In Review: Bettie Page (2020) #2

Synopsis: “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…

The Story

Bettie is on the set of a new film and murder has been committed and a hurricane has struck. Now it falls on Bettie to try and figure out who killed who and what is what while in the middle of a hurricane where a self-obsessed director is looking to continue shooting the film no matter what. It all a bit Bettie Page crossed with an Agatha Christie whodunnit as more people gradually get knocked off.

The Artwork

Vincenzo Federici provides some gorgeous art for this issue and manages to conjure up a visual storm that any wizard would be proud of. I loved the sequence toward the close of the issue where a helicopter comes in and attempts to airlift an elephant out of harm’s way but ultimately isn’t up to the job. Also great was the drawing of the cabin in the woods on page six where the cast and crew of the movie had retreated too for safety.

Overall

Karla Pacheco manages to spin a pretty good murder mystery, which feels a little Agatha Christie in the sense that all the cast and crew of the film are rather suspicious of each other and are all very quick to blame each other for their misfortune. I also like the fact that much of the third person narrative, which is usually via Bettie is being done by her co-star on the film.

Overall. A pretty good second issue that makes the reader feel pretty much exactly what all the characters are feeling insofar as not being completely in the know about what is going on. I look forward to the third issue in hopes that some clues will be revealed.