Gothic for Girls: MISTY and British Comics

I ordered this book through Previews some time ago, but I have not had the time to sit down and read it.  I'm much more of a fiction than non-fiction fan when it comes to reading, so I let this book sit for a while before finally deciding it was time to dig in.  Ever since I first started reading (comics AND books), I have loved certain things the most:  mystery ... horror ... supernatural ... female protagonists ... Gothic.  Until I saw the ad for this book in Previews, I had never heard of Misty before.  I was aware that Britain had been famous for publishing their weekly comics, some of which were aimed at girls (I have quite a number of the Schoolgirls Weekly newspapers, which feature a young detective named Valerie Drew, as well as a few copies of The School Friend and Girls' Crystal), but I was unaware that they had published some newspapers for girls that were ... well, for lack of a better word, darker.  Needless to say, I ordered the book to find out more about this Misty series, and let me tell you - after reading this book, I definitely want to track down all 101issues!

 

Now, let me preface this by saying that I have loved Gothic for as long as I can remember.  I grew up watching reruns of Dark Shadows (the only true Gothic soap opera),  reading comics such as The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love by DC Comics, and reading mysteries about hidden staircases, old attics, whispering statues, haunted showboats, and invisible intruders.  I fell in love with and have always sought out stories that are Gothic in nature.  So, it should not be any surprise that I was immediately drawn to and curious about a book that looking into this very topic, even if it was focused more for girls than boys.

Gothic for Girls: Misty and British Comics is an in-depth look at the weekly series for girls.  Author Julia Round clearly has a love for the comic, and it was heart-warming to read the story-behind-the-story that prompted this book (she remembered picking up an issue at a rummage sale, and one of the stories made such an impression on her, that she never forgot about it through the years!).  In some ways, it reminded me of my love for a TV show back in 1980 called Cliffhangers!, which ended before the last episode aired, so I never got to see how the stories ended - until more than 30 years later, when I came across a private DVD dealer who had recorded the entire show, including that final episode!  (And, interestingly enough, one of the three anthology tales on Cliffhangers! was the modern day re-telling of the story of Dracula, a Gothic character in his own right!)  After the introduction (told in comic form, which makes it even more endearing!), Round begins to methodically and carefully look at all aspects of the Misty series - from its creation to its creators, from its writing to its art, from its impact to its importance in the lives of so many young girls (and boys!) during its nearly two-year run.  Round builds up her theory regarding the comic and how it truly epitomizes a whole genre of Gothic for girls that is overlooked, and often minimized or outright ridiculed by researchers and critics alike.  And after reading this book, I have a whole new outlook when it comes to Gothic!

Round provides readers with a number of examples from the Misty comics to show just how the stories therein help define Gothic for Girls.  She looks at how the young female protagonist of these tales is usually isolated or trapped in some way ... how the stories take place in worlds that juxtapose normal reality with magic and supernatural.  She shows how "[t]he narrative is driven by simultaneous fear and attraction, generally in the form of terror, and often relating to incarceration, transformation (physical or mental), and doubt" (p 263).  She even discusses how, when more familiar Gothic archetypes are used within a story, it is normally in a subverted way (i.e., making the vampire or witch sympathetic, or even the victim of the tale).  There's no way I can say it the way she does, as Round, I think, aptly describes Gothic for Girls when she says it "constructs and acknowledges girlhood as an uncanny experience, interrogating expectations and reimagining its fears" (p. 263).

With each chapter, from the first to the last, Round builds on her definition.  It truly amazed me to realize how the actual art on the page was actually Gothic in nature - the lack of border lines, the merging of panels, the use of one panel to create a border for the next, the import of placement of panels, the careful use of shadows and color - how these various techniques help create the mystery and "otherness" that defines what most know as "Gothic."  And how the writers managed to set stories in contemporary settings with average young girls, and yet create tension and terror through what appear to be normal objects (such as mirrors, books, spiders, boxes, plants, etc.) that turn out to be something completely unexpected.  Round opened my eyes to the fact that we don't need dark castles, brooding strangers in the shadows, secret rooms, and cold, misty nights to create "Gothic" - rather, as she proves through her study of the stories in Misty, all you need is the mystery, the unseen, the grotesque, and the indescribable "otherness" to create a tale of Gothic suspense.  

While Round focuses her attention and study on developing the idea of Gothic for Girls, and how Misty plays a part in that, I would take it a step further to say that while the tales of mystery, terror, suspense, and horror within the pages of the comic all feature female protagonists and seem to deal with "female" concerns (which Round equates to the "mystery" felt by girls during puberty, when their bodies, emotions, and minds are all changing and growing), the same ideals can be applied to "male" concerns as well.  Yes, men certainly go through much different changes than women during puberty, but there are some similar things confronted by both - that sense of awkwardness, the not knowing what is to come, the uncertainty of life itself, the fear of being left behind or isolated from one's friends and family, the sudden changes in relationships with everyone around you - men feel these things just as much as women do, and all of these fears and concerns play into the "otherness" discussed by Round as being a part of the Gothic trope.  And even Round talks about the fact that Misty was not just read by girls - there were boys and men who read the comics as well (most of whom read it in secret and did not talk about it, while a few proudly stood forth and admitted their love for the comic).

I can honestly say that after reading this book, going forward, I will not be able to read anything without looking for ways in which the stories embody the Gothic, and whether, in the case of girls' series books especially, they fit within Round's definition of Gothic for Girls.  And I also have to ask this question as well - is Gothic for Girls reserved only for girls, to be understood only by girls, or can a boy read, understand, and even identify with these same fears and concerns?  Perhaps that should be an avenue of research Round should pursue next!

Now, I'm off to start my hunt for 101 issues of Misty comics!

RATING:  9 unhappy endings out of 10 for providing an entirely new outlook on a genre I already loved and providing more than enough reasons to search out the entire run of Misty!