BETTIE PAGE: THE ALIEN AGENDA #2, from Dynamite Comics on April 13th, 2022, follows Bettie and her friends to the Egyptian pyramids in a quest to decipher the alien writing recovered from Roswell.
The Details
- Written By: Ani-Mia
- Art By: Celor
- Colors By: Farah Nurmaliza
- Letters By: Carlos M. Mangual
- Cover Art By: Joseph Michael Linsner (cover A)
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: April 13, 2022
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Was It Good?
BETTIE PAGE: THE ALIEN AGENDA #2 is an above-average Bettie Page adventure. It’s not as good as issue #1 (we’ll get to the reasons why in a second), but it’s a solid entry in the series.
Picking up from the end of issue #1, Bettie and her new team set out to follow the clues from the alien map that points straight to Egypt. The tone of the issue feels like a classic Indiana Jones-style story with pyramid explorations, secret passages, booby traps, treasures, and more. Ani-Mia plays up the classic serial feel, and it suits the main character and this type of story perfectly.
That said, the challenges and dangers Bettie encounters inside the pyramid are faced and overcome too quickly. This is a case of having more story than pages, and Bettie is forced to go through a lot in montages rather than seeing how the dangers fully play out. The result is a rushed feeling where it would have made sense to either cut back on the obstacles to give the remaining ones more room to amp up the dangerous tension or spread this leg of the adventure over two issues with a cliffhanger (literally) in between.
Still, the adventure ends with a new lead to follow and the promise of more adventures to come. Structurally, this is a fine issue with a proper beginning, middle, and end that starts with a conflict that gets resolved by the last page. But, because the dangers and deaths are passed by so quickly, the dramatic moments don’t develop enough to have weight, so the ending isn’t as satisfying as it could be.
Celor’s art, coupled with Nurmaliza’s colors, continues to impress as “most improved” from the recent KISS series. The lines are relatively clean, the backgrounds look great, and the entire book looks finished. Special praise goes to both Celor and Murmaliza for the excellent background work capturing the hot glow of the Egyptian desert and pyramids.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
If you’re wondering why Bettie and her pals are headed to Egypt, first read our BETTIE PAGE: THE ALIEN AGENDA #1 review.
We begin with Young-Ja arriving by helicopter to meet Bettie and Sofia at the base of the pyramid of Djoser. They meet their security team and decide to rest for the night before exploring the pyramids. That night, Bettie has strange dreams that point to a secret entrance on the side of the pyramid. Dreams that seem more like real-life visions.
The next morning, Bettie implores the group to trust her dream and look for a separate entrance where the alien writing could be found. The security team removes the bricks Bettie points to from her dream, and the team finds a special lock that uses a dagger as a key. When the dagger is removed, it opens a hidden entrance that leads to dangers, mysteries, and an alien message that points to the next location of the quest.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
BETTIE PAGE: THE ALIEN AGENDA #2 is a solid entry in the series that accomplishes a lot and incorporates fun challenges for Bettie Page to overcome. That said, there’s more story than pages and some of the scenes felt rushed.
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