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MISTY WINTER SPECIAL 2020

Started by SmallBlueThing(Reborn), 02 December, 2020, 09:24:12 PM

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SmallBlueThing(Reborn)

One of our esteemed compatriots here summed it up quite well when he said he'd have to give it a second read- I presume for the same reasons I've got it pencilled in for the weekend.

Please dont get me wrong- there is a bare minimum of the worst excesses of which perhaps previous Specials have been guilty. The art is lovely throughout, and both stories *promise* much. However, despite thoroughly enjoying the experience of reading them (especially the first, with its greatly expanded page count), neither story really left me with overwhelmingly good thoughts.

And so I must go back and read them again, because I feel I missed something.

Must just say that the cover looks better in the flesh than it did in the pre-publicity, as Misty herself is more appropriately pale than the tanned, just back from holidays, look she did seem to be sporting.

So- a second read is on the cards. But is either story as good as that boarding school one in the Scream & Misty spesh? No.

SBT

broodblik

I am not 100% convince by this special. Both stories are adequate. I felt the first story drag on too long. The second was much better concerning pace and the art was great by David Roach.  Little off a mix bag for me not the worst but not as good as other specials this year. It is also a case that I am not the target audience for this publication.
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

Bolt-01

I'd also like to point out that it is lovely to have strips in a special that actually use an expanded page count. Stories of 'this' type (spoooky) can greatly benefit from extra panels to build atmosphere and tension.

Both strips also had absolute first rate lettering, too.

Professor Bear

I felt the last special suffered from pilot episode syndrome and a lack of focus, so I was happy to see these were both properly self-contained efforts and all the cribs I recognised from other things were at least in service to the main plot/theme.  This was probably the first special that actually managed the balancing act of being for middle-aged men, but also suitable for younger readers to be exposed to, with none of the occasional excesses that prevented similar consistency of tone and intent in the other specials.
I've already seen griping about the art on the longer story and UGh whatevs.  Just pretend it's Mick McMahon reinventing himself again and pretend you like it.*
The shorter strip is a neat update on The Night Gallery's The Cemetery by way of MR James so you can't say they aren't making an effort, but I'm pretty sure there's a more obvious influence that I can't put my finger on atm.  The main strip tries to do The Shining in a boarding school and doesn't try to hide it, so fair play.


* /absconds to fanboy-proof shelter

athorist

Quote from: Professor Bear on 03 December, 2020, 01:50:41 PM
The shorter strip is a neat update on The Night Gallery's The Cemetery by way of MR James so you can't say they aren't making an effort, but I'm pretty sure there's a more obvious influence that I can't put my finger on atm.
I'll call you in 7 days and tell you.

I kind of liked the first story, the only problem I have is you never see [spoiler]the ghost[/spoiler], which is kind of a missed opportunity. Even though I did really like the final page, and there's definitely a bit of Annihilation in the scene with all the journals in the shower.

In the second story, I think you see too many ghosts. And the ending did feel a bit rushed, I wasn't really sure why things happened. (Wasn't really sure why the phone ended up down the well in the first place, it looks like they get briefly possessed, but the boy's clearly talking to a ghost on the second page - which feels like two very different approaches)
You need light here even in the morning
Compared to this St Petersburg was nothing

The Fall - No Bulbs

Professor Bear

I thought the appearance of the ghosts harmed the second story, but I understand that purveyors of a visual medium like comics maybe figure the money shot is all that matters, and not the spooky atmosphere that the story had managed to build up until that point, which I considered to be very evocative of OG Misty.

Quote from: athorist on 05 December, 2020, 05:37:12 AMI'll call you in 7 days and tell you.

The Ringu references are noted elsewhere, but the "images slowly approaching the observer" thing was what I referred to, as the exact same gimmick turned up in an online comic short many years ago.  The writer says he nicked it from an MR James story, so I guess I unconsciously called that one.

M.I.K.

Quote from: Professor Bear on 05 December, 2020, 02:30:54 PM
The Ringu references are noted elsewhere, but the "images slowly approaching the observer" thing was what I referred to, as the exact same gimmick turned up in an online comic short many years ago.  The writer says he nicked it from an MR James story, so I guess I unconsciously called that one.

That'd be "The Mezzotint".

MR James did the ghosts down a well thing too, (more than once), but Ringu seems to have been equal parts influenced by a traditional Japanese folk tale and 1980's The Changeling.

