Pat Mills’s Formula: ‘The Godfather of British comics’s’ step-by-step guide to creating girls’ comic stories

Abstract

Most once-popular UK children’s comics have now ceased publication. This includes Misty. Aimed specifically at girls between the ages of 8 and 14, Misty was a comic that consisted entirely of frightening fiction and articles based on the supernatural and horror. My research into the popularity of Misty in its ‘heyday’ considered the cultural background at the time of publication, how this was reflected in Misty in terms of perceptions of the zeitgeist at the time of Misty’s publication and how this may have influenced the content of the stories contained within it. I also identified and applied critical concepts specifically with reference to the Misty serials ‘Moonchild’ and ‘The Sentinels’, and the one-off story ‘The Treatment’. With these methods in mind, the possible underlying reasons for the popularity of the stories contained in Misty were examined. However, Misty was first and foremost a piece of fiction in comic format. Thus, academic values aside, my research led me to consider the creative process behind its production and I approached Misty’s consultant editor and contributing writer, Pat Mills, ‘the godfather of comics’, who revealed his creative process. This article analyses Mills’s own subjective step-by-step process for creating a comic, which he names The Formula, and its potential to inform contemporary comics in the form of a guide.