Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: Roger Langridge
Artist: Gisele Lagace
Colourist: Pete Pantanzis
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

All hail the first, and greatest, cartoon sex symbol, Betty Boop! Created by cartoon legend Max Fleischer in 1930 with help from animator Grim Natwick, Betty was a caricature of a Jazz Age flapper. Her appearance was based on the singer Helen Kane and was originally supposed to be an anthropomorphic French poodle! With her short skirts, garters, and flirtatious manner, not to mention the sexual overtones of her early screen adventures.

Betty soon came under fire from the National Legion of Decency. The Production Code of 1934 imposed guidelines on the Motion Picture Industry and placed specific restrictions on the content films could reference with sexual innuendos, and, although this affected the content of the Betty Boop cartoons, Betty is a game girl and continued her saucy adventures right up to the present day via cartoons and newspaper strips, hob-knobbing with cartoon icons Popeye and making a cameo appearance in the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

In Betty Boop #4, Roger Langridge uses all the classic elements which make Betty Boop such an enduring star; jazz, songs, loyal friends, nasty villains and Betty’s own saucy Boop-Oop-A-Doop personality.

Betty Boop #4 hands us a tale entitled Mephistopheles Metamorphosis. Gisele Lagace also deserves special mention for capturing not just the likeness but the heart of the Betty Boop cartoons in her visuals. As for the plot, the demonic villains of the piece are after the deeds to Betty’s house and run a dastardly ruse on her lovable old Grampy to get it. And just what is jazz-band leader Skat Skellington’s role in all this? Join Betty and her chums as they find out in what is the perfect example of why Betty Boop is a cartoon classic.

Pure enjoyment from beginning to end. Because if it is good, it’s worn the test of time. And Betty Boop is a fine example of that. Jump onboard and feel the ride.

 

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker