3: Loved Ones

Girls’ comics have abounded with stories about ghosts of loved ones who come back to their beloved. This is usually to help them out of trouble, keep them comforted, or to put right a wrong. Misty was no exception, and when she used the formula it served as some light relief to her usual fare of girls meeting gruesome ends, meeting monsters and such.

Napoleon Comes Home

Misty: #08

Artist: John Richardson

Amy’s dog Napoleon dies and she is naturally upset. Then she says she is seeing and playing with him again. Mum and Dad don’t believe it, despite paw prints on the floor and an indent on Amy’s bed. Then one night a dog is barking in the garden to warn the house is on fire; Amy say’s it’s Napoleon. Dad foolishly lingers to call the fire brigade and gets overcome by smoke, but the figure of a dog drags him out. Dad still doesn’t believe Napoleon is back, but Mum cuts him off, saying they should start to believe in it a little.

Hold Tight, Please!

Misty: #29

Artist: Peter Wilkes

Reprint: Tammy 18 January 1983

June Hanning and Gail want to go to the disco. Mum only allows them to go on condition they are home on time. To make sure of this she gives them grandfather’s watch. They miss the last bus and get on one that is mysteriously numbered, with pre-decimal fare and a conductor. The bus doesn’t stop to pick anyone else up and then the conductor just vanishes. Scared, they jump off and walk home, where they discover the last bus crashed, so what was the one they caught? Examining grandfather’s watch, June finds it was a present to him from the bus company he worked for – and the bus they were on was from the same company.