[NOTE: Potential Spoilers! Buy and read the book, then come back here for the commentary!]
Aaannnd we’re back!
Cheers for tuning in to part two of my writer’s commentary on our gal Bettie’s latest adventure. Let’s have at it!
Pages 1-2
So Bettie has now encountered the titular Banshee and found out that she (it?) is, in fact, very real. After a stranger and terrifying interaction, the spirit flees once Lyssa bursts into the room. That leaves our Irish lady; Máire…
Pages 3-4
…who is very much dead when the girls arrive upon the scene. The Banshee may not have harmed Bettie, but she’s still every bit the killer, as evidenced here. Bettie and Lyssa are dismayed at the seemingly needless death of the bright young woman – Máire had really been starting to grow on them.
The Irish police, or Gardaí in Gaelic Irish, arrive on the scene and are immediately skeptical. They’ve heard fanciful tales of faeries and ghosts from perceived tourists before and tend to give it thoroughly short shrift. Not to mention the fact that these foreign investigators have the gall to be women!
Pages 5-6
Bettie and Lyssa check into what will be their erstwhile base camp during this tale; O’Riordán’s Bed and Breakfast. These types of small, comfy family hotels are all over Ireland and really are lovely places to stay. I invite ye all to visit and try them! (There ends my bit for the Irish Tourism Board.)
Pages 7-8
Back to Trinity Library for the girls, as they struggle to comprehend what the Banshee’s motivations are. Bettie finds a handy tome which outlines the history and lore of the Banshee myth. It’s great fun to incorporate all these elements into a mainstream book like this, as I’ve grown up with a lot of these mythological stories and songs and was able to tap into the vibe fairly readily.
Pages 9-12
Our detectives visit the Dean of The College to learn more about Máire and perhaps solicit a little more professional aid. What they receive doesn’t exactly fall under that category, but the old shopkeeper whom the Dean directs them towards certainly seems to know more than anyone else about the Banshee and her motivations.
The shopkeeper explains the perceived history of the Banshee and how nothing can stop what has been set in motion. As she says, the Banshee is ‘Fate made manifest’. Uh-oh.
Page 13
Lyssa is really beginning to get frustrated, as the women visit the morgue the next morning to study the victims’ bodies further and they’ve apparently disappeared. She thinks this country is run by absolute cowboys.
Pages 14-15
The young detective’s mood doesn’t improve one iota as herself and Bettie are then confronted by the local yahoos they bested in the pub fight in issue one. Lyss is in just the right humor to take some frustration out on these guys. Bettie tries to defuse the situation, but once the Irish lad throws the first dig… well, in for a penny, in for a pounding.
Pages 16-17
The Gardaí show up to break up the fight and Lyssa and Betts are carted off to gaol. After checking their credentials, the Garda Sergeant releases them and apologizes whole-heartedly. This older, more seasoned cop knows fellow professionals when he sees them.
By way of an apology, he offers the girls some ‘intel’ that had been considered ridiculous and flagrantly false by the Irish Justice Department. If these fine young detectives could use this info, well then, have at it, says he.
Pages 18-20
The information leads the intrepid detectives to a creepy site in the woods just outside town. After hearing some suspicious noises they’re drawn to a mysterious tunnel entrance leading inside a massive earthen mound. The gals head on in, of course and they’re confronted with… zombies! Zombies are a thing in Irish mythology now?! I guess we’ll find out, in issue #3!
To be continued!
Bettie Page: The Curse of The Banshee #2
is available from comic stores and via digital at comiXology
