Bettie Page Unbound Brilliant Cross-Title Marketing for Dynamite

It's another Number One issue for Bettie Page from David Avallone and Julius Ohta. And yes, it's continuing the Lovecraftian tale of Secret Agent Bettie Page, who stands against the elder gods and ancient aliens, but it's a new chapter, a new theme, and thus deserving of a new starting point. (Really, the BETTIE PAGE books have all just been standalone reads of a larger arc anyway.)

BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND is something altogether different. That is, it continues the ongoing adventure of Bettie and friends trying to stop Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep from entering our realm, but this time the creative team has an entirely new angle: a dimension-hopping Bettie who winds up in the form of a different adventurer with each hop. In this issue, she's Bettie the Page, chain-mail bikini warrior of Hyperborea.

Yes, Hyperborea. Bettie is a bad-ass, sword-wielding warrior, aka Red Sonja, a property currently under license to Dynamite.

Upon arrival, she's immediately thrown into the path of slavers, who are marching captive women to their new homes. They spy her and want to add her to their collection, but she shows them she's something of a she-devil with that sword! She sends them packing, rescues the slaves, and then is told about the Count Vizier, who has a Sorcerer's Star just like the one Bettie has -- one of the five keys required to seal off the elder gods forever (again).

With her quest now clear, Bettie sets off for the Count Vizier, toward an epic battle of sword-and-sorcery. But it's where she ends up at the end of this book that really gives you the clue as to what this series is up to. Nope, we're not going to spoil it, but we will say that last panel is an image that's going to haunt your dreams for the next month.

Don't miss this one, as Bettie takes over the Dynamite catalog!