Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Julius Ohta, Pasquale Qualano
Colors: Ellie Wright / Sheelagh D
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Model Agent Bettie Page’s mission to save the world from every type of nemesis you can think of (Elder gods, we are looking at you) continues with style, as she takes on her most dangerous foe yet!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we hit the penultimate installment of this storyline, which is a bit short and works in its favor, David Avallone keeps things moving as always but it feels like it has just a few less quips than usual. And that’s a positive in this installment because things are getting serious and there’s some down to business dialogue going on here. Julius Ohta again delivers a great looking book, this time working with Pasquale Qualano, and the end result is something that just shines thanks to Ellie Wright’s colorwork. I love the look she gives the clothes of the time but also the infusion of color into the giant bees and some of the other period pieces we get throughout.
With Bettie having made her way to Lyssa’s parent’s place for the moment, Lyssa’s father does a good job of helping her out while they wait for Lyssa to come back. Of course, this is exactly when the drones start to attack which is pretty surreal for Lyssa’s father to see, but he handles it well as does her mother, who comes in shotgun blasting and putting down a drone or two. It’s all that’s needed to make sure that everyone knows what’s really going on within this group and that Bettie isn’t crazy at this point with conspiracy theories, but neither of the young women are going to let Lyssa’s parents get involved in this. It’s a little unfortunate because it could be fun but they do have a bigger plan of their own to enact and you can see how having them around – even as capable as they are – would be a distraction.
That has the pair off to see Rick, who is doing his best to get out of town but ends up not being quick enough. What she needs him for is so that she can get into her own head to try and see if she picked up anything from the Queen when the two were connected. While this does lead to an end sequence that involves more combat with the drones, the book does some great stuff before that involving Bettie in her own mind. It’s designed like a library to make it accessible to her and she sees her other incarnations from the other properties here, which has some slight but engaging conversation to show how they interact with her. The Dejah Thoris incarnation is the one she wants though as she’s the scientist of the group and has the information Bettie needs about the Queen and her species, setting her up to be able to do some real damage once she gets things together.
In Summary:
Bettie Page Unbound is moving right along and it’s proving to be a lot of fun. I’m enjoying the Bettie Snatchers storyline as it plays out but it does have something of a lighter touch than other stories, not quite as deep and fewer reveals so far as to the truth of what’s going on just yet. But it’s using that lightness to keep it hopping with Bettie on the move and doing her best to save the world and her friends once more. It’s a fun read with great artwork that makes me smile through just about every page watching it unfold. Very easily recommended.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: January 15th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99