DAVID AVALLONE talks BETTIE PAGE #3, on sale in SEPTEMBER from Dynamite!
BYRON BREWER: David, did your father, a well-respected pulps writer and novelist, ever meet Bettie Page? What do you think HE would think of her – both as a person AND as a comics character?
DAVID AVALLONE: To the best of my knowledge, Dad never met Bettie. It’s a compelling “what if”, because while she was modeling for magazines like STAG and MEN’S ADVENTURE they were publishing his stories. I haven’t looked recently, but it’s entirely possible they’re in the same issues. As for what he thought of her (or would have thought of her)… my father adored strong women, who could own their own sexuality, who were without shame, who were smart and resourceful and funny. So he’d have adored the real one and my comics character.
BB: As you continue Bettie’s adventures in Hollywood, will we be seeing any REAL famous folk in September’s issue #3?
DA: On the advice of Dynamite’s lawyers, I continue my policy on this book of only FAKE versions of famous folk, though the reader is certainly invited to speculate. In some cases the analogs are not all that well disguised.
BB: Between cultists, creeps, spies, mind-control rays, flying saucers and the LAPD, which is driving Bettie mad the most? She seems pretty angry in this yarn!
DA: Bettie doesn’t like being pushed around, so her anger is righteous. Who does? I would say most of her anger is directed at Elroy Benway and his robed maniacs.
BB: I do not believe I have asked this, but tell readers a little about your use of the trope “Diary of ...” for these adventures.
DA: When I was doing the research to prepare for writing the series, I watched an excellent documentary called BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL, which is narrated by Bettie herself. It gave me a strong feeling for not only who she was, but her “voice.” Given that Bettie’s life is fairly well documented, I thought that the best vehicle for telling a tall tale about her was a “secret diary.” This allowed me to let Bettie narrate the series, and also explained why no one had heard the stories before.
BB: It is always amazing to me, David, the ease with which you draw comic book readers into the most unusual of circumstances for a comic, Bettie Page case in point. Who were some of your writing mentors?
DA: That’s very kind: thank you. My father, first and foremost, will always be the biggest influence on me. He wrote over 200 published novels, but more than that I spent so much of my childhood listening to him tell stories. And he was great at it. He liked to talk about the “narrative hook:” the supreme importance of catching the audience from the very first line of your story. He also taught me that boring the reader is an unpardonable sin. Beyond dad… I have always been a voracious reader and a terrible book – or comic book -- can teach you as much as a great one. The list of writers I’ve learned from would be too long to reproduce here.
BB: What projects are keeping you busy that our readers would like to know about, Mr. Avallone?
DA: I’m editing a documentary on General Pershing, with a working title of BLACKJACK, his famous nickname. Any day now a top secret project, one I’ve been developing with an incredibly talented and legendary co-creator for a while, will be announced and I can’t wait to talk about it. Readers can decide for themselves if that’s in any way related to the fact that I’m doing a panel with Kevin Eastman at San Diego Comic Con, July 22nd…
http://dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewPr...13026013003011
BYRON BREWER: David, did your father, a well-respected pulps writer and novelist, ever meet Bettie Page? What do you think HE would think of her – both as a person AND as a comics character?
DAVID AVALLONE: To the best of my knowledge, Dad never met Bettie. It’s a compelling “what if”, because while she was modeling for magazines like STAG and MEN’S ADVENTURE they were publishing his stories. I haven’t looked recently, but it’s entirely possible they’re in the same issues. As for what he thought of her (or would have thought of her)… my father adored strong women, who could own their own sexuality, who were without shame, who were smart and resourceful and funny. So he’d have adored the real one and my comics character.
BB: As you continue Bettie’s adventures in Hollywood, will we be seeing any REAL famous folk in September’s issue #3?
DA: On the advice of Dynamite’s lawyers, I continue my policy on this book of only FAKE versions of famous folk, though the reader is certainly invited to speculate. In some cases the analogs are not all that well disguised.
BB: Between cultists, creeps, spies, mind-control rays, flying saucers and the LAPD, which is driving Bettie mad the most? She seems pretty angry in this yarn!
DA: Bettie doesn’t like being pushed around, so her anger is righteous. Who does? I would say most of her anger is directed at Elroy Benway and his robed maniacs.
BB: I do not believe I have asked this, but tell readers a little about your use of the trope “Diary of ...” for these adventures.
DA: When I was doing the research to prepare for writing the series, I watched an excellent documentary called BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL, which is narrated by Bettie herself. It gave me a strong feeling for not only who she was, but her “voice.” Given that Bettie’s life is fairly well documented, I thought that the best vehicle for telling a tall tale about her was a “secret diary.” This allowed me to let Bettie narrate the series, and also explained why no one had heard the stories before.
BB: It is always amazing to me, David, the ease with which you draw comic book readers into the most unusual of circumstances for a comic, Bettie Page case in point. Who were some of your writing mentors?
DA: That’s very kind: thank you. My father, first and foremost, will always be the biggest influence on me. He wrote over 200 published novels, but more than that I spent so much of my childhood listening to him tell stories. And he was great at it. He liked to talk about the “narrative hook:” the supreme importance of catching the audience from the very first line of your story. He also taught me that boring the reader is an unpardonable sin. Beyond dad… I have always been a voracious reader and a terrible book – or comic book -- can teach you as much as a great one. The list of writers I’ve learned from would be too long to reproduce here.
BB: What projects are keeping you busy that our readers would like to know about, Mr. Avallone?
DA: I’m editing a documentary on General Pershing, with a working title of BLACKJACK, his famous nickname. Any day now a top secret project, one I’ve been developing with an incredibly talented and legendary co-creator for a while, will be announced and I can’t wait to talk about it. Readers can decide for themselves if that’s in any way related to the fact that I’m doing a panel with Kevin Eastman at San Diego Comic Con, July 22nd…
http://dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewPr...13026013003011