Bettie Page: Queen of the Nile

by Jim Silke (Writer \ Illustrator \ Color Art), Dave Stevens (Contributor)

Bettie`s back and in all kinds of trouble! A low-budget time machine mistakenly transports Bettie to ancient Egypt, where she battles the High Priest of Amon Ra, assorted thugs, and a lovesick mummy twice her size. She wiggles and squirms and bumps and grinds to avoid their evil clutches, but she can`t avoid the everyone falls in love with her and she manages to frequently lose her clothes. When Bettie falls for none other than Julius Caesar, the Roman general can`t decide between Bettie and his main squeeze, Cleopatra! Collecting Jim Silke`s outrageous and stunningly illustrated series, as well as his hard-to-find Bettie Page Spicy Adventure -- not to mention additional pinup art by Dave Stevens!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Art

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 2000

About the author

Jim Silke was an American graphic designer, screenwriter, and comic book artist. He wrote the scripts for Sahara and King Solomon's Mines. In 1994, he created the comic book limited series Rascals in Paradise.
Over the course of his career, Silke was nominated for four Grammy Awards for best album design. He won in 1962 for his cover for Judy at Carnegie Hall.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

cheesecake goodness

The queen of the pinup girls blasts off across time and space. Bettie Page repeatedly gets captured and freed as she goes through a string of fun adventures.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bettie Page is Queen of the Nile. But she thinks this is all a dream. Cheesy pinup poses and time travel makes this very simplistic graphic novel fun.

And her memory will live on as a beautiful time traveling floosy.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically an excuse to draw Bettie Page naked a lot, have her spank Cleopatra, and have some time left over to be just a tad racist. With a slightly uncomfortable introduction by Frank Cho.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

To appreciate this graphic novel, you must know some history of the subject matter, specifically Bettie Page. In the fifties, she was the undisputed queen of the pinup image, often appearing semi-naked in now classic T & A style. She had both the face and the body for it. After falling into a hole of obscurity, she enjoyed a resurgence of interest in her later years, this book is one of the consequences.
The story involves a machine that transports Bettie to another time and place on Earth, quite naturally when it acts on her, it strips her naked. She first lands in a primitive culture where she is a slave and then ends up in ancient Egypt in the time of Caesar and Cleopatra. Since she is packed with feminine charm and generally scantily dressed, Bettie competes for the power of royalty. In a twist of modernity, Bettie is assisted by a personal rocket pack and a powerful sidearm. The most amusing caption is when she gives Cleopatra a powerful spanking on her bare butt for trying to kill her.
This is an odd, yet entertaining graphic novel. Bettie Page was the queen of the nude pinup and this story follows that tradition. There is bondage, nudity and an absurd story that provides the context and means for those features.

[Josh Burkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I couldn't put this book down. Jim Silke perfectly captures the spirit of who Bettie Page was as not only a person but the scope of her iconic status. Proving that even time travel would still recognize her signature pin-up status. This book captures the pulp era art to a tee. It helps the book come alive but more than that the art feels like it has an evolution of its own. It's funny, action-packed and oozes a timeless feel that Page is known for.

[Julia Cannistra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art but story isn’t very interesting and most covers not included

This collection has some beautiful art, especially of Betty. Unfortunately, the writing didn’t appeal to me. Additionally, several covers from individual issues seem to be missing.

[Tamara Gauld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spectacular art and lettering, cute story about Bettie Page with a lot of sexy scenes and silly events. Great quick read.

[Robert Hultman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silly. Cute if you are super obsessed with Bettie Page drawings and ephemera, but not much here really.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

More cheesecake needed.

[Sabrina Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 the art was great, story was dumb, but overall fun. Reminds me of something I would read in Heavy Metal Magazine

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not suitable for children. The drawings of Bettie Page are essentially pin-up poses. Very well done. In this volume Page travels through time and no surprise is the desire of men. Betty never frets or complains, she loves the attention she gets.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give the art four stars, although the close ups are far better than the distance shots. The art certainly looks like Bettie Page, although I'm not that big a fan of the pin-up stuff.

The story has an intersting plot but the writing is very simplistic. I supose that's part of the character. The plot twists are certainly ridiculous, and are pretty clearly played tongue-in-cheek. Apparently, the main point of the plot is to get Bettie into a position to lose what few clothes she had on to begin with. I'd give the writing 2 stars.