Dynamite Entertainment 2019
Written by David Avallone
Illustrated by Julius Ohta
Coloured by Ellie Wright
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
When aliens have kidnapped Elizabeth the Second, UFOs are buzzing London, and Winston Churchill asks you to play dress-up…what’s a girl to do? Long Live Queen Bettie the First! Another chapter from The Secret Diary of Bettie Page is revealed!
I cannot tell you just how much I love the fact that Pin-Up Girl extraordinaire Bettie Page is taken from the image and made into something so much fun to read. Being that persona that men at war or in the armed forces would post in lockers or by their beds is one of the best cover stories around. Then to give her all the training they could, added to that which she picked up along the way and she truly becomes even more iconic. Men adored her, women were jealous of here and the spy community underestimated her knowing her reputation and all this is what makes reading these so damn interesting and entertaining!
One of the things that David does that you might not know, realise or suspect is he is somehow able to manage to keep that whole public persona here like underneath what we see on the surface. You can sense it and at times glimpse it but then it’s gone poof. There is this feeling you get reading this that David is not only a fan of Bettie but he is enjoying the heck out of what is happening here. There is a passion and a love that you can feel through the writing and David not only shows that in the writing but he also makes the reader feel it too. By feel it, I mean that the reader experiences that as well. There is nothing more important than a writer creating that connection with the reader.
The way the story flows is beyond great. Seeing Bettie in these situations and moving through the issue we get to see just how street smart she is. There is so much more to her than what’s on the surface and what we see in these pages only serves to strengthen the desire to see, learn and know more about her. Then there is the characterisation here, which easily allows us to see whom is trustworthy and who isn’t. Maybe that is just “how a person is” and not really them but behind close doors as we meet some of these gentlemen I doubt there is much duplicity involved.
I am still in love with the interiors here. The attention to detail here which is so incredibly delicate at times and then so utterly bold at others that are only enhanced by the colour work. I mean seriously has anyone noticed the design on the wallpaper? Yes at this time Wallpaper was all the rage and this design is so intricate and so delicate looking and it it’s so cohesive throughout which isn’t easy to do. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a magnificent eye for storytelling. So this is a prime example of why backgrounds are so important to a fleshing out a story. This really makes you believe that you are there and this is more real in many fashions. The colour work is stellar stuff. The way we see light sources utilised through highlights and lowlights is sensational. That goes along with the way we see the colour gradation and choices in what is worn. This adds so many different dimensions to the story and reinforces the characterisation in so many wonderful ways.
Dynamite is a powerhouse when it comes to the quality of their storytelling. The writing, characterisation, story & plot development and the pacing that we get alongside with the level of work done on the interiors makes this more than just fun, it makes it exciting! This is precisely the kind of book where the female lead can rival anything or anyone in the market.