Bettie Page: The Curse of the Banshee #1-5
Recap
An all-new Bettie Page series under the guidance of writer Stephen Mooney, ably assisted by artist Jethro “Jet” Morales and a host of incredible covers artists, cosplay goddesses and the queen of the pin-up herself – Bettie Page!
Utilizing several clues found at the ancient Key Artifact site in the Middle Americas, McKnight and Bettie surmise that the Key Artefact has been relocated to an ancient burial site in rural Ireland. They give chase!
In issue #2, things are not as they appear to be in Ireland as Bettie comes face-to-face with the mysterious Banshee. But, with the ability to alter its shape, the Banshee continues to prove an elusive mystery, one which Bettie Page finds herself hard-pressed to solve!
In issue 3 Bettie and the Banshee seem to become as one as the curse unfolds all around our hero in high heels (or sensible flats!) Plus: more clues as to the whereabouts of the Key Artifact.
Danger lurks at every corner as the Curse of the Banshee seems to consume our hero!
Will she escape the forever curse of the Banshee and return, unscathed, the life of a Hollywood starlet?
Review
The art of this story is fun and fanciful. The main characters are drawn a beautiful pinups, after all that is who Bettie Page was in real life. I liked the differences in the characters. Each of the characters are unique including the background and side characters. There are not cookie cutter characters in this story.
The parts that are supposed to be horrific are. The horror elements stand out with the gore that is graphic but not overly graphic. The zombies are also drawn as unique and they are drawn with the fatal injuries they received that ended their life that was a good touch. I am not the greatest fan of zombies but they are used sparingly in this story.
I liked the contrast of the two main characters. Bettie a a girly girl and she looks and dresses like that, shown in frilly dresses a lot of the time but in her own way she is a badass. She does carry a gun even though I am not sure where she keeps in in her outfits. Her partner, Lyssa on the other hand, is shown as feminine in her own relight but a littler more masculine. She is shown in pants and not dresses and she easily is seen carrying her gun on her belt. She too is drawn attractively but she is shown a little more “manly” than her partner.
At first I thought the two would be adversaries of one another but as the story progressed, I was proven to be wrong. The two partners really cared for one another. Lyssa is very protective of Bettie and when Bettie became infected by the Banshee, Lyssa tried everything she could think of to protect her friend and partner, even turning the religion. When that did not work, she decided to do the only thing she could think of doing and go out and kill something. Fortunately the best thing to do was go out and kill zombies, not a bad choice.
The main character that gets an arc in this story is the banshee itself. As the story progresses, we get glimpses into its motivation which makes it a sympathetic creature, if not a terrifying creature. It is interesting that Bettie and Lyssa run into it in many forms and they do not realize that they are seeing the banshee.
Final Thoughts
This is a fun escapist tale. It has the elements I enjoy most with the supernatural elements but it has a humor and sense of fun that makes this a pleasant read.
ICYMI! Bettie Page: The Curse of the Banshee #1-5: There is No Place Like Ireland at Night
- Writing - 8/108/10
- Storyline - 8/108/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10