An amusing little epilogue.
Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Jordan Michael Johnson
Colors: Valentina Pinto
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Bettie Page has saved the world a few times now, and has earned some time off, so her boss books her a nice little vacation in Scotland, at a quiet little fishing town on the banks of…Loch Ness. What could go wrong? The legendary model comes face to face with another kind of legend, as Bettie meets Nessie in another thrilling chapter from THE SECRET DIARY OF BETTIE PAGE, by David Avallone (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark) and Julius Ohta (Sherlock Holmes).
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The five-issue miniseries comes to a close with this installment but it sets us up for the next on, Bettie Page: Unbound. The miniseries approach is one that I can definitely get behind for a property like this and I’m enjoying as David Avallone gives us relatively self-contained stories that are part of a larger arc that’s being told. He gets a bit more playful with this installment and is joined by artist Jordan Michael Johnson, who brings a fun spin and design on things from what Julius Ohta did before. It has an epilogue feeling through and through with what the ladies are up to but we do get some key and critical information here that makes it a worthwhile conclusion.
After all that happened in England, McKnight has sent Bettie and Lyssa off for a little vacation at Loch Ness. The pair are glad for a break after all the craziness of aliens but there’s also that basic knowledge that McKnight never does anything without a bigger reason so they’re perfectly ready to spring into action. It’s a cute setup as they take the boat across to take some pictures at the old castle ruins and just explore a bit and that has them meeting a young girl and her nana, which adds a little local color to things. Especially since the girl supposedly sees the monster while moving across the lake but nobody else does. As with anything in this series, you meet it halfway and know there’s something there, but is it movie magic or is it an actual beastie under the lake? That’s part of the charm and fun of this series as Avallone has put it together.
Naturally, there are others that are in the area to cause trouble with the pair of Russian’s we saw earlier in the run as they’re after the star that Bettie is wearing that was given back to her by the aliens. The two are pretty comical in how they try to hold her and Lyssa up since it’s so obvious what they are and I love the callouts that happen here. But, with the girl and her nana visiting the spot as well, they do play it serious. And even more seriously when the monster shows up and goes on the attack! Again, you’re mostly just waiting to see what the truth is here but it’s fun as it ties into what we had before about something big and dangerous coming and how Bettie is going to be pivotal to dealing with it. The creature provides for some minor but intriguing backstory with its exile here to the loch and I’m hopeful that we’ll see a greater expansion on this in the future as the storyline evolves.
In Summary:
This epilogue installment does some nice place setting for what’s to come and I definitely enjoyed it, though not quite as muhc as the main story that we’d been having for the four issues prior. It’s low stakes a little quiet, and there’s not much of a threat going on here to really get behind. David Avallone keeps Bettie fun and a little time with Lyssa in tow is always welcome. The shift in artist to Jordan Michael Johnson isn’t something I’m usually good with when it comes to a miniseries as consistent artwork is a big plus but with this being a standalone tale to some degree it’s easier to go with it. Plus, Ohta’s back for Unbound so it all works out. It’s a solid book all around that has me eager for more of all of this.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 15th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
