTS
Kyle Hotz and Lenka Šimečková

Misty and Scream Special 2018 – Variant Cover by Lenka Šimečková

The Comic: Following the success of last year’s fright-filled outing, the Scream and Misty Special returns this Hallowe’en!

With a creepy cover by Kyle Hotz and a 2000AD webshop exclusive cover by Lenka Šimečková, two of Britain’s best loved comics reunite for an anthology of brand new tales – guaranteed to terrify and entertain you!

Scream & Misty Special 2018 - Thirteenth Floor

As with last year’s Special “The Thirteenth Floor” opens with art by John Stokes

Frazer Irving delivers the “nightmare” sequence for “The Thirteenth Floor”

The Review: Mixing both old and new characters, this year’s Scream and Misty Special from Rebellion is very definitely a Hallowe’en treat, offering great stories and art that will, well, leave you screaming for a more regular publication.

Because that’s definitely how some of the strips make you feel, particularly “The Thirteenth Floor” by Guy Adams, John Stokes and Frazer Irving (and smashing mash up of ‘traditional’ British weekly comic art with scary scissor-filled pages from Frazer); and “Black Max” by Kek-W and Simon Coleby, picking up where last year’s Special left off, as young tortured soul Maxine is transported to a hellish dreamland, encountering Doctor Rat (from Cor! comic’s popular “Rat Trap” strip along the way). Once again, of course, crazy World War One pilot Black Max and his giant bats is behind her nightmare – and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon.

“Black Max” picks up where last year’s Special left off

This Special also gives us a new story featuring “Black Beth“, a character shoe-horned into a Scream special way back in the 1980s, originally drawn by Blas Gallego. Writer Alec Worley reintroduces the character, with terrific art from and DaNi, setting the scene for new stories (hopefully).

We also get an entirely new character on the Rebellion block – “Decomposition Jones” by Richard McAuliffe and Steve Mannion, which like the one-shot alligator-laced story with a macabre twist, “Best Friends Forever“, deftly scripted by by Lizzie Boyle with beguiling art from Yishan Li and “Mint Condition” by Smuzz, provides plenty of dark to this new publication.

Scream & Misty Special 2018 - Decomposition Jones

“Decomposition Jones” is just great fun!

I’m of course a bit biased, having worked with Smuzz on our own SF tale Crucible, but “Mint Condition”, first published in an authorised fan tribute to Misty a few years back, is beautifully drawn and great fun – an SF tale with bite.

The Special rounds off with a nicely coloured re-representation of a Misty tale, “Bookworm”, first presented in Misty Issue 99, with art by Jordi Badia Romero. Joanie wants a life like Lady Agatha character in book, finds a spell book to fulfil her desires – but things go horribly wrong. It’s a great choice of “classic” tale and the new colour work complements Romero’s art nicely, I think. (Let’s hope positive reaction to this prompts a collection of these short stories from Misty at some point).

Overall, I really enjoyed this year’s Scream and Misty Special – not just for the strips, but the homage to the original material, that includes a Misty problem page and faux film posters featuring Doctor Sin and a gruesome “Cackle” pin up evoking Ken Reid’s “World Wide Weirdies”. I just wish it was more than an annual event. It’s also lovely that artist John Armstrong, who helped shape so much of Misty (and other girls comics), who died earlier this year, is also honoured in the Special.

It’s a shame the horrors of modern comic and magazine distribution in the British news trade, and the attendant costs, make this well-nigh impossible.

• Buy the Scream and Misty Halloween Special – Standard Edition – from all good newsagents and comic shops, or direct from the 2000AD web shop here – also available digitally

• Buy the Scream and Misty Halloween Special – 200AD web shop Variant Edition – exclusively from the 2000AD web shop here – also available digitally

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.