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David Avallone's Writer's Commentary on Bettie Page #2

Published Sat, 23 Feb 2019 09:30:05 -0600

Last updated Sat, 23 Feb 2019 09:37:33 -0600

A Writer's Commentary: David Avallone on Bettie Page #2, on sale this week from Dynamite Entertainment.

Say it with me now, you know the drill: if you plan to read the comic… go read the issue and come back. SO MANY spoilers ahead.

Covers:

John Royle continues his fairy tale theme, with a charming "Little Red Riding Bettie." She doesn't seem dressed for Grandma: she looks more like she's auditioning for the part of ELEKTRA: ASSASSIN, but I have no problem with that. Julius Ohta's great cover gives us a riff on the plot, with Bettie crowning herself: one of a few designs he showed me, but I liked this one best. Scott Chantler often reaches out and asks if I have any ideas. I suggested something with Bettie embarrassing a Palace Guard, but the "selfie" joke is pure Scott. So great.

Pages 1 – 2: Bettie right back in hot water, where we left her at the end of Chapter One. I take care to make sure that Bettie's cultural references are from 1952 or earlier. Here, faced with an alien invader and a disintegrator beam she mentions "War of the Worlds" and "Ming the Merciless." Classic sci-fi. As with last issue (and the whole series), Julius Ohta's art is gorgeous and perfect. Aside from the pure beauty of it, he's great at capturing emotions and physical action. The shrugging spaceman on the bottom of page one cracks me up.

Page 3: As I mentioned in the last commentary, Julius and I are both freaks about research and historical accuracy. If you were wondering what the layout of Windsor castle looks like from the air… that's it, exactly. Again, Julius' great capture of emotions. Bettie's exhausted face in panel 3, the Palace Guard impressed with what he's overhearing in panel 4.

Page 4: I went back and forth on Bettie confessing to wanting a hug from McKnight. I never want to portray her as weak. But if I had a night like that, I'd want a hug from a friend, too. Even if he was my boss. The two Tommys at the bottom of the page are named after comedy relief characters from the epic war movie THE LONGEST DAY.

Page 5: Recognize Queen Elizabeth's sitting room, from the TV show THE CROWN? That show is incredibly valuable as a source of research. Fans of late '60's cult sci-fi TV shows know that Harling eventually gets that "Alien Defense Organization" he's dreaming of. But will he be around to see it? Bettie references the events of issue 8 of volume one of this series. I kind of miss the old days, where the editor would add a footnote to get people to buy the back issue. Should we start doing that? "*Bettie is talking about her adventure at the Cannes Film Festival, back in Volume One, Chapter Eight!"

Page 6: Prince Phillip, looking like Prince Phillip and not like the 11th Doctor. For fans of the series following from the beginning, who know that Bettie has never learned McKnight's first name… "Lawrence" is a big moment. This page is a good place to notice the mind-bogglingly great work of Ellie Wright, our colorist. That amazing wallpaper… the texture of Prince Phillip's coat… that's all her. Seriously, the next few pages keep looking at wallpaper and that suit.

Pages 7 – 10: You knew we had to go there, right? Bettie and Queen Elizabeth 2 were both roughly the same age, height, weight and hair color: that was the whole inspiration for this arc. Two women with opposite backgrounds, but both tougher and smarter than anyone gave them credit for. I had to do a "Prince and the Pauper" (or "Princess and the Pin-Up") sequence, even if only a brief one. At the top of page 9, that's the crazy way you curled your hair in 1951. Love the lighting effects on page 10, and letterer Taylor Esposito's great work on the camera sound effects.

Pages 11 — 12: The gardens at Windsor, in a beautiful Ellie Wright dusk. Prince Phillip uses his sweet nickname for Elizabeth. Bettie teases McKnight about his first name. There's a whole Larry McKnight book out there somewhere, if you Google hard enough. It's long out of print, but it inspired the gentleman in the trench-coat.

Pages 13 — 14: Yay! Lyssa's back, and she's dressed for trouble. As McKnight promised in issue 1, she's been working in the shadows, piecing things together… and on page 12 connects this story to the first arc of the first volume, and real UFO sightings from history. Not that anyone cares, but the Bedfordshire sighting near the Royal Aircraft Establishment is not a thing I made up. I'm not saying it was aliens, but…

Page 15: Bettie Page WAS voted Most Likely To Succeed in high school. I've been waiting ten issues to give her a reason to bring it up. I thought this was a funny moment for it.

Page 16: And we see Julius' great UFO design again, influenced by the classic pop culture images from the 1950s.

Page 18: My favorite page in the series so far. I love what Julius did with the alien's "black eye" and Bettie's charming introduction to him. Don't worry… we'll be seeing more of this gentleman later.

Pages 19 – 20: Finally! The Two Betties, together at last! And you just know they're going to be unstoppable… but you're going to have to wait a whole month to see them go medieval on everyone. Queen Elizabeth and Bettie Page are here to sip tea and kick ass… and they're all out of Earl Grey. Til next time!

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