Bettie’s luck works in all the right ways.
Creative Staff:
Story: Karla Pacheco
Art: Vincenzo Frederici
Colors: Rebecca Nalty
Letterer: Becca Carey
What They Say:
“Batten down the hatches! On the Caribbean island of Saint Gorda, where a “sensually tropic fantasy” film’s being shot, a massive storm approaches, throwing the film production into chaos, just when Bettie’s getting her break with a big new role! Now communication’s out, everyone’s thrown into close quarters…and then, the MURDER…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Bettie Page digs into more of its latest run with Karla Pacheco charting her course and it’s one that has a whole lot going on. It reminds me a lot of the more complex anime murder mystery series as it has a strong ensemble feeling to it with the sprawling cast and reminding us who everyone is and their connections. Vincenzo Frederici really does an impressive job here with the look of it as there’s a lot going on across the island with the hurricane coming in and just the chaos of the weather and murder. Which Rebecca Nalty expertly handles because of the storm, giving it a darkened look but still a really great look for individual designs and outfits.
The chaos of Calvin’s murder has everyone in a panic as things open here and we see how the knives are coming out pretty quickly here with who to blame. The body has some incriminating evidence on it when it comes to a necklace Joan wears but the reality is that there are numerous prop versions of it out there and it’s way too obvious – and doesn’t even fit with what happened. It’s amusing watching everyone throw accusations around all over the place and how defensive some people are and as the local cops trying to figure it out themselves. It doesn’t help that Joe is trying to be a help himself and that just makes it all worse since we get Joan accused and being held for more questioning, which in turn just makes her an easier target.
But this is kind of all the issue is about. There’s a large cast here and everyone gets named so you know who you’re dealing with, but the cast is too large at this point and I’m expecting more bodies so it’s easy to not connect with anyone. I like the memorable bit with Bettie and her connection to the elephant, but most of what we get here is just moving us to the next murder by the end and setting up more tension. Bettie is very much a minor character in all of this overall, unfortunately.
In Summary:
Bettie Page continues on pretty well here by throwing a whole lot of stuff at the cast but it’s suffering a bit under its own weight. I’m hard-pressed to remember too many scenes with Bettie herself that are distinctive and one of them is that the elephant survived being dropped into the ocean during a hurricane. I damn well better remember that! The book is working a proper island murder mystery story and doing it well but at the moment it’s an ensemble piece that doesn’t have a strong leading role for Bettie and allows others to really take center stage. Pacheco’s script handles things well while Frederici’s artwork is fantastic throughout, even if it’s all got a tinge of darkness to it with the weather.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment (ComiXology | Amazon
Release Date: August 22nd, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
