By Shawna GoreSource: Dark Horse Comics
It's hard to get sad news at the end of a long workday. That's how I felt last night when I hopped online to wrap up one more issue from my crazy day, and the news on my homepage told me Bettie Page had died.
I don't know Bettie -- never even had the chance to speak with her. But I've been fortunate to work with modern pinup master Jim Silke, whose great affection and admiration for the real person behind the sex object in his portraits of legendary beauties like Bettie Page bring a tangible sweetness to his otherwise deeply sexy work.
It's hard not to be emotionally affected by the death of a woman I've looked at in hundreds of pictures -- in photographs, paintings, and comic-book caricatures. And in the five years I've been Jim's editor, I've fallen in love with her in much the same way Jim did long ago when he first saw her.
Here's what Jim wrote about Bettie's influence over how he came to understand drawing women, from his 2004 book, Pin-Up: The Illegitimate Art:
"The right model will not only inform and inspire you, but also inform and instruct you, and keep you real.
Bettie Page first taught Silke that lesson back in the fifties. As he pointed out in his book, Bettie Page: Queen of Hearts, he drew her a lot back then when he was studying the female anatomy because Bettie's anatomy was so well defined. But in drawing her over and over, he eventually came to see that her main attraction was her attitude, her animated joy, her personality and character. 'They were as important, actually more important, than her physical perfection.' "
Jim-who wrote that book in the second person, in case that was a little confusing-spoke with a measure of sadness in his voice when I called him this morning. That emotion reflects his affection not only for the gorgeous girl whose playful smile caught his heart so long ago, but also for the great artist Dave Stevens. As most of you probably know, Stevens died earlier this year, and it was his portrayal of Bettie (veiled thinly as a different character) in his wonderful Rocketeer comics -- and the movie that followed -- that helped bring Bettie into the hearts and fantasies of a new generation. Jim and Dave were two peas in a pod when it came both to their incredible skill as artists, and also their uniquely charming approach to capturing the spirit of any person or character whose image became a part of their respective oeuvres. Especially the sexy girls.
While I sit here writing this with the same heavy heart that many of you probably share this morning, I'm also reminding myself to think of Bettie in the way that she always wanted her fans to see her. Bettie dropped out of the limelight decades ago and pursued a very different kind of life than the one that brought her some degree of both fame and infamy.
After retiring from her life as an icon of glamour and sensual expression, Bettie hid from the attention of fans and cameras for years, apparently cultivating her own privacy and wanting fans to remember her as the light hearted beauty whose passion for life is captured in all of those amazing images of her. Knowing that she wished her adoring fans to remember her that way, I know I'll try to steer my own thoughts away from sadness today. Instead I'll think of her as the amazing source of inspiration she remains for all of us slightly naughty girls and boys who treasure the impact she had on contemporary culture.
And, especially in a city like the one I live in -- Portland, Oregon -- we can all look forward to the glimpses of Bettie we are treated to every day in the women who will continue to emulate her style, the men who worship every image of her, and this knowledge she brought to everyone who loved her: it's always sexier when you smile.
We love you, Bettie.
See Also: Bettie Page 1923-2008 / Comic Book Artist Dave Stevens Passes Away At Age 52
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