Daveycandlish

In all honesty, I think that was the best special yet.
A real creeper of a story with a extended page count and then a short belter. Great stuff. More please!
An old-school, no-bullshit, boys-own action/adventure comic reminiscent of the 2000ads and Eagles and Warlords and Battles and other glorious black-and-white comics that were so, so cool in the 70's and 80's - Buy the hardback Christmas Annual!

73north



I am giving this away as a Xmas Present ( thankfully it arrived 2 days ago )

It looks really good inside

Colin YNWA

Really enjoyed Infection. The extra pages really gave this one the time and space it needed to build up tension and mystery before going full on creepy. In a story like this its all about the timing and this one nailed it. I wondered at first as the opening scene when the girls are being mean to Char felt indulgent. As I read on it clear it set up so much and given the page count helped the pacing really work. Art V V Glass was spot in as well. And man it nails the ending really, really unpleasent.

Home for Christmas felt like given the same luxury of extra pages it too might have worked just as well. As it is nothing had the space to gell together and it felt like a set of fairly random things happening with out the space to provide a build up of tension, or develop the thread to understand what was linking things. There are a few 'what really' moments - the kids have a terrifying experience, patio doors are shattered, children are very nearly thrown down a well and the baby sitters response is - right folks off to bed! then fire and we're out. It was close to working and given maybe five moer pages and it might.

Mind it that would have meant scraficing five pages from the the excellent Infection it might have been worth it. Bold effort but really a case of a special of two halves... even if one had the advantage of extra time.

Robin Low

Well, that was really good.

With no disrespect to 'Home for Christmas' intended, 'Infection was the standout story. It benefitted hugely from the lengthy page count, and I hope future issues take a similar approach, with fewer but longer stories.

As to Glass's art style, I admit it might not be my first choice for a spooky tale. However, this was a really wordy story (the pages with the headmistress in particular), and Glass's very clean and unfussy style made that work in a way Dave Roach's more detailed style wouldn't have. And despite the clean lines, it's not without its own detail or atmosphere.

I really hope it was picked up by a different demographic, and not just us 40/50-something men.

Regards,
Robin

IndigoPrime

I feel like a massive idiot with Infection, because it feels like there's something I'm just not getting. I like the broad feel of it, but it didn't fully resolve for me.

Robin Low

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 27 December, 2020, 11:31:27 AM
I feel like a massive idiot with Infection, because it feels like there's something I'm just not getting. I like the broad feel of it, but it didn't fully resolve for me.

I think it depends on how happy you are with ambiguity. If nothing else, we're left at the end with the strong likelihood we've been dealing with an unreliably narrator.

Pretty much all of the story is from Char's perspective. In fact, looking at it again, I think the only bit that happens out of her sight are the panels where the headmistress looks at India's diary. She aghast at what she sees... but earlier she's not affected by the sight of the zombified girls when Char pulls up the blinds. So, she doesn't seem to see them, but she does see something wrong in the diary. If the girls (and their problem) only exist for Char, but there is something on the diary that is disturbing, is this because Char is the one who's gone mad and has perhaps written something in India's diary?

The chills in this story stem from the uncertainty of what's happening, alongside the girls' increasingly weird behaviour, if it's happening at all.

It's entirely possible I've missed something obvious myself. For example, l started looking for the significance of 1842, since it Char crosses it out in her diary on the final page. It may just come from the 1842 TB outbreak referenced earlier... but I found that it crops up on Mr Mark's mind map on his board. There's a bubble stemming from 'History' that in one panel say's 'Myth' but in another says '1842'. Similarly, another bubble changes from 'Tradition' to 'Jonestown', which wikipedia tells me was a site of a mass murder-suicide.  'Group Therapy' becomes 'Stone Tape', 'In/Out groups' becomes 'Delusion', and 'Haunted' appears from nowhere attached to 'Psychology'. Is this telling us something, and if so is it Char or the author/artist?

When Char first finds the diaries in the shower, she doesn't appear to be carrying her book, and yet she picks it up off the floor after hearing harper thunking her fork in the table. Is this a continuity error or deliberate?

There seems to be more stuff going on this story than is visible on one read.

Regards,

Robin

IndigoPrime

I got the impression I missed something significant in the photo, which appeared to have the same kids in it, but from many decades ago—and an empty place.

Jim_Campbell

For anyone enjoying V.V. Glass's work here, I'll mention that Vee is currently drawing up a storm on 'The Last Witch' for BOOM, the first issue of which is out in January. You can find a preview at this link.
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