Bluewater Does Betty White

Actress Betty White first gained fame as a regular on the Mary Tyler More Show before going on to even greater success in The Golden Girls. But the actress, now 88, is enjoying one of the strangest career rejuvenations ever. She brought down the house while guest-hosting Saturday Night Live and has become a popular pitchwoman on countless TV commercials. She's even landed a new role in the TV series, Hot in Cleveland.

Now, White is slated to become the star of her own comic book biography from Bluewater Productions. Female Force: Betty White hits comic book stores and online retailers such as Amazon.com in November. The 32-page book will retail for $3.99.

Writer Patrick McCray, a veteran of the comics industry, traces White's amazing showbiz career from her days providing voice talent for the radio show, Blondie, to her return to sitcoms in Hot in Cleveland.

"Working on the Betty book was an honor and a blast," McCray said. "While covering a new entertainer is always fun, there is something special about profiling an icon. Not only did it allow me to savor nostalgia, it also let me catch-up on areas of pop culture that had passed me by."

Todd Tennant is the artist on Female Force: Betty White. He, too, is a veteran of the art world. Tennant is a professional illustrator with 31 years of experience. He dove into the world of comics about 10 years ago. He runs his own online King Kong vs. Godzilla comic series, and is the co-creator of the graphic works King Komodo and Gigante.

Tennant, too, said that it was a thrill to work on bringing Betty White's story to life. "I remember seeing Betty White and her hubby, Allen Ludden, on reruns of the original Password program after school as a kid, and grew very fond of them even then," Tennant said. "Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens on the Mary Tyler Moore show will always stand-out as my strongest and fondest memory of her. Needless to say, I was happy to be given the opportunity to attempt illustrating Betty's fascinating personal life and her prolific career."

Bluewater president and founder, Darren G. Davis, says the biography comics are a way to bring new readers to comics. He added that fans of White's might learn a bit more about the veteran actress by reading Female Force: Betty White.

"Betty White has had such an amazing entertainment career," Davis said. "It's one that has now spanned more than 70 years. The biggest challenge that the creative team behind this book faced was figuring out how to include as much of this career as possible in one comic.”

© C Harris Lynn, 2010