Comic-Con News: On the eve of the San Diego Comic-Con Dynamite Entertainment announced the October, 2016 release of the first issue in an all-new comic book series featuring the iconic star of the Fleischer cartoons, Betty Boop, in a series of new adventures written by the Eisner Award-nominated Roger Langridge and illustrated by Gisele Lagace.  The first issue of the new Betty Boop comic will feature a quartet of traditional comic book covers, one by interior artist Gisele Lagace, one by the legendary American Flagg creator Howard Chaykin, one by Roger Langridge pulling double duty, and one created from a Max Fleischer character sheet. 

Langridge, whose work on Fred the Clown was nominated for 2 Eisners and a Harvey Award, admits to having been heavily influenced by the Fleischer Brothers’ 1930s Betty Boop cartoons “I remember seeing old Max Fleischer Betty Boop™ cartoons on TV when I was a kid and being fascinated by their decidedly non-Disney viewpoint. They existed in a seedy, fallen world, full of speakeasies, ghastly monsters from nightmares, sexual tension, and lots of hot, hot jazz - heady, exotic stuff to a kid in suburban New Zealand in the 1970s.  It must have left a strong impression, because it's a world I've tried to recreate in my own comics a number of times over the years, most particularly in my own creator-owned series Fred the Clown - so it's genuinely exciting to be able to go right to the source, writing the real deal. And I'm particularly pleased that we've got a woman cartoonist drawing this major female icon, in the form of the very talented Gisèle Lagacé; Betty Boop, as was common at the time, was created as a male's fantasy idea of a woman, so I think it's important in this day and age to have a female point-of-view right at the creative coalface.”

Dynamite announced the acquisition of the license for Betty Boop comics from King Features at last year’s Comic-Con (see “Dynamite to Publish Betty Boop Comics”).  The new Dynamite series will be the first new Betty Boop comics or comic strips in 30 years (for a collection of the original Betty Boop comic strips see “Review: The Definitive Betty Boop: The Classic Comic Strip Collection HC”).

For a preview of the interior art of Betty Boop #1 plus a look at the “Special Edition” variant covers, which will include a "Coloring Book Cover" by J. Bone (Super Friends), printed on thick paper so fans of all ages can embellish her appearance; a Blank Authentix Edition that fans and comic professionals can illustrate; and a rare Howard Chaykin "Black & White" incentive edition available to qualifying retailers—please CHECK OUT THE GALLERY BELOW.