The craziness ramps up and the clothes come off!
Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Esau Figueroa, Bane Duncan Wade
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Someone wants to enslave American minds… but who’s behind it all? The Sky Science Cult? Pacific AeroSpace Technologies? Ol’ Joe Stalin himself? None of them is a match for Bettie Page, as our high-heeled heroine goes toe-to-toe with the worst 1951 has to offer in the fourth and final Hollywood chapter of The Secret Diary of Bettie Page, as revealed by David Avallone and Colton Worley.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I can’t quite explain why but the Bettie Page series just works really well for me. It’s playing with the fun of the era, the costumes, the wackiness of it all and acknowledging cliches are cliches because they’re made up of truths that happen regularly. It’s got the right level of camp to it that David Avallone brings in the dialogue and situations without going so far that you just want to completely roll your eyes. And Esau Figueroa and Bane Duncan Wade makes it just so much fun to look at with the costumes, the settings, and the bits of cheesecake and the like that we get so that it feels fully lived in without being exploitive, which is a huge plus for many even with, or especially because, of a character like Bettie Page.
Events have taken some funky turns so far and this one now has Lyssa and Bettie together in front of Benway as he believes she’s all part of the government and what Rick is up to in trying to stop him. Benway is an admittedly classic villain in a lot of senses with how he’s presented here and Bettie even calls it out in the narration that it’s just cliched but true that some villains of this nature just want to share what they’re up to. Benway’s no different as he begins to realize that Bettie’s not a threat and was actually just a model caught up in all of this – which is true – and it all becomes very cordial and friendly as his acolytes serve up drinks and he shares his plans for lording it over the sheep of the world because they need to be ruled, not the other way around. The plus for him is that he does have some power and “magic” science on his side to make it a reality.
Of course, this also has him revealing what makes people his mindless zombies and how it ties back to what kicked a lot of this off with Helena being caught up in it and Rick and others as well. It’s fun to watch as Bettie works sweet and interested with Benway while the narration has her looking for ways to take advantage of it and the kind of chaos that ensues as she does, turning his operation upside down and going on a big pursuit of him in his flying machine. There are secrets still to be revealed but it’s classic 50’s style SF camp in a way tied together with some great sauciness from Bettie but also just a lot of hardy can-do attitude that’s really appealing as she pushes through to do what needs to be done.
In Summary:
Bettie Page delivers once again and I can’t be more delighted. I suspect that when read in full this is going to be an even more wild and crazy ride but the single monthly issues are a lot of fun and I’m enjoying getting it in doses in order to take in all of it without being overwhelmed by too much of it. Avallone gets us through a number of reveals here and Figueroa and Wade manages the dialogue and exposition heavy side of things well while also getting to break out a bit with some fun action and fanservice. Another strong entry.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 1st, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
