Coming into her own at last.
Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Esau Figueroa, Matt Gaudio
Colors: Brittany Pezzillo
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Bettie’s trip to the Cannes Film Festival turns the Cold War hot…as the KGB tries to put the “red” in “red carpet.” Bettie has to save the glitterati from the obliteratti, (not really a word), in the latest Deluxe Space Age Mid Century Modern Entertainment from David Avallone and Esau Figueroa.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having enjoyed the Bettie Page run in general so far, it was the previous issue where it felt like it was coming into its own. David Avallone had a lot of fun throwing Bettie into a range of situations she got herself out of, sometimes with a little help, but it was her turn to secret agent that felt like she was really taking control of her own destiny and making choices on how to move forward more than just reacting. This issue moves that forward more and it once again looks great with what Esau Figueroa and Matt Gaudio bring to the page with Brittany Pezzillo’s color work. It’s fun with the layouts in how the movement flows and just getting some very enjoyable designs for the cast as a whole and in particular for Bettie and Lyssa.
The Cannes storyline took a fun but expected twist with their contact, Prinsky, getting killed the last time around and that lets Bettie’s recently taught spy instincts start to kick in. There’s a lot to like in watching how she and Lyssa navigate the situation but I just loved that Avallone brought in the Tunguska Event as one of the pieces of this puzzle as Prinsky had an object from that impact that everyone is after. In classic Bond fashion, watching Bettie rifle through Prinsky’s room searching for it with an old-school Geiger counter and then having to deal with another woman that’s hunting for it as well just delivered for me – particularly since I was watching Dr. No earlier in the day when I read this book and you can easily feel the similarities here. Bettie’s confidence since her training is what I’m enjoying the most as she’s making smart decisions and moving forward – sometimes across rooftops.
There’s a lot of little things going on amid all of that but I really enjoy the dynamic she shares with Lyssa as the two navigate this situation with Charlie missing in action and the Red Army out looking for them since they figure they either have the item or know where it is. The little street cafe sequence where they’re approached about it is just delightfully fun as it shows more old-school spy film technique material in how they escape but also the way that they just shift gears afterward and go about the film festival event the next day like nothing happened. The story is building well, though I’m not exactly thrilled to see Benway coming back as I really wanted that storyline done and over with so we could move into more new things.
In Summary:
Bettie Page has come slowly but surely into its own and I’m digging it a whole lot. The opening arc was a curiosity just to see what could be done with it to make it work but it really developed into a life of its own along the way. And that’s been built up nicely into something I’m excited to read about now with the shift to secret agent side that David Avallone is certainly enjoying putting together going by the quips and structure of this issue. Combine that with great artwork and some fun cover/variants for it and this is just one of those really strong under the radar titles that I love being able to wave in the air and say “read this, dammit!”
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: January 24th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
