On this day, 8 April 1978: Misty
On this day, 8 April 1978 … Day of the Dragon was only the second new serial to start in Misty after those that began in issue one, and had a stylish, more contemporary look than those which had gone before. Honeriu Romeu’s classy art brings the feel of a 1970s movie, possibly prompted by the Bruce Lee-esque title, to this tale of a young British girl who turns out to be the reincarnation of a Chinese child bride. The dark themes continue in The Sentinels and Moonchild, and the Beasts one-off story ‘Seal Song’, about a young girl beaten by her bastard of a stepfather.
This is the tenth issue of Misty and there’s evidence on the letters page that it had been pitched perfectly for its intended audience. ‘When you read [the complete stories] you realise there’s a sort of lesson behind them, if you understand my meaning,’ writes Wendy Ashton of Hackney. Comics were becoming truly great.