So many UFOs, so little time.
Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Julius Ohta
Colors: Ellie Wright
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Flying saucers in the sky, treason on the ground, and only two brave young women can save the world from invasion and domination. Lucky for us those two women are the Queen of Pin-ups and the Queen of England! If you thought DOWNTON ABBEY was great but needed more extraterrestrials (and who didn’t?), you’ll want to read the fourth chapter of this Bettie Page adventure, brought to you by David Avallone (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Twilight Zone: The Shadow) and Julius Ohta (Sherlock Holmes).
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With intonations of something bigger yet to come that Bettie is a part of, this segment of the arc wraps up pretty tight and clean. David Avallone has done a great job in keeping things moving so that within these smaller blocks we get some good stories told all while building to something larger going back to the original series. A series of miniseries may be the best way to work things like this. It also helps immensely having such a great talented artist like Julius Ohta on board, especially with Ellie Wright’s color work, as they’re bringing this all to life in such a magical way. The expressions that Bettie gets, as well as Queen Bettie, are just delightful and it complements the action material beautifully.
This issue is pretty much final act for this section of the storyline and that means a lot of chasing going on at first. With the two Bettie’s facing off against the spaceship, they’re trying to figure out how to calm things down without revealing who they actually are since they don’t want to get zapped. And that lasts only so long before Harling actually finds a way to communicate with the ship and set them to actually chasing the women. It’s a really good action sequence as the two craft move through the air with a bit of panic and various attempts at handling it, but a lot of what works is just how Ohta illustrates it with interior and exterior scenes and how both women are reacting to the situation in a calm panic that works beautifully.
Everything comes to a head on the ground, however, and having Harling and his group show up to make a final takedown pushes it pretty well. It’s actually one of those situations where you’re just waiting for the twist that will save the day because there isn’t much in the way of an actual out otherwise. While it may be due to McKnight and Lyssa showing up, it does work well since they’re part of everything and have a plausible enough reason for being there. But the real fun is both in watching the Queen put Harling in his place and seeing both aliens now here, one coming to collect the other, but also finding some time to go shopping for proper tea items and a little more. The book just hits that kind of absurd level as it’s done before so well so that you connect with things in the moment and just enjoy it for how silly it all is, especially with how everyone is mostly happy.
In Summary:
I continue to have a blast with Bettie Page and can’t wait for more. There’s a lot of charm and fun in what’s basically a wrapup moment for part of the current story and it’s bittersweet. Watching as we finalize things with the Queen is quite enjoyable since you know it couldn’t last long but you want more time between the two as they play off each other so well. It’s something where you know the Queen has made out better for knowing Bettie, beyond just being kept alive. Julius Ohta and Ellie Wright are a great time and the visual design of this book is spot on throughout and I absolutely adore the cover. I can’t wait to see more of what this team will be putting together.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 8th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
