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David Avallone's Writers Commentary on Bettie Page Vol 2 #1

Published Tue, 27 Nov 2018 11:00:33 -0600

David Avallone writes a Writer's Commentary for Bettie Page Vol 2 #1, from Dyamite, out now..

Bettie is back! The Halloween special was a blast, but now we dig in with a fun new four-issue arc. As always, these things are nothing but spoilers, so read the issue first and then come back for the behind-the-scenes story.

Let's start with the covers: it's a really great collection. I will admit that the "B" cover by Scott Chantler has a special place in my heart. The first volume of Bettie Page was only supposed to be four issues, but due to popularity and sales Dynamite extended it to eight. I had another storyline planned for issues 9 to 12, and Scott and I had discussed a fun cover for issue nine, if we got there… Bettie and Queen Elizabeth cruising through London on a Vespa. Turned out we didn't get to do issue nine… then. But when Bettie was called back to active duty I reached out to Scott and said, "time to draw that scooter cover…" It is delightful, and as always, the real fun is in the background details: the flying saucer in the air, Winston Churchill dropping his cigar, etc.

The rest of the covers are equally terrific: John Royle bringing the pin-up glamour in an "on set" shot, David Williams drawing Bettie as a Zatanna-like stage magician, and interior artist Julius Ohta shows Bettie wagging a finger at the paparazzi. I haven't asked Julius if this was his intention… but seems to me that his cover is a message to readers. If you're just buying this for cheesecake… that's not what we're selling here.

Inside front cover: I updated "Colonel McKnight's introduction" a little bit from Volume One. Colonel McKnight is an old family friend, in a way… a reference to my father's work. I don't know if anyone has made the connection yet (you'd have to be familiar with an EXTREMELY obscure book), but it makes me happy to put him in a comic book.

Page One.

We start in a void, with a nightmare. When we last saw Bettie, in the Halloween issue, she stopped Yog-Sothoth (one of H.P. Lovecraft's "Great Old Ones") from invading the Earth. When I sat down to write this issue, it struck me that if you came face to face with this thing you wouldn't be "over it" anytime soon. So Yog-Sothoth haunts her nightmares. That said… the very first line of the comic is me speaking to Bettie. I LOVED writing Volume One, and I had faith that Bettie and I would be reunited someday.

Page Two.

In Chapter Eight of Volume One, Bettie met an alien being at the Cannes Film Festival. In order to make her comfortable, "he" appeared in the form of Gene Kelly from AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. Well… she's a red-blooded American woman in 1952. She'd dream about Gene Kelly, too. Julius Ohta is an amazing artist. I will say this a lot. He has a great facility with likeness and emotion. Gene's smile on the bottom of the page is iconic and perfect.

Pages Three and Four.

New mission time! In Volume One, McKnight recruited Bettie to be part of my fictionalized version of the Air Force Project Blue Book program. In the real world it mostly debunked UFO sightings. In our alternative history it investigates them, and protects America from them. Julius shares my mania for research and accuracy wherever possible. I thought the B-47 Stratojet fit the bill for a cross-Atlantic flight in 1952. And it does… but at the far edge of its official "range." Julius, naturally, added a couple of extra fuel tanks to the wings just to make damn sure they made it to England. A detail that maybe no one but me and Julius would care about… but I myself love that kind of thing.

I had an Uncle who drove black London cabs back in the day. I like to think that's him, Ernie Jackson, on the bottom of page four.

Page Five.

That's the Treasury Building they're arriving at. Underneath the Treasury Building, during World War Two, Winston Churchill had his Cabinet War Rooms… his secret headquarters. In 1952 it was abandoned and unused… but for a crisis this dire, I figured Winston would return to his secure comfort zone. As for Byrne, Thomas Byrne… any resemblance to British secret agents living or dead is purely coincidental. A moment here to enjoy the great work of letterer extraordinaire Taylor Esposito, for the perfect cigarette lighter "flik".

Page Six.

Another terrific likeness from Julius, and another fun piece of historical fiction… as America's greatest pin-up meets the legendary Winston Churchill. "Lord Harling" is a very obscure reference to a cult TV show I love which touches on some of the same subject matter as our comic. He's modeled a little bit on Terry-Thomas, a British character actor I loved when I was a kid.

Page Seven.

For a long time, no one really said the name "MI6" out loud. If you referred to it at all, it was called the "Secret Intelligence Services." In Britain, in 1952, a "music hall" is where you'd see an irreverent stand-up comedian. Byrne is (like some other guy we know) a Scotsman, not an Englishman, and is letting a tiny "anti-royalist" snark out, to Bettie's amusement.

Pages Eight and Nine.

On the British cult TV show I mentioned above, they always pronounced "U.F.O." as one word, instead of spelling out the letters. Hence Bettie's confusion about "oofoh". It's a small thing, but you'll notice that in the lettering Bettie and McKnight get periods (U.F.O.) and the Brits do not (UFO) to indicate the pronunciation. Yes. I know. This is a ridiculously tiny detail. Shrugging emoji. This kind of stuff is fascinating to me. (I fully realize it may not be as fascinating to others…)

Page Ten.

I had planned this story before seeing a single episode of THE CROWN but between Bettie Volume 1 #8 and this issue I did watch them all… and oh boy was that a valuable resource. I might have been less concerned about/interested in Elizabeth's family if I hadn't seen it. The idea that Prince Philip was out on the town with his mates instead of home with his wife when she was kidnapped comes directly from THE CROWN.

Page Eleven.

In panel one, I felt like I had to make some mention, even in passing, of the negative aspects of Churchill's legacy (there are many, but we could just start with the word "India".) Bettie's telling this story from a more contemporary perspective, so she'd have learned a little more about this World War Two hero by this time. In 1952, Aston Martin made the DB2. Nice car, right? Whatever you do, don't Google the license plate number or anything. Byrne's story of how he got such a nice car might sound vaguely familiar.

Pages Twelve and Thirteen.

Flying saucer and expensive sports car showdown! Always a winner. This seems like a good sequence to draw your attention to Ellie Wright's excellent color work. Taylor has lettered virtually everything I've written, and I love working with him… but Julius and Ellie are new to me with this series and they are extraordinary. I couldn't be happier with how this comic looks. Saucer design by Julius, with a little input from me.

Pages Fourteen, Fifteen and Sixteen.

Yes, that's a Walther PPK. WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING? Another tiny detail: of course Byrne keeps the "safety" on while his pistol is holstered. In panel two, Bettie is pushing the safety off with her index finger. Bettie's character, from issue one of the first volume, has always been impulsive and quick to act. She's also a Tennessee girl who's not afraid of guns. Bettie Page hanging out of an Aston Martin firing a gun at a flying saucer is the kind of thing that makes me happy to be writing comic books. Yes, you can count the shots. Byrne has six rounds in his PPK. He does have smoke grenades in his glove box, however. "Q" hasn't gotten his hands on this car just yet.

Pages Seventeen and Eighteen.

Bettie is impressive, and has impressed Thomas Byrne. The "whooowhoosh" sound effect is me attempting to recreate one of my favorite sound effects from the afore-mentioned cult TV show. On page eighteen, I love the detail in panel five of Bettie hiking up her skirt to run.

Page Nineteen.

Poor Byrne! We were just starting to like him, right? I love Julius' alien spacesuit designs. The simple "tube" weapon is a little nod towards the cheap props of 1950s sci-fi movies.

Page Twenty.

I have to confess that I do enjoy my own work. The first time I saw the finished page 20, the last panel made me laugh out loud. Bettie meets her first "grey" and clocks him in the space helmet with a branch! "Gosh!" Hope you come back next month for more of the same!

